Race Report: 2015 BITD Round 4 | Las Vegas
Best in the Desert championship series
Round 4 | August 14, 2015 | Las Vegas-Reno, NV
Max Eddy | 3rd Open Pro
Due to the recent injuries suffered by both Ricky Brabec and Robby Bell, Max Eddy was assigned with the task of stepping up to ironman the 550-mile Vegas to Reno racecourse in order to keep the team in the championship hunt. Best in the Desert has a unique rule requiring one “rider of record” per team for the entirety of the season; this rider of record is allowed one teammate per race, and can choose a different teammate each time, but if the rider of record is injured, only one rider can fill in, forcing that racer to ironman. In our case, we chose Max.
With eight Open Pro teams pre-entered for the event, our main goal for Max was first to finish, but ideally to get inside the top six. Ricky and Robby have been battling the Purvine’s Racing Beta team of Nick Burson and Axel Pearson for the championship, and if Nick and Axel took the win at Vegas to Reno, a sixth place finish from Max would keep our team within three points of the championship lead, meaning a win at the final round in Henderson would still give Ricky and Robby the championship. It was going to be a long haul for Max though, spending more than nine hours on the bike at high speeds, and with temperatures in the high nineties, so making it across the finish line was the foremost goal.
Max had a fantastic day, riding all 550 miles of the 2015 Vegas to Reno solo, and taking home a very impressive third place overall finish. | photo credit: Mark Kariya
Max took off the line in second position as each of the pro teams started one at a time, separated by one minute, with the Beta team starting seventh. Max held a solid place early on, swapping the physical lead with the N11 team of David Pearson and Taylor Stevens and the N45 entry of Francisco Arredondo and Shane Esposito. Unfortunately Taylor Stevens would suffer a severe injury in a crash and the N11 team was forced to pull out, leaving Max to battle with the N45 team early on. Max held the physical lead around the 250-mile mark, but on adjusted time he was actually third, as the N45 team, who was right in his dust, had started behind, and the Purvine’s Racing duo of Burson and Pearson had made it into third physically, and were beginning to reel in the two leaders.
After pitting to change a rear wheel, Max relinquished the physical lead to Esposito, and in an effort to maintain a comfortable pace to the finish without any undue pressure, he made it easy for the Beta team to make their way by soon after. Max had a solid lead on fourth place, and was able to ride pressure-free over the final 250 miles of the race to take a very impressive, and well-earned, third place overall finish. The Purvine’s Beta team ended up finishing second place, meaning Max’s finish keeps our team in the lead in the championship standings heading in to the final round of the series in early December.
