Blayne Thompson had a great start to 2016, winning the Adelanto Grand Prix and leading the AMA District 37/Maxxis Grand Prix Series where he ultimately finished second.
He vows to improve on that and demonstrated his resolve by running away with the latest edition of the race hosted by the So Cal Motorcycle Club, the opening round of the AMA District 37/Maxxis Big 6 Grand Prix Series.
“Last year I was holding the championship [points lead] all the way to [round six at] Ridgecrest and my bike blew up,” the Fasthouse Honda rider remembered. “I ended up losing [the championship because of] that, but we’re coming out of here with the points lead again and we’re going to see if we can do it this year.”
The AMA Big 6 West Coast Grand Prix (WCGP) Series feature race saw an unprecedented red flag and subsequent restart after Johnny Campbell Racing (JCR) Honda’s Preston Campbell crashed and suffered a broken femur, scapula and ribs. The local medics responding to that call reportedly insisted that the race be stopped to ensure safety. Since less than half the number of laps had been completed, AMA rules call for a restart, but there wasn’t enough daylight left to finish the race. Thus, officials decided to complete it on Sunday morning, running an hour plus a lap. Riders would be started in the order they were in on lap two—the lap before the red flag—and sent off every five seconds.
Everyone seemed to accept running the rest of the race the next morning, though no one could approach Thompson’s pace. Motocross star Zach Bell held second for much of the race aboard his Ox Motorsports Honda, but with two laps to go, both JCR Honda’s Trevor Stewart and Purvines DA8 Racing Yamaha’s Gary Sutherlin knocked him off the podium to end up second and third, respectively.
Thompson pocketed $1900 of the $7500 total purse and repeated as the King of Adelanto.
In the WCGP Pro II ranks, Fasthouse Yamaha’s Willy Simons, Jr., borrowed a YZ250 and led the field for his first-ever Big 6 Pro triumph, worth $500. CST KTM’s Mitch Anderson earned runner-up honors with Northland Motorsports Kawasaki’s Clay Hengeveld third.
Adelanto proved once again to reward the WCGP Women Pros with more than just the Queen of Adelanto title. In fact, that class’s winner would get $495. While defending Queen of Adelanto Tatum Sik was in the field, neither she nor any of the other women could keep eventual winner Brandy Richards and her JM Racing Yamaha in sight. Sik settled for second with Motoffice KTM’s Britney Gallegos claiming third.
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