Coaxed out of retirement just a couple of months ago, Jeff Ward put his Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull Honda into the winners circle at the opening round of the XTRM/AMA Supermoto Championship at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, on Sunday, March 22.

On a twisty and challenging course, Ward got out in front early in the Premier final,but was passed by fast-qualifier Mark Burkhart on the newly formed HMC/Burkhart Racing KTM. That was short-lived, however, when Burkhart slid out in a minor fall on the second lap, putting Ward back in the lead and Burkhart in 12^th place.

From there, Ward led every lap of the race, while Burkhart spent the rest of the 22-lap race weaving his way up through the field. When all was said and done, Ward had taken the win ahead of French rider Sylvain Bidart, while Burkhart had worked his way all the way up to third to get on the podium.

A happy Ward admitted that he didn’t expect to win.

“Mark’s a tough competitor and he’s always fast,” Ward said. “I don’t think I’m always the fastest guy out there, but I seem to be pretty steady and try to minimize my mistakes and that always seems to put me there at the end. That’s always been my strategy.”

Despite falling, Burkhart was pleased to get out of it with a third-place finish.

“It was the slowest fall I think I’ve ever taken,” Burkhart said. “I knew I had the speed, I just needed to get a good start and get out in front, but I just fell and had to come back.

Bidart, who is new to the series, took advantage of a good start and latched on to Ward’s rear wheel and followed him the whole race.

“I knew that Jeff is incrediably fast; he’s a big hero of mine and it was an honor to be racing against him,” Bidart said through a translater. “I was afraid the tire would go away so I wanted to just save second place.”

In the Unlimited class, Jagermeister KTM’s Kurt Nicoll (pictured, left) took the win over defending class champion Steve Drew. Drew led much of the race until Nicoll pressured him into a mistake in the whoop section, where he got out of control and went off the course. Drew re-entered the course in second, pushed Nicoll the rest of the way but Nicoll held on for the win.

Husaberg rider Monte Frank finished third.

KTM/MDK’s Matt Burton win the Lites final after an exciting race. He and early leader Dan Casey battled for a while until the two rubbed elbows exciting a turn that left Casey on the ground. Burton went on to win, while Casey managed to recover in time to salvage third.

Second place went to Joey Pascarella who toughed out the day with a broken wrist, which he injured in a fall during a rainy practice session.Rain was a factor early in the morning, but by the time the main events came around, the sun was shining and the track was dry.