Mark Kariya | May 8, 2017
It had to happen eventually and it happened at the Sage Riders Motorcycle Club’s Rockwell Desert Devotional, round five of the Kenda/SRT AMA Hare & Hound National Championship Series.
2017 Jericho National Hare & Hound Results
Taking the lead early, FMF KTM Factory Off-road Racing Team’s Taylor Robert proved to be untouchable after that, cruising to the win at the Little Sahara Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Area in only his fourth-ever H&H National ahead of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Off-road Team’s Jacob Argubright and Purvines DA8 Racing Yamaha-mounted Gary Sutherlin.
With Johnny Campbell Racing (JCR) Honda’s Ricky Brabec a no-show, he forfeited the points lead to Sutherlin, who now leads, 118-115. Argubright remains third with 105. (Though Brabec says he didn’t break any bones in his crash just before the finish of last week’s race—which he still managed to win—it left him in too much pain so he opted to give his reported pinched nerve more time to heal before round six next month.)
“As soon as I got into the lead off the start, I was a little worried because it was really fast and virgin [trails through the sand dunes and grassy sand area]—just kind of stuff I don’t like—but then it started getting into the trees and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so much fun!’ and I just started feeling really good,” the Red Bull/Motorex/Troy Lee Designs 450 XC-F rider exclaimed. “I didn’t really make any mistakes all day except for the last two miles. I lost the course for about 30 seconds or so and I had to turn around and come back to it so that kind of scared me so close to the finish.
“But other than that, I felt good and it feels good to get back up on top that quickly [after my crash a few months ago].”
Argubright shared, “I was running fifth off the start [then] I passed Nick [Burson], I passed Gary. I couldn’t catch [Utah native Skyler Howes]; he was ripping! We were sending these sand dunes, like sending—all of us! They were just like perfect lips and we were just sending it into nothing, which was crazy. I was like, ‘Just ride smart,’ and then Skyler’s bike broke and after that, that’s when I went into second [place].”
Try as he might, though, the Bel-Ray/Dunlop/Fly Racing FX 450-mounted rider couldn’t get close to Robert: “I rode pretty good. Taylor just rode a little bit better. I rode better on the first loop, I think—minus the dust. In the open stuff I was catching him; I’ve got my bike really working well. The same with the third loop. We went five, 10 miles of open stuff and I felt really good, then we got into the trees and he rode a little bit better.”
After three loops of 40, 29 and 32 miles for 101 total miles, Robert took the checkered flag in three hours, 21 minutes and 32 seconds, a minute and 28 seconds ahead of Argubright.
2017 Jericho National Hare & Hound Results
Knowing that Brabec would be absent spurred Sutherlin to put aside his own collection of physical ailments and line up on his John Burr Cycles/Zip-Ty Racing/THOR-backed YZ450FX. The shoulder he’d dislocated two weeks ago at the WORCS race still nagged at him, but there was also the calf that remained swollen and bruised after his crash at the So Cal National six days earlier. And to top it off the night before the Sage Riders race, he came down with whatever sickened daughter Emerie.
In other words, he was a mess.
But with Brabec out for this one, Sutherlin knew this was the perfect opportunity to capitalize and make a change in the points.
“It’s a bummer to see any great competitor out,” Sutherlin said. “Ricky’s the man and he definitely was the guy to beat so I knew coming in here I just had to be smart. I didn’t get to ride [during the week] the last three weeks, actually, and I didn’t know if I could get my boot on [over my calf today] so I had it as loose as I possibly could and crammed it in, took some Ibuprofen and just went for it.
“I knew the start was crucial so I pulled the holeshot to the flags, but I took a bad line on the double road crossing and Taylor jumped the middle; I jumped too far left and the course went kind of right there and he got by me. I wasn’t pushing very hard off the beginning—I was kind of feeling it all out. I dropped a few spots then kind of worked my way up. This place was brutal!”
Sutherlin led a Purvines DA8 3-4-5, with teammates Axel Pearson and Nick Burson trailing him after both had crashes slow them. Burson sits fourth in points at 82 with Pearson fifth with 79, one ahead of Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/Precision Concepts CRF450X-mounted Justin Morgan, who finished sixth on the day.
SRT Yamaha’s Ryan Smith claimed seventh after stopping briefly for a downed rider early followed by Moto Xperts Suzuki’s Cooper Ashton, Stevens Erectors, Inc’ Husqvarna rider Taylor Stevens and City Service Racing Honda-mounted Nic Garvin.
Chidester Transport Racing YZ250 rider Tyler Lynn topped the FMF Pro 250 class for the second time in his career, placing 11th overall, followed a few minutes later by SRT Husqvarna’s Morgan Crawford. Barnes Construction YZ250-mounted Burke Barnes earned third in class, his second time on the podium to date.
In Women A, FMF KTM’s Kacy Martinez-Coy got stuck on one dune off the start but played a quick game of catchup to battle with early leader Kate Schade and Britney Gallegos. Schade reveled in the twisty going through the trees on her Kate’s Real Foods KTM, but Martinez-Coy finally got the upper hand on the last loop for her fourth victory of the season followed by part-time racer Schade and Gallegos.
Click here for complete results.