After a bad start, Ricky Brabec got the lead late in the first loop and held on to take his second win of the season. Photography by Mark Kariya
Six days and about 600 miles separated rounds four and five of the Kenda/SRT AMA Hare & Hound National Championship Series. That wasn’t much time to get bikes or bodies prepped, but when the checkered flag fell at the end of the Sage Riders National hosted by the Sage Riders Motorcycle Club at the Little Sahara Recreation Area, defending series champ Ricky Brabec led the way—even if he didn’t realize it for a few minutes.
Brabec’s victory also broke him out of the tie for first in series points he’d shared with Ivan Ramirez, the second half of the eight-round series now showing THR Motorsports/Precision Concepts/Bonanza Plumbing-backed Brabec in sole possession of first with 131 points while FMF KTM Factory Off-road Racing Team’s Ramirez has 126.
“The second loop—maybe a quarter way into the [50-mile-long] second loop—I just hit a gnarly wall and I couldn’t read the terrain, I couldn’t read the turns,” Brabec reported. “I definitely made every single mistake you can make in a hare & hound race. I thought Ivan was leading still so I just wanted to finish second and get some points because I wasn’t feeling too well.
“The last five miles, I was on Struggle Street. I fell like three times and my vision got worse. I came in, I was shaking and I had no idea I’d won.”
Brabec had a tough race from the start, as his normally quick-firing FMF/GPR Stabilizers/O’Neal Racing KX450F balked and required several patient kicks while the rest of the first wave left to head out into the Little Sahara Recreation Area’s sand dunes where much of the 50-mile first loop was based.
Up front Utah’s Josh Knight led the charge aboard his ADS Motorsports/Fasst Co./Fly Racing KTM 250 XC.
“I pre-ran it a lot; I probably rode that line five times [in bomb-run practice], and I remember [Kurt] Caselli chose that starting position rather than going on the end,” Knight revealed. “There wasn’t much traffic on there. Nobody really was battling for that line; I had it all to myself, so I had a good jump and I just rode how I know how to ride sand.”
After a few miles, though, Ramirez—last year’s Sage Riders winner—used his experience and the horsepower in his Motorex/Renthal/Red Bull 450 XC-F to get around the teenager with FMF KTM support rider Gary Sutherlin and Brabec also joining the fray at the front.
As the race wore on and they headed out onto the second loop of approximately 50 miles (most of it zig-zagging through the trees up in the hills), Brabec led the way despite his physical issues. Ramirez couldn’t capitalize on any mistakes and settled for second with Sutherlin unable to recreate a ride like the one he’d enjoyed in winning round four, though he got on the box again with his third-place finish.
Knight’s fourth overall handed Dalton Shirey his first loss of the season in the FMF 250cc Pro class with Purvines Racing Beta’s Axel Pearson fifth overall. Zip-Ty Racing Husqvarna’s Shirey rolled in for sixth overall followed by Carson Giles, the third-place FMF 250cc Pro finisher. Blais Racing Services KTM’s Skyler Howes, Brabec’s teammate Max Eddy, Jr., and Open A victor Kyle Tichenor rounded out the top 10.
Sage Riders National Hare and Hound Overall Results:
1. Ricky Brabec (Kaw)
2. Ivan Ramirez (KTM)
3. Gary Sutherlin (KTM)
4. Josh Knight (KTM)
5. Axel Pearson (Bet)
6. Dalton Shirey (Hsq)
7. Carson Giles (Yam)
8. Skyler Howes (KTM)
9. Max Eddy Jr. (Kaw)
10. Kyle Tichenor (Hsq)
