Mark Kariya | November 24, 2021
An official tally of 990 entries over the November 20-21 weekend made the NorCal Motorcycle Club’s 68th Annual Wilseyville Hare Scrambles easily the biggest race of the season and determined a number of class championships in the AMA West Hare Scrambles (WHS) Regional Championship Series, Presented by MojoMotoSport.
After pitting to replace a broken shift lever and bent brake pedal, Zane Roberts rallied back to second, then charged hard on the final lap to take the win.
Photos by Mark Kariya
The winner of the series opener, Beta’s Zane Roberts, skipped most of the season but hit the round-eight finale and enjoyed a second triumph to close out the year.
However, it was Carson City Motorsports KTM rider Austin Serpa who wrapped up the series championship—his first major title—by almost tip-toeing to ninth Pro/AA and 20th overall just two weeks after fracturing his pelvis at round seven in Oklahoma. He enjoyed a 20-point lead over Fun Country KTM’s Blake Best coming into Wilseyville, but he knew he’d have to gut out a finish in order to remain atop the points at the end of the weekend. With Best finishing fifth overall, that gave Serpa the title by just five points, 137-132.
“Today was mostly go out and have fun. I just wasn’t thinking about the championship at all,” said Best. “Knowing that Austin was here, I was kind of a long shot [to beat him for the championship] so I just went out and had fun and rode the best I could.”
For Serpa, on the other hand, the day was a struggle and he shared, “My pelvis ended up being broken [in Oklahoma] with three fractures in it. It was an uncomfortable day.”
Despite the pain from three pelvic fractures suffered two weeks prior, Austin Serpa finished well enough to capture the series championship.
The $5000 purse courtesy of the Thompson’s car dealerships undoubtedly helped attract a number of Pros who don’t normally follow the series, though prime conditions may have also been a factor.
A quick start saw Fast House GasGas rider JT Baker, last year’s series runner-up, lead after the first tour of the approximately 11-mile loop. However, the 707 Suspension/MPC/Shoei-backed MC 450F-mounted Baker eventually succumbed to Clayton Gerstner’s vicious pace, with the Husqvarna-KTM of Aspen/SRT/Let’s Ride FX 450 rider appearing to be headed to his career-first overall victory.
Unfortunately for Gerstner, that milestone will have to wait as the clutch he’d replaced apparently failed on the final lap. That put a somewhat surprised Roberts out front and he rode his FMF/Kenda/Klim 480 RR to his second victory of the season despite having to replace both his shift lever and brake pedal early on.
“I got P-2 on the pit board on the last lap and I could see JT headed out, so after losing the last Best in the Desert race by under a second, I was like, ‘That’s not happening again!’ I just pushed as hard as I could—I was bleeding through my gloves and my legs were cramping and stuff—but I was like, ‘I’ve got to get it!’” Roberts recalled.
Baker was runner-up by 16 seconds and said, “I just rode up front all day, kind of just cruised. I didn’t even crash all day; just rode my own race.”
A regular in AMA District 36, Anthony Ferrante claimed the Pro 250 victory and finished third overall.
MojoMotoSport/Maloney Training Facility/Fast House KTM 250 XC-F rider Anthony Ferrante finished third overall, winning Pro 250 for the first time. Steven Godman and his eight-year-old YZ250 earned third Pro/AA and fourth overall, his first WHS podium after six years away from the series.
Best, Montery Peninsula Power Sports Yamaha’s Justin Bonita, YZ125-mounted Jaden Dahners (yes, in the Pro/AA class), 250cc A winner Talan Terlouw on his 707 Suspension Husky TC 250, Pro 250 runner-up Shane Logan (who clinched the class championship in Oklahoma) and 250cc A runner-up Ryder Thomaselli rounded out the top 10 overall.
For Serpa, the day was all about damage control, which he pulled off masterfully aboard his Kenda/Regulus Fit/Moose Racing 450 XC-F. “My game plan: If I was feeling good, a top 10 would secure my championship no matter where Blake finished.
After skipping round one, Kaitlyn Jacobs went on a tear, winning six of the seven remaining rounds to earn the WHS Pro Women number-one plate.
“The first lap after the start, I very quickly realized that I did not have top-10 pace. I think I might’ve even fallen out of the top 20 at one point. I was struggling. I couldn’t take my [right] foot off the peg, really; couldn’t dab my foot.”
But he scored just enough points to secure the title.
For FMF/Maxxis/RPM Racing KTM rider Kaitlyn Jacobs, the weekend was a two-race, two-state slog. Second in Women Pro on Saturday at the WORCS finale in Nevada, she lined up for the WHS finale after driving with her dad most of the night to Wilseyville. A fourth consecutive win handily gave her the championship over reigning queen of the class, MojoMotoSport Yamaha rider Sharon Mowell, 205-178. Let’s Ride KTM’s Ashlee Gage was third on the day and for the season at 166 points.
- Zane Roberts (Bet)
- JT Baker (GG)
- Anthony Ferrante (KTM)
- Steven Godman (Hon)
- Blake Best (KTM)
- Justin Bonita (Yam)
- Jaden Dahners (Yam)
- Talan Terlouw (Yam)
- Shane Logan (KTM)
- Ryder Thoaselli (KTM)
