Mark Kariya | April 10, 2017
2017 Shasta Dam Grand Prix WHS Results – SRT Husqvarna’s Trystan Hart became the fourth different winner in as many rounds as the Kenda/SRT AMA West Hare Scrambles Regional Championship Series visited the Chappie-Shasta Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Area for the Redding Dirt Riders’ Shasta Dam Grand Prix, April 8-9.
2017 Shasta Dam Grand Prix WHS Results
Reigning series champion Nick Burson made a late pass to secure second place; unofficially, that vaults the Purvines DA8 Racing Yamaha team leader to the top of the points table with 81, while Beta’s Max Gerston—who surrendered second place when he slid out just before getting the white flag—finished third and has 79 points.
However, due to a protest by former points leader Joey Fiasconaro against Ty Tremaine, fifth place on will remain unofficial and, thus, the points standings beyond first remain uncertain. If Fiasconaro’s protest is upheld and the Gas Gas rider ends up fifth, he will have 80 points. Otherwise, his sixth on the day will add 15 points to his previous 64, giving him 79 after four rounds.
A deluge on Friday night ensured dust wouldn’t be a problem at the Chappie-Shasta OHV Area, and the 19-mile course the Redding Dirt Riders laid out provided a grand tour of the park, encompassing fire roads, freshly cut single-track and even a stretch of pavement. The race also served as round seven of the AMA District 36 SRT Championship Cross-country Series, Presented by Works Connection, and the AMA D-36 Motion Pro Championship Youth Cross-country Series, Presented by Racer Decal.
When Race Director Brian Garrahan waved the green flag, Gray Area KTM’s Devan Bolin grabbed the holeshot, but it wasn’t long before Burson slipped past on his John Burr Cycles/Precision Concepts/THOR-sponsored YZ450FX.
“I was super-excited. I tried to break away, but we hit the little tight trees and everyone piled up on me,” Burson said. “I blew a corner and Devan got by me, then I was trying to stay with him—he’s so fast through the trees.”
2017 Shasta Dam Grand Prix WHS Results
After a forced off-track excursion let both Maxxis/FMF/RPM Racing KTM’s Ty Tremaine and Gerston slip past, Burson found himself having an up-and-down first half of the race, dropping to an estimated seventh at one point.
“I just put my head down and decided I couldn’t have another bad race so I tried to just cruise through the trees and just pin it in stuff that suits me better,” the eventual runner-up explained. (He was en route to visit his grandfather on the drive up on Friday when he received news that his grandfather passed away unexpectedly that morning, making the weekend emotionally trying.)
Gerston also took a pull at the front of the pack on his Motul/Kenda/Klim-backed 390 RR in the early going. “I’ve been knowing that I can get out front all year and I know I can get out front and win one so it was kind of more like, ‘Finally!’ I’m where I belong and where I should be! ” he shared. “So I’m like, ‘Cool’ I’m going to put down a pace so nobody can follow me’ and I tried to put down a pace. Next thing you know, you’ve got this little Trystan Hart fellow coming up on me hard and I’m like, ‘What got into this guy?’ And I kind of conveniently tipped over and he went right by me.”
That put Hart in front to stay on his Kenda/Motul/O’Neal FX 350, allowing the Canadian to redeem himself after the eighth- and ninth-place finishes at the previous two rounds which he felt weren’t indicative of his potential.
“[Round three at] Gorman was not my style; I wasn’t into that at all,” he declared. “Since I did so bad there, I wanted redemption so I came here because I knew this one was going to be tighter.”
He described his race: “I’ve never been one to be crazy off the start and just hammer everyone, so I got in my groove and on the second lap I started picking people off and that’s just how I do it normally.”
Hart completed that second lap in 45 minutes and 28 seconds—the fastest lap of the race by anyone—and kept a comfortable cushion to the finish over Burson, Gerston and Bolin.
Tremaine crossed the finish fifth, but now awaits a decision by the AMA as to whether that will stand. IRC Tires Gas Gas rider Fiasconaro was sixth to get the checkered flag followed by Yamaha-mounted Justin Bonita, Purvines DA8 Racing Yamaha’s Axel Pearson, SRT KTM’s Steven Godman and SRT Husqvarna rider J.T. Baker, the FMF Pro 250 winner for the third time this season.
2017 Shasta Dam Grand Prix WHS Results
Click here for complete results.