IN
THE
WIND
P36
VORE DOMINATES BATTLE
CREEK ISDE QUALIFIER
T
he second round of the 2018
AMA East ISDE Qualifier
series headed north to the sands
and woods of Battle Creek,
Michigan, April 28-29, where the
Battle Creek M.C. put together
two amazing tests; the cross test
being deep sand and a portion
of the MX track, the enduro test
being fast, but tight woods.
On day one, riders were all
seeded based on class and pre-
entry, but once the racing got un-
derway, the fastest riders quickly
shuffled to the front with Hall's
Cycles GasGas-backed Tyler Vore
setting the pace with nearly 15
seconds on Dover, Ohio's Mike
Pillar and Enduro Engineering's
Talon Soenksen. Once the riders
transitioned to the woods, Vore
would remain out front, but Califor-
nia native AJ Lehr was the
next-closest rider at only
11 seconds behind. And
so it went in every test;
Vore would extend his lead
each pass but the riders
in the next 10 positions
would go back and forth
all day. At the end of day one,
Vore held a two-minute, seven-
second lead over Arkansas native
James King, with Pillar another
four seconds back, followed by
Lehr and Soenksen.
Day two was a repeat of the
first for Vore who extended his
lead, winning every test of the
day. The battle for the last two
spots on the podium was again
between Pillar and King, with it all
coming down to the last enduro
test. The duo finished within 0.03
of a second and the runner-up
honors went to Pillar, with King
finishing third.
In the Qualifier Series, each
day counts as separate points,
so both came out good, but for
the Michigan Sprint Enduro,
which also paid points, the
second day is the tie-breaker, so
Pillar was the overall winner. AJ
Lehr grabbed fourth on the day
with his brother, Drew, finishing
just 30 seconds behind him in
fifth. CN
Tyler Vore
dominated the ISDE
Qualifier in Battle
Creek, Michigan.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
VANESSA
SENYK
cal compounds" (Click here for
details). No penalty was issued
in that incident because the tire
in question was not in AMA Pro
Racing's possession after the
DuQuoin Mile, rather, it was
taken for testing a week later at
the Indy Mile.
At the time, Lock was a series
advisor, but it was a moment that
shaped the tightening of compe-
tition regulations.
This time was different. A
swifter protocol was followed by
the sanctioning body and Mees
was stripped of his Atlanta win,
the points gained, as well as the
purse money associated with
it, and placed on a 12-month
probation. So, instead of leading
the championship going into last
weekend's Texas Half-Mile, he
trailed Kenny Coolbeth Jr. by 11
points.
"Obviously, this is an unfortu-
nate situation," Mees said. "We
understand and respect AFT's
process and are complying with
the decision they have made.
Now we are doing the one thing
we can control: staying com-
pletely focused and prepared for
this weekend's race, and ensur-
ing we continue what has been
a very successful start to this
season."
This mattered not to Mees,
who handily won the Texas race.
Despite his round-two points
deficit, the win allowed Mees to
reclaim a four-point lead in the
series over now second-placed
Henry Wiles.
Andrea Wilson
