Reigning Hare & Hound champ Roicky Brabec overcomes van trouble and gains a clear point advantage with win in Jericho, Utah.
If you’ve ever had car trouble on the way to work or a job interview or something important, you know how quickly desperation sets in.
Now imagine that you’re on the way to race where you’re locked in a tight battle for the championship and your van begins acting up, almost doubling an eight-hour drive and casting doubts on your ability to even attend said race. That’s the predicament reigning Kenda/SRT AMA Hare & Hound National Champion Ricky Brabec faced going into round five of the series, the Sage Riders Motorcycle Club’s Sage Rider National in Jericho, Utah, but somehow he pulled himself together and scored an important victory.
“My van was in limp mode the entire way up and [we] stopped multiple times to try and fix different things on it, replacing part for part,” Brabec said. “Got there at 8:30 Friday night, literally went to bed, woke up [and] went racing.”
Brabec’s troubles didn’t end with his arrival, as a multiple-kick effort at the start of the race doomed him to playing catch-up while championship rival Ivan Ramirez enjoyed a much better start and challenged early leader Josh Knight immediately.
“After that, I don’t know where I was at the end of the bomb, but I just kind of kept plucking my way through the pack,” Brabec said.
While the THR Motorsports/Precision Concepts/Bonanza Plumbing-backed Brabec was coming through the pack, Utah’s own Knight continued to run at or near the front despite the supposed handicap of being on a 250cc two-stroke; his performance also putg him at the front of the FMF 250cc Pro division.
Eventually, the lead pack winnowed itself down to FMF/KTM factory rider Ramirez, FMF/KTM support rider Gary Sutherlin, Brabec and Knight. And yet again, Brabec ran into trouble.
“The second loop—maybe a quarter way into the [50-mile-long] second loop—I just hit a gnarly wall and I couldn’t read the terrain,” Brabec said. “I couldn’t read the turns. I definitely made every single mistake you can make in a hare & hound race. I thought Ivan was leading still so I just wanted to finish second and get some points because I wasn’t feeling too well. The last five miles, I was on Struggle Street. I fell like three times and my vision got worse. I came in, I was shaking, and I had no idea I’d won.”
But win he did, joining Sutherlin as the only two-time winner so far.
After winning at the Jericho round last year, Ramirez was ready for a repeat, but his effort was derailed when he momentarily got lost on the 50-mile first loop. After that, heavy dust made passing difficult, and he had to settle for second place. Despite the disappointment of letting the win get away, Ramirez was still optimistic after the race.
“It was a good day,” he said. “I’m healthy, and I just got to be consistent and keep moving forward.”
But Ramirez’s runner-up finish gave Brabec sole possession of the series point lead, with 131. Ramirez is now five points back at 126 with three rounds remaining. And as the second half of the season unfolds.
As for eventual third-place Sutherlin, the winner of rounds one and four confessed, “I’ve been struggling a little bit. The first 10, 15 miles of the first loop I’ve been riding pretty timid. I have zero excuses. A lot of guys make excuses when they get second or third. Plain and simple, these guys rode better than me today and I got beat. I have nothing to be ashamed of today; I rode good, I got third and I’m happy with it and healthy.”
Knight held on for fourth overall and easily landed the FMF 250cc Pro win on his ADS Motorsports KTM 250 XC, handing Zip-Ty Racing Husqvarna’s Dalton Shirey his first class defeat of the season. Though Knight isn’t chasing the championship, he proved he could run the pace after his career-best overall, crediting extensively practicing his line on the bomb and also remembering that the late Kurt Caselli made that line work well a few years ago.
Purvines Racing Beta’s Axel Pearson rode to fifth overall followed by Shirey, third-placed FMF 250cc Pro Carson Giles, Blais Racing Services KTM’s Skyler Howes, Brabec’s teammate Max Eddy, Jr., and Open A winner Kyle Tichenor.
The next round of the Kenda/SRT AMA Hare & Hound National Championship Series is scheduled to take place in Snowville, Utah, June 6-7.
2015 Kenda/SRT AMA Hare & Hound National Championship Series
Sage Riders M.C. Hare & Hound
Little Sahara OHV Area
Jericho, Utah
Results: May 2, 2015 (Round 5 of 10)
1. Ricky Brabec-Kaw (first Pro)
2. Ivan Ramirez-KTM
3. Gary Sutherlin-KTM
4. Josh Knight-KTM (first 250)
5. Axel Pearson-Bet
6. Dalton Shirey-Hus
7. Carson Giles-Yam
8. Skyler Howes-KTM
9. Max Eddy Jr.-Kaw
10. Kyle Tichenor-Hus (first A Open)
2015 Kenda/SRT AMA Hare & Hound National Championship Series Point Standings (After 5 of 10 rounds)
1. Ricky Brabec-131/2 wins
2. Ivan Ramirez-126/1 win
3. Axel Pearson-83
4. Gary Sutherlin-81/2 wins
5. Skyler Howes-74
6. Dalton Shirey-72
7. David Kamo-60
8. Nick Burson-52
9. Justin Morgan-49
10. Colton Udall-44
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