No stranger to the trails around Gorman, Nick Burson set the fast time in eight of the 12 tests over the weekend, easily winning both days, though he doesn’t plan to head to France. PHOTO BY MARK KARIYA.
It wasn’t a big surprise to see Purvines DA8 Racing Yamaha’s Nick Burson atop the charts both days at the Ventura County Motorcycle Club’s Hungry Valley Quali-FIRE, the first round in the revamped and rejuvenated AMA West ISDE Qualifier Regional Championship Series.
Though he has no plans to go to the ISDE in France later this year, Burson used an otherwise free weekend to stay sharp, taking both the E2 (250cc two-stroke/450cc four-stroke) and overall victories aboard his Yamaha YZ450FX.
What was surprising was seeing FMF KTM Factory Off-road Racing Team EnduroCross star Cody Webb line up for his first-ever Qualifier aboard his 300 XC-W practice bike. Unlike Burson, Webb plans to ride the series with an eye toward being chosen for a Club team, and he took a big step toward that goal by winning the E3 (500cc two-stroke/650cc four-stroke) category and taking second overall behind Burson on both days at the Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area (SVRA) in Gorman, California.
Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/Precision Concepts Honda rider Justin Morgan took third overall and second E2 on both days as he also hopes to earn a spot on Team USA in France.
About 300 total entries over the two days from all over California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington lined up in nearly perfect riding conditions for the chance to be one of those chosen few. To be part of the team, a rider will have to perform well in at least four days of either the East or West ISDE Qualifiers, both of which feature three two-day events.
Webb actually got the early lead when he blitzed the first special test of the weekend in the fastest score/time of 270 points/seconds followed by Morgan’s 273 and Burson’s 274. Though Burson knows most of the Gorman trails extremely well from his days as a test rider for Kawasaki, being the first rider out wasn’t as much of an advantage as usual due mostly to the rising sun being directly in his eyes. Webb was on row 14, plus he was reportedly the only one who’d walked the test on Friday.
“For me the first test both days, I struggled a little bit because it always takes me a little bit to get going, especially because they were right out of the gate,” Burson said.
After that, though, Burson took control and over the two days with 12 total tests (three laps of a 20-mile loop on Saturday and a slightly shorter loop run backwards on Sunday, each loop featuring two tests), topped eight of those tests while Webb won four in his impressive Qualifier debut.
“To be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect,” Webb admitted. “I figured I’d probably be a top-five guy. After the first day, I was hoping to step it up a little bit, but Burson pretty much gapped me about the same amount today as yesterday. I felt a lot better today, a little more comfortable, but that first test was really fast, and I was losing a lot of ground there. It’s just not my style. I gave it my all, and my times weren’t bad, but Nick was really strong on that stuff. It was really fun. I learned a lot, and honestly now, after hitting this round, I’m excited to hit the rest of them and see the difference and basically just get some valuable experience to hopefully be on a Club team [in France].”
Burson said he expected Webb to be fast, and he was highly complimentary of the former AMA National Trials and AMA National EnduroCross Champion.
“I haven’t seen him [Webb] ride in a long time, but it seems like he rides a lot of moto now and a lot of tracks other than just EnduroCross,” Burson said. “To be that talented on a bike with EnduroCross stuff, you know he’s got to be fast. But [how he did in] the high-speed test really surprised me that he was that close. I expected some of the other guys to even beat him, but he rode really well.”
Baja and AMA National Hare & Hound regular Morgan is no stranger to high speeds, but he also enjoys tough enduros like next weekend’s King of the Motos. Having done sprint enduro-style races in Tecate, he was fairly familiar with a Qualifier format and eager to see how he stacked up against others vying for a spot on Team USA, though a couple mechanical issues cost him a little time.
“I would love to go race the ISDE on a Club team!” Morgan said. “It would be a big one to check off my list. I’m a huge fan of the race so at least one time I need to make it!”
Dillon Sheppard made a good step toward a second berth on Team USA by winning E1 (125cc two-stroke/250cc four-stroke) on both days. Rick Emerson likewise dominated E4 (riders over 40, which is not an official ISDE class). While Jamie Wells may have been the only E5 (women’s class) entrant, she beat a number of men both days in her quest for a second trip to Six Days.
AMA West ISDE Qualifier Regional Championship Series
Round 1: 30th Ventura County Motorcycle Club Hungry Valley Quali-FIRE
Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area
Gorman, California
Results: January 28-29, 2017
Day 1
1. Nick Burson-Yam/E2 winner
2. Cody Webb-KTM/E3 winner
3. Justin Morgan-Hon/E2
4. Devan Bolin-KTM/E3
5. Nick Stover-TM/E3
6. Ryan Kudla-KTM/E2
7. Ryan Smith-Yam/E2
8. JT Baker-Hus/E2
9. Steven Godman-KTM/E2
10. Ryan Powell-KTM/E2
11. AJ Lehr-KTM/E2
12. Benjamin Meza-KTM/E3
13. Anthonee Gibbs-Yam/E2
14. Anson Maloney-KTM/E3
15. Dillon Sheppard-Yam/E1 winner
16. Kenny Worley-Yam/E2
17. Michael Allen-KTM/E1
18. Rick Emerson-KTM/E4 winner
19. Tommy Whitcomb-KTM/E3
20. Reid Brown-KTM/E3
Day 2
1. Nick Burson-Yam/E2 winner
2. Cody Webb-KTM/E3 winner
3. Justin Morgan-Hon/E2
4. Nick Stover-TM/E3
5. Ryan Powerll-KTM/E2
6. AJ Lehr-KTM/E2
7. Steven Godman-KTM/E2
8. Ryan Kudla-KTM/E2
9. Devan Bolin-KTM/E3
10. Dillon Sheppard-Yam/E1 winner
11. JT Baker-Hus/E2
12. Benjamin Meza/E3
13. Anson Maloney-KTM/E3
14. Kenny Worley-Yam/E2
15. Reid Brown-KTM/E3
16. Anthonee Gibbs-Yam/E2
17. Ryan Smith-Yam/E2
18. Max Parker-KTM/E2
19. Michael Allen-KTM/E1
20. Brett Sage-Hus/E2
No stranger to the trails around Gorman, Nick Burson set the fast time in eight of the 12 tests over the weekend, easily winning both days, though he doesn’t plan to head to France.
2 (1002 Webb)
Better known as an EnduroCross champion, Cody Webb wants to broaden his horizons by qualifying for a slot on Team USA’s squad headed to the French ISDE in August and his E3 triumph at Gorman gave him a big step in the right direction. If he qualifies, that would put him in the unique position of having ridden both the Trial des Nations and ISDE.
3 (532 Shepard)
Though a bit off his usual pace on Saturday, Dillon Shepard still won E1 by 13 seconds then enjoyed a much better Sunday, finishing 10th overall while topping the class again.
4 (404 Wells)
Riding conditions don’t get any better at Gorman and Jamie Wells took full advantage of it as she cruised to the E5 win.
Your Privacy Choices