Mark Kariya | June 7, 2021
2021 Glen Helen 10 Hour Endurance Results. After battling back and forth with seemingly perennial winners Chaparral Motorsports/Precision Concepts Kawasaki, the 3 Bros./Kilmartin Racing GasGas trio of Colton Aeck, Giacomo Redondi and Nick Stover pounced with a little over an hour to go to secure victory at the 3 Bros. 10-hour Endurance Race, round two of the 3 Bros. Endurance Series at Glen Helen Raceway Park, June 5-6.
As defending series champs, the eventual winners faced formidable opposition not just from the Kawasaki-mounted trio of JP Alvarez, Robby Bell and Trevor Stewart, but nine additional squads in the AA Open class that featured a $1500 Pro purse, courtesy of Kilmartin Racing.
In perhaps a preview of things to come, Aeck led the way off of the Talladega first turn when the green flag waved for the AA Open line at 4:00 p.m., despite limited experience with dead-engine starts. Close behind Aeck and the Factory Connection/Blud Lubricants/Dunlop EX 450F was the 3 Bros./Kilmartin Racing KTM with Shane Logan aboard.
Stewart, on the other hand, had a terrible start but started making passes quickly with the Cryo Heat/VP Racing Fuels/Hoosier Tires KX450X. Unfamiliar with the course on the opening lap, he and Logan tangled in one section with Logan getting the worst of it but eventually continuing to place sixth in class with partners Brandon Gravley and Hayden Hintz.
Stewart wasn’t done yet as he charged all the way into the lead by the end of the lap and the guys on green pulled a gap of up to 25 seconds, though they couldn’t completely shake the GasGas riders.
Later, Stover inadvertently moved over on Bell just before the scoring chute with both riders going down and Bell got up quicker to retake the lead.
“In the daytime it seemed like we were more or less evenly matched,” Bell said. “We held the lead for maybe the first half of the daytime then they got into the lead and held it to just before dusk. We were pretty evenly matched and thought, ‘Oh man, it’s going to be a race come night time!’”
As it grew darker, however, the Kawasaki squad appeared to have a slight edge. “Either our [light] setup or just our speed in general was a little better at night,” Bell said.
“We had a little adjustment period going into the night [portion],” Stover admitted.
It was not only Redondi’s first time racing at night but his first true, American-style endurance race, so he had much to learn. “In Europe there are 10- and 12-hour races, but you have a special test then a transfer [the whole time],” he said. “It’s different than this [style of going hard the whole time]. The first lap in the night, I was a little bit like on the brakes, we can say.
“The second time, I was good. I was more or less doing the same lap time as the other guys.”
Among the issues the Kilmartin/3 Bros. team dealt with were a sliced tire and loose chain adjuster/rear axle, though those were handled without incident.
“I got on the bike for the last stint just over a lap down and the second lap through I get a pit board, and I couldn’t quite read what it said,” Stover said. “All I saw was ‘Kawi’ and it looked like ‘blew up’ and I wasn’t sure. It seemed like wishful thinking. Then I came around for my third lap and all of a sudden, the pit board read ‘P-1, drop the hammer!’”
Entering the truck track, which was near the end of each lap, Bell noticed a slight change in sound but dismissed it until a few corners later. “I felt it and I was like, ‘No—there’s no way!’ Then all of a sudden, the bike stopped, and I had to push it back from the truck track uphill in the sand wash. It was rough!”
Fortunately, crew chief Phil Valdez suggested switching to the backup bike in the impound area. It would need lights transferred and a battery to power them, but it was doable, and they were able to get it done without losing too much time. Stewart was tapped to take the final couple laps with the monumental goal of getting their lost lap back and then some.
As Stover said, “Trevor ended up getting me on the second-to-last lap [thus unlapping himself] right before the finish. He was moving! I thought we’d lost the win at that point.”
But there wasn’t enough time for the Precision Concepts team to retaliate and they had to settle for second this time. “Honestly, too, for having that happen, a 43-minute lap and still potentially finish on the lead lap—it was a short lap, too [compared to most in the series]—it was pretty impressive pit work and goes to show the position we were in before the issue happened,” Bell said.
The Thomas Dunn/Tyler Nicholson/Clayton Roberts trio took third AA Open on their Factory Backing KTM 300 XC.
Due to a database crash on the final lap, further results are pending.
3 Bros. Endurance Series
Round 2
Glen Helen Raceway
San Bernardino, California
RESULTS (June 5-6, 2021)
OVERALL (Top 3)
1. |
Colton Aeck, Giacomo Redondi, Nick Stover |
(GG) |
2. |
Robby Bell, JP Alvarez, Trevor Stewart |
(Kaw) |
3. |
Thomas Dunn, Tyler Nicholson, Clayton Roberts |
(KTM) |
Click here for complete Glen Helen 10 Hour Endurance results