Mark Kariya | June 3, 2021
Austin Serpa Tops Timber Mountain West Hare Scrambles
The last time Kenda KTM rider Austin Serpa stood atop a premier-class podium at a major race was back in 2018 when he emerged triumphant at a WORCS event.
“I got a bunch of podiums in 2019—I just never won. Then I got a bunch of podiums in 2020 before I got shoulder surgery; I just never won,” he said.
Since then, he’s enjoyed a few others victories in the 250cc division, which he’s concentrated on, but he looked forward to another win on his 450. Serpa finally made it happen at the Timber Mountain Hare Scramble hosted by the Motorcycle Riders Association (MRA) in Jacksonville, Oregon, May 29-30, that served as round three of the AMA West Hare Scrambles Regional Championship Series, Presented by MojoMotoSport—just his second start of the season. Joining him on the podium were Fun Country KTM teammates Blake Best who led most of the afternoon before sliding out on the final lap and third-place Chase Larson who remains the points leader over the surging Serpa, 57-55.
The race didn’t start well for Serpa, however. He found himself somewhat distracted by the canon shot that signaled the start and instead waited for the green flag to wave while Larson got the early lead aboard his Watachi Racing/PDR Suspension Technologies/Fly Racing 450 XC-F.
“Honestly, it was my race to lose,” Larson recounted. “I got a good start and I had it all—I was leading, [had] clear air and just made a mistake and went down. First, Blake got by me then Serpa was behind me so I was trying to make it as dusty as I could behind me and keep him back (laughs), but I ended up blowing another corner and he ended up getting by me so I kind of stopped pushing and tried to stay consistent and ride my own race and stay on two wheels.”
That put Best in the driver’s seat in clean air (until he began to catch lappers) on his Kreft/DeVol/Fly Racing 350 XC-F. Halfway through, he stretched his lead to almost a minute and a half over Serpa before dropping his bike on the last lap.
“I’m pretty disappointed, to say the least,” Best lamented. “I came out today really wanting to win and really doing good. Being the Washington native, I thought I had a real chance out here in the woods.”
Serpa admitted, “I was getting close to him, and I was getting in his dust, and I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know if I can make a pass—it’s really dusty!’ Then I came around a turn on one of the fire roads and he had slid out and fell over so I was able to sneak by him, too, which I was pretty stoked about.”
Coming off a decent start, Devin Watson worked his way up through the pack all afternoon aboard his M9 Suspension/Landshapers LLC/O’Neal Racing-backed 350 XC-F, ultimately finishing 13 seconds behind Best for fourth.
For the third round in a row, 3 Bros./Kilmartin Racing KTM’s Shane Logan took the Pro 250 win, though this time he had to come from behind after a poor start on his Pump Check/Factory Connection/FXR 250 XC.
However, he didn’t stay in back for long. After trailing holeshot winner Kyle Kerling for a lap, Logan made the pass and in the middle portion of the race was actually running fourth overall just behind Best. On the final lap, Logan lost that spot to Watson and settled for fifth overall, comfortably ahead of sixth—Open A winner Cody James and his 707 Suspension/Bridgestone/Answer Racing Beta 300 RR.
Pro 250 runner-up Dillon Sheppard relished getting back into the admittedly dry woods trails aboard his 707 Racing/MCMA/K&B Motorsports YZ250FX, finishing seventh overall followed by Beta’s Cole Conatser who lost touch with the lead pack after reportedly falling and suffering an arm injury. Open A riders Jared Snetsinger and Jarod Lee rounded out the top 10 overall.
Having skipped the first round, Serpa’s record of 2-1 finishes on his Carson City Motorsports/Chick-Fil-A/Moose Elite 450 XC-F gives him plenty of momentum going into round four in Bellingham, Washington, which promises to be the first wet race of the season. At this writing, it’s reportedly still flooded at the venue.
- Austin Serpa (KTM)
- Blake Best (KTM)
- Chase Larson (KTM)
- Devin Watson (KTM)
- Shane Logan (KTM)
- Cody James (Bet)
- Dillon Sheppard (Yam)
- Cole Conatser (Bet)
- Jared Snetsinger (She)
- Jarod Lee (Hon)