Mark Kariya | June 12, 2017
2017 X12 Virgin Ground Hare & Hound Results – Utah apparently agrees with FMF KTM Factory Off-road Racing Team desert star Taylor Robert. With back-to-back rounds of the Kenda/SRT AMA Hare & Hound National Championship Series going there for both rounds five and six, Robert walked away the winner of both with his latest triumph X12 Virgin Ground Hare & Hound, hosted by the Buzzards Motorcycle Club, in Plymouth, Utah, June 11. Purvines DA8 Racing Yamaha’s Gary Sutherlin finished second to increase his series points lead, while Tuffy Pearson made his first National start in four years memorable, leading early and eventually taking third.
2017 X12 Virgin Ground Hare & Hound Results
Held entirely on a private ranch, the race was truly run over virgin terrain. With much of the lower portion run on un-mowed fields with tall grass, it led to many of the faster racers riding blind with more than a few hitting unseen obstacles at speed, though when the second and third loops headed into the hills to the west, they found trails freshly cut through sage, faster rocky roads and several challenging climbs and descents—fun stuff.
The start was unlike most Hare & hounds, being run in one of those flat, expansive grass-covered fields. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Off-road Team’s Jacob Argubright, Sutherlin and Tuffy Pearson fought it out through the first two turns with Pearson managing to squirt ahead as they held it wide open along a fence line. Predictably, those following the Pearson Brother Construction/Dynamic Dirt Suspension KTM 450 XC-F swung to both sides of the dust cloud, putting them into the tallest grass which hid several obstacles that ended up catching several by surprise like Morgan Crawford and Nic Garvin, with Crawford’s wrists and bike forcing him to DNF.
A pond caught others including Argubright, Purvines DA8 Racing’s Nick Burson and Chidester Transport Racing’s Tyler Lynn. All suffered terminal engine failures after their bikes drowned when they came upon the pond too fast.
Eventually, the lead pack became brothers Tuffy and Axel Pearson, Robert and Sutherlin with the Pearsons up front through the first lap.
“I held it on as much as I wanted to, safely,” Sutherlin said. “Axel and Tuffy, it was nuts. I’ve never seen anybody go that fast through stuff [where you couldn’t see]. They were pinned!’
“I said, ‘You know what? I’m not going to do anything stupid right now.’ Me and Taylor kind of stayed together and then going out on the second loop in fourth [behind Axel, Tuffy and Robert].”
But the Pearsons’ gambling didn’t pay off with both crashing out of the lead.
Red Bull/Motorex/Troy Lee Designs 450 XC-F rider Robert shared, “I was right behind Tuffy and he flipped over the bars right in front of me. I stopped and asked, ‘Are you okay?’ and he gave me the thumbs up so I took off.
“The same thing happened with his brother, Axel. He must’ve had a pretty good wreck because I saw this big rock that was pulled out [of the ground] and he got up right in front of me so I’m a few bikelengths behind him and, literally, a hundred yards after where he pulled up that big rock, he flipped over the bars again and I think he broke his collarbone.”
That put Robert and Sutherlin out front and they grew their lead over the Pearsons who, in turn, owned a sizable gap over the rest of the field.
“After both of those guys wrecked right in front of me, I was basically just like, ‘All right, I’m going to just trail ride, and honestly, it’s so dusty out here that, hopefully, I can ride whatever pace I want and the guys behind me won’t be able to pass me because it’s so dusty,’ ” Robert said.
“So that was pretty much my [strategy] because I didn’t want to push harder than I needed to out there.
“I couldn’t see the things that they were hitting, either, because they were in the grass.”
Robert completed the three-loop, 77-mile race in two hours, 20 minutes and six seconds.
2017 X12 Virgin Ground Hare & Hound Results
Sutherlin felt the same way, though as the series points leader aboard his YZ450FX he had more to lose: “I got a little closer to him on the third loop but made a big mistake on my part and kind of went off the side of the mountain—had to stop and get the bike turned around. I just lost too much time right there to Taylor. He rode a great race today. Hats off to him coming back from injury and kicking our butts. It’s not fun, of course, getting beat, but at the same time I’m in it for the big picture right now, and you’ve got to put your ego aside and do what’s best for me and do what’s best for our team. I’m happy with second and I look forward to having [defending series champ] Ricky [Brabec] and everybody else back at [the next round].” He finished in 2:21:12.
Tuffy Pearson was as surprised as anyone with his third place in 2:25:53, saying, “The start helped out. I was able to ride smooth after a few mistakes; I crashed on the second lap—that’s how I gave away second. I went back to fourth then I caught Axel—he had crashed—but all in all a good day, just by the end I rode conservatively and got it in for third. I’m super-surprised, actually! I didn’t expect a podium. I was hoping for top 10 and here I am third so yeah, kind of shocking!”
Somehow, Purvines DA8 Racing’s Axel Pearson picked himself up and kept going after his second huge getoff and gritted it out to finish fourth in 2:27:48, suspected cracked collarbone and all. Still feeling the effort from his part on the winning Baja 500 team the week before, Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/Precision Concepts CRF450X rider Justin Morgan claimed fifth in a steady 2:30:21.
Notch Peak Racing KTM 250 XC-F rider Nick Tolman enjoyed a great day, winning the FMF Pro 250 class for the first time and finishing sixth overall in 2:35:19, three minutes ahead of class runner-up and seventh overall Clayton Gerstner, who’s been chasing the GNCCs for the first part of the season and was making his first National start in a couple years.
Senior A winner Cory Pincock earned eighth overall followed by Braydon Bland (third in FMF Pro 250) and SRT Yamaha’s Ryan Smith.
In Women A, Britney Gallegos picked up her second win of the season aboard her Ryno Power/FMF/Bell Helmets KTM 250 XC-F followed by hare & hound debutante Brandi Richards and FMF KTM’s Kacy Martinez-Coy, who remains the class points leader.
Mark Kariya
2017 X12 Virgin Ground Hare & Hound Results