VOL. 52 ISSUE 12 MARCH 24, 2015 P81
on the flats. He was conserving
and pacing and using a couple
decades of racing experience
to his advantage. Haaker, on the
other hand, was having none of
that. He was pouncing every lap,
making ground as Brown moved
through lappers and logs and
rocks and boulders and tires try-
ing to stay perfect.
As the laps clicked off and
the white flag came out Enduro-
Cross does what it does best: It
delivered a last lap, get-on-your-
feet battle well worth the cost of
admission.
Haaker charged, Brown
stayed strong. Haaker went for
an inside line. Brown held it.
Brown pushed ahead. Haaker
gained it back (that was half a
lap, or about 15 seconds of rac-
ing).
With two corners to go Haak-
er had a clear line of sight over
the boulders where he passed
Gerston half a race earlier. He
charged and Brown responded
with throttle. They were side-
by-side into the step-on-step-off
Brown cleared in his Hot Lap.
But this time he stayed low and
Briefly...
the only responsibly racing member
of the class left. Behind him, SRT
Offroad main man Craig Thomp-
son gave chase. Daytona Beach
round one winner Stephen Foord
came across the line in seventh. By
the second lap, Black continued his
rational race. Behind him, things
mixed, a lot. Foord was already in
third—in one lap. Jason Gitchel had
moved into second from fourth. By
lap three, Foord has passed for sec-
ond and Gitchel rode in third. On lap
four, Foord made his victory move
and passed Black for the lead and
it would go Foord, Black, Gitchel for
the podium.
As the go-to class for those looking
to give EnduroCross a try and for
those working their way up to the Pro
division, the Open Amateur class is
really ready for anyone. You show
up. You race (or ride). You get ad-
dicted and want to do it again. That's
the deal. In Utah, the top Open Ama-
teur spots were owned by Dalton
Dietz, Kale Elworthy and Austin
Schiermeister making it a Kawa-
saki, KTM, Honda podium, respec-
tively. The three young guns battled
it out lap-by-lap with the running or-
der changing each time around the
circuit. Dietz had an all-time night,
qualifying into the Pro Main event for
the first time in his career and taking
the win in the Open Amatuer main by
getting into the lead on the last lap.
We won't be seeing much of him in
the Amateur ranks after this.
Generaly considered the most skilled
motorcyclists in the off-road world, if
not the entire world of motorcycling,
Trials competitors aren't used to
banging bars or using their friends
for traction. EnduroCross turns that
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