OFF ROAD
KENDA/SRT AMA HARE & HOUND NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
ROUND 1 / JANUARY 27-28, 2018
SPANGLER HILLS OHV AREA / RIDGECREST, CALIFORNIA
P60
BY MARK KARIYA
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK KARIYA
F
MF KTM Factory Off-Road
Racing Team's Taylor Robert
could easily have skipped the
Desert Motorcycle Club's 51st An-
nual Winter Classic, round one of
the Kenda/SRT AMA Hare & Hound
National Championship Series,
Presented by FMF.
That, however, wouldn't be his
style.
Two weeks after literally breaking
his face (and having surgery to repair
extensive damage) due to a crash
during a test session, he lined up—in
pain—but gutted out a tough, tough
victory, one made even more difficult
since he got a horrible start and had
to come from behind to do so.
"I have five plates in my face and
I still have stitches in my gums so I
was just in pain the whole time," he
said. (Don't forget that this is also the
man who was on life support after
his big get-off at King of the Motos
almost a year ago, yet he came back
and won the E3 class at the ISDE
about six months later.)
"I didn't make it easy on my-
self—it was a pretty tough race," he
added, explaining that he muffed the
start when one side of the banner
dropped before the other, caus-
ing him to get a little throttle-happy
with his Red Bull/Motorex/Troy Lee
Designs 450 XC-F—a no-no when it
comes to dead-engine starts, espe-
cially with four-strokes.
That was in direct contrast to local
favorite Nick Burson, the Purvines
Racing Yamaha rider enjoying an
excellent start to grab the lead on
his Precision Concepts YZ450FX, as
ROBERT ROMPS
AT DESERT
CLASSIC
TAYLOR
CHAMPIONSHIP
