CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
VOL. 52 ISSUE 4 JANUARY 27, 2015 P89
career with Brabec 50 seconds
behind. FMF KTM Factory
Off-road Racing Team's Ivan
Ramirez rounded out the podium
in an astonishing comeback ride
after a freak incident left him last
off the start.
"I was pretty tentative, actual-
ly," the FMF KTM support rider,
Sutherlin, admitted. "I haven't
been racing in the desert that
much, and I rode pretty tenta-
tive in the fast stuff and Ricky
definitely rode great."
The DA8 Training/Dunlop/Fox-
backed 450 XC-F rider added,
"Ricky and I had an awesome bat-
tle; we changed the lead three or
four different times. He wrecked,
I wrecked—it was good. It's going
to be a long, fun season. Me and
Ricky are buddies. We kept the
racing clean. We had a close call
out here on the outside of the pits.
I was just pinned off the trail and
he was on the trail and something
happened and he came across
and I almost clipped him! There
was a lot of good racing today and
I'm looking forward to the rest of
the season."
THR Motorsports/Precision
Concepts/Bonanza Plumbing's
Brabec already had one race
under his belt for the weekend,
having finished fourth at the 29th
Bud Light SCORE San Felipe
250 after partner Max Eddy Jr.
crashed, suffering a suspected
concussion and broken wrist.
"We had a long day down
there in Baja," Brabec said. "I
felt good, but the body's still fa-
tigued from San Felipe. I mean,
it's known for big sand whoops
and rocks. Yesterday, the first
30 miles of San Felipe I pushed
to the max.
"My start today could've been
a heck of a lot better," Brabec
said. "I came off a four-kick
start, so I pushed through dust
a little bit and caught Gary a few
times. We were back and forth.
"That's racing. I'm happy to be
out here with Gary. I'm stoked
for him for winning. Me and him
Briefly...
Kevin Murphy put in stints on the
Class 30-winning team that finished
third overall motorcycle at San Fe-
lipe. Crawford earned 10th Pro and
11th overall, while Murphy won Vet A,
finishing 23rd overall.
Among the changes to the series
this year implemented by the the
Kurt Caselli Foundation is having
veteran racer Paul Krause pre-ride
the course on Saturday to ensure
it's marked correctly and sufficiently,
and make suggestions as to course
modifications. After years of being
started off Bessemer Mine Road,
this year's Winter Classic was the
DMC's first time based out of the
Anderson Dry Lake area. While the
first loop was Novice-friendly, the
second loop challenged the Experts
and Amateurs, especially the final
rocky downhill.
