Press Release | November 16, 2018
Round 3 of AMRA Championship Series in Oracle, Arizona
2018-19 AMRA Series, Round 3, Freedom Hare Scrambles, Oracle, Arizona, November 11, 2018
This is a race report provided by AMRA
Story and Photos by Jonathan Barrett
The Arizona Motorcycle Riders Association Championship series presented by MotoCity Anthem brought riders to 3C Ranch in Oracle, Arizona for the round-three stop for big bikes, and round-two stop for the minis. Xtreme MC hosted the event with more than 60 volunteers sweeping, flagging and scoring. With a cool 60 degrees throughout the day, the weather was perfect for riders to test their skills on the tight, technical course. Racing through deep canyons, inclines and declines, all racers from the Pro class to the C class were challenged.
The AA (Pro) class was up first, with Nick Gabbert taking the holeshot award, sponsored by AAA Insurance of Arizona, on his FAZT-sponsored Yamaha 250. After the great start, Gabbert fell back as the Team Topar-backed/Hard Enduro Outfitters Sherco 300 SEF of Zack Brawner took over the lead after the treacherous A line, scaling a huge incline with off-camber sections all around. Second was taken by the Team Topar/AZ Dirtbike Training KTM of Ryan Wells, and third was held by the DA8 Training KTM of Cody Miller, competing in his first off-road race in years, coming off a solid season of EnduroCross.
After four laps, Wells took over first place, and second was held by the Team Topar/ Hard Enduro Outfitters Sherco 450 of Mitch Carvolth, racing his first race in the USA in three months after competing in Germany for a Hard Enduro. Brawner took over third, which he held until the checkered flag. Carvolth took the Fastest Lap award, sponsored by Avalon Development, alongside his third place, and all three of them would split the $1700 Pro purse sponsored by Realty Providers. Top 10 finishes are as follows: Ryan Wells, Mitch Carvolth, Zack Brawner, Cody Miller, Alec Brawner, Jim Herrero, Nick Gabbert, Austin Evans and Nick Brawner.
In Open A, the AEO Powersports KTM of Nick Fouts held the lead every lap and took the victory, with Zach Peterson’s Yamaha coming in second, and the MotoCenter-sponsored GasGas of James Flynn taking a third-place finish. Drey Lacroix brought his GasGas to a fourth-place finish, with the Flo Motorsports/Blud Lubricants KTM of Travis Azure taking fifth.
The 250 A class had Noah Tidball taking his KTM to the top spot, with Michael Peristere’s AZ Motorcycle Services Yamaha and Hunter Lamca’s MotoCity Yamaha in second and third place, respectively. Kyler Heimer’s Eagle Safety Training/TearOff Products-backed KTM 200 took first in the 200A class and a mid-pack finish overall.
The 30+ A class showed the strength of Wayne Dickert’s Team Topar/Hard Enduro Outfitters Sherco, battling with Todd Jarman’s MotoCenter KTM and ultimately taking the win. Jarman took second and Brett Kimbal’s Team Kimbal Preferred Professionals Husqvarna landed in third.
In the 40+A, Hanover Powersports KTM-rider Philip Carlin took the win, with the Team Topar KTM of Tim Wussow in second and the MotoCity KTM of Paul Jones taking third. Top 10 finishes are as follows: Philip Carlin, Tim Wussow, Paul Jones, Stuart Hammer, Steve Schaeffer, Frevent Millet, Dave Sloan, Tony Jewell, Vance Kennedy and Carl Westphal. Hans Bindels and Mark Buckholz took first and second, respectively, in 50+A.
In Open B, Kyler Horton led every lap on his way to a first-place finish, with Jacob Ellison in second and Thomas Parrella in third. Top 10 finishes are as follows: Kyler Horton, Jacob Ellison, Thomas Parrella, Noah Stokey, Jordan Luke, Nathan Berger, Beau Law, Don Schroeder, Lars Briedis and Zack Russack.
In 250B, the Flo Motorsports KTM of Cole Cherick led every lap and put an extra lap on everyone else on his way to a win, with Logan Leech and Tim Wagenseller in third. Austin Bott took a fifth-place finish in his first AMRA race on his DA8 Training/CMPFoto Yamaha 250. In 200B, Caleb Lamca and Michael MacLean came in first and second.
In 30+B, Jonathan Buchanan took the win with Michael King and Benjamin Cole taking second and third, respectively. Top 10 finishes were Jonathan Bachanan, Michael King, Benjamin Cole, Nick Fisher, Jeff Baker, Christopher Markle, Moshe Peled, Ran Hezkiahu, Brent Quillin and Phil Gerlings.
In 40+B, Brian Moffett took the win with Jeremy Giroir and Ryan McClenahan taking second and third. Top 10 finishes were as follows: Brian Moffett, Jeremy Giroir, Ryan McClenahan, Shawn Barney, Jim Flynn, Steve Keller, David Croteau, Mark Houlden, Andrew Smallhouse and Ben Trapp. In 50+B, Kyle Fondurulia took the win followed by JB Stuart and Stacy Lewis. In 60+B, Allen Poore took the win with six laps and one lap ahead of second-placed John Cooper and third-placed Mike Mcdaniel. In Women’s B, the Klim/FMF Bailey Lerwill took the win ahead of Daiana Trapp.
Open C brought Kevin Bradley to the top spot ahead of David Tavares and James Morris. Top 10 finishes w Kevin Bradley, David Tavares, James Morris, Shon Reim, Kristopher Farmer-Samford, Tristen Bell, Michael Ebert, Joshua Kirk, Nick Carpenter and Brent Phillips.
In 250C, Craig Johnson grabbed the top spot ahead of Kaden Bedlion and Richard Evans. Top 10 were as follows: Craig Johnson, Kaden Bedlion, Richard Evans, Matthew Brunskill, Erik Johnson, Yohaly Hernandez, Michael Mishler, Zach Griswold, Tyler Ehly and Austin Whitehead.
The 200C class had a podium of Deegan Bauch, Kaelyn King and Jacob Campbell. 30+C had Garrett Anderson win with Justin Martin and Andrew Boyd trailing. 40+C had Justin Kuffel come from a sixth-place start to a last-lap pass for first and take the win, with Robert Tremp in second and Alvaro Mendoza in third. Top 10 were Justin Kuffel, Robert Trempm Alvaro Mendoza, Robert Blank, Diego Mendoza, Anthony Craighill, Joe Kamai, Chris Bouchard, Jasper Simmons and Nicholas Fieldson.
The 50+C had Brian Craze take the win, with Thomas Brown and Michael Perry in third. 60+C had William Ebert take the win over Mark Koenig. Women’s C had Catalina Springstroh take the win, with Brea Core, Tracy Evans and Alysa Monahan trailing behind. Youth C had the Supermini winner Dominic Craighill win yet again with Ruffin Dodson and Jeremy Anderson Jr. trailing behind for a second and third, repectively.
Round 2 of AMRA Mini Championship Series
The 2018-2019 Fly Racing Mini Series had its round-two stop in Oracle, AZ at 3C Ranch. The minis came to battle on the fast-flowing loop with a long uphill climb, a grass section through the trees, and an even longer downhill section.
The 50cc 4-6 Year Old class lined up with Sean Riddle, Miles Mcneil and Emmitt Stoflet. Riddle rode great all race on his GasGas electric bike taking the win with a lap ahead of second-placed Mcneil and third-placed Stoflet. Riddle’s brother Kyle rode his GasGas electric bike in the 50cc 7-8 Year Old class and beat second-placed Corey McGowan.
In the 65cc 7-8 Years Old class, it was all Deegan Fox on his KTM 65, putting three laps on second-placed Drake Powell and his KTM. Third-placed Finnigan Masten rode well on his KTM, as well.
In the 65cc 10-11 Year Old class, the riders took on most of the big course, winding through the tight, technical track. Jesse Blevins-Heck took the win ahead of the DA8 Training Husqvarna of Colton Calmes and third-placed Johnny Smallhouse. The 85cc 9-11 Year Old class had Jackson Powell take first on his KTM 85 ahead of Jace Vogt’s KTM and Kayden Sanders’s Yamaha. The 85cc 12-14 Year Old brought Jeremiah Campbell’s Honda to the top spot with Ruffin Dodson’s Husqvarna and Matthew Trapp’s KTM.
The Supermini class had Dominic Craighill and Chase Haynes battling on lap one, but Craighill quickly took the lead and maintained it until the checkers came out. Haynes would take second and Shayne Bruno took third for a Kawasaki sweep of the podium.
Overall top 10 for the big course riders are as follows: Dominic Craighill, Jeremiah Campbell, Ruffin Dodson, Chase Haynes, Matthew Trapp, Jesse Blevins-Heck, Colton Calmes, Shayne Bruno, Johnny Smallhouse and Jackson Powell.
The round three stop of AMRA Championship series proved to be a rough and technical race with many challenges throughout., and minis had a variety of challenges at the round-two stop of the Fly Racing Mini Series and showed that the future of off-road racing is promising.
Next stop for AMRA is the Big 6 GP in Lake Havasu City on December 8-9. More info at AMRARacing.com