VOL. 52 ISSUE 24 JUNE 16, 2015 P43
Fed, reportedly due to illness.
That moved Robert to second
on his Motorex/Dunlop/Red Bull
300 XC, but Graffunder lurked
just behind on his Kenda/509
Goggles/O'Neal 300 XC.
"Cory [Graffunder] was right
on me the whole first lap; we
were battling back and forth,"
Robert said. "He got by me here
on the [Tower of Tires] then I
passed him on a hill climb over
there.
"We came in here on the
second lap and we were side
by side again. I think I was able
to hit the tires really clean the
second time; his back wheel
dropped into a hole so he had a
little trouble there."
He added, "Cody [Webb] was
riding really good! He was on an-
other level than all of us today."
Robert now has a pair of runner-
up finishes to go with his wins in
2012 and 2013.
Having finished fourth in LD
2 behind Webb, Robert and
Redmond, Graffunder knew
he needed to step it up in LD
3. "I knew I was going to have
to do something real special
to get higher than third," Graf-
funder said. "During the race,
Taylor [Robert] and Kyle [Red-
mond] were gone. At one of the
checks, they said Kyle was five
minutes out and I'm like, 'No way
I'm going to catch up!'
"But then something hap-
pened to him and sure enough I
ended up catching him and go-
ing by; it put me into third."
Officially, Rockstar Energy
Lucas Oil Husqvarna's Colton
Haaker earned fourth with a 5-4
tally and was the final finisher of
LD 3.
"There were a few hills out
there and if you didn't clean
them first try, you pretty much
got hung up for a long time,"
Haaker said. "I tried this one
hill about 10 times my first loop.
Taylor was there for a little while
because I saw him at the top
pushing [his bike], Cory was
right there, but Cody [Webb],
[Mike] Brown and Redmond all
made it probably first try."
But the silver lining in this was
that it was his first LDS finish
after DNFing last year and 2013.
By Mark Kariya
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
MARK
KARIYA
Two-time LDS winner Taylor Robert
fights his way through the swinging
tire gauntlet while being showered.
The EnduroCross section early in
the lap stymied many, especially
this mega Matrix.
