2022 AMA West Hare Scrambles Round Two Results

Mark Kariya | March 28, 2022

Round two of the AMA West Hare Scrambles (WHS) Regional Championship Series, Presented by MojoMotoSport, couldn’t have been much more different than round one. Where the series opener was more twisty yet fast desert-style terrain, the Timber Mountain Hare Scramble, hosted by the Motorcycle Riders Association at the Lilly Prairie Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Area, was definitely a woods race with rain in the days before round two transforming the courses into a nearly perfect playground for all classes.

In the end, though, FMF KTM Factory Off-Road Racing Team’s Taylor Robert proved he’s as fast through the trees as he is in the desert as he claimed his second win in a row by nearly three minutes over 3 Bros./Kilmartin Racing GasGas rider Giacomo Redondi and LiquiMoly Beta’s Zane Roberts.

Taylor Robert at Timber Mountain Hare Scrambles — **Taylor Robert proved he’s no one-trick desert pony by dominating the woodsy Timber Mountain Hare Scramble over Giacomo Redondi and Zane Roberts.**

Photos by Mark Kariya

Defending series champion Carson City Motorsports KTM rider Austin Serpa claimed the holeshot as the main race got underway. However, he wasn’t able to hold the position, admitting to being too conservative on the opening lap since other commitments prevented him from examining the 15-mile course on Saturday.

That allowed Robert to quickly power past on his Red Bull/Dunlop/Thor-backed 450 XC-F, taking full advantage of the woods training in Prescott, Arizona, he and Mason Ottersberg did on Thursday before heading to Oregon.

“We went up there and diced around in the trees a little bit. It was good practice for today,” Robert declared. “Today was honestly one of the best racecourses I’ve ever seen. We got lucky with the rain [here] this week—the dirt was just perfect!”

Mason Ottersberg at Timber Mountain Hare Scrambles — **Mason Ottersberg (pictured) won the Pro 250 class to move into a tie for the class points lead with race runner-up Shane Logan. Anthony Ferrante took third on the day and is now third in points.**

Describing what ended up being the race-winning pass only a few turns in, Robert continued, “There were two lines [in one section] and I took the inside line. It ended up working out even easier for me than I [expected]. I thought we were going to come together, and I was going to have to get kind of aggressive, but he kind of slid out on the outside as I snuck around the inside.”

After that, it was simply a matter of clicking off the laps as he stormed to a decisive win in two hours, 52 minutes and 10 seconds.

The battle for second was more interesting, pitting round-one runner-up Roberts against third-place finisher Redondi. After following Robert, DC Yamaha’s Clayton Gerstner and Serpa early on, Redondi slipped to about sixth when he and Serpa missed a turn.

However, Redondi rallied back aboard his FMF/Nitro Mousse/Seven MC 450F, reporting, “On the fast parts—like on the gravel roads—I pushed very hard and I make it [up to] second.”

With his suspension setup still a work in progress, he found himself at somewhat of a midrace plateau but concentrated on his breathing which seemed to help fend off his Beta-mounted rival to secure second at the checkers.

Kaitlyn Jacobs at Timber Mountain Hare Scrambles — Current Pro Women champ Kaitlyn Jacobs (pictured) wasted no time in getting to the front. She sailed to a clear victory over Rachel Stout with round-one winner Ava Silvestri third after a second-to-last start.

As for Roberts, he had also had a midrace issue when he started losing the front end of his FMF/Kenda/Klim 480 RR in corners.

“I just kept falling down. I don’t know what I was struggling with there,” he said. “I don’t know if it was a tire selection thing or what. This is much different terrain than what I normally ride; it could be me needing to adjust how I ride. I just had to calm down there a little bit towards the end and stop pushing the front so hard into stuff.”

But the fun factor of the course took some of the sting out of finishing third.

After Gerstner reportedly crashed on the last lap while in the top five, DC Yamaha teammate Ottersberg not only finished fourth overall but topped the Pro 250s on his Precision Concepts/Kenda/Pure Adrenaline YZ250F after finishing runner-up at round one.

“Practicing with Taylor [in Prescott] helped, for sure,” he said after coming from the second row with the rest of the class and Pro Vet 35+ riders.

Ottersberg finished about a minute ahead of Serpa who admitted falling a couple times on the fourth lap (of five).

707 Suspension GasGas rider JT Baker finished in just over three hours for sixth overall followed by defending Pro 250 champ Shane Logan and MojoMotoSport KTM-mounted Anthony Ferrante, the third Pro 250. Pros Anson Maloney on his Maloney Training Facility KTM and YZ450FX-mounted Jaden Dahners rounded out the top 10.

Noah Kovarik at Timber Mountain Hare Scrambles — For the second round in a row, Noah Kovarik (pictured) won the Micro Mini (65cc) Junior 7-9 class over Sutton Mills and Jackson McConnell, though he was second overall to Girls 12-15 winner Kacey Byrkit in the combined 65cc/Girls race on Saturday.

Fourth overall Pro last year, O’Neal GasGas rider Devin Watson topped the Vet Pro 35+ division this year after putting away early leader Ethan Mutoli and his Yamaha on the white flag lap. DC Yamaha’s Dan Capparelli rounded out the podium.

In the morning race, FMF/RPM Racing KTM’s Kaitlyn Jacobs shook the gremlins that have dogged her so often this year, powering to the holeshot and leading from there to take the overall and Pro Women honors on her Dunlop/Motorex/Klim 250 XC-F. Full Factory Racing KTM’s Rachel Stout latched onto second right away but couldn’t get close enough to try a pass and 3 Bros./Kilmartin Racing GasGas rider Ava Silvestri rebounded from a bad start to take third.