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/872564
IN THE WIND P36 PEARSON WINS JERICHO WEST HARE SCRAMBLE A fter some post-race con- ferencing by officials, Axel Pearson picked up his first win of the season in the Kenda/ SRT AMA West Hare Scramble Regional Championship Series at round eight, the Sahara Hare Scramble hosted by the Sage Riders Motorcycle Club at the Little Sahara Recreation Area, September 9-10. Defending series champion Nick Burson finished second to make it a Purvines DA8 Racing Yamaha 1-2, but Beta's Max Ger- ston maintained his series points lead in finishing third at the dusty and very taxing race. Pearson pulled the holeshot on the fast, flat start aboard his John Burr Cycles/FMF/ Thor-sponsored YZ450FX and enjoyed the advantage immedi- ately due to the thick, silty dust in the first zigzag section of the course. Unknowingly, however, he lost the lead when round-one winner Joey Fiasconaro and a few others took a wrong turn at a section of the 20-mile loop that apparently hadn't been closed off, or marked with wrong-way arrows. So, for much of the race, the Six Five O Racing/ Klim GasGas XC 300 rider was first through the scoring chute. After the race, it took a while for officials to determine how to correct the final results fairly. As it was, Fiasconaro reportedly fell on the last lap and forfeited a lot of ground anyway. Officially, he finished sixth behind Pear- son, Burson, Gerston, Monarch Honda's Tuffy Pearson and Moto Pro/707 Suspension/Troy Lee Designs KTM 250 XC-mounted Cole Conatser, the FMF Pro 250 winner for the third time this season. The winner of round seven, Gerston, lined up with no experience racing here and sought to keep as much of his 10-point lead in the series as possible. The FMF/Kenda/Klim 430 RR rider, said, "No matter how experienced you are or how inexperienced you are in an area, if you're not going for the win, I think you're wasting your time. What a torture-fest that was! Man, it was the most clapped-out, silted-out whoops bull crap I've ever seen. It was unreal⏤but it was really fun. I didn't have a very good start again, but I started working my way up. If I could get a start one of these days, that would do me a lot of good." FMF Pro 250 runner-up Clay- ton Gerstner finished seventh overall followed by Lake Powell Off-road Association CRF450X- mounted Skyler Howes, FMF Pro 250 points leader J.T. Baker and Vet A winner Logan Cleve- land. Mark Kariya This canyon provided welcome relief from the rest of the dry, dusty, whoop-filled course. Axel Pearson zips past en route to his first win of the season. PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK KARIYA