The AMA District 37 Big 6 GP Series, presented by MSR, got back into the swing of things following its summer hiatus, taking to the high desert of Ridgecrest, California for round six of the series at the Desert Empire Fairgrounds, October 1-2. Warm, sunny skies and windy conditions meant a lot of water was being put down by the Viewfinders MC, but despite their best efforts, the high-speed course proved to be dusty and slick, with a high rate of attrition particularly in Saturday afternoon’s West Coast Grand Prix (WCGP) feature race.
In the end, Maxxis RPM/KTM rider Eric Yorba proved to have the most speed and focus, clinching the victory with a smooth race which he led from the first corner to the checkered flag. Behind him, however, the order was shuffled quite a bit before the dust settled.
Ryan Reina got out to a great start on his John Burr Cycles Kawasaki, only to injure his ankle in the first lap. Fasthouse Yamaha rider Blayne Thompson was running strong in the early laps before grenading his YZ450F, and also grenading his lead in the championship with a DNF. Robby Bell had a scary crash on the motocross track, and although he got up and kept going, he opted to pull out of the race when he came in for a pit stop. Bonanza Plumbing KTM’s Gary Sutherlin, who decided to try his hand at a Big 6 GP, was another who retired early, along with Zip Ty Racing’s Dalton Shirey.
Meanwhile Yorba was busy stretching his lead out front.
“After the first lap I was feeling great, just put the hammer down,” Yorba said. “I tried to open up as much a gap as I could. I pit a lap before Bell and Shirey and luckily I was able to get around them even before they pit on the next lap. Unfortunately both of them had some bad luck. After that, I knew I had a bigger gap and rode a smooth race to the end.”
The remaining podium positions went to Justin Seeds and Justin Jones. Seeds, aboard his Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/Precision Concepts Kawasaki put in a strong charge to collect second place, his best finish of the year, which was a welcome turn of events after a disastrous start to his season.
“I’m so stoked, because after two weeks ago at WORCS, I literally had the worst race of my life,” Seeds said. “I had no energy, no drive to do anything and I was just like, ‘man this is going to be a long two hours.’ I was really afraid that how my year was going to end. I decided to go to Eric Yorba’s trainer and I know it doesn’t sound like much, but it gave me a new look at racing. It was exactly what I needed–that mental push. I’m ecstatic right now.”
Jones put his Ox Motorsports Honda on the podium, leading the way for his team ahead of teammates Colton Udall and Mark Samuels, who carded fourth and fifth, respectively. Though Jones had a consistent ride, it wasn’t without incident.
“I had a good pace and I was running Blayne down and I made a bonehead mistake and high-sided,” Jones said. “I just picked myself back up and kept chugging along and consistency paid off when I landed on the podium.”
In the Pro II ranks, Trevor Stewart returned to action after having missed the last two rounds. Stewart took another commanding win, breaking into the top-6 overall in the process.
“They ran the front row pretty close in front of us, so coming into the second turn, I was already making passes into the front row,” Stewart said. “I just did what I could and picked off as many pro riders as I could and just rode a really solid race.”
Despite his wire-to-wire victory, Stewart reported some incidents of his own, and didn’t hesitate to criticize the Ridgecrest course.
“This track was just… it was really bad… that’s the least I can say,” Stewart said. “It was really poorly watered and definitely one of the worst Big 6 tracks I’ve ever ridden. It was just a matter of staying up and not making any mistakes and that’s what I tried to do. I had a couple tip-overs that put me on the ground, but I got back up and did what I could to charge forward.”
Beau Baron and Mitch Anderson rounded out the Pro II podium in second and third, respectively.
In the Women’s Expert division, Tatum Sik was unstoppable, riding to a big win ahead of Gina Alvarez and Mica Diaz.
Other notable winners throughout the weekend included Gordon Ward in the Vet (30+) race. Ward led the charge from the first lap, opening up a mile-long lead over Colton Udall, Beau Baron, Morgan Crawford and Jeff Trulove by the finish.
Jake Alvarez bested Shane Logan and Eric Burdell in Sunday morning’s Supermini class. In the Senior (40+) race, David Glass and Scott Putnam put on quite a show in their two-man battle for the lead. In the end, Glass got Putnam by a split-second for the win.
2016 AMA District 37/MSR Big 6 Grand Prix Series
Ridgecrest, California
Results: October 1-2, 2016
West Coast Grand Prix (WCGP)
1. Eric Yotba-KTM
2. Justin Seeds-Kaw
3. Justin Jones-Hon
4. Colton Udall-Hon
5. Mark Samuels-Hon
6. Michael Del Fante-Yam
7. Benny Breck-Hon
8. Daymon Stokie-Hon
9. Jeremy Newton-KTM
DNF-Blayne Thompson
DNF-Robby Bell
DNF-Dalton Shirey
DNF-Gary Sutherlin
DNF-Kevin Barbosa
DNF-Jeff Loop
DNF-Troy Vainscourt
DNF-Ryan Reina
Pro II
1. Trevor Stewart-Yam
2. Beau Baron-Hon
3. Mitch Anderson-KTM
4. Clay Hengeveld-Kaw
5. Nick Stover-Hus
6. Jarrett Megla-Hon
7. Austin Keys
8. Jacob Clements-KTM
9. Jordan Gamboa-KTM
10. Thomas Harris
Women Expert
1. Tatum Sik-Hon
2. Gina Alvarez-Hus
3. Amanda Boyer-Hon
4. Kelly Barbosa-KTM
5. Lauren Hammond-
6. Stephanie Giroux-KTM
7. Kassie Gray-Kaw
DNF-Kyle Hart
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