Beta Races Everywhere

[totalmotorcycle]

Beta Races Everywhere


The Beta factory and factory support teams had multiple events this past weekend including Mototrials in Tennessee, GNCC in Ohio, WORCS in Utah, and finally Extreme in Austria.

Round eight of the WORCS championship was in Cedar City, Utah. Beta support racer Justin Wallis finished 4th just seconds off the podium aboard his Gary Smith-prepped Beta 430 RR Race Edition. The young racer is also supported by Sportsman Cycles in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Wallis describes his race, "I lined up super confident knowing I put in allot of training on hard pack terrain for this type of event. I got a mediocre start, and played the game of dodging wrecking riders. Ended up 5th after a lap or two and started putting the charge on. The dusty conditions made it super hard to see and really hard pack, blue groove so it wasn't no easy task to pass. My pit crew saw that and pulled me in really early for a pit, which in the long run gained time and bumped me up a position. I kept charging in 4th gaining ground on 3rd but when the checkered flew I was 4 seconds shy and ended up 4th. I'm happy with my performance, and I can't thank my pit crew enough for making that move. And a big thank you to everyone helping me out! Beta USA, Sportsman Cycle, Curtis Motorsports, Dynamic Dirt suspension, mobius, cfx seats, DP Brakes, Hinson, EKS goggles, Pivot Works, Ryno Power Supplements, Matrix concepts, Sunstar, Acerbis, Twin Air, IMS, Racetechinc, Engine Ice, A'ME grips, Handupgloves, Focus apparel, Fasstcompany, Ogio, Sidi, DA8 training, Kayu International, Atlas brace, GPR Stabilizers, Fly gear, Maxxis tire's, Bell helmets, metroprint graphics and my mechanic Gary Smith."



Justin Wallis finished 4th in Utah (Photo by Harlen Foley)

On the GNCC front, The factory team had an up and down day. Both Jesse Groemm and Tegan Temple fell victim to a part of the course that was destroyed many sprockets and swing arms. There was a section with a deep rut and a hidden rock that not only ended Temple's day but also derailed Groemms and many other racer's rear sprockets. The section was eventually thrown out of the course. Groemm was able to bend his sprocket back enough to continue in 10th place and would eventually finish in 5th.



Factory Beta racer Tegan Temple before a rock took out his rear swingarm
On the Mototrial front, the East coast championships have been decided with rounds three and four being held in Tennessee and it was Beta rider Elliot Key taking the Junior class championship by winning every round he entered in convincing fashion. "I was very excited to get back into competition after training over the winter. I couldn't be more happy to be going into my 2nd year with Beta USA and to be a part of the moto trials team. The factory Beta 125 has amazing power and was rippin' on the difficult hill climb sections in Tennessee. I am looking forward to competing in the west coast events, having fun, seeing my friends and representing Beta." 13 year old Elliot Key explains.



13 year old Elliot Key won the East Junior Championship



Expert class rider Andreas Niederer left Tennessee with a win and the points lead for the National championship. Niederer and his minder Ron Lee are looking forward to the remaining four rounds on the West Coast. Niederer explains his weekend, "This weekend was very successful for me. I placed 2nd on Saturday and took the win on Sunday. The sections were very easy all weekend. One five is all it took to take you out of contention for the win. On Saturday I let my guard down in one section that cost me dearly. Sunday, my minder Ron and I worked together perfectly helping me achieve a personal goal this weekend, to clean the entire loop at a national!"



Andreas Niederer has a 14 point lead in the Expert Championship headed into round five


High School class Beta rider Grayson Hertrich finished up the East Coast championship in third posting three podium finishes for the season.



Grayson Hertrich aboard his Beta Evo 250 Factory Edition in Tennessee.

Women's class ride Sadie Webb also had solid results in Tennessee with a second on Saturday and a win on Sunday closing out the East championship in second place.



Sadie Webb aboard her Beta Evo 200 on her way to a win on Sunday


The Factory Extreme duo of Kyle Redmond and Max Gerston competed in the nasty of all nasty races, Erzberg. Both riders qualified on Friday for a front row start however the race would not go well for either rider. Both racers experienced downed riders on trails that were single line with no way around. Beta USA President Tim Pilg describes, "Erzberg is the real deal for sure. The combination of the extreme sections along with the nasty weather makes it the ultimate extreme event. It is a shame that the race's format is the way it is because the start pretty much decides the top 5 of the race every year. It is a bummer when we have talented guys that sit behind slower riders for an hour. It would be nice to see the event become an actual timed race to give all of the talented riders a chance, not just the guys that make it up the first hill as there is no such thing as a come from behind win at this race, it is just not possible with the bottlenecks."

Both Redmond and Gerston did not make the 4 hour cutoff to the finish however are listed in 23rd and 42nd respectively.

Gerston comments, "Erzberg is the real deal. I started the race off with an OK start, but got stuck behind people on the first hill. I was able to get through the mess and start fighting my way back through the pack. I had one big get off when a slippery wet pipeline sent me off the trail and down the mountain. I was able to get back on track. About 1 hour into the race I got lost with some other riders. We spent a solid 15 minutes looking for the correct turn so we didn't miss a checkpoint. I finally got back on track, but was stuck way back in the pack, again. I was slowly working my way through the pack again and came to a hill with a huge bottleneck on the bottom. This Hill soaked up a solid 45 minutes to an hour from my race. Once I got though that I charged forward to Carl's diner. I crashed once in Carl's diner breaking my water pump cover. I was able to finish Carl's diner and a few sections after that before I was unable to continue do to the 4 hour time cutoff. All in all it was an awesome experience. The race didn't go as well as I was hoping it would, but I learned invaluable experience and have a great direction on where to head for the future. My Beta 300 RR worked awesome and excelled in the big rock sections."




Max Gerston started on the front row however Erzberg got the best of him

Kyle Redmond had this to say, "That was the hardest track I have ever seen, when they say it's the toughest race in the world they mean it. I trained hard for 2 months for the event and had high hopes going in. The race starts straight up 6 hill climbs, 50 guys heading wide open at 1 main line, it's easy to prepare your ability and fitness but you can't train for other riders. I messed up 3 of these hills off the start and when you start this, back of the pack mayhem right off the bat it escalates into more and more problems. The bottle necks and lines in the first hour were so frustrating. I can ride these trails but when you have 20 riders stuck it's impossible. I blew myself out and was very tired after the mayhem in the beginning and managed to get pretty far but all the down time made it impossible to get to the finish."