VOL. 53 ISSUE 42 OCTOBER 25, 2016 P33
Near the front from the start,
Argubright and his Bel-Ray/Dun-
lop/Fly Racing-backed FC 450
kept Brabec in sight the whole
time, his charge at the end
netting him second overall by
17 seconds for runner-up in the
championship for the second
time in his career after 2013's
result. The final points favored
Brabec, 170-148.
The race began with FMF
KTM Factory Off-road Racing
Team's Ivan Ramirez, the reign-
ing champ, getting the holeshot
on his Motorex/Red Bull/Troy
Lee Designs-sponsored 450
XC-F. Though he yielded a few
positions, he appeared to be on
his way to a solid fourth when
he suffered a mechanical issue
a couple miles from the finish.
By the time he got it rectified,
he found himself back in 59th
overall, the 12th Pro. Final series
points found him in ninth with 60.
Also taking his place on the
podium was Bonanza Plumbing/
FMF KTM support rider Gary
Sutherlin, the round-two winner
sharing, "I put my head down
and really charged that [40-
mile] second loop and I actually
pushed really hard the whole
second and third loops. Unfortu-
nately [for me], Ricky and Jake
got out too far, too quick."
Sutherlin was four and a half
minutes behind Argubright at
the checkered flag. In year-end
points, he finished in a three-way
tie for fifth with Purvines Rac-
ing Beta's Axel Pearson (who
was 13th on the day) and Justin
Morgan.
Speaking of Morgan, the
Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/Pre-
cision Concepts Yamaha rider
claimed fourth, matching his
career- and season-best earned
at round three in Utah.
Since he'd wrapped up the
FMF Pro 250 championship at
the previous round, Joe Was-
son made the move to the Pro
class and got fifth aboard his
Chidester Transport Racing/
Cycle City of Mountain Home/
Fly Racing YZ450FX.
Purvines Racing Beta's Nick
Burson, Chidester Transport
Racing Kawasaki's Max Eddy
Jr., Motoworld Yamaha's Grant
Statley (the Open A champ
making his Pro-class debut as
well) and 3 Brothers KTM's Jeff
Trulove (the FMF Pro 250 winner
for the first time) rounded out the
top 10.
Afterward, Brabec said, "It
feels good to get [another]
championship and another win.
Tonight, tomorrow—I don't know.
I'm going to wake up and proba-
bly do nothing. I'm going to relax
for a little bit. The next race is
Dakar so I'm done with the small
bikes for the rest of the year."
Mark Karyia
OVERALL
1. Ricky Brabec (Hon)
2. Jacob Argubright (Hus)
3. Gary Sutherlin (KTM)
4. Justin Morgan (Yam)
5. Joesph Wasson (Yam)
6. Nicholas Burson (Bet)
7. Max Eddy Jr. (Kaw)
8. Axel Pearson (Bet)
9. Grant Statley (Yam)
10. Jeff Trulove (KTM)
Brabec and the JRC Honda
crew celebrate winning the
2016 H&H title.
