AMA West Hare Scrambles Round One Results

Mark Kariya | March 15, 2022

Taylor Robert of the FMF KTM Factory Off-road Racing Team enjoyed a trouble-free afternoon at the Lassen Motorcycle Club’s Diamond Back Hare Scramble, leading from wire to wire at the opening round of the AMA West Hare Scrambles (WHS) Regional Championship Series, Presented by MojoMotoSport.

Taylor Robert at round one West Hare Scrambles — **Taylor Robert got a great start at the Diamond Back Hare Scramble and stretched his lead from there to the finish, kicking off the AMA West Hare Scramble season in style.**

Photos by Mark Kariya

Last year’s Diamond Back winner, LiquiMoly Beta’s Zane Roberts, drew close to Robert early in the race but suffered from arm pump and dropped back for a bit. By the time he shook it off, Robert was out of sight and Roberts had to settle for second, a minute and a half behind Robert’s winning time of three hours and 56 seconds for five laps around the fast, rough course at the Fort Sage Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Area. After learning only Thursday that he’d be racing, 3 Bros./Kilmartin Racing Gas Gas rider Giacomo Redondi rounded out the podium in his first foray into American hare scrambles.

Not known for his dead-engine starts, Robert got what may have been his best one to date as he rocketed his Red Bull/Dunlop/Thor-sponsored 450 XC-F out of the first turn with a significant lead over Kawasaki-mounted Dylan Galliett, defending series champ Austin Serpa, DC Yamaha’s Clayton Gerstner, Redondi and the rest of the stacked Pro line.

Shane Logan at round one West Hare Scrambles — **Shane Logan (pictured) kicked off his 2022 Pro 250 campaign in the same manner as last year, coming from behind to win over Mason Ottersberg and Talan Terlouw.**

“Today, it fired so fast, it kind of surprised me!” Robert confessed. “The pace surprised me a little bit. I got off to a great start and I was pushing really hard. Probably 10 to 15 minutes in, I looked back, and Zane was right there. Looking at the lap times, I was pushing pretty hard the whole time and Zane never really dropped off.”

Roberts and his FMF/Kenda/Klim 480 RR did have the pace early on. He said, “I didn’t get warmed up enough [before the race], especially since it’s kind of cold out here. A little arm pump there that I felt was holding me back for a little bit. Taylor was riding awesome, obviously, as he always does. I just lost his wheel when I pumped up and never could get quite back on it.

“Overall, I’m happy with it. I felt like I was in the race for the win.”

Serpa sat in third about a minute and a half behind Roberts for most of the first two 20-mile laps before yielding to Redondi. “I think I could’ve been a little closer to Redondi and challenged him for the podium,” Carson City Motorsports/Regulus Performance/Moose Racing KTM 450 XC-F rider Serpa said. “But I had three crashes on the first lap, and I had one more on the second-to-last lap.”

Originally scheduled to run the WORCS series, Redondi broke two ribs at the opener there and DNFed. Facing an uphill points battle there, GasGas decided to have him switch to the WHS (in addition to the FMF AMA National Grand Prix Championship Series) and told him Thursday morning to head to the Diamond Back.

He gladly headed north with his FMF/Blud Lubricants/Seven MC 450F, knowing almost nothing about hare scrambles racing but seeing it as a good step to an eventual rally career.

Sixth after the opening lap, Redondi charged into third place on the next circuit and said, “It was a very, very fast race—we did over 100 miles in three hours. I think I did a good race besides the first lap. [After that], my lap times were very close to Taylor and [Zane]. I’m really happy and looking forward to some new racing.”

Ava Silvestri at round one West Hare Scrambles — Though she doesn’t anticipate following the series due to scheduling conflicts, Ava Silvestri showed she could be a title threat as she dominated Pro Women over defending champ Kaitlyn Jacobs (who had to rebound from a hard first-turn get-off) and Rachel Stout.

Gerstner finished fifth in his WHS debut aboard Maxima Oils/Kenda/Pure Adrenaline YZ450F followed by MojoMotoSport KTM’s Anson Maloney.

Defending Pro 250cc champ Shane Logan kicked off his season by coming from behind to win the class on basically a self-supported 3 Bros. KTM. Sick with strep throat in the weeks before, he decided at the last minute to make the long drive, though it paid off as he was only a few seconds behind Maloney and 1:36 ahead of class runner-up Mason Ottersberg of the DC Yamaha squad. 707 Suspension Gas Gas rider Talan Terlouw claimed third Pro 250 and ninth overall with MojoMotoSport KTM-mounted Anthony Ferrante rounding out the top 10 overall and earning fourth Pro 250.

Jordan Maas at round one West Hare Scrambles — Defending Big Wheel champ Jordan Maas kicked off his title defense with the win, grabbing the lead on the second lap and holding it to the finish over early leader Jesse Miller and new class entry Lowe Lord.

In the morning race, 3 Bros./Kilmartin Racing Gas Gas rider Ava Silvestri took hop honors overall and in Pro Women. FMF/RPM Racing KTM’s Kaitlyn Jacobs had a rocky start in defending her class championship, going down hard out of the first turn but making a remarkable recovery to second in class and overall with Full Factory Racing KTM rider Rachel Stout third.