Cycle News Staff | November 7, 2022
“As soon as I saw the track, I was feeling at home. I live close to a lake in Italy and we have a big river like this one. I grew up riding this stuff—maybe a little bit less wet than today.”
Thus said 3Bros/Kilmartin Racing GasGas rider Giacomo Redondi after topping the inaugural River Regatta Hare Scramble at Riverdale Raceway, round six of the AMA West Hare Scrambles (WHS) Regional Championship Series, presented by MojoMotoSport.
Redondi’s third triumph of the season gives him an insurmountable 154 points while LiquiMoly Beta’s Zane Roberts—third on the day—is 33 points back at 121. Defending series number one and holeshot winner Austin Serpa is a distant third at 91 after the Carson City Motorsports KTM rider finished seventh.
Giacomo Redondi won the wet and tricky River Regatta Hare Scramble to claim the AMA West Hare Scrambles Championship with one round remaining. Photos: Mark Kariya
“I got not a perfect start—I think I was third—then I got [doused and] super-wet on the second straight, but after that, by the river on the rocks, I took the lead. From there, I did my own rhythm,” Redondi said. Though he had to change goggles at the end of the first lap, he never lost the lead and led all 14 laps over two and a half hours aboard his FMF/Dunlop/Seven-sponsored EX 450F. “I’m pretty stoked about this season.”
After winning the Best in the Desert World Hare & Hound Championship in Tonopah, Nevada, on Saturday, 3Bros/Hatch Racing Husqvarna’s Dalton Shirey drove through much of the night to the WHS race, arriving too late to walk the course beyond the first turn.
But that disadvantage only seemed to slow him in the opening laps where others had better lines; in addition, he’d guessed wrong at suspension settings, ending up on the too-stiff side, though he took it all in stride.
Despite this first-turn crash and going down hard later on the first lap, Layton Smail (454) rebounded to win the Pro 250 and finish fourth overall, ahead of class runner-up Jaden Dahners (X10, back of pack), who had a start nearly as bad.
“It was definitely a change of pace!” the FMF/P-Works/Troy Lee Designs FX 450-mounted Shirey said. “All in all, I went out there just to have fun and see what I could do.”
For Roberts, this was a make-or-break day to keep his championship hopes alive, but arm pump during the first hour prevented him from mounting the charge he needed. In addition, water between his tear-offs obscured his vision until he’d pulled them all.
“Beyond that, I felt good and had fun,” the DP Brakes/Dunlop/Klim 430 RR rider said. “I’ve definitely got to get up into some nasty woods and practice it more. I’m decent at it, but it’s just so far out of my wheelhouse.”
Despite crashing in the first turn and later on in the first lap, Layton Smail ended up with an impressive comeback to not only take the Pro 250 victory in his first time in the class (after two earlier rides in the Open Pros) but claimed fourth overall on his NWEC/GPR Stabilizers/Viral 250 SX-F.
Devin Watson has been nearly unbeatable in Pro Vet 35+, the River Regatta victory his fourth of the season. He also finished 14th overall in the process.
Round-five class winner Jaden Dahners hounded Smail most of the way but had to settle for class runner-up and fifth overall on his Amsoil/TBT Racing/Arai YZ250F.
Fun Country KTM’s Chase Larson took third in class and sixth overall ahead of Serpa, Dallas Chidester (DC) Yamaha’s Mason Ottersberg (the Pro 250 points leader), and Fun Country KTM’s Blake Best (fifth Pro 250). Chase Esty is listed as 10th overall and the Open B winner.
M9 GasGas-mounted Devin Watson padded his unbeatable points lead in Pro Vet 35+, finishing 14th overall, over Eric Forsberg and Robert Meksch.
A fourth Big Wheel win saw Lane Lorenzo pad his class points lead. He also notched his second-consecutive 250cc B victory on Sunday, though he’s locked into runner-up in points there.
A last-lap pass netted Let’s Ride KTM’s Ashlee Gage her first Pro Women’s win after a nearly race-long 90-minute duel with class points leader Ava Silvestri on her 3Bros/Kilmartin Racing GasGas despite having her broken collarbone plated just five days before. Defending class champ Kaitlyn Jacobs ran up front in the early going, but the FMF RPM Racing KTM rider had to settle for third, losing a little ground in points to Silvestri with only the finale to go in two weeks.
Mark Kariya
OVERALL RESULTS
- Giacomo Redondi (GG)
- Dalton Shirey (Hus)
- Zane Roberts (Bet)
- Layton Smail (KTM)
- Jaden Dahners (Yam)
- Chase Larson (KTM)
- Austin Serpa (KTM)
- Mason Ottersberg (Yam)
- Blake Best (KTM)
- Chase Esty (Yam)
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