Lagzdins and Jarrett Take the $Money$ at the
Motion Pro Wildcat XC
Article and photos by John Gasso
The Duncan, Dirt First Honda of Andy Lagzdins (Moose Racing / ITP) was victorious again after eleven laps and nearly two hours of racing Saturday April 21 at the OMA Nationals Motion Pro Wildcat XC. Lagzdins gained the lead on lap three and motored on for a margin of two minutes and thirty nine seconds over Rob Zimmerman (Honda / Moose Racing / Maxxis). Derrick Schrock (Yamaha / Moose Racing / Maxxis) rolled under the Red Bull arch three minutes later, just five seconds short of the two hour mark, to claim third in the dusty but fast conditions. Lagzdins, who made the long drive over from Baltimore, Maryland, said, “it was a good track. Pretty fast and challenging.”
Zimmerman admitted to being “completely out of shape” and simply “ran out of juice” on his quest to wrestle the lead from Lagzdins. According to Zimmerman, his race was “horribly great pathetic.” After his normal dead last start Zimmerman went to work in the woods and made some progress through the pack. A large rock lodged in his left front a-arm and caused the wheel to lock up but that was soon cleared and the charge was on again. Matt Lindle, who ended up in fifth place, was next in his sights. Unfortunately Lindle’s Honda kicked up a large stick and Zimmerman had to stop to clear it from his front suspension. With the obstruction cleared Zimmerman got past Lindle and was charging for Lagzdins when the heat and tight track conditions finally caught up with him. The three time OMA Nationals Champion could only maintain position and did not have the energy left to overcome the gap that Lagzins created. Luckily his Clarke fuel tank allowed Zimmerman to run the entire event without losing time and possible positions for a fuel stop.
Derrick Schrock rounded out the all Moose Racing Podium aboard his Hornung Cycles Yamaha YFZ. A very good start garnered Schrock a $250 holeshot bonus and he led the first two laps. He said the race “was pretty good. It seemed like it lasted for quite a while. The track got better as it went. It blew a lot of the loose rocks off and it had some berms in the corners.”
Spencer Dickerson, Matt Lindle, and Jeff Schrock rounded out the top six positions. Their Hondas were the last to accumulate eleven laps of the Wildcat XC.
Bill Gusse and his OMA Nationals team created another exciting event on the Mike and Mary Snook Wildcat ranch property near Decatur, Arkansas. Forty-six ATV riders competed on a course that included some logs, some wide-open sections, and miles of classic single-track woods trails. The next installment of the OMA Nationals series will be the SIDI Coal Miner XC in Rio Grande, Ohio
The OMA Nationals Motion Pro Wildcat XC started in a cloud of dust. Jimmy Jarrett (FMF Suzuki / Moose Racing / Maxxis ) crossed the holeshot stripe about a bike length ahead of Adam Bonneur ( Fun Mart Cycle Yamaha / Moose Racing / Maxxis ) to grab a $1000 holeshot prize. Two hours and twenty-seven minutes later he passed under the Red Bull arch to claim first place and $1000 for his victory. The first six laps also carried a $100 bonus each, and Jarrett grabbed them all.
Bonneur eventually ended up in fifth after leading for a short time on lap one when Jarrett missed an arrow and took the wrong split on the trail. Later in the lap the three time OMA Nationals champion recovered from his little detour and re-gained the lead with Jason Thomas (Fun Mart Cycle Yamaha / Moose Racing / Maxxis) moving in fast. Jarrett and Thomas would battle hard and the gap at lap three was only seven seconds in favor of Jarrett. Meanwhile, Bonneur caught a vine and crashed. Brian Garrahan (Fun Mart, Valley Construction, No Toil, Yamaha) and privateer Josh Weisenfelt (Yamaha) moved ahead to battle for third. Thomas was running a good pace, but when the young man from Wales stopped for gas, Jarrett said “I pinned it so he wouldn’t catch me.” “He just dropped the hammer, I guess”, said Thomas.
Suffering from arm pump then a crash that tore off his goggles, Tracy Bachman, Chris Bach, and Tony Joiner passed Garrahan only to regain his position ahead of them after stopping to get fresh un-broken goggles. Weisenfels broke a foot peg and had a failed rear shock, but decided to stay in the race because the contingencies “paid so far back.” He was soon in a heavy battle with Garrahan that would play out near the end of the final lap when Weisenfels got a clean break past a lapper and finished just three seconds ahead of Garrahan to grab the last slot on the Motion Pro podium.
Texas rider Matt Crouch (Yamaha / MSR / Maxxis) had a rough day and finished nineteenth in class. He said, “I was riding decent every now and then.” The rocks and rough terrain gave him some troubles. “The bad part is these rocks aren’t in the ground,” said Crouch. “They roll when you hit them.” Near the end of his race Crouch went down in a corner and had a foot stay under the bike. He was suffering some stiffness in his ankle and trouble moving it after the race.
“A” Class rider Derrick Spangler also has some problems early in the race aboard his KTM 200XC. The rear tire went flat about two miles in to the seven-mile circuit “while passing for the overall A Class lead.” He finished the lap on the flat and pulled in to the pits. “My dad and all the guys around here, big thanks to them, jumped in and took it off the practice bike and got it changed”, said the young Indiana racer. Spangler charged back out and ran a fast pace and made his way back to the head of the Lite A class, finishing seven laps at two hours and thirty minutes. He rode most of the last lap with Jason Thomas until the front tire went flat to slow his pace again.
One hundred and sixty two riders braved the rough Arkansas terrain to do battle for nearly three hours. The Motion Pro Wildcat XC was challenging and exciting. The course was classic Gusse, with logs, water crossings, and miles of single-track woods trails. Jimmy Jarrett called it “awesome.” He also left the event with $2600 for his efforts.
OMA Nationals Motion Pro Wildcat XC Results
1. Jimmy Jarrett Suzuki
2. Jason Thomas Yamaha
3. Josh Weisenfels Yamaha
4. Brian Garrahan Yamaha
5. Adam Bonneur Yamaha
6. Tony Joiner Kawasaki
7. Aaron Wegner Yamaha
8. Broc Sims Suzuki
9. Rich Lafferty Yamaha
10. John Robbins KTM |
