OFF ROAD
AMA D-37/MSR BIG 6 GRAND PRIX SERIES
ROUND 1/JANUARY 2-4, 2015
MAVERICKS STADIUM/ADELANTO, CALIFORNIA
P92
1600 entries had reportedly
been purchased.
AMA West Coast Grand
Prix Series
The main event for a Big 6
weekend is Saturday afternoon's
AMA West Coast Grand Prix
Series, divided into a 45-minute
race for Novices and Beginners
plus the 90-minute, $2000
Pro, Expert and Intermediate
skirmish.
Defending Big 6 Champion
Eric Yorba got his FMF/Maxxis/
RPM Racing Team KTM off
the line quickest and turned off
Adelanto Road into the equally
fast desert section with a lead
over Blayne Thompson, Robby
Bell, Justin Seeds, Nick Burson
and the rest of the pack.
Unfortunately for Yorba,
something went terminally wrong
in his 450 XC-F's engine and as
he headed north on Adelanto
Road for the stadium, a large
cloud of smoke erupted from his
pipe signaling an early end to his
day.
FMF KTM support rider Gary
Sutherlin had the lead at that
point and held it for a couple
laps with Precision Concepts/
FMF/Dunlop KX450F-mounted
teammates Bell and Seeds
a close second and fourth,
separated by Honda-mounted
Justin Jones.
Bell, recovering from the
flu, and Seeds eventually took
turns bumping Sutherlin out of
the lead. Minor mistakes cost
each man the lead, however.
For Seeds, it was the wood-
pile section in the EnduroCross
portion of the course.
"Basically, the first time I've
ever actually hit wood like that
was yesterday in Unclassified
and then racing it today," Seeds
said. "It's unfortunate; I thought
I could go faster through it and
that didn't really work very well!"
Overall, though, he was
pleased with his efforts, saying,
"I really pushed myself to the
potential that I knew I had, and I
just kind of changed up my role
of what I used to do. It worked
out really well. I was able to
battle with my teammate Robby
for pretty much the whole race,
going back and forth."
Bell slowed with bad blisters
The water-hole jump
was always a crowd
favorite in the original
Adelanto GP. Justin
Seeds sails over it here
on his way to WCGP
runner-up after leading
a good portion.
