VOL. 53 ISSUE 44 NOVEMBER 8, 2016 P41
happy with that."
Both riders went on to race the Pro
races on Sunday, Hurley in the 30+ and
Nicoll in the 50+ division, which was
upgraded to a Pro event for the first time
ever, with full 20-minute, two-lap mo-
tos. Nicoll won quite handily, taking the
victory by over a minute in both motos.
Hurley was impressive in the 30+ Pro
class, just missing the podium with a
fourth-place finish.
The stars of the 30+ Pro class were
Sleeter—who finally captured the win
after being a bridesmaid so many
times—Josh Coppins of New Zealand
and Yamaha's Travis Preston. It looked
as though Coppins was going to make it
a Kiwi-themed weekend after taking the
first moto win just ahead of Sleeter and
Preston, but the true test came in the
second moto as riders took to a much
more beat-up course. Sleeter, a test
rider for KTM and Glen Helen regular,
was right at home on the choppy, rutted
track while small mistakes ate away at
Coppins' bid for the win.
"I call this place church," Sleeter said.
"We're here every Thursday. I'm on the
bike at 10 o'clock and we're here until
about 4:00. And this bike is made for
Glen Helen. It was great to put it up on
the top."
Coppins had to settle for second with
his 1-2 finish. Although he was all over
the rear wheel of Sleeter toward the
halfway point of the race, he lost touch
with the leader after pushing the front
end and nearly crashing in a sandy turn.
It was still an impressive showing for the
39-year-old, who could return next year
in the 40+ Pro class.
Yamaha employee Travis Preston—
former World Vet Champion—rounded
out the 30+ Pro class with a third-place
finish. "This is my first race as a full-time
employee," Preston said. "Having a job
definitely hurt my training. But my bike
worked great and I didn't crash, so I
guess I'm happy. I can go to work on
Monday so the boss is happy!"
In the Women's Pro class, Steffi Laier
once again made the trek from Ger-
many to defend her title. The four-time
women's motocross world champion
succeeded in doing so with a 1-1 victory
ahead of Birgit Schelkle and Michelle
Horton.
Jean Turner
30+ Pro Results
1. Mike Sleeter (2-1)
2. Josh Coppins (1-2)
3. Travis Preston (3-3)
4. Daryl Hurley (7-4)
5. Cole Siebler (5-6)
40+ Pro Results
1. Daryl Hurley (1-1)
2. Kurt Nicoll (2-2)
3. Kenjiro Tsuji (4-3)
4. Javier Vico (3-4)
5. Ryan Hunt (6-5)
50+ Pro Results
1. Kurt Nicoll (1-1)
2. Pete Murray (2-2)
3. Ed Foedish (3-3)
4. Mitch Rowe (4-4)
5. Jon Ortner (5-6)
Former MXGP
star Josh Coppins
made the trek from
New Zealand to
compete at Glen
Helen, where he
finished second to
Sleeter.
Kurt Nicoll handily
won the inaugural
50+ Pro class.
