When Taylor Robert showed up in Caliente, Nevada, last year for the Muley Run and won convincingly, it was a preview of what he was capable of this year, his first full season of contesting the Kenda/SRT AMA Hare & Hound National Championship Series.
Robert missed rounds two and three after getting hurt at the 2017 King of the Motos and finished a somewhat cautious seventh when he returned to the series at round four. Since then, however, the FMF KTM Factory Off-road Racing Team desert star has been unbeatable⏤literally⏤and he added a third consecutive victory at round seven, the popular Muley Run hosted again by the Silver State Trail Blazers Motorcycle Club.
“After I started feeling better and getting back in my groove, I knew that I could keep it going,” Robert said, explaining the beginning of his current win streak. “Going into that first hill [off the start], I wasn’t in that great a position; I think I was maybe eighth or something. But a bunch of people made mistakes on that hill and at the bottom of the hill. By the time I got to the top, I was in second and I was like, ‘All right, now that I’m in second, I didn’t feel like I was in a position where I had to push super-hard because Axel [Pearson] was right in front of me.’”
Dust was a major factor at Caliente, so Robert chose to bide his time and take opportunities to make passes where he could.
“That’s really exactly what I did,” Robert said. “I just stayed calm and didn’t take any risks because I didn’t need to.”
Robert completed the 33-mile first and 44-mile second loops in two hours, six minutes and 10 seconds, 31 seconds ahead of early leader Pearson.
The local favorite, Purvines DA8 Racing Yamaha’s Pearson complimented Robert’s Caliente performance, saying, “I tried to ride with him [after he passed me], but he rides so good! He seriously takes the best lines ever. He kind of reminds me of [my cousin] Dave [Pearson]⏤they take lines that I don’t hardly think about and they’re so smooth!”
Gary Sutherlin made it a Purvines DA8 Racing 2-3, though he wasn’t completely happy about his third-place ride.
“I got into fourth [place] and I just started riding and I honestly wasn’t pushing hard enough, I guess,” Sutherlin said. “I was being timid on the roads. I’m definitely not happy with it, but at the same time, it was an off day for me, and a little bit of it is we’re getting down to the end [of the series] and the championship’s on the line.”
Sutherlin finished in 2:09:58. More importantly, though, he remains comfortably ahead in points, his total now 164 while Johnny Campbell Racing (JCR) Honda’s Ricky Brabec now has 131 after a fifth-place finish at Caliente. Robert’s third win of the season put him two points behind Brabec at 129 while Pearson sits fourth at 122 and Jacob Argubright fifth with 119.
In his first race back after breaking his neck while winning round four, Brabec found himself on the deck in the first corner with lots of ground to make up. Putting his head down, he went to work.
“I ate dust for the entire first loop,” he said. “I came into the pits in seventh. I was riding my ass off; I made no mistakes after I fell in the first corner. I was riding probably harder than I ever have; I was pushing.”
When Brabec came up to Fly Racing Honda-mounted Skyler Howes in the last sand wash, it apparently sparked Howes to click it up a gear and hold the JCR Honda rider off, with Howes claiming fourth and Brabec fifth. (Brabec noted it was the first time he’s finished a race off the podium in two years.) Burson was the last of the Purvines DA8 Racing riders to finish, claiming sixth place ahead of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Off-road Team’s Argubright, who had to contend with a shorting kill switch after a branch tore its wire.
Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/Precision Concepts Honda-mounted Justin Morgan likewise had to battle back from a mediocre start and finished eighth with Monarch Honda rider Tuffy Pearson coming from last to ninth and SRT/Rick’s Custom Shutters and Blinds Yamaha pilot Ryan Smith rounding out the top 10.
Chidester Transport Racing Yamaha’s Tyler Lynn chalked up his third FMF Pro 250 victory of the season and finished 11th overall to maintain his class points lead. Notch Peak Racing KTM rider Nick Tolman and Fasthouse Yamaha’s Chance Fullerton rounded out the podium.
The Women A class saw an all-KTM podium, but only because Brandy Richards got a 250 SX-F Factory Edition two weeks ago. She replaced the Yamaha that she rode in her H&H debut at the previous round because she’ll ride a KTM when she heads to France as a member of the U.S. Women’s World Trophy team.
Class points leader Kacy Martinez-Coy made it quite a race, though, the FMF KTM Factory Off-road Racing Team star (and Richards’ ISDE teammate in two weeks) coming back after a crash on the second loop to finish three seconds behind Richards, the two taking 40th and 41st overall, respectively. Martinez-Coy remains the class points leader with 191 while Bell Helmets KTM-mounted Britney Gallegos has 173 after her third-place finish.
2017 Kenda/SRT AMA Hare & Hound National Championship Series
Silver State Trailblazers M.C. Muley Run
Caliente, Nevada
Results: August 12, 2017 (Round 7 of 9)
Overall
1. Taylor Robert-KTM (first Open Pro)
2. Axel Pearson-Yam
3. Gary Sutherlin-Yam
4. Skyler Howes-Hon
5. Ricky Brabec-Hon
6. Nick Burson-Yam
7. Jacob Argubright-Hus
8. Justin Morgan-Hon
9. Tuffy Pearson-Hon
10. Ryan Smith-Yam
11. Tyler Lynn-Yam (first Pro 250)
12. Andrew Puckett-Yam
13. Nick Tolman-KTM
14. Chance Fullerton-Yam
15. Daemon Woolslayer-Yam
16. Sage Vincent-KTM
17. Taylor Stevens-Hus
18. Jamen Littlefield-Yam
19. Morgan Crawford-Hus
20. Brayton Bland-KTM
For more results, CLICK HERE.
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