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Round three of the Yamaha/ITP uadcross would cap an epic
weekend of Championship AMA racing, as the bike Nationals were
held on the day before Sunday’s Quadcross race. For local and
out of state racers alike, many made an entire weekend event out
of this round – showing up early to watch the best of the best,
including Villapoto, Reed, and Allessi, race against the
backdrop of Glen Helen’s infamous foothills. With so many
people in attendance, it was a true challenge for the Quadcross
racers to find and move into a decent pit position, set up, and
get ready for their race; however, it was also very cool to have
an abundance of vendors and spectators still present for the
race on Sunday.
MOTO
1
With
the track only slightly rerouted from the bike nationals, line
choice would be important, as would power and suspension
throughout the extremely rough leftovers from Saturday’s racing
action. When the gate dropped for the Production 450 Pro race,
there was a mad dash for first as the entire field swept into
Talladega and took a right turn that led up the backside of Mt.
Shoei. Ca-Am mounted Sage Baker (#49) took the holeshot with
Noss, Warnia and Nelson bunched up close behind. Changes can
happen quickly, however, and soon Warnia had taken the lead from
Baker and found Yamaha’s Dustin Nelson hot on his heels.
Justin
Noss’s good start was ended abruptly when he was "t-boned" by
Romain Couprie, as both of their Yamahas collided at the
off-camber base of Mt. Shoei. While Noss was quickly to his
feet and had his quad back on its wheels in no time, that spill
still sent him to the back of the fast moving Pro field.
Suffering some issues of his own, Hunter Miller would be way
off pace for this moto, and would wind up bringing up the very
rear.
With
Warnia out front and riding like a man possessed, Nelson would
have to dig deep to overcome a shoulder injury that had him a
little off-pace for this round, as he stuck close behind Warnia,
poised and ready in case Warnia made any mistakes.
Slamming his quad sideways into the huge, downhill berms at the
base of Mt. St. Helens, it didn’t look like Warnia had any
intentions of giving up his lead, and instead, he drew even
farther ahead of Nelson as the race continued.
Behind
Warnia was a train of blue, as Dunkelberger ran in a steady
third place, followed by Romain Couprie. Not to be undone, Josh
Frederick was looking good and pushing his Can Am through the
 rough,
rutted track in pursuit of the leaders. In a stroke of bad luck,
however, Frederick’s race day ended with a brutal crash that
resulted in a broken Tibia/Fibia, and would put him on the
sidelines for quite some time. With a points battle for the
WORCS Series on the line, this had to be an upsetting turn of
events for the extremely fast WORCS racer.
Warnia
would finish out the first moto uncontested in first place, with
Dustin Nelson giving a solid performance and pulling off a 2nd
place finish, despite not feeling 100%. With what is his best
finish so far this season, Dunk fought hard to hold off
Couprie, and rounded off the top 3 with a third place finish,
while Couprie and Baron finished up the top five.
Moto
2
While
the track started off a bit rougher than normal (at Glen Helen,
rough IS normal!), by the second moto the quads had done some
serious damage to the few smooth places that could be found in
moto one. The Pros would have to be on their game in order to
not only be competitive, but to stay on all four wheels and
avoid any more nasty spills!
This
time, Nelson's Yamaha YFZR would pull a huge holeshot over the
field, followed by Dunk and Noss as they flew into the first
turn. Sage Baker would quickly put his Can Am into second place
behind Nelson, while Warnia had already moved into the third
place position. Once again, we would see Couprie, Dunk and Noss
fighting through the one-lined areas and looking to gain an
advantage over each other.
Noss,
no doubt looking to make up ground after his wreck in moto one,
passed Dunk quickly and was on the throttle hard after Romain
Couprie.
Nelson
was able to increase his lead while Warnia diced it out for over
two laps with Baker for second place. Using the battle raging
on behind him to his advantage, Nelson put as much distance
between himself and the two Can Am riders as he could.
Doing
much better this time around, Machado was up in the midst of the
action along with another rider who didn’t have a good first
moto, Hunter Miller. The #3 Honda of Beau Baron was running
strong towards the front of the field, but would fall back a
little as the laps ticked by.
No
doubt tired of seeing Nelson getting away, Warnia made a bonsai
charge down Mt. St. Helens, and it paid off as he passed
Baker for second place, and opened up the track between himself
and Nelson.
 Making
up for lost time, Warnia closed the gap on the leader, and
finally made the pass that put him into the lead. Baker was
still charging hard in third place, with Couprie and Noss making
sure they didn’t make it easy for him. In the meantime, Dunk,
who had a great finish in moto one, was dropping back a bit in
the field, as Machado would get around him and into seventh
place.
Once
Warnia settled into first place he continued to increase his
lead, putting a comfortable lead on Nelson, who was probably
playing it safe in second place, and well ahead of third. With
a considerable lead on the rest of the field, Warnia and Nelson
would be the first two to cross the finish line in a repeat of
moto one, with Warnia taking the win while Nelson followed up in
2nd. Couprie would take up the last spot on the
podium in third place, while Justin Noss had a much better
finish this time around in fourth. Baron would continue to be
consistent with his fifth place finish in moto two, and a fifth
overall for the weekend.
The
points battle going into Round 4 is a close one, with only three
points separating Warnia’s first
 place
lead from Nelson’s second place position. Join us for our first
night race on June 13th, as the Quadcross heads back
to Arizona for Round 4 of this series, which will be held at
Speedworld MX Park. Speedworld is a favorite track for many of
the Quadcross regulars and has often broken attendance records
for the Quadcross Series. For more information go to
www.speedworldmx.com, or
www.itpquadcross.com .
TOP 10 - OVERALL POINTS 450 PRO
PRODUCTION (as of Round 3)
1.
Jeremie
Warnia 72
2.
Dustin
Nelson 69
3.
Jason
Dunkelberger 53
4.
Justin Noss
50
5.
Hunter Miller
49
6.
Sage
Baker 45
7.
Romain
Couprie 40
8.
Mike
Machado 37
9.
Jason
Fife 34
10.
Evan
Spooner
34
For all Round 3 pics, click here!!
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