staying within just a few seconds of each other with Joey Schoeningh taking the wire to wire win and Dylan Delgado battling from the back finishing just seconds behind. Schoeningh will run the 1z plate for 2012. Round 1 2012 - February 4th-5th, Gorman, Ca.
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2011 CHAMPIONS Pro - Nick Burson Open - Michael Allen Lites - Garrett Burnett Vet - Lance Hankins Sen 1 - Rob Dubato Sen 2 - Jon Sides Women - Selina Lorigo Mini - Sammy Bangert Quad - Frankie Esquivel Kids 1 - Cody Kurtz Kids 2 - Joey Schoeningh Pee Wee - Andrew Mrozik
BY EREK KUDLA PHOTOS BY DAVE BURSON
he Finale of the 2011 US Desert Racing Series couldn’t have gone any better. Friday evening the skies opened up and poured rain all night long until the early morning making for perfect racing conditions. Not only would Zip-Ty Husky’s Nick Burson wrap up his 5th Pro title in a row, but many others would earn their titles. It what was to be one of the best USDR events to date.
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Race 1 started the day off with a bang when Senior 2’s reigning Champion John Sides would have the battle of his life with newly bumped Senior 2 racer Mark Torgeson. The two would go back and forth for what seemed like forever with the dust free conditions. “I think thats the first time I’ve had a battle like that in a LOOONG time,” commented Sides “I’d pass him (Torgeson) and think ‘that’s the last I’ll see of him’ and then here he’d come bonzain’ out of the rocks! It was crazy!” The two would battle nearly the entire first lap until Torgeson would catch a “G- Out” wrong and twist his ankle effectively ending the battle for him as he hobbled in at 12th overall. Senior 2 racers Rick Flores and Thomas Gibson would stay close all morning keeping Sides honest but neither of them would get within a minute of the leader giving Sides his 3rd Race 1 overall victory on the season. Mini Expert Sammy Bangert aboard his Z-Racing KTM 85 would eventually work his way into 4th overall after coming back from a terrible start getting by fellow Mini Expert Camburg Racing’s Conner Hisgen. Bangert would make a last minute pass on first time USDR racer Paul Lipert aboard his Lipert’s racing YZ 250 putting Lipert into 5th overall by a mere 6 seconds.
As the day wore on the cloud cover stayed low and the temperature hovered in the 50s maintaining the moisture and phenomenal race weather into the afternoon hours. As the green flag waved it looked as though Nick Burson would have another wire to wire win but some of the open experts would give him a good chase to the first corner. Open Expert Michael Allen on his MSR Racing YZ 250 took advantage of the wet dirt and was able to stay bar to bar with Burson all the way to the first set of rollers. “I really felt like I could have gotten a tire on him (Burson),” said Allen “but then I figured he would just pass me a corner later so I let off.” Rolling the throttle off turned out to be a mistake for Allen letting the Thousand Oaks Powersports backed YZ 250 of Austin Keys and the AS Racing backed CRF 450 of Anthony Vasquez by as well. The three Open Experts would stay nose to tail for the entire first lap, trading positions nearly every corner!
Keys led the pack through the scoring chicane on the first lap but just a few hundered yards later he would get sideways over a rise digging his front end into the dirt on the other side sending him flying solo into the bushes. Luckily he crashed directly in front of
www.SS-OffRoadMagazine.com - JANUARY 2012 - S&S OFF ROAD MAGAZINE 35 Austin Keys (42) leads Michael Allen (6) and Anthony Vasquez (1) into Check 2.
the road crossing crew and the ambulance so there was plenty of help. Allen would inherit the lead with Vasquez in tow. Keys was able to get up and finish 3 more laps of the 6 lap event but would eventually pull off and have to head to the hospital with a few cracked ribs.
Starting from the 3rd row Open Intermediate Junior Delgado was making moves through the field aboard his AS Racing CRF 450 pulling a string of Intermediate racers along with him. Leading the Lites Intermediates were Taylor Stevens and Jeff Harper who would engage in a race long battle finishing just 16 seconds apart, Harper in 9th overall and Stevens in 10th.
With Burson out front and putting in solid laps the real racing was left up to Open #1 Plate holder Vasquez and Allen. Both riders had their sites on the 2011 title and BOTH wanted to win. Allen would have the advantage until he made a big mistake in a boulder section smashing his pipe against his radiatior pump running his bike dry. Vasquez made an easy pass on Allen and even after losing his silencer Vasquez was able to retain 2nd overall for the remainder of the race. Allen just made sure to keep his bike going and turning laps as all he needed was a finish to clench the championsip. At the finish line Burson crossed the checkered
with a 10 minute lead on second overall and a huge smile on his face! This would make his 5th Pro title in a row and his 3rd title with Zip-Ty Racing. “Its really great to wrap up another one on such a great day. The series has been through a lot and its great to see it keep going and even better to get to run the #1 plate again for 2012!” said Burson who had hardly broken a sweat in the perfect tempratures. Coming through in 2nd overall was Vasquez who, while taking his 3rd win on the season, would end up 2nd in points after missing Round 4. Snap-On Racing’s Colby would come through 3 minutes behind from the Vet Expert row followed by Allen who would take the Open Title for 2011. “I can’t believe I finished!” exclaimed Allen. “I dont think I have a drop of coolant left in this thing! Love my YZ!” Delgado would round out the top 5 taking the Open Intermediate win.
The beautiful weather would extend into the Kids Races which were all very close. The Pee Wee race would be dominated by the 8p of Andrew Mrozik who also earned the 1p plate for 2012. Kids 1 would be very tight with the come-from-behind charge of Cody Kurtz who would take the win by only 6 seconds over James Deckert Jr. Kurt will run the 1k again for 2012. Finally the Kids 2 race would be a great one to watch with all 5 of the riders
Zip-Ty Huskys Nick Burson dominated the entire season!
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