VOL. 55 ISSUE 16 APRIL 24, 2018 P37
Norman rallied from a mediocre
start on his Saunders Family/
Renthal/Alpinestars CRF450X to
join him at the front along with a
number of others.
A number of the front-runners
ended up losing the course on
the more technical 40-mile first
loop, which served to tighten the
pack, but eventually the fastest
went to the front again with Rob-
ert and Norman swapping the
lead a number of times.
Even after getting ripped off
his bike by a tree early on the
faster, 52-mile second loop,
Robert managed to claw his way
back into the lead trio, Shirey
making his presence known.
"We just had this insane three-
way battle; everybody was show-
ing everybody a wheel," Robert
said. "I kind of wanted everybody
to slow down and I was like,
'Let's just get through this,' be-
cause it was that real fast, kind of
dangerous stuff where you can't
really see.
"But those guys were riding
really good—I've got to give it to
them."
Norman revealed, "I wasn't
at my full potential, but it was
a tough week having to build
the bike and get a motor rebuilt
between this round and the last
one. All in all, I'm stoked. It was
pretty wild out there.
While battling with Chidester
Transport Racing Yamaha's Ja-
cob Argubright after finding the
trail again, "my throttle hand had
fallen asleep from all the wrench-
ing I've been doing this week so
I really couldn't feel my throttle
hand," Norman added. "We were
about four turns from the finish)
on 71.
The real unknown was how
Robert might fare after being off
for two months, though he did
win a sprint enduro last week. "I
knew my intensity was there—it's
just holding it for three hours,"
he shared. "I knew I could come
back and hopefully win; I was
pretty sure I could do it today,
but it wasn't easy!"
Getting a good start in the
traditional Little Sahara sand
dunes aboard his Red Bull/Dun-
lop/Troy Lee Designs 450 XC-F
made his job a little easier, but
The Little Sahara area isn't all
sand dunes. The Sage Riders ran
much of the course in terrain that
provided enduro-like conditions,
which didn't bother 250 winner
Chance Fullerton.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
MARK
KARIYA
