VOL. 54 ISSUE 4 JANUARY 31, 2017 P31
much of it on the same trails but
run in the opposite direction; it,
too, featured one shorter test
and a longer one with LOI and
most championship classes rid-
ing the loop three times for six
total tests again.
Despite Burson's familiar-
ity with the terrain, Webb fired
first, setting the fastest time in
the short first test on Saturday
aboard his 300 XC-W. Coming
from row 14, Webb blitzed the
test along Pronghorn Trail in 270
seconds (points), with Morgan
second quickest at 273 on his
FMF/Maxxis/MSR-backed
CRF450X and Burson third at
274.
Burson scorched the second
test with a 676 on his John Burr
Cycles YZ450FX to put him at
the top of the leader board for
the rest of the weekend. Webb
ended up winning two tests on
Saturday and two on Sunday,
but Burson outdistanced him
in the other eight tests over the
weekend.
"I expected
him to be fast,"
Burson admit-
ted. "I haven't
seen him ride
in a long time,
but it seems like he rides a lot
of moto now and a lot of tracks
other than just EnduroCross. To
be that talented on a bike with
EnduroCross stuff, you know
he's got to be fast.
Webb shared, "To be honest,
I didn't really know what to ex-
pect [at my first-ever Qualifier]. I
figured I'd probably be a top-five
guy.
"It was really fun. I learned
a lot and honestly now, after
hitting this round, I'm excited to
hit the rest of them and see the
difference and basically just get
some valuable experience to
hopefully be on a Club team [in
France]."
Morgan had a rear-brake
problem after hitting a tree
on Saturday, so he lost a little
ground before replacing a few
parts, but he was satisfied with
his third overall and hopes to
back that up with another couple
of good days at another Quali-
fier. "I would love to go race the
ISDE on a Club team!" he ex-
claimed. "It would be a big one
to check off my list. I'm a huge
fan of the race so at least one
time I need to make it!"
Dillon Shepard topped the E1
class (125cc two-stroke/250cc
four-stroke) on both days aboard
his 707 Suspension YZ250FX;
he was 15th overall on Saturday
and 10th on Sunday.
Rick Emerson won E4 (40
and over—strictly an American
class) both days aboard his KTM
350 SX-F and former Team USA
ISDE rider Jamie Wells was the
E5 (Women) winner on her 707
Suspension KTM 200 XC-W.
Mark Kariya
Runner-up Cody
Webb hopes
to broaden his
résumé with a
trip to the ISDE in
France.
One of the sizable
contingent from
Northern California's
AMA District 36, Dillon
Shepard dominated
E1 both days.
