The desert offers some brutal conditions at times and Mother Nature demonstrated her nasty side at the Shamrock’s Motorcycle Club’s State Line Grand Prix in Primm, Nevada, round five of the AMA District 37/Maxxis Big 6 Grand Prix Series.
For Saturday with it’s 90-minute AMA Big 6 West Coast Grand Prix (WCGP) Series feature race, relentless high-speed winds vacuumed every ounce of water the club had dropped on the course during the week, making for simply awful conditions to either ride or watch. Knowing this, Fasthouse Honda rider Blayne Thompson clarified his game plan. The winner of the opening round had endured a series of bad luck and disappointing results in the interim, and he shared his perspective on that.
“You always want to win, but this time I had to make sure I had the win out here,” Thompson said. “The other ones, I was going, ‘All right, we know we have the speed and everything,’ but this one we made sure we had to get it. We had a good start and I knew the dust would be a factor with everybody so that’s what I focused on, was a good start.
“Me and [Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/Precision Concepts Kawasaki’s] Justin Seeds got out front early,” Thompson continued. “I don’t know when he fell back a little bit, but we got up front and got out of the dust so it helped us a lot.”
Indeed it did as he led most of the way, keeping Ox Motorsports Honda’s just behind him. At the finish, Thompson stretched his lead to 20 seconds over Zach Bell while Maxxis/FMF/RPM Racing KTM’s Eric Yorba, the current Big 6 series champ, recovered from a bad start to earn third. Seeds held on for a close fourth while Johnny Campbell Racing (JCR) Honda’s Trevor Stewart ended up fifth.
Unofficially, that puts Bell at 124 points in the Big 6 series points standings, with Stewart remaining second at 105. Thompson leapfrogs up to third at 91 ahead of Yorba (83) and Seeds (82).
In WCGP Pro II action, Maxxis/FMF/RPM Racing KTM’s Dante Oliveira made a winning series debut, though it was a close one with CST KTM rider Mitch Anderson just five seconds behind at the finish after recovering from a small crash. Northland Motorsports Kawasaki’s Clay Hengeveld finished third. Unofficially, that moves Anderson into the class points lead past previous leader and CST teammate, Honda rider Beau Baron who was fourth today, 113-112.
2017 AMA District 37/Maxxis Big 6 Grand Prix Series
Shamrocks Motorcycle Club’s State Line Grand Prix
Primm, Nevada
Results: May 6, 2017 (Round 5 of 8)
WCGP Pro
1. Blayne Thompson-Hon
2. Zach Bell-Hon
3. Eric Yorba-Hon
4. Justin Seeds-Kaw
5. Trevor Stewart-Hon
6. Travis Damon-Hon
7. Ryan Reina-Kaw
8. Mark Samuels-Hon
9. Michael Del Fante-Yam
10. Justin Wallis-Bet
WCGP Pro II
1. Dante Oliveira-KTM
2. Mitch Anderson-KTM
3. Clay Hengeveld-Kaw
4. Beau Baron-Hon
5. Chance Fullerton-Yam
6. Kake Alvarez-Hus
7. Collin Elliott-Yam
8. Trevor Hunter-Yam
9. Jacob Clemets-Bet
10. Jordan Gamboa-KTM
For more results, visit http://www.moto-tally.com/d37/gp/results.aspx
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