Pro Class... Out west in Southern California, the first round of the 2008 ITP QuadCross season heated up at Glen Helen Raceway on Sunday, Mar. 9. Here Dustin Nelson enjoyed a great comeback from a broken leg last year, turning in 1-1 motos to take the overall win on his YFZ450. On the same basic track as the AMA Motocross Championship will use next May, Nelson started second in the first moto, took the lead halfway through and then simply motored away from the pack. The second race was even better, with the 2006 ITP QuadCross champion grabbing the holeshot and leading every lap. “It’s fantastic for Dustin to start the year off with a victory after his injury last summer,” said Donnie Luce, Yamaha’s Off-Road Coordinator. “Now we’re just going to focus on leading the points.”
Pro 265-450 |
| 1 |
Dustin Nelson - YAM |
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| 2 |
Mike Machado |
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| 3 |
Josh Fredericks |
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| 4 |
Justin Noss - YAM |
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| 5 |
Dustin Terry - YAM |
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| 6 |
Chris Tait - YAM |
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| 7 |
Robbie Mitchell |
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| 8 |
John Shafe |
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| 9 |
Jason Fife - YAM |
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| 10 |
Jesse Goss |
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Pro 265-450 Standings - After Round 1 of 9 |
| 1 |
Dustin Nelson - YAM |
50 |
| 2 |
Mike Machado |
44 |
| 3 |
Josh Fredericks |
40 |
| 4 |
Justin Noss - YAM |
38 |
| 5 |
Dustin Terry - YAM |
36 |
| 6 |
Chris Tait - YAM |
34 |
| 7 |
Robbie Mitchell |
32 |
| 8 |
John Shafe |
30 |
| 9 |
Jason Fife - YAM |
28 |
| 10 |
Jesse Goss |
26 |
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The Nelson Report - Round 1
Glen Helen Raceway,
Devore, CA
Round one of the 2008 Yamaha/ITP Quadcross was held at Glen Helen Raceway. The opening round was held in conjunction with the first round of the AMA/ATVA Pro Racing National series. With both series racing on the same day with separate pro classes; a very healthy turnout of 26 riders had to be split into two qualifiers to determine gate pick for a one moto main event. The track started the day fast and smooth with one good line but as the windy day went on it became very rough with a few sections that developed lines good enough for passing.
Qualifier 1: The first qualifier holeshot went to Reed Petchnick; I rounded the first turn in fifth and immediately went to work at catching and passing the riders ahead of me. My #94 YFZ was handling great as I made passes through the rough corners and down the treacherous downhills. By the end of lap three I had made the pass into the lead and began pulling ahead of the pack. At the finish of the eight lap race I won by almost 10 seconds over Mike Machado and Josh Frederick.
Qualifier 2: Chris Tait grabbed the holeshot ahead of Justin Noss. The two battled at the front for about half the race before Noss made the pass for the lead on one the downhills. At the finish it was YFZ-mounted Noss with the win ahead of Tait.
Main Event: Heavy watering before the start of the main made for some interesting racing in the opening lap with parts of the track feeling more like an ice rink than a motocross track. My YFZ pulled me to a great start as Noss and I went into the first turn dead even. As we rounded the “Talladega” first turn Noss slid a little sideways giving me a clear track ahead heading into turn 2. Without any traffic to worry about I put my head down and charged, pulling out to a nine second gap after only three laps. Machado was riding strong in second while fighting off both Brandon Smith and Frederick. In the closing laps Smith was able to make the pass on Machado only to have a mechanical issue on the final lap and drop all the way to 22nd. When the checkers flew I took the first win of the year with Machado successfully fighting off a charging Frederick for second, Noss came across fourth with Dustin Terry rounding out the top five.
Round one of the Yamaha/ITP Quadcross series went extremely well for me, I had two great moto wins and feel very confident in the set-up on my #94 YFZ. The opening round was also very important as it was double points this year rather the final race of the year being double points as in years past. I’m very excited and looking forward to the second round at ACP in Buckeye, AZ on April 13th.
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