Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/634995
VOL. 53 ISSUE 4 FEBRUARY 2, 2016 P63 Briefly... A record 105 riders entered this year's KoM, though only 90 actu- ally started. Of that number, 67 were counted as finishers, though only the top seven finished on the lead lap. In the afternoon multi-lap race, any- one lapped by the leader was elimi- nated from the race, though they'd be counted as an official finisher. James King from Arkansas received the Kurt Caselli Foundation Sports- manship Award at the riders meeting on Saturday night for his unselfish will- ingness to help fellow racers last year. The always improving talent of the Pros continues to astound event cre- ator Jimmy Lewis. After laying out the entire race aboard his 2006 KTM 200 XC (with a stock tank), he esti- mated that the top guys would com- plete three laps of the nine-mile main event loop. However, they surpassed that by miles with the top seven riders completing not the expected three laps but seven! American Beta's Kyle Redmond said, "After the first lap, you were just riding. The worst part was the people in the way. I don't know why they do it this way; it's not extreme to me. I want it to be a new track every time you're riding. I want it to be a long course and navigat- ing the whole time. It's good for the spectators, but really you could have the whole thing right here [next to the pits]. Ten miles is not that long. It was like a hard hare scrambles." Following GPS headings is a key point to KoM, at least for the first lap. As Taylor Robert noted, "Jimmy [Lew- is], he really stresses that navigation is key out here and it really is because they do not put many course mark- ings up! It's definitely tricky because none of us really do it on a regular basis and you've really got to predict [where] the GPS [is going to send you and] how close the turns are com- ing up." However, there isn't a road book to watch as in the Dakar Rally as a road book holder would likely be too vulnerable to (the frequent) crash damage. Besides the navigation aspect, an- other thing that sets KoM apart is the no-outside-assistance rule. Only the rider or another entered racer may touch the bike or else the rider is disqualified. That means that while in the impound area between the morn- ing and afternoon races, only the rid- er can work on his bike. At pit stops, only the rider is allowed to add fuel and effect repairs. Cody Webb had little chance to cel- ebrate his third KoM victory. If he did, it was likely done on the drive back to Northern California because he had a class to attend first thing Monday morning. The engineering student is on track to graduate in April. Gale-force winds blew almost all weekend ahead of threatening clouds that dropped some rain during the race but not as much as expected. The rain markedly reduced dust in the later stages of the race, though by that time less than a quarter of the field was still going. As a precaution, KTM's mechanics set both Taylor Roberts and Cody Webb's bikes up with electrically heated grips, just in case the pre- dicted rains turned to snow. Even without snow, however, the rain, high wind and temperatures in the 40s validated the idea. SRT Team owner Craig Thompson finished 13th Sportsman and 35th overall. Several years ago, he fin- ished King of the Hammers in his rock crawler car, therefore making him the only person to finish both KoM and KoH, in his guesstimation. The Pros had to go all the way over this hill to start the morning race, some having more success than others. Don Bospflug overalled the morning race then followed that up by being the top finishing Sportsman in the main, completing two laps for 19th overall.