In fact, at the end of three different races, or motos, around Hammertown at the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Area outside of Landers, California, FMF KTM Factory Off-road Racing Team’s Cody Webb was the only rider to complete the entire 2018 King of the Motosm race within the allotted time. All others missed the cutoff time to go out on the final loop of the extra-long third moto, many having lost significant time searching for a waypoint that Webb also overlooked, though he successfully gambled on putting enough distance on his pursuers that it outweighed any penalty.

So, after much discussion and calculations, Lewis declared Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Off-road Team’s Colton Haaker the 2018 King of the Motos runner-up with Beta’s Max Gerston third.

Ironically, missing a check at the 2017 King of the Motos stripped Webb of the win so when he realized he’d missed one this year, he said, “I started thinking, ‘Oh man, I lost the race again!’ “But I knew a lot of the other guys…they told me when I came in [to the pits] that a lot of other guys missed it, so I started thinking in my head about the points, like, ‘Kamo got fourth this morning and if he gets first, that might be enough [to win], I don’t know, but I’ll finish!’ “As soon as I heard that, I put my head down and pretty much sprinted that whole last lap. I changed my [rear] tire [to one with a stickier compound] and messed with my clickers because I was getting beat up that first lap. I felt I ripped that second loop around there, trying to make some time and it ended up working out that those guys didn’t make it to the [pits by the cutoff time].”

Webb started the 2018 King of the Motos weekend by dominating the short first moto, run on Saturday night at the 2018 King of the Motos, that started by going up Jackhammer, out on a loop that for Pros visited Jackhammer again a few miles later (when it was still littered with Amateurs who’d only made it that far) and finished by going down Chocolate Thunder. Defending KOM champion Haaker was a few minutes back for second with Gas Gas North America’s Noah Kepple third.

The first thing Sunday morning found the Pros only going out for an even shorter but tougher moto, including a run up Backdoor. Again, Webb ran away with Haaker second and Gerston third in a preview of things to come.

However, the biggest challenge lay in the third moto. Not only would riders need to tackle a lot of extremely difficult desert, they’d also have to be on the bike for at least six or seven hours, constantly paying attention to navigating. The first loop saw them go west towards The Rockpile off Bessemer Mine Road, and this is the area that proved to hide one particularly elusive waypoint.

As Webb noted, “At the beginning of the race, I felt like I had the GPS following pretty good, but somehow I missed that check. Every time Colton would get in the lead, all of a sudden I found myself in the lead right after again because he’d make a navigation error. The GPS did a lot of people dirty this year. Me, I was one of them,” Kepple said. “It’s a little confusing with the GPS. There’s no arrows on the [GPS] tracks so you don’t really know if you’re going the right way on which track and some of them overlap.”

He continued, “[Lewis] built an awesome course for us to test our skills on, but I’m pretty bummed with how the last race went.”

Haaker added, “I was right behind Cody when I went to fix my mistake [and find the waypoint], but it ended up costing me an extra 45 minutes to run this extra [distance] so by the time I came back to do my third loop, I ran out of time because I went to fix that mistake where Jimmy’s throwing [that waypoint] out and saying it doesn’t matter because I did it out of order, but out of order to me doesn’t matter when you don’t put the checkpoints in sequential order [on the GPS track].”

Gerston was likewise confused with how the 2018 King of the Motos results were determined, saying, “I was told when I finished that if you didn’t hit the checkpoints in order, then they didn’t even count and I did the whole loop backwards. I hit all the checkpoints but not in order, then now it looks like that’s okay. The main emotion of the day was frustration.”

After being the first of the top finishers to hit all the waypoints, PCI Race Radios KTM-mounted Kamo believed he was runner-up to Webb. Instead, he was informed later that he’d earned fifth place, a frustrating turn of events for him as well.

But those who looked for a tougher KOM this year got their wish, and it proved to be a popular way to kick off the hugely popular 12th Annual Nitto King of the Hammers, Powered by Optima Batteries week.

Results available at www.ultra4racing.com.

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It was a long and complicated weekend at King of the Hammers for the elite motorcyclists who opted to take on the King of the Motos extreme enduro at the Johnson Valley OHV Area in Johnson Valley, California.

A new three-race King of the Motos format included a night race, a desert race and an extreme race, all guided by nothing more than a GPS. But after three races—one interrupted by a helicopter rescue for KTM’s Taylor Robert—it was Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Colton Haaker who was crowned 2017’s King of the Motos.

Haaker’s win came well after Cody Webb crossed the finish line of the final race. FMF/KTM’s Webb led the way throughout the entire race, having dominated the proceeding from start to finish, but a mistake near the finish caused him to miss a check, and subsequently drop back in the standings from first to 17th.

“I went down the same path I went from the morning race not paying attention; it’s completely my fault,” Webb confessed. “I saw the finish right there, but I didn’t realize the GPS went to the other side. I went down a trail we went down last year and it’s not any more difficult. It’s probably almost easier; I missed a waypoint at the bottom of that and missed the overall.”

Webb’s mistake was Haaker’s fortune, as the blunder handed him the overall with his 3-3-1 tally. Haaker admitted he came into the race without as much preparation as he probably should have, but was happy to come away from the complicated event with the win. Event promoter Jimmy Lewis likes to keep riders on their toes with different race formats each year, and this year the challenge required riders to rely on their GPS more than ever.

“This year you relied a lot more on GPS,” Haaker said. “Last year you relied on GPS for the morning race, which was just a gate pick for the afternoon and in the afternoon the GPS really only mattered for the first lap then after that you pretty much remembered the course and just pinned it for the next eight laps. But this year there wasn’t laps, it was just a huge loop.”

Haaker would have done well to simply follow Webb, who was leading, but admits Webb was out of sight pretty quickly in the final race.

“He led that last race and pretty much knew where he was going right from the get-go,” Haaker said. “The rest of us were all in a big group kind of circling trying to figure it out. I don’t really understand how he figured it out so well other than he probably put a bunch of preparation in this race.”

Still, Haaker rode his own pace and remained steady, which ultimately paid off. Second overall went to Factory Beta rider Max Gerston who carded a 4-2-2 score. Mitch Carvolth rounded out the podium with his 5-4-3 finish. Webb was dropped to seventh overall due to his 17th place finish in the final moto.

FMF/KTM rider Taylor Robert started out the event with a win in the first moto—Saturday’s night race spectacle. Robert and Webb got out front early and duked it out through the extreme course, which ended with a side-by-side battle to the finish between the two teammates. The duo raced bar-to-bar down the final descent, a steep sandy downhill, in what Webb described as fourth and fifth gear tapped. They crossed the finish within feet of each other, Robert taking the win.

The teammates were prepared for a second showdown the next morning in what riders described as a “desert race,” but that’s when disaster struck for Robert.The duo again got out front early, having cleared the first bottleneck section ahead of the rest of the field. They reached high speeds across the desert as they battled for the lead, but Robert hit a rock and went over the bars in a spectacular wreck. Webb, who didn’t witness the crash, carried on with the lead. But unbeknownst to him, the race came to a halt behind him.

Haaker was the next rider to come up on Robert, and seeing him passed out, Haaker immediately came to a stop.

“As I came up across the hill about 20 seconds later, he was already on his back, fully passed out,” Haaker said. “I turned and tended to him and tried to figure out what I could do to help. I couldn’t get to his tracker; I didn’t want to move him so I just used my tracker and tried to get the helicopter there.”

The rest of the field took a cue from Haaker and stopped at the scene, reluctant to continue without knowing the condition of Robert. Fortunately he regained consciousness (reportedly having passed out from winding himself in the crash—not due to a head injury), and was able to walk before being taken to the ambulance.

Much to the racers’ credit, after stopping for their fellow rider, they resumed the race with the gentleman’s agreement to leave in the order they arrived, though time segments were impossible to account for.

Meanwhile, Webb was at the finish all alone not knowing what had happened.

“After the race they told me Taylor got hurt,” Webb said. “I had a feeling the whole time. I knew he should have caught me. I almost teared up. I didn’t know how bad it was or anything. He’s pretty banged up, but I’m glad to hear that he’ll be all right.” Initial reports said that Robert had some internal injuries that were still being monitored at a local hospital.

Times were later adjusted for the riders who stopped at the crash scene, which led to some confusion in the final tally later that night. But in the end, after the injuries, time adjustments and missed checkpoints, Haaker was crowned the winner.

“I’m glad I hit all the checkpoints the past two days!” Haaker said. “I aimed at staying on two wheels, catching all the checks and having fun. It added up to my second KOM victory in three years. Big thanks to the whole team; it was definitely a team effort to make it to the finish today.”

2017 King of the Motos
Johnson Valley OHV Area
Johnson Valley, California
Results: February 5, 2017

Pro
1. Colton Haaker/3-3-1
2. Max Gerston/4-2-2
3. Mitch Carvolth-5-4-3
4. Noah Kepple/6-5-6
5. Trystan Hart/7-6-5
6. Wyatt Hart/8-7-4
7. Cody Webb/2-2-17
8. Eric Rhoten/9-10-8
9. Kevin Dupuis/11-11-9
10. Tyler Kinkade/10-9-13

Amateur
1. Evan Ask/1-2-1
2. Luke Sydor/2-3-2
3. Joseph Herriman/3-11-5
4. Peter Keeping/4-9-6
5. Jeff Martin/8-8-4
6. James King/10-7-8
7. ALex Lehr/14-15-10
8. Mark Heater/9-21-9
9. Drew Dickson/13-19-14
10. Curtis Aday/24-10-13

Teams
1. Thomas Pira & Phil Pira/1-1-2
2. Nathan Brown & Michael Salsman/2-2-1
3. Melissa Harten & Stephen Foord/3-3-DNF

The post Colton Haaker Wins 2017 King of the Motos; Webb Penalized appeared first on Dirt Bikes.

HUSQVARNA MOTORCYCLES EXTENDS CONTRACT WITH GRAHAM JARVIS
EXTREME ENDURO STAR TO STAY WITH HUSQVARNA FOR AN ADDITIONAL TWO YEARS

Husqvarna Motorcycles is pleased to announce the renewal of their contract with Graham Jarvis – an agreement that will see the British rider continue to lead the efforts of the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing extreme enduro team during the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

Remaining on top of his game, the 41-year-old Brit is currently enjoying one of the most successful seasons of his extreme enduro career. Starting 2016 with a runner-up result at Minas Riders in Brazil, Graham put in two dominant performances to secure a third win at Erzberg and a record-breaking fifth career victory at Romaniacs.

Following a tight race schedule Graham is now set to fight for victory at The Battle of Vikings, in Sweden, before heading to the States for the 2016 Tennessee Knock Out extreme enduro event.

Andreas Hölzl – Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Team Manager: “We’re excited to renew our contract with Graham for another two seasons. He will continue racing our team’s TE 300 in the biggest extreme enduro events worldwide. Carrying a huge amount of experience in extreme enduro racing, Graham is still very fast compared to many of the younger riders, which he proved that this year at both Erzberg and Romaniacs. With Graham age really is just a number. I think Graham has a lot more to give and will continue to surprise us with his performances in the future.”

Graham Jarvis: “It’s fantastic that I’m going to race with Husqvarna for another two years. The new TE 300 is an amazing machine. I’ve been racing it for a few months and already I’ve earned two major wins on it – Erzberg and Romaniacs. Within Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing I feel like I’m part of a global team. My focus is on the big outdoor extreme enduro events, while I’ll also be trying to squeeze in as many other races as possible. I feel like I’m in the best place right now and I’m looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.”

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Story and Photos By Mark Kariya

Although it was billed as the toughest edition yet, the top Pros made the 5th Annual Klim King of the Motos extreme enduro look relatively easy in the manner they conquered all sorts of technical, rocky and sandy desert ugliness at the east end of the Johnson Valley Off-Highway Vehicle Area near Landers, California, Sunday.

And while it may not have been that difficult for the supremely gifted, this year’s Kong of the Motos proved to be the most competitive yet with at least five riders taking a turn up front. When it was all over, FMF/KTM Factory Off-road Racing Team’s Cody Webb pulled off his third King of the Motos victory, but he acknowledged that it was, indeed a tough event.

“This was the toughest it’s ever been for me to win an extreme enduro,” Webb said. “I felt like I really put the charge on all day and just couldn’t gap those guys. I held the gap, so that’s all that matters!”

The day started with a sort of qualifying race–a prologue, if you will, where Sportsman racers tackled a 24-mile-long course 10 minutes ahead of the Pros, who would join that course after taking a more difficult opening section that added three more miles of ugliness. The qualifier only determined gate picks for the main event in the afternoon, so there wasn’t a lot of incentive to go all-out, although event creator Jimmy Lewis offered at least one: a free entry in next year’s Pro class to any Sportsman rider who beat the Pros.

That and the head start was apparently enough for Don Bospflug as he overalled the morning race comfortably over fellow Sportsman racer Garrett Carlson. FMF KTM Factory Off-road Racing Team teammates Taylor Robert and Webb were the next two finishers and first two Pros respectively, a portent of things to come.

“It was actually pretty fun, like intense battling, but nothing was really going on,” Webb said, and Robert added, “We weren’t pushing real hard because we knew there was no point to do so, and this was just for gate pick. So, we just cruised down the last canyon and got onto the lake bed and cruised it back all the way around to [the finish].”

But things would get serious in the main event a few hours later, of course.

To make this year’s King of the Motos more spectator-friendly, Lewis designed a nine-mile-long figure-eight course with multiple viewing points (especially important for the live streaming). Whoever went the farthest in 3 hours would be the winner; anyone lapped by the leaders would be eliminated though they’d be an official finisher as long as they got that lap in the books. Of the 90 who started in the morning, 67 earned finisher status.

GPS navigation (but no road book) is required to follow the course at King of the Motos, just as in many of Europe’s extreme enduros, but with a multiple-lap race, it became less important after the first lap, as most riders could simply follow the burned in trail. Thus, the first lap saw a large lead pack with five riders taking turns at the front before missing a turn or going the wrong way. Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Off-road Team’s Colton Haaker, the defending King of the Motos champion, spent quite a bit of time in first and led the parade as they completed the first lap far faster than Lewis had envisioned–32 minutes instead of a guesstimated 50!

And then the pace picked up.

Defending champ Haaker noted, “I felt like no one really had a clear-cut advantage. I thought I was pretty aggressive on most everything in-between, like I was jumping stuff and just on the gas, just taking a little more risk at anything that had an option for open room once I knew where I was going. It paid off for me in the beginning until I hit a rock that I didn’t see.”

Haaker crashed hard and had to sit for a while to collect himself. No one passed him, though he knew he had obviously yielded a lot of time to his pursuers. Shortly thereafter, Webb went by with Haaker shaking off the crash enough to give chase and even re-pass Webb. The two men battled back and forth until Haaker chose the wrong line around a group of lappers and got stuck badly, losing an estimated 5 minutes before he was able to get going. That miscue effectively put an end to his chances to defend his 2015 King of the Motos title as Webb seemed to have all his lines dialed.

“From there I just hammered down,” Webb said. “I just really wanted to put some ground between us so he [Haaker] couldn’t follow my lines and stuff.”

As the race progressed, Robert mounted a charge that got him into second place and within sight of his teammate, but would end up 1 minute and 27 seconds behind at the finish after completing six laps (instead of the three or four that promoter Lewis thought it’d take). Haaker was just 17 seconds behind Robert for third place followed by SRT KTM’s Cory Graffunder, American Beta teammates Kyle Redmond and Max Gerston and KTM-mounted Noah Kepple, with Kepple last rider to complete six laps.

“This course was much more challenging than in the years past,” three-time King of the Motos champion Webb said. “It was shorter and more technical, which meant we had to encounter lappers sooner than we normally would. We actually passed all the way up to seventh place, which made it a little stressful. But overall, after the rain went away, the course was really good and I had a fun day.”

2016 Klim King of the Motos
Johnson Valley OHV Park
Johnson Valley, California
Results: January 31, 2018

Overall
1. Cody Webb-KTM
2. Taylor Robert-KTM
3. Colton Haaker-Hus
4. Cory Graffunder-KTM
5. Kyle Redmond-Bet
6. Max Gerston-Bet
7. Noah Kepple-KTM
8. Mitch Carvolth-KTM
9. Ty Tremaine-KTM
10. Bryan Roper-Hus

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Burning Man for gearheads.

That’s how race organizer Jimmy Lewis describes, the Klim King of the Motos presented by Trail-Tech, the sadistic two-wheeled spectacle that kicks off the Nitto King of the Hammers week at the Johnson Valley OHV Park in Southern California. But if you’re an extreme off-road rider, hell would be a more fitting description.

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Colton Haaker not only survived today’s fourth running of the Klim King of the Motos, he became the third King of the Motos champion in the four-year history of the event.

Haaker completed three laps of the 12.6-mile second loop with a winning time of 3 hours and 21 minutes flat. The 25-year-old AMA EnduroCross series regular was strong right from the start of the second loop, although he battled with SRT/BTO Sports KTM’s Cory Graffunder for much of the middle portion of the race. When all was said and done, however, Haaker became the third man to wear the King of the Motos crown, joining Graham Jarvis and Cody Webb; Jarvis and Webb missed the event this year.

Haaker said that the race, which marked his first career extreme enduro win, was one of the most difficult he has ever experienced. How tough was it? Of the 79 competitors that started the race, 56 made it to the afternoon session where only 44 completed one lap. Of the 44, only 11 completed a second lap, and only five completed a final third lap.

“You had to rest wherever you could,” Haaker said. “When you hit the canyons, they were just grueling. In the later laps it got so chunked up by the other riders that it made it a lot more difficult than the first lap.

“But I think my race plan was pretty good,” Haaker continued. “I got lost a few times, but I kept it on two wheels for the whole race, and that was the most important thing.”

Graffunder finished second, posting a time of 3:26:43, putting him 5 minutes and 43 second behind Haaker after the two practically shadowed each other while Graffunder effectively helped Haaker navigate the second loop. Beta USA’s Max Gerston, an AMA EnduroCross and XGames veteran, finished third in the race, with a time of 3:28:35.

This year’s King of the Motos was once again split into two loops, one starting in the morning and the other in the afternoon. The amateurs started the single 27-mile morning loop at 8 a.m., with the pros starting at 9 a.m. The finishing order of the morning loop only determined the starting position for loop two, but in order to be eligible for the loop, riders had to make it to check one by 10:30 a.m.

Approximately 60 amateurs took to the course, which featured a land-rush start down into the sandy ravine that led to Chocolate Thunder. This was the site of mass carnage last year, and while this year’s start didn’t exactly replicate those chills and spills, it quickly separated the wheat from the chaff. One rider, number 146, practically wore out his bike and his body just trying to clear the first obstacle, and he was the last rider to clear the spectator area albeit with a little help from some of the pro riders who were already out scouting lines for their start.

When the pros left the line, Christini rider Wally Palmer put his two-wheel-drive machine to good use, scampering through the rain-dampened sand and slick rocks to pull the holeshot with most of the pros making it look easy.

The first loop included Chocolate Thunder, Claw Hammer and Spooners, and it was expected to be tough enough to seriously test the mettle of the amateurs if not most of the pros. Race organizer Jimmy Lewis even went so far as to offer a free entry to the 2016 King of the Motos for any amateur that could finish ahead of the pros in the first loop. Surprise, surprise—one amateur did just that. SRTP/BTO Sports/509 KTM rider Kevin Murphy of Camarillo, California, was the first rider to make the finish line, completing the 27-mile course in 1 hour and 53 minutes.

“I’d really like to thank Craig Thompson from SRT for loaning me this bike,” Murphy said. “The course was great—no dust. I think I got off the start about fourth or so, and I just made some passes on some guys. It was awesome.”

Gerston and Graffunder came through 9 minutes and 15 seconds later after having an excellent dice down the final hill and through the finish line. Gerston just beat Graffunder to the finish line by 1 second to top the pros.

“It was a good, clean race,” Gerston said. Me and Graffiunder and Haaker went back and forth a few times.”

When asked if he knew why Haaker wasn’t with him and Graffunder at the finish, Gerston smirked, “Not my problem.”

But it was Haaker’s turn to shine when the grueling second loop commenced, as he grabbed the early lead in the race. Event officials predicted that the leaders would make four laps during the timed 3-hour second loop, but apparently they underestimated Jimmy Lewis’ level of sadism. The second loop featured 90 percent virgin terrain with sections that redefined the word “extreme.” One section in particular, known as “Waterfall,” would make a mountain goat nervous.

Haaker was clearly fast in the tight stuff, but his lack of navigation experience kept him from being able to get away early.

“I would get a lead, and then I would get lost,” Haaker said. “Then I’d turn around and get going in the right direction, and Graffunder would be there. So I pretty much just gave up on trying to lead, and just followed him. Then once I knew where I was going, I was able to charge a little harder.

Even so, when Haaker and Graffunder came through Waterfall on lap two, the race got really interesting. The two riders were less than 10 seconds apart, and Haaker’s time advantage vanished when he encountered a traffic jam at the top of the section. The two even had time to pull off their goggles and shoot the breeze for a moment while the lapped riders tried to clear enough room for them to pass on the narrow trail.

Once back underway, Haaker managed to get through the section cleanly, but Graffunder struggled, and that would prove to be the difference. Although Haaker, Graffunder and Gerston came through to start their final lap about 3 minutes apart, Haaker was able to stretch his lead to nearly 6 minutes at the finish.

“That was a pretty hard race,” Haaker said. “My whole body was cramping on the first loop, and it was basically five hours of racing. That race was more than twice as tough as last year’s race.”

Graffunder said that he got stuck at the top of Waterfall, and that once he cleared the section, Haaker was gone, and Graffunder said he never saw him again. But even though Haaker beat him, Graffunder couldn’t help but laugh when asked about Haaker’s navigation skills.

“He went the wrong way so many times!” Graffunder said with a laugh. “I was just like, ‘Ah, I’ll just go the right way, and he will figure it out.’ I guess I just have a little more experience at navigating than most people. On the first lap, I wasn’t so concerned with racing forward.”

Graffunder also acknowledged that this year’s King of the Motos set a new benchmark for extreme enduro racing in Ameica.

“It is definitely getting there,” said Graffunder, who has contested extreme enduros such as the Red Bull Romaniacs in Europe. “In the past years we used a lot of the truck canyons and they’re so wide and big. They’re truck tracks, not bike tracks. This year there was a lot of fresh stuff and bike-specific stuff, which was good. The navigation was key, and there some really tough sections that are more like the extreme enduros I’m used to.”

Gerston said he was happy with third place.

“I’ve had a lot of bad luck here in the past, so it was nice to just have a good, strong finish. That’s kind of a big improvement for me. I’m happy just to be here without bike issues or body issues. I saved myself for the end of the race, and I reeled those guys in, but I just didn’t have enough to…pin the tail on the donkey.”

And naturally, race organizer Jimmy Lewis was pleased to hear comments that this year’s King of the Motos was the toughest yet. That’s the goal, to make it the toughest off-road race in the world.

“I guessed that it would take the riders 50 minutes to an hour and 10 per lap on the second loop, and that’s what they were doing, so I think that I’ve finally learned what their level is,” Lewis said. “That level requires me to use a trials bike when I set up some parts of the course. Some of the stuff was sadistic, but that is the level at which these guys want to be pushed. When people ask me, ‘Is King of the Motos tougher than a Hare and Hound or tougher than the Baja 500?’ I tell them that the King of the Motos start is tougher than those entire races put together. And then it gets worse!”

2015 Klim King of the Motos presented by Trail-Tech
Johnson Valley OHV Park
Johnson Valley, California
Results: February 1, 2015

Top 3 Pro Finishers
1. Colton Haaker
2. Cory Graffunder
3. Max Gerston

Top 3 Amateur Finishers
1. Kevin Murphy
2. Chris Lencioni
3. Jordan Rock

Top Women Finishers
1. Morgan Tanke
2. Rachel Gutish

Overall
Place Bike# Rider Name Class Laps Total Time
1 10 Colton Haaker MP 3 3:21:07.079
2 118 Cory Graffunder MP 3 3:26:43.361
3 15 Max Gerston MP 3 3:28:35.274
4 177 Mitch Carvolth MP 3 4:32:27.497
5 44 Kale Elworthy MP 3 4:48:22.908
6 27 Wally Palmer MP 2 3:24:29.515
7 696 Noah Kepple MP 2 3:25:24.184
8 41 Jordan Brandt MP 2 3:30:24.756
9 200 Eric Rhoten MP 2 4:00:29.790
10 40 Don Boespflug MP 2 4:09:49.229
11 529 Eric Bailey MP 2 4:35:34.569
12 150 Kevin Murphy MA 2 4:35:35.412
13 34 Brady Elton MP 1 2:16:14.170
14 815 Tyler Kinkade MP 1 2:23:34.987
15 140 Chris Lencioni MA 1 2:25:36.193
16 4 Quinn Wentzel MP 1 2:37:22.945
17 111 David Kamo MP 1 2:54:29.890
18 56 Marty Mann MP 1 2:55:24.531
19 618 Jordan Rock MA 1 2:55:28.890
20 6G Jason Gitchel MA 1 2:59:43.650
21 360T Michael Salsman Ryan Koch MT 1 3:02:57.370
22 59T Todd Bennett Brad Hannon MT 1 3:04:41.054
23 517 Bucky Hill MA 1 3:11:52.267
24 502 Nathan Brown MA 1 3:32:26.177
25 305 Wayne Dickert MP 1 3:54:21.723
26 514 Steve Deines MP 1 3:54:24.792
27 131 Kyle Deines MP 1 3:54:26.676
28 88 Drew Dickson MA 1 3:54:56.264
29 11 Ryan Gouveia MA 1 3:57:52.100
30 256 Jesse Beck MA 1 4:00:27.658
31 239V Kevin Driver MA 1 4:01:21.488
32 V37 Craig Thompson MA 1 4:34:02.342
33 101 Alex Lehr MA 1 4:34:04.453
34 717 Kelly Gelhaus MA 1 4:34:08.159
35 959 Tim Wussow MP 1 4:41:45.049
36 143 Garett Carlson MA 1 4:42:56.187
37 727 James King MA 1 4:55:21.912
38 223 Chris Murphy MA 1 5:19:17.509
39 217 Rachel Gutish MW 1 5:25:47.419
40 31 Morgan Tanke MW 1 5:25:48.701
41 74 Radek Burkat MA 1 5:25:51.310
42 107 John Bennett MA 1 5:25:52.675
43 15ZQ Robert Katz MA 1 6:08:31.446
44 328V Roger Flud MA 1 6:08:49.711
DNF N1M John Kearney MA 0
DNF 84 Tom Walker MA 0
DNF 6T Tom Pira Phil Pira MT 0
DNF 17 Bernard Unhassobisky MA 0
DNF 175L Chris Gage MA 0
DNF F62 Corbin Reed MA 0
DNF 262R Darell Collins MA 0
DNF 325 Dexter Dickenson MA 0
DNF 79 Erik Schaffer MA 0
DNF 75 Garry Cassidy MA 0
DNF V2 Greg Gilbert MA 0
DNF 723 Jaminson Moses MA 0
DNF 579 John Scoleri MA 0
DNF 374 Justin Leineweber MA 0
DNF 7 Luis Gonzales MA 0
DNF 1008 Nicole Bradford MW 0
DNF 151 Randall Dubois MA 0
DNF 394 Rhyan Marshall MA 0
DNF 454 Ryus Finch MA 0
DNF 23 Scotty King MA 0
DNF 222 Tim Robel MA 0
DNF 16T Shane Reed Cameron Steele MT 0
DNF 142 Yoram Lavee MA 0
DNF 144 Nick Saia MA 0
DNF 160 Randy Duke MA 0
DNF 106 Bryan Nelson MP 0
DNF 50 Dalton Dietz MP 0
DNF 145 Matt Martin MA 0
DNF 141 Dave Sanchez MA 0
DNF 247 Tyler Little MA 0
DNF 307 Steven Gerber MP 0
DNF 62 Taylor Duprau MA 0
DNF 146 Andrew Hughes MA 0
DNF 127 Tim Oreilly MP 0
DNF 203 Mike Aranda MP 0
DNF 302 Shane McNulty MA 0

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American Beta rider Cody Webb dominated the 2014 King of the Motos presented by Trail Tech in Johnson Valley, California, today, defending his 2013 KoM crown in attrition-filled race in which just 25 of the 83 starters finished the full distance. A full 33 of them were done before the second of the two loops in the race even began.

The 25-year-old American Beta rider completed the 63.56-mile course with a total time of 2 hours, 38 minutes and 1 second, averaging 24.11 mph to collect the $5000. Factory KTM rider Taylor Robert finished second after finishing with the quickest time during the first loop in the morning. Husqvarna’s Graham Jarvis, the 2012 King of the Motos Champion, finished third overall after a brilliant second loop.

If Webb’s winning time sounds slow, then consider that the King of the Motos is such an incredibly brutal event that only the most technically proficient off-road riders survive the entire distance, and fewer still manage to thrive. This year’s event was tough on the field, claiming 58 of the event’s 83 starters. A full 23 failed to even make it through the first loop before the allotted time, and only 25 made it all way to the finish
Webb basically sealed the overall win right at the start of the second loop, the brutally tough, rock-strewn canyon known as Chocolate Thunder. Webb was first down the sandy draw that led to the rocks, and he breezed through the tough lower section. By the time he reached the top, he had roughly a four-minute lead.

“The start couldn’t have been any better,” Webb said. “It was actually what I planned. I knew I had to get out front as soon as possible and have no traffic, and then I’d be able to lead right off the bat. It worked to my advantage.”

Webb was able to put the same talent that earned him the 2010 AMA National Trials Championship to good use on the extremely jagged and challenging canyon sections that make the race such a test of endurance despite its short distance. He rallied through places Sledgehammer, Jackhammer and Wrecking Ball.

Webb faced stiff competition from a who’s-who of American off-road racing, including a number of talented factory KTM stars including reigning AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country Champion Kailub Russell and Taylor Robert, the top-finishing American at the 2013 International Six Days Enduro. Robert was a factor, as the new factory KTM rider was motivated to improve upon his third-place finish at the 2013, and although he’d had disappointing seventh-place qualifying run derail him, he was determined to stop Webb.

“I started on the fourth row because I had a little mishap in qualifying yesterday, which I was bummed because I had the qualifying course dialed and I think I should have qualified first,” Robert said. “But I wrecked in the qualifier, and then I just went out there and all I wanted to do was get up that first canyon clean because I knew after that it would be kind of faster and then there’s a couple of single-track sections. So I got up the first canyon clean, and I think I got past two guys before I got to the top of that and then there’s a dry lake bed followed by a long, like looped-out two-track road. I couldn’t feel my hands until like 30 minutes into the race. By the end of that fast section I was in second physically, and I could see Cody, so I knew I was on adjusted time I was already in the lead. I kept charging through everything. It got tighter. It was a bunch of technical, rocky single-track stuff and I kept pushing and eventually I caught up to Cody and passed him in the second fast section, and then he followed me until we got to the last downhill that was probably one of the gnarlier downhills out here, and we were both pushing really hard coming down that thing because we both wanted to physically be in the lead. He got me there at the end and got about 10 seconds on me by the time we got to the bottom, and then there was a little more two-track left, and I pushed as hard as I could and finished a few seconds behind him.”

Robert finished 1 minute and 27 seconds ahead of Webb at the end of the first loop, which gave him first pick of the starting positions for the land-rush start that would separate the men from the boys on the second loop. He knew it would be tough to dethrone Webb.

“I’ve been practicing a lot and I’ve been riding a lot of trials and technical stuff, but Cody’s still the man when it comes to that stuff in the United States, so I’m going to try and give him a run for his money,” Robert said.

But Webb got that awesome start and left Robert and the rest of the field in his wake.

“I just rode smart” Webb said. “I got to the gas stop, and then it loops around to the gas again. I had prerun all that, and I was on the gas there. I pitted, and I lost some time there near the end by getting lost. Then I got a flat tire, but I had ridden so perfectly to that point that I built up such a
lead. I only had one major mistake out there.”

The battle for the remaining podium positions was a three-rider battle that included four riders, including Robert, KTM-mounted Kyle Redmond and Johnny Campbell Racing’s Colton Haaker, who was already disqualified from the race after inadvertently missing a check during the morning loop. Robert was able to hold down second place at the finish.

“That start was kind of a cluster,” Robert said. “I came out like fifth or sixth—not as good as I wanted to be. I was trying to keep Cody in my sights for a little bit, but I never even saw him the whole race. Hopefully next year I can get up there on the start and just do my thing and challenge him for the win next year. But the race was good.

Jarvis, who finished fourth in the 1999 FIM World Trials Championship Series, managed to whittle down a five-minute deficit to Webb and salvage a third-place finish.

“I’m in the autumn of my career,” the 38-year-old Jarvis had joked before the start of the race. Afterward, he was less grateful that he had the podium than he was disappointed that the race was “too easy.” “I was in the group with Taylor and Kyle Redmond and Colton Haaker,” Jarvis said. “That ends up slowing you up a bit, to be honest with you, because sometimes they get stuck in front of you. But it was good to ride with them. It was more interesting. The start was confusing, and it cost me a minute or so, but I don’t think it would have made a difference in the results. Nobody was getting really stuck out there. I told [race organizer] Jimmy Lewis he has got to make it harder next year. I’ll only come back if he makes it harder.”
Redmond, finished fourth. Noah Kepple was fifth.

2014 King of the Motos
Johnson Valley OHV
Johnson Valley, CA
Results: February 2, 2014
Overall
Rider/First Loop/Second Loop/Total Time
1. Cody Webb 57:35 1:40:26 2:38:01
2. Taylor Robert 56:08 1:44:11 2:40:19
3. Graham Jarvis 1:02:43 1:44:36 2:47:19
4. Kyle Redmond 1:02:17 1:49:02 2:51:19
5. Noah Kepple 1:07:42 2:23:10 3:30:52
6. Mitch Carvolth 1:15:28 2:29:11 3:44:39
7. Kale Elworthy 1:13:03 2:44:19 3:57:12
8.Ty Tremaine 1:11:38 2:46:22 3:58:00
9. Travis Coy 1:10:42 2:47:34 3:58:16
10 . Peter Weiss 1:18:47 2:48:10 4:06:57
11. Justin Morgan 1:15:25 2:54:18 4:09:43
12. Don Boesplfug 1:10:17 3:01:19 4:11:36
13. Mike Aranda 1:20:54 3:09:14 4:30:08
14. Wally Palmer 1:25:17 3:13:42 4:38:59
15. Quinn Wentzel 1:20:07 3:13:46 4:33:53
16. Cory Graffunder 1:05:44 3:15:47 4:21:31
17. Rory Sullivan 1:12:51 3:28:26 4:41:17
18. Jason Matheney 1:15:10 3:35:57 4:51:07
19. Brady Elton 1:20:44 3:47:53 5:08:37
20. Michael Allen 1:30:14 3:49:41
21. Joseph Edsman 1:32:07 3:52:38 5:24:45
22. Erin James 1:42:46 4:08:00 5:50 46
23. Brad Hendry 1:30:01 4:26:18 5:56:19
24. Michael Salsman 1:52:32 4:33:52 6:26:24
25. Steven Foord 1:52:32 4:33:52 6:26:24

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