VOL. 55 ISSUE 14 APRIL 10, 2018 P43
MORGAN/SAMUELS WIN
SAN FELIPE 250
P
utting their long-time friend-
ship and great racing experi-
ence together to form a new
team, Justin Morgan and Mark
Samuels survived a rugged race
to earn the overall motorcycle
and Pro Moto Unlimited Class
victory by a comfortable mar-
gin of over 20 minutes at the
SCORE San Felipe 250, April
6-9. Crossing the finish line
first after starting in the fourth
position with one-minute splits
between each rider, the Mor-
gan/Samuels duo tag-teamed
around the course to finish in
6:04:33, averaging 52.5 mph.
Samuels has now been
part of the overall motorcycle
winning team for three straight
years in San Felipe.
At the finish line, Morgan
said, "Mark rode the start to
race-mile 23, I rode all the
way back around to Mile 192.
Mark rode from there to 282
and I rode into the finish the
last 40 miles. We had a really
good plan and Mark and I have
been friends for a long time
and we've done this a lot, but
we weren't together in recent
years, so it's really cool how a
plan like that comes together.
Definitely the most challenging
was just the number of miles.
It's always a big factor in the
morning especially because
we were fourth off the start,
four minutes back, so we were
working off the dust."
Morgan continued, "Mark
got us into second physically at
the rider switch, the 1x got by
us with Grant Statley on it and I
managed to get by him and then
Roberto Villalobos on the 66x.
I got him at Mile 68, came out
with a clean air filter and a new
tire and we were good to go.
It's just the prep that San Diego
Powerhouse did. It takes a re-
ally prepped bike. This is my old
race bike and it's been sitting as
a frame in the garage for almost
the entire last year and we just
rebuilt it. After this, I think we'll
be at the SCORE Baja 500 for
sure, I'd say."
Santiago Creel entered
two KTM-mounted teams that
finished second and third and
approximately within 20 minutes
of each other, and the Shane
Esposito Honda Team took
fourth, nine minutes behind the
second Creel team.
The Nic Garvin Team round-
ed out the top five, taking the
checkered flag two minutes
behind the Esposito bike.
A KTM rider from Ensenada,
B.C., won the Pro Moto Iron-
man division. He completed
the race in 7:51:13.041, which
was well over an hour ahead of
the next-best Ironman bike rid-
den by Kevin Daniels (Honda).
More than three minutes back
finished the Kenny Wilson
KTM. CN
maha) holeshot the WCGP
Pro II line and held on to claim
second in class and 11th overall
while Beta's Chance Fullerton
finished third in class.
In the WCGP Women Pro
contest, Brandy Richards (Bell
Helmets KTM) led the way for
her third consecutive triumph,
earning an impressive 17th over-
all. After missing the first round
due to injury, though, she still
trails Kacy Coy (FMF KTM)—the
race runner-up—in points, 101-
90, unofficially. Tarah Geiger
(JCR Honda/Alpinestars)
claimed third in class.
Mark Kariya
WCGP PRO
1. Zach Bell (Hus)
2. Dalton Shirey (Hus)
3. Trevor Stewart (Hon)
4. Blayne Thompson (Kaw)
5. Justin Seeds (Kaw)
6. Justin Jones (Hon)
7. Mason Ottersberg (Bet)
8. Nich Burson (Yam)
9. Nick Lamberton (Hon)
10. Justin Wallis (Unk)
