| June 13, 2023
It’s not often factory efforts venture outside of their primary racing series’ these days as they’ve become more specialized and stricter in their process. However, the 2023 edition of the 3Bros 10 Hours of Glen Helen saw KTM put together a murderers’ row of sorts to tackle the 10-hour-long race.
KTM superstar Dante Oliveira put the KTM-backed testing effort at the front of the pack on the opening lap.
By Trevor Hunter
Factory riders Dante and Mateo Oliveira, and Taylor Robert joined KTM test rider and former factory rider Ryan Morais for an all-star team. The goal? Perform some durability testing on a new KTM 450 XCF-W, the enduro-inspired bike that most of the European racers contest on. But when you get four riders of this caliber together on one team, racing for the win quickly becomes an objective, despite the primary purpose aimed at R&D.
Racing all throughout the day this year, the gate dropped on the 10-rider Pro/AA field at 8:21 a.m. and, to no one’s surprise, Dante Oliveira rounded the famed Talladega turn first, leading a talented group of riders into the surrounding hills and motocross tracks. By the end of the first 14-minute lap, Dante and the number-64 duo of Carter Klein and Clayton Roberts had built up a small gap over the rest of the field who all battled the treacherous rocks, dust, fog and mud strewn throughout the eight-mile course.
Clayton Roberts navigated the opening laps flawlessly, staying close to the factory team.
The KTM powerhouse led for the first hour, but a hard-charging Klein/Roberts team took over the lead for nearly two hours on their own KTM 450 XC-F. While the number-64 and the KTM number-116 teams battled up front, Tyler Nicholson’s squad held tight in third for much of the early race. After getting back into the lead around 11 a.m., the KTM hotshots held the lead to the finish, despite several pit stops making repairs and adjustments as they performed some real-world race testing en-route to victory.
Unfortunately, after dropping back to second, a rear-wheel issue cost Klein a few valuable minutes, as they lost ground to the leaders and a position back to third on track while making the repairs. Following Klein’s problems, Tyler Nicholson and team held steady in second overall for most of the day as nearly all teams, including theirs, had several pit stops for mechanicals throughout the day. In the closing hours, Nicholson’s KTM 450 XC-F went into the pits for a few extra minutes, allowing Klein’s team to close within a few seconds of the runner-up position. The final six laps saw a tight battle with several position changes as they split the endless lappers and fellow racers who were in a race of their own.
Tyler Nicholson nearly put it all together to finish runner-up, but heartbreak struck in a last-lap crash resulting in the bronze.
A fresher trio of riders on team Nicholson’s number-710 KTM pulled out a comfortable 30-second gap over Klein heading onto the last lap, but misfortune struck a few corners from the finish. With the checkers in sight, the number-710 crashed out in a violent wreck. Luckily, the rider was able to get up and walk away while the team brought the bike into the finish for a hard-earned third overall on the day behind Klein/Roberts.
Rounding out the top five was Colton Udall’s team, which held a consistent pace all race long, and Nick Stover’s trio, which overcame a huge deficit in the early laps to finish fifth.
With countless wins under his belt, Colton Udall still shows up with stellar speed and a proven program ready to contend for the win.
Overall
- Ryan Morais (KTM)
- Carter Klein (KTM)
- Tyler Nicholson (KTM)
- Colton Udall (Hon)
- Nick Stover (KTM)
