2017 BIG 6 #3 | Glen Helen

Riverside, CA (March 7, 2017) –

The third round of the AMA District 37 BIG 6 Grand Prix series, presented by Maxxis, headed to Glen Helen, a venue very familiar to most of the racers. As the gate fell to start the ninety-minute pro race on Saturday afternoon, both Rocky Mountain ATV/MC, Precision Concepts Race Team riders were outside the top ten through the Talladega first turn, but managed to move forward on the first lap, with Robby Bell slotting into seventh and Justin Seeds moving into eighth. The racecourse utilized the majority of what the Glen Helen Regional Park had to offer, including the asphalt pavilion, and the main ridge behind Mount Saint Helens that the riders took to get there. Unfortunately, the recent rains weren’t quite enough to keep the ridge from getting silty and dusty, which made progress though the field difficult for both Bell and Seeds. Robby was able to find his way up to fourth place just past the midway point of the race, but had lost sight of the podium positions by that time and held fourth to the checkers. Justin was battling at the edge of the top five when he suffered a minor crash, which halted his momentum and would lock him into a seventh-place finish on the day.

Robby found a poor start just a bit too much to overcome, finishing fourth. Photo Credit: Mark Kariya

Said Bell after the race, “It was a little bit of a frustrating day. So much was down to the start, and if you weren’t in the top two, it was always going to be tough. I actually got a good jump, but was way off balance, leaned into Mark [Samuels] next to me and ruined both of us. I think I got up to seventh on the first lap, but by the start of the second lap, I already saw minus one-minute on the pit board, that’s how much of an impact the dust had on the race. Nothing much you can do about it though, grand prix racing uses what nature provides, and if it’s dusty, I just need to be better off the start to improve my chances of fighting for the win. Overall, my conditioning felt good, even though I’d been fighting a head cold coming into the event, and my bike felt great, so I just need to work on getting out front early on. Everyone’s riding so well right now, you can’t afford to give anything up on the start.”

Like his teammate, Justin felt the start held him back as he fought through the dusty conditions to finish seventh.

Justin Seeds echoed his teammate’s frustration: “I didn’t feel that good about [my race], I was a little disappointed. I’ve had a great set-up all year, but it was just a little off today, and also the dust was pretty bad. I got a good jump [on the start], but I got pinched off a little bit and the second turn was pretty much a cluster of sketchiness, so I didn’t come out as well as I would have liked. I was able to push through the dust a little, made a couple passes, and got into seventh. Then the arm pump kicked in and I was holding on for dear life [for a while]. I wanted to do better. After the second place [at round three of WORCS] I don’t see why I shouldn’t be up there. I’m definitely not a top-ten guy, I’m a top-three guy and I just need to be up there and it’s disappointing when that doesn’t happen. We’ll just erase this one out of the memory bank, come into the next race a lot stronger, and look for that podium finish again, because those things are nice.”

Results

Robby Bell – 4th place
Justin Seeds – 7th place