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Kailub Russell Goes Out a Champ

Rancho Cucamonga: Champions dream of retiring on top, but few pull it off. Kailub Russell is an exception. The KTM factory rider won nine races this year to win his eighth consecutive Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) title, and called it a career.

A longtime Dunlop rider, Russell has had a storied off-road career; two-time ISDE gold medalist; two-time Full Gas Sprint Enduro Pro Champion; AMA National Enduro Champion; record-setting GNCC racer who amassed 67 premier class wins en route to eight championships.

One of the secrets to Russell’s success is his tire combination, one he rarely changes despite the huge variety of gnarly terrain and conditions encountered in GNCC racing. Up front, he normally runs the Geomax® MX33, and in back a Geomax AT81—the same tires available to the public.

“The MX33 front gives me control and the feeling I’m looking for in every type of terrain we come across,” says Russell. “And the AT81 is a great all-around tire for the variety of different surfaces of dirt we find during a race. Most races always have some soft terrain along with very slippery hard pack and this tire allows me to find the most traction the track has to offer. There’s an advantage in knowing you have the best tires on the track no matter what the terrain. That gives me the most comfort and confidence in my line choices.”

“Kailub Russell is one of the greatest off-road riders in history, and it’s great to see him finish his long and decorated career as a champion,” said Mike Buckley, Senior VP, Sales and Marketing. “Big congratulations to Kailub from all his friends and fans at Dunlop.”

About Dunlop Motorcycle Tires

Dunlop is the largest supplier of original equipment and replacement motorcycle tires in the U.S.A. For more information, visit: www.DunlopMotorcycleTires.com

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What’s the right term anyway? Dirtbike ladies? Dirtbike females? Dirtbike women? We’re just going to respectfully call them dirtbike girls, and when it comes to dirtbike girls, we’re big fans of Canada’s Megan Griffiths.

The 26-year-old from Kenowna, British Columbia, was a late-bloomer when it comes to dirtbike riding. She didn’t buy her first dirtbike until she was 16, but she has already become one of the country’s most talented dirtbike girls. Proof positive of that was Griffiths representing her country on Team Canada at the 2016 International Six Days Enduro, where she and fellow Canadians Shelby Turner and Felicia Robichaud came home sixth in the Women’s World Trophy competition.

When not racing internationally, Griffiths competes in the Pacific North West Motorcycle Association events with support from Husqvarna. She considers Chris Birch and Graham Jarvis as her riding hereoes, and she patterns her training after extreme enduro riders than your average off-road rider. As for fellow dirtbike girls, Griffiths cites as fellow Canadian Victoria Hett as a great role model.

Griffiths’ favorite local race is the Desert 100 in Odessa, Washington, an event in which she has won the Women’s class and also come first overall in the second wave of riders. That’s interesting when you consider the event’s high-speed terrain is more akin to an AMA National Hare & Hound than an enduro or an extreme enduro, which only shows that as dirtbike girls go, Griffiths has both speed and technical skill. When not competing, Griffiths spends a lot of time filming and editing videos on her Megan Griffiths Enduro YouTube Channel and posting on her Megan Griffiths Racing Facebook page.

Griffiths’ latest video, shown above, is actually found on the Dirtbike Rider Channel on YouTube.

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While France collected most of the ISDE hardware (winning both FIM World Trophy and Junior World Trophy plus taking a distant third in Women’s World Trophy), American results were nothing to sneeze at.

The U.S. World Trophy team was eliminated from ISDE contention immediately, of course, after losing Thad Duvall to injury in the week’s first test. That left Taylor Robert, Kailub Russell and Ryan Sipes free to pursue their own targets.

Robert came closest; though he didn’t match last year’s top ISDE overall individual status, he won E3 and was third overall individually to E2 and overall winner Loic Larrieu of France and E1/second overall Josep Garcia of Spain. Not far behind overall came Sipes, who claimed second in E1 and fifth overall.

That bodes well for the future, according to Robert.

“That was a big improvement because I don’t think we’ve ever had two Americans in the top five,” Robert said. “That’s huge. It’s just something to build on for next year. We’ve got two guys that can definitely compete for wins, and Kailub’s won days before so Kailub can get back up there when he’s riding like himself. We just need that fourth guy to be up there every day as well like the French team was a couple days this year.

“It was a good event,” Robert continued. “I wasn’t as close to the overall as I would’ve hoped⏤I lost a little bit of time the last couple days⏤but all in all, I felt like I rode really well, especially with the bike that I was on. There were like 30 guys in the E3 class and I think I was the only guy on a four-stroke! Grass tracks really aren’t my forte as well. I felt like we did good [all things considered], and next year’s in Chile in the sand, and I think we’re all looking forward to that.”

Looking at the U.S. Juniors who finished third, the trio weren’t quite as fast as France and runner-up Italy, but they weren’t far off. Layne Michael seemed to handle it best. After being on the winning U.S. World Trophy team last year, he treated his stint on the Junior squad just as seriously and took 10th in E1 for 27th overall. Grant Baylor’s had better weeks, but still finished 13th in E2 and 31st overall. After his one-minute penalty a couple days ago for going into a check early, first-time Junior World rider Josh Toth finished 14th E1 and 41st overall.

But as good as the American Junior potential looks, the American Women’s World Trophy squad looks even better. Though the threesome of Kacy Martinez-Coy, Brandy Richards and Becca Sheets were a solid second behind Australia’s now five-time champs, as a team, their times were faster on the last two days.

In addition, Richards won the Women’s final motocross test, catching and passing class winner Laia Sanz of Spain to do so. Sheets finished the moto fifth with Martinez-Coy eighth after getting thrown in the mud.

For U.S. Club team SRT Off-road, nothing changed on the final day, and it remained third behind Italy and MCC Wales/Welsh MCC. Ben Kelley ended the week the best of the American Club riders, his score the second fastest of the huge field. First-time ISDE rider Ty Tremaine did well also; second in his C2 final moto, he claimed ninth overall Club rider. Cody Webb also performed admirably in his first Six Days, fourth for the week in C3 and sixth in his final moto.

2017 International Six Days Enduro
Brive, France
Results: September 2, 2017 (Day 6 of 6)

World Trophy: 1. France (12:59:38.23); 2. Australia (13L05:52.26); 3. Finland (13:08:50.34); 4. Portugal (13:25:22.83); 5. Great Britain (13:18:51.91)… USA (27:43:30.51).
Junior World Trophy: 1. France (9:55:04.10); 2. Italy (9:55:19.63); 3. USA (9:57:07.00); 4. Great Britain (10:02:39.92); 5. Spain (10:05:55.30).
Women’s World Trophy: 1. Australia (7:08:04.01); 2. USA (7:14:50.63); 3. France (7:34:40.74); 4. Sweden (7:42:54.57); 5. Italy (7:54:54.13).
Club Team Award: 1. Italy (10:00:16.79); 2. MCC Wales/Welsh MCC (10:08:30.52); 3. SRT Off-Road-(USA)-(10:09:59.96); 4. Languedoc Roussillon (10:23:30.35); 5. Team West Sweden (10:24:16.92).
Individual: 1. Loic Larrieu, France-Yamaha (3:11:45.68); 2. Josep Garcia, Spain-KTM (3:12:23.99); 3. Taylor Robert, USA-KTM (3:13:05.64); 4. Daniel Milner, Australia-KTM (3:13:17.54); 5. Ryan Sipes, USA-Hus (3:13:27.64).

The post 2017 ISDE Results, Day 6: France Takes Home World Trophy appeared first on Dirt Bikes.

But for now, this week, the Americans are mostly giving chase still.

The U.S. World Trophy team, of course, remained 16th of 19 countries in that class due to losing Thad Duvall to injury on Day One. However, the three remaining riders on the team are still going well, though they fell back a little individually, with Taylor Robert now sitting third overall behind Loic Larrieu of France (the E2 leader) and Spanish speedster Josep Garcia (the E1 leader). Robert can take solace in the fact that he still leads E3 comfortably and is within striking distance of the pair ahead of him in the overall individual standings should something happen to them in their respective final motocross tests.

All isn’t bad, though, as Robert pointed out.

“Me and Kailub [Russell] and [Daniel] Milner [from Australia] are winning the Manufacturer’s Cup [for KTM], so there’s a few positives out of it, just not the big one,” Robert said. “But anything could happen tomorrow, I guess.”

The U.S. Junior World Trophy team, on the other hand, looks likely to climb the third step on the podium behind France and Italy, being almost two minutes and 10 seconds behind the leader but almost four and a half ahead of Great Britain.

Then there’s the all-new U.S. Women’s World Trophy team, on track to finish second behind Australia. Here, the future looks particularly bright. Of the three ISDE novices, Brandy Richards enjoyed the best day, winning two of the day’s five tests and ending up second for the day behind leader Laia Sanz of Spain. Even more exciting is the fact that, for the day, the U.S. actually beat Australia by 15-plus seconds!

In the Club team ranks, SRT Off-road got a break and moved up to third place behind a team from Italy and one from Wales (which features GNCC regular Jason Thomas). SRT’s Ben Kelley remained the top U.S. Club rider by finishing fifth for the day followed by teammates Ty Tremaine in 12th and Cody Webb in 15th.

The post 2017 ISDE Results, Day 5: Robert Third in Individual Chase appeared first on Dirt Bikes.

In addition, the host country remained the leader in Junior World Trophy for a second day while the U.S. trio held steady in third. Australia’s three ladies maintained their lock on the Women’s World Trophy with America’s three new riders a solid second.

The U.S. World Trophy team lost Thad Duvall to injury on the first day of the ISDE, of course, putting the defending champs out of the running, so the three riders still going switched focus to individual honors. Taylor Robert is closest to achieving that goal, last year’s overall individual winner continuing to fill second place, though there’s now another second between him and new overall leader Josep Garcia of Spain. Tuesday’s overall winner, Ryan Sipes—the 2015 overall individual winner in Slovakia—had a better Thursday than Wednesday, but a bad first test set him back to ninth overall for the day, fifth in E1. That’s one position better than Robert, though he now leads E3 after Nambotin’s woes.

The U.S. Juniors shook off the disappointment of losing the lead on Day 3 when Josh Toth went into a check slightly before he was scheduled to, the mental error garnering him–and thus the team–a one-minute penalty and allowing both France and Italy to leapfrog past in the standings. Layne Michael led the way for the Juniors on Thursday. Used to the pressure after being on last year’s winning ISDE World Trophy team, he finished the day ninth in E1, one spot better than Toth. Grant Baylor was slightly off, picking up 15th in E2 for the day, putting him 13th for the week to date.

It’s an entertaining battle for first woman between Tayla Jones of four-time and defending ISDE Women’s World Trophy Champion Australia and Laiz Sanz, the only Spanish woman still going in this year’s ISDE. Jones got the upper hand Thursday, but former WORCS champ Brandy Richards showed she’s getting used to this type of racing by posting the third-best time of the day. Richards’ USA teammates, Becca Sheets and Kacyi Martinez-Coy, finished fifth and sixth respectively.

SRT Off-road continued to lead the American charge in Club team competition, as it remains just off the podium in fourth. Ben Kelley posted the eighth best Club time today while teammates Ty Tremaine and Cody Webb were a creditable 13th and 16th overall. Behind them but showing steady improvement every day is Eric Cleveland Memorial’s Justin Morgan, who’s now up to 44th. Brendan Riordan is also putting in good rides, Thursday’s giving him 49th Club rider as his Missouri Mudders is just one position behind 17th-place Eric Cleveland Memorial.

2017 International Six Days Enduro (ISDE)
Brive, France
Results: August 31, 2017 (Day 4 of 6)

World Trophy: 1. France (9:47:14.29); 2. Australia (9:55:15.05); 3. Finland (9:56:49.10); 4. Portugal (10:09:04.41); 5. Great Britain (10:14:01.91)… 16. USA (19:22:37.57).
Junior World Trophy: 1. France (7:30:16.44); 2. Italy (7:31:01.17); 3. USA (7:32:16.00); 4. Great Britain (7:35:19.03); 5. Chile (7:38:43.82).
Women’s World Trophy: Australia (5:27:11.65); 2. USA (5:34:27.38); 3. France (5:46:07.81); 4. Sweden (5:54:40.19); 5. Italy (6:04:30.16).

The post 2017 ISDE Results, Day 4: France Continues World Trophy Run appeared first on Dirt Bikes.

Despite the relief that accompanied a 10- to 15-degree drop in temperature, though, dust remained a big factor at the ISDE, not only limiting vision but making life generally miserable whether you were on the bike or on the sidelines watching.

While France took it all in stride and continued to lead the FIM World Trophy category, the U.S. had a few issues. First off, yesterday’s overall fastest individual, Ryan Sipes, couldn’t find that same mojo today and took a big digger in the third test that dropped him from contending for fastest individual a second day in a row. He’d eventually finish the day 15th overall though cumulatively he sits eighth in the ISDE individual standings.

Teammate Taylor Robert’s day also didn’t go quite as well as hoped. Though he didn’t have any big offs, the top American hope also found the third test more than challenging and ended the day sixth overall. After three days, though, he remains second behind only Christophe Nambotin of the leading French World Trophy team in the ISDE individual standings; however, the gap between them nearly doubled to 13.61 seconds.

The U.S. Junior World Trophy team fared worse. After finding themselves thrust into first place yesterday following an unresolved bike issue for defending champion Sweden that forced Mikael Persson from the race, American morale enjoyed a bump. That lasted until Josh Toth miscalculated and went into one check a few seconds early. Bang! Instant one-minute penalty and now third place behind France and Italy.

“Even without that [penalty], we weren’t as fast as France or Italy,” U.S. Team Manager Antti Kallonen conceded, “so they got us today, but we’re trying to recover and go after it again tomorrow with new course and new special tests. We hope that kind of gives us a second wind and we can get the Juniors up there again. Realistically, we have chance for second.”

And second is looking more likely for the U.S. Women’s World Trophy team. While Spain’s lone remaining rider Laia Sanz hammered the tests, Australia kept the lead and its three riders going despite Jessica Gardiner riding with a broken hand after hitting a stake in the first test on Monday.

The U.S. women had no such issues, but three consecutive days of riding is giving them aches and pains they don’t normally experience. Brandy Richards led the way, ending the day third followed by Becca Sheets in fourth and Kacy Martinez-Coy in sixth.

In the Club team fight, italy remained atop the standings with SRT Off-road holding a steady fourth as riders Ben Kelley, Ty Tremaine and Cody Webb all putting in solid times.

2017 International Six Days Enduro
Brive, France
ResultS: August 30, 2017 (Day 3 of 6)

World Trophy: 1. France (7:20:27.82); 2. Australia (7:25:46.89); 3. Finland (7:27:54.74); 4. Portugal (7:37:17.89); 5. Great Britain (7:42:25.04)… 16. USA (14:31:53.27)
Junior World Trophy: 1. France (5:37:38.66); 2. Italy (5:38:18.39); 3. USA (5:39:38.16); 4. Great Britain (5:42:26.10); 5. Chile (5:43:21.73).
Women’s World Trophy: 1. Australia (4:07:05.58); 2. USA (4:12:55.15); 3. France (4:20:15.65); 4. Sweden (4:28:11.71); 5. Italy (4:36:12.20).

The post 2017 ISDE Results, Day 3: USA Junior World Team Slips appeared first on Dirt Bikes.

Although the Americans may be out of the hunt for a repeat ISDE World Trophy win, the Junior World Trophy team had a good day and moved passed Sweden to lead the standings, and the Women’s World Trophy team continues to run a solid second behind Australia.

France team members Jeremy Tarroux, Loic Larrieu, Christophe Nambotin and Christophe Charlier put another 2 minutes on the competition on a day in which the event was held over the same course as Day 1. Italy came through for second place, with Australia just nine seconds behind in third. Finland finished fourth, and remains third overall.

“For the French team it was another a good day, and for me it was also a good day,” Nambotin said. “All of the team rode well, and so far we have not had any problems, which is so important. With new special tests tomorrow, I think it will be good for the French riders. Maybe we will have some rain, so things might get interesting.”

In the ISDE Junior World Trophy class, the three-rider team of Grant Baylor, Josh Toth and Layne Michael finishing 23 seconds ahead of France to take over the lead after Sweden’s Mikael Persson suffered bike issues and failed to finish, dropping the team from first place to 10th place. France took over second place, just under three seconds behind Team USA. Italy sits third overall, 15 seconds behind France.

In the Women’s World Trophy class was short lived as two of their team riders failed to reach the finish of day two. Australia topped the day finishing one-minute and eight seconds ahead of the USA with France three minutes and fifty-nine seconds behand in third. In the overall Women’s results Australia are now three-and-a-half minutes ahead of the USA with France third.

Individually, Italy’s Davide Guarneri Honda leads the Enduro 1 class over Team USA’s Ryan Sipes. Josep Garcia is third. Australia’s Daniel Milner is on top of the Enduro 2 class standings with Charlier 13 seconds behind him in second place. France’s Christophe Nambotin and Team USA’s Taylor Robert are just 7 seconds apart in the Enduro 3 class.

2017 FIM International Six Days Enduro
Brive, France
Results: August 29, 2017 (Day 2 of 6)

WORLD TROPHY: 1. France (5:11:26.89); 2. Australia (5:15:46.45); 3. Finland (5:17:16.58); 4. Portugal (5:24:17/45); 5. Sweden (5:28:57.29); 16. USA (9:54:27.51).
JUNIOR WORLD TROPHY: 1. USA (3:59:41.56); 2. France (3:69:44.18); 3. Italy (3:59:57.04); 4. Chile (4:03:38.87); 5. UK (4:03:45.43).
WOMEN’S WORLD TROPHY: 1. Australia (2:55:19.07) 2. USA (3:00:31.88); 3. France (3:03:51.97); 4. Sweden (3:09:16.88); 5. Italy (3:17:33.46).

The post 2017 ISDE Results, Day 2: USA Takes Junior World Trophy Lead appeared first on Dirt Bikes.

The team’s hopes for a repeat of last year’s dream run to claim its first-ever World Trophy took a hit when Thad Duvall crashed his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna in the opening special test of the day. Duvall suffered a serious wrist injury and was forced to drop out of the event. The misfortune left Team USA near the bottom of the World Trophy standings rather than near the top of them, the Americans placing 16th out of 19 teams with an aggregate time of 4 hours 56 minutes, 42.78 seconds. The team is currently 2 hours and 22 minutes off the lead pace set by multi-time ISDE World Trophy champions France. Finland ended a surprising day by running second with Australia third.

France enjoyed a dominant day, according to Nambotin.

“Today was a good day for me and team France,” he said. “It was a long, dusty day. The first day of the ISDE is always strange, with riders from all countries mixed together. Like all competitors, I caught some slower riders on some tests, but generally all was ok for me. It’s disappointing that the USA lost one of their riders, but it can happen to any team. We have to keep pushing, but make sure we don’t make any mistakes in the days to come. It’s going to be a tough event, that’s for certain.”

Individually, Taylor Robert finished with the fastest time of the American riders, coming in just 6 seconds off the fastest time of the day posted by France’s Christophe Nambotin. Robert completing the day’s special tests in 38 minutes, 23.30 seconds. Former ISDE Individual Champion Ryan Sipes finished with a time of 38 minutes, 52.84 seconds. Kailub Russell finished with a time of 39:26.64

In Junior World Trophy competition, Team USA got off to a much better start, ending the day in fourth place, behind Sweden, Italy and France. Grant Baylor posted the fastest time for the team, posting a 39:28.50. Josh Toth finished with a time of 39:37.99, and Layne Michael finished with a time of 39:44.32.

The Team USA Women’s World Trophy team finished third with a time of 1:28:38.06 after team member Rebecca Sheets failed to finish. The women’s team is currently a little more than 3 minutes behind leader Spain and about 2 minutes and 20 seconds behind second-placed Australia.

2017 International Six Days Enduro (ISDE)
Brive, France
ResultS: August 28, 2017 (Day 1 of 6)
World Trophy: 1. France (2:34:42.00; 2. Finland (2:36:32.05); 3. Australia (2:36:58.65); 4. Spain (2:37:25.13); 5. Portugal (2:39:30.60); 16. USA (4:56:42.78)
Junior World Trophy: 1. Sweden (1:57:57.43); 2. Italy (1:58:26.28); 3. France (1:58:29.91) 4. USA (1:58:50.61); 5. Chile (2:00:19.05).
Women’s World Trophy: 1. Spain (1:25:32.93); 2. Australia (1:26:14.94); 3. USA (1:28:38.06); 4. France (1:29:07.78); 5. Sweden (1:33:52.83).

The post 2017 ISDE Results, Day 1: Team USA Hits Trouble appeared first on Dirt Bikes.

Competing once again in the E2 class (for 250cc two-strokes/450cc four-strokes) on his CRF450X, Morgan dominated the category on Saturday at the OMC facility on the outskirts of Boise, Idaho, and was a close second overall LOI (but still first E2) on Sunday. Sunday’s overall LOI triumph went to E3 (500cc two-stroke/650cc four-stroke) winner Nick Stover who’d placed third overall LOI on Saturday, his total time for the weekend’s 16 special tests giving him second overall LOI for the weekend behind Morgan with Yamaha rider Anthonee Gibbs third overall and second E2.

But even the quickest LOI riders had to take a back seat to the first two A/AA finishers: Ben Evans and David Kamo.Though neither plans to go to France for the ISDE at the end of August, they wanted to see how they stacked up to that caliber of rider and discovered they matched up well. It probably shouldn’t have come as a huge surprise since both are Idaho natives and have turned many laps at OMC during their lifetimes, though they followed different racing paths. Evans became a competitive motocross/Supercross rider while Kamo gained fame as a desert racer with several SCORE Baja victories on his résumé.

While Morgan’s time was a fine 39 minutes, 30.46 seconds followed by 40:10.62 for E2 runner-up Anthonee Gibbs and 40:18.70 for Stover, A/AA winner Evans eclipsed those times with his 37:50.09 followed by Kamo at 38:57.80. At first, though, everyone chased FMF KTM Factory Off-road Racing Team’s Cody Webb. The E3 winner and second overall at round one, Webb appeared to have gotten even faster since then and set the pace through the first three tests.

During the fourth one, however, Webb got out of shape in one slippery, hard-packed section on the mostly sandy course and hit the ground hard. He eventually hopped on one leg back to his 300 XC and completed the test, but after visiting the medics, he decided to call it a weekend, heal up and wait for round three. He’d strained his back, a knee and an ankle as well as getting a headache so this wasn’t surprising.

From there, Morgan controlled the rest of the day, at least among the LOIs, though it wasn’t the same story on Sunday. Running stiff suspension on his CRF450X for the expected whoops that develop in sand didn’t quite pan out as the San Felipe-spec settings were too stiff and tended to beat him up so he tried pushing even harder, but that too worked against him. Of course, Sunday seemed to be even more competitive, at least according to times. Stover posted a 38:14.26 for his eight tests while Morgan’s time was just five seconds slower and Gibbs another seven seconds back.

“A few tests I thought that I rode better than ever and then a couple I made some pretty costly mistakes and just wasn’t as consistent today,” Morgan said, agreeing he might’ve tried too hard on Sunday. “[That] and thinking too much!” he quipped. “But it’s just some days you’re on, some days not quite.”

Still, second for the day shouldn’t hurt Morgan’s chances of qualifying for the team; he notes, “I still think I’m looking pretty good with a second.”

A/AA (and overall) winner Evans went even faster on Sunday, obviously becoming more comfortable with his first foray into the sprint enduro format.

“The last couple years since I’ve been retired from Supercross, I’ve just been racing locally, regionally, having fun,” he said. “I did a couple desert races with my brother so I’m kind of sneaking into the off-road world a little bit just for fun. OMC’s kind of my hometown track, so it was kind of fun. It’s kind of a smaller area so we don’t get many big races here and it was fun to have a big race come here where I could shine. Honestly, we’ve been off all winter so I didn’t know how well I would do.”

His 36:11.59 indicates that the winter layoff didn’t hurt him as badly as he thought it might. Kamo, too, performed even better, posting a 37:39.38 while he contemplates switching to the AMA EnduroCross National Championship Series later this year.

The post Morgan, Evans Top ISDE West Qualifier Round 2 appeared first on Dirt Bikes.

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.

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