Jean Turner | January 18, 2016
For the second year in a row, the Mavericks Adelanto Grand Prix—hosted by the So Cal Motorcycle Club—exceeded expectations, with well over 1000 riders taking part in the three-day affair that kicked off the AMA District 37/MSR Big 6 Grand Prix Series.
And in the featured AMA Big 6 West Coast Grand Prix (WCGP) Series race-within-a-race, Blayne Thompson (Pro), Jeremy Newton (Pro II) and Tatum Sik (Women Pro) topped their respective classes to earn the biggest chunk of the $7500 purse. Thompson was thus crowned King of Adelanto while Sik was dubbed Queen of Adelanto.
WCGP Pro
Fasthouse Yamaha’s Thompson got the holeshot on his Flo Motorsports/Mom & Dad/Maxxis-backed YZ450F and was never passed, plain and simple.
“We got the start we were looking for last year and we finally got one [today],” he said. “We ended up leading the whole lap and the whole race, and that’s all we were looking for, starting the season out good.
“It was tough [leading the whole race] because I knew there were a lot of big hitters behind me. I knew they were going to try to come and get me, but I just made sure I rode my own [race] and stayed on two wheels so I ended up coming out with the win.”
On the other hand, Zip-Ty Racing Husqvarna’s Dalton Shirey had a very mediocre start before clawing his way through the pack to an eventual second on his Pro Circuit/GPR Stabilizers/Troy Lee Designs FC 450, just 18 seconds behind Thompson.
“I didn’t want to push it because the concrete [start area] was kind of sketchy to me so right when I let off, everyone kind of went by me and I was like, ‘Aw man; I shouldn’t have let off!’ ” he said.
“In the next few corners, I kind of pushed people out of my way and I just worked my way up.”
Arm pump slowed his progress after getting up to second place, preventing him from the steady progress needed to catch Thompson, though missing his pit forced him to throttle back which helped alleviate the condition.
The story was much the same from Rocky Mountain ATV/MC Kawasaki’s Robby Bell and his Precision Concepts/Maxima/MSR KX450F.
“I wheelied like a goon off the start so that’ll look good on the GoPro,” he quipped before continuing, “I got pinched off real quick. I don’t know how far back I was, but I was able to make some passes pretty quick and latched on to Justin Jones and we both made quite a few passes. I actually saw Colton [Udall] wad up pretty good.
“I think I got into third on the second or third lap and wanted to make a charge on Dalton and Blayne; they were like 30 seconds ahead of me. But I just couldn’t quite close the gap; they were riding really, really well.”
Bell finished 54 seconds behind Shirey with Jones DNFing on the second lap. Maxxis/FMF/RPM Racing KTM’s Eric Yorba rode to a solid fourth with Thousand Oaks Powersports Yamaha’s Michael del Fante rounding out the top five.
WCGP Pro II
The WCGP Pro II contest proved to be more hotly contested with three different leaders. In the end, THR Motorsports Yamaha YZ250 rider Jeremy Newton led early and—more important—led late to win his Big 6 debut a week after taking second at the Parker 250.
“[That’s] all fast and wide open, then I got talked into running a Big 6 race,” he pointed out. “This is the complete opposite. It’s really gnarly sand whoops and sand turns and tight EnduroCross sections, but it was a lot of fun! I came out not really expecting much, and I guess I can’t complain with a first.”
Mitch Anderson led the laps on either side of his pit but ultimately finished second Pro II on his CST Tires KTM 250 XC. His CST teammate, Honda CRF250R-mounted Beau Baron, led a lap in the middle of the race but fell in the wood pile portion of the EnduroCross section, forfeiting two spots to secure third in class.
Women Pro
A new class for 2016, the Women Pro division attracted seven competitors with MotorcycleSuperstore.com KTM’s Britney Gallegos setting the pace for the first two laps.
But she went to the pits prematurely and former Women Expert champ Tatum Sik took over from there to the finish aboard her Maxxis/ProTaper/MSR CRF450R.
“It was a hell of a ride!” she exclaimed. “I started out kind of funky and wasn’t really comfortable. I actually thought I had two flat tires and I stopped because I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, what’s wrong with my bike?’
“But I think I was just being a weenie because I started riding again and it was fine then I kind of got into a little groove and I started catching Britney.
“I passed her and then my goal was to not let the Pro guys catch me—just keep charging and charging and charging. Towards the end of the race, I started feeling better and better.”
American Beta EnduroCross specialist Morgan Tanke loved the challenging EX section, of course, and proved fast enough in the other parts to claim second, 11 minutes behind Sik but on the same lap. Zip-Ty Racing Yamaha-mounted Gina Alvarez rounded out the podium.
Results
www.big6racing.com