While the prudent among us might do only what’s required to reach a goal, a true champion enters a race determined to win, and that’s what Eric Yorba did at the final round of the 2016 AMA District 37/MSR Big 6 Grand Prix Series, on Sunday.
The Maxxis/FMF/RPM Racing KTM-backed Yorba needed to finish only fifth or better to win the AMA Big 6 West Coast Grand Prix (WCGP) Series championship, even if early points leader Blayne Thompson won. Despite stalling his bike a couple times in the opening laps of the 90-minute, $2000 feature race at the Viking’s Motorcycle Club’s 12th Annual Vikings Grand Prix, the eighth and final round of the AMA District 37/MSR Big 6 Grand Prix Series, Yorba managed to work his way back to the front and battle with Maxxis Yamaha-mounted Jeff Loop for much of the race at Lake Elsinore, California, before pulling out his fourth win of the season.
“I wanted to push but not push over my head,” Yorba said. “I definitely was thinking long-term, going for the championship, but things just started clicking and I started making passes and found myself in the lead!”
That sealed the championship for the second time in his career. Yorba first won the title in 2014.
“To me, it didn’t really feel like [I won it in 2014]; there were a lot of big hitters that were missing that year,” Yorba said. “I mean, a championship’s a championship; I’ll take it—but this year to have everybody here all year and battle with everybody all through the entire year and win the championship, it really means a lot.”
Former motocross pro Loop held on for second to earn the first Big 6 podium of his career and shared, “I don’t know what happened to Eric the first lap. He was behind me, then he wasn’t, and I [finally] saw him coming and I knew we were going to have a battle. It was fun. I’m stoked! I wanted to win, but I’ll take a second.”
Thousand Oaks Yamaha’s Michael del Fante also claimed a spot on the podium with his third-place finish, the result of a gamble that ended up paying off as he elected to go the entire hour and a half without pitting for a splash.
“Towards the end, I was in third,” said del Fante, who is a first-year Pro. “I knew Blayne [Thompson] and Justin Seeds were behind me, and I wasn’t really making any ground,” del Fante explained. “We were kind of staying the same, and I knew if I pitted they would get around me because they were right behind me, so I just decided to wing it. Fortunately, I had enough gas and ended up on the podium, the first podium of my Pro career!”
Fasthouse Honda’s Thompson was unable to run at the front, the winner of the first two rounds settling for fourth place on the day and second in the championship to Yorba, 179-153. Seeds—who had to run home and grab his barely broken-in and untested 2017 racebike when his proven 2015 racebike broke on the first lap of Unclassified in the morning—had to relinquish his early second place, slipping to an eventual fifth after fighting arm pump. Still, he earned a comfortable third in final points with 131.
Last year’s overall winner (as a Pro II, no less) Trevor Stewart once again picked up the WCGP Pro II victory in what was his final outing on his Fasthouse Yamaha YZ250, finishing sixth overall. Next year he’ll bump up to the first line as a member of the Johnny Campbell Racing (JCR) Honda team on one of the new CRF450RXs.
CST Honda-mounted Beau Baron wrapped up the WCGP Pro II championship by finishing second to Stewart and seventh overall followed by JCR 1Honda’s Benny Breck (the Vet Heavyweight Expert winner earlier in the morning) and WCGP Pro II riders Mitch Anderson and Kai Mukai.
2016 AMA Big 6 West Coast Grand Prix (WCGP) Series
Vikings M.C.
Lake Elsinore, California
Results: December 4, 2016 (Round 8 of 8)
WCGP Pro
1. Eric Yorba-KTM
2. Jeff Loop
3. Michael del Fante-Yam
4. Blayne Thompson
5. Justin Seeds-Kaw
6. Benny Breck-Hon
7. Travis Damon-Hon
8. Jeremy Newton-Hon
More results at big6racing.com
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