SERIES
Briefly...
In a first, the H&H finale ran the day
after round seven of the Kenda/SRT
AMA West Hare Scrambles Cham-
pionship Series, also at Johnson
Valley, making it a double-header
weekend. However, all of the Youth
H&H riders raced against West Hare
Scrambles riders on Saturday in the
only heads-up inter-series competi-
tion.
Asked how it felt to win his first
AMA National Championship, Ivan
Ramirez answered, "I can't describe
it! I'm just happy; we've all been put-
ting in a lot of work. KTM believed
in me from the beginning and I can't
thank those guys enough for all the
support." Many of his family and
friends from Baja came to cheer him
at the finale and witness history as
Ramirez became the first Mexican
citizen to claim an AMA National
overall title. He added, "It's cool; it's
a great feeling. I know Kurt [Caselli]
would be proud right now." Ramirez
plans to defend his title next year
with the same program and maybe
add another series to give him some-
thing else to work towards. He also
let slip, "Hopefully I can do rallies
one day. That's one of my goals so
we'll see."
Ricky Brabec revealed a little more
of his surprise move to JCR Honda:
"I wanted to come out here and kind
of surprise everyone so I think it
worked. Now, everyone's kind of in
shock. Obviously I broke my neck at
round five. I've been off for a while
so it felt good to get back out here,
for sure. While I was hurt, Honda ap-
proached me so it was a deal that I
couldn't pass up. One of my goals
was I wanted to ride on a Honda by
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK KARIYA
I
van Ramirez of the FMF KTM Factory Off-road Racing Team
carried a 28-point lead into the eighth and final round of the
Kenda/SRT AMA Hare & Hound National Championship Series
at the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Area and needed to
finish only 17th or better to wrap up the championship.
So, after a decent start, he took no chances and essentially
went out for a trail ride, finishing seventh at the 48th Annual
Johnson Valley Championship hosted by the 100s Motorcycle
VOL. 52 ISSUE 43 OCTOBER 27, 2015 P69
continued on next page
Off the start,
Ricky Brabec
(1) battled
with Jacob
Argubright, who
took the lead a
few miles later.
