VOL. 53 ISSUE 37 SEPTEMBER 20, 2016 P41
Bobbitt taking test five. Strang
went into test five with a four-
second lead over Bobbitt in their
battle for the runner-up slot, but
the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna
Factory rider got stuck in a mud
hole and gave up 14 seconds to
Bobbitt in that test.
Test six was no better for
Strang, as he nearly wrapped his
bike around a tree, losing two
minutes to Bobbitt in the pro-
cess. He also came away with
a swollen ankle. The incident
dashed any chance Strang had
at second, dropping him to third
behind Bobbitt.
"Other than that last test, I
have to be happy with today be-
cause this makes three podiums
in a row," said Strang. "I started
off with a soft tire for the first
test because of the sand and it
worked well, but then the dirt
got harder and I struggled in the
second test so we changed it for
test three to a tire I've been run-
ning all year and I felt so much
better. I won the third test by a
good margin and things were
good in the fourth test too, but
then the wheels started to come
off."
Bobbitt's decision to play it
safe most likely kept him from a
chance at the win.
"For this place, I'd say the day
went pretty well," said the FMF
KTM Factory rider. "I don't know
[that] I've ever won here. It's one
of the faster events and you have
to be on your tiptoes all day,
and I just rode within my means.
There were places I could have
gone faster, but I elected to ride
a safe, smooth race."
Fourth overall was AmPro
Yamaha's Grant Baylor, who was
in the mix for the win after the
first two tests, but dropped off
the pace in tests three and four.
Meanwhile, fifth was SRT/KTM's
Cory Buttrick, who was having a
solid day until he got to the final
two tests.
"I think the last two tests hurt
me," said Buttrick. "I had a pretty
good get-off in the waterfall in
test five and I ended up hitting
my head pretty hard, it was the
best slam I've had in a while. The
sixth test was more of the same.
Russell Bobbitt
finished second
but saw his points
lead dwindle by
just a bit.
Josh Strang was
slowed by a mud
hole and a tree but
still managed to
finish third overall.
