Mark Kariya | March 6, 2017
2017 Glen Helen Bi6 Grand Prix Results – If anyone had doubts about Zach Bell’s win at round two of the AMA District 37/Maxxis Big 6 Grand Prix Series being a matter of luck, he erased those doubts at round three by leading every lap at Glen Helen Raceway, March 4-5, and stretching his points lead in the AMA Big 6 West Coast Grand Prix (WCGP) Series (a series within a series). The Ox Motorsports Honda rider won the 90-minute feature race by 28 seconds over Johnny Campbell Racing (JCR) Honda’s Trevor Stewart, while defending series champion Eric Yorba enjoyed his first trouble-free race of the year to claim third.
2017 Glen Helen Bi6 Grand Prix Results
Bell didn’t lead the entire way, though, as Stewart got to the first turn with a slight edge aboard his Lucas Oil/Maxxis/Fly Racing CRF450RX ahead of Bell, Yamaha-mounted Deagan Von Lossberg, Fasthouse Honda’s Blayne Thompson, John Burr Cycles Yamaha’s Jeff Loop, JCR Honda’s Benny Breck, Yorba and the rest of the field to collect the $100 holeshot award.
By the end of the first lap, though, Bell had his Monster Energy/Lava Propane/MSR-backed CRF450X in front, controlling the race from there to the finish.
“I made some good passes about halfway through the first lap,” Bell said. “I knew I had to make them before we got to the ridge because it was dusty up there, so I put a hard charge in, got past Stewart and just kind of sprinted out. That put me in a good position so I could kind of relax and just check myself out and see what I could do to make me go faster or slower at different points. I got off to a good lead, rode my own race and had a smile on my face the entire time.”
Stewart said, “I was trying to keep on his tail, but he was just riding such a solid race. Once we hit those ridges, it was absolutely no vision so it was tough, for sure. Then he ended up getting stuck behind some lappers going down Boy Scout [trail] and I was able to get right up on him. Unfortunately, a lapper kind of took me off the track a little bit and [Bell] ended up pulling back away from me.”
2017 Glen Helen Bi6 Grand Prix Results
Unofficially, Stewart now moves up to second in points behind Bell, 78-64.
FMF/Maxxis/RPM Racing KTM’s Yorba found himself in third early on but unable to close the gap on the front two, so he gambled and decided to go the entire 90 minutes without a pit stop for his Motorex/DP Brakes/Klim-sponsored 450 XC-F. Though he came up 14 seconds shy of Stewart, he still saw the result as vindication.
“This was definitely a turnaround race for me,” he said. “My year’s just been off to a rough start both in the WORCS series and here in the Big 6.
Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/Precision Concepts Kawasaki’s Robby Bell came through the pack from a poor start to end up fourth, with Thompson reportedly having an equipment issue that forced him back to fifth for the day, unofficially dropping from second to third in points with 61, with Bell slipping from third to fourth with 58. On Sunday, though, Thompson dominated Heavyweight Expert for the second round in a row.
2017 Glen Helen Bi6 Grand Prix Results
Loop, Justin Seeds, Michael del Fante, Mark Samuels and Travis Damon rounded out the top 10 overall.
In the WCGP Pro II class, reigning champ Beau Baron came from behind to claim his second consecutive victory aboard his CST Tires Honda CRF250R, finishing 12th overall. Early leader Mitch Anderson settled for second, 13 seconds behind on his CST Tires KTM 250 XC and 13th overall, while Northland Motorsports KX250F-mounted Clay Hengeveld ended up third in class and 14th overall after following Baron through the pack.
Brandy Richards remained undefeated in WCGP Women Pro, this time riding a nearly stock Bell Helmets WR450F, with Lauren Hammond second on her Rocky Mountain ATV-MC CRF250R.
Click here for complete results.