Race Report: 2015 BIG 6 Round 1 | Adelanto , CA
January 3, 2015
Round one of the BIG 6 championship
Adelanto Grand Prix
Maverick’s stadium, Adelanto, CA
The season opener for the District 37 BIG 6 championship series took place at Maverick’s stadium in Adelanto, CA and served as a platform to bring back the nostalgic Adelanto Grand Prix. In keeping with the tradition of the old Adelanto GP the hosting club, SoCal MC laid out a long, high-speed course that wound around the surrounding desert. There was a unique feature to the race as the course then headed to the infield of Maverick’s stadium where a well-built endurocross course awaited the riders. The first race of the year is always hotly anticipated and a full line of pro and expert racers awaited the start to test how well they prepared in the off season.
Justin Seeds | 2nd place
Justin showed impressive speed all day, battling with his teammate and Gary Sutherlin out front. He twice held the lead and was just over a lap from taking the victory until a mistake dropped him back and he would settle for what was a well-deserved second place finish.
Photo credit: Mark Kariya
“The first [couple] laps I put the hammer down and got into second and then around lap five I got out front. I made a little mistake in the fire pit section [in the Endurocross] and fell, losing the lead, but I was able to get back out front the following lap.”
Justin airing it out over the always crowd-pleasing water jump. Photo credit: Mark Kariya
“I stayed out front until the second to last lap when I had a close call and almost went down, letting Gary pass me. I tried to push, but my hands were destroyed and I settled for second place.”
Robby Bell | 4th place
Robby got off to a great start and ran up from for most of the race, but suffered from badly blistered hands and faded back to fourth at the finish.
Photo credit: Mark Kariya
“I got off to a great start and held the lead early, then I flew off the course and Gary [Sutherlin] got around me. He fell a little later and I took the lead back, but then my teammate came charging by me and took first place away. I was pretty content to follow him, watch his lines and then see who was stronger at the finish, but about halfway through the race my hands started getting really hot.”
Robby held the lead a few times during the race, but couldn’t quite maintain it to the finish. Photo credit: Mark Kariya
“I developed a bad blister in the middle of my left palm and was struggling with my grip under braking and accelerating so I backed my pace down. It’s frustrating as I felt like I had a sure podium and my sights on the win, but I’m looking at it like a good warm up race and I already know how to keep my hands from blistering again moving forward so I’m feeling pretty positive about 2015.”
Top Five Results:
1. Gary Sutherlin
2. Justin Seeds
3. Colton Udall
4. Robby Bell
5. Blayne Thompson
Upcoming Events:
January 10: BITD round 1 | Parker 250
January 17: WORCS round 1 | Taft, CA
January 24: NHHA round 1 | Lucerne, CA