Things Get Weird in Topeka! | GT Arena Motocross Round 1 Recap
GT Topeka
The first two nights of the General Tire Arena Motocross Nationals have been printed into the history books as an opening weekend to remember.
Nearly 800 entries flocked to the capital city of Kansas as Topeka was once again the host city of the championship kickoff. The indoor pits were packed with racers and families from all across the country, vying for their stake in the 16 round series that boasts the most prestigious amateur and pro awards program in the country.
In the amatuer ranks, the Supermini class was the one to watch with racing that kept the crowd on their toes. Noxx Lewin and Brady Collins traded wins between the two nights, with only 1 point separating the two for first place in championship points. Mayla Herrick, Gage Dunham, and Luke St. John all found themselves on the podium at least once, while Lewin was the only athlete to reach the box both nights. 6 points is the mere gap between 1st and 5th, giving no room for error from any of the mini bike racers moving forward.
Cheyenne Harmon leaves Cap City with the points lead, now on a 405 Mods tuned Lonestar Yamaha YZ450. Harmon won three of the four pro mains, and both bracket races between the two nights adding two championship points to his coffer of 51 total points. Oklahoma’s Chase Marquier holds second place in points with a 3rd and 2nd overall, just one point ahead of defending champion Michael Hicks who, though he won Friday’s overall, finished his lowest overall as far back as memory serves without a mechanical in 5th on Saturday. Amateur phenom Jayden Clough is aboard a B’s MotoLab GasGas 350 and trying his hand, successfully, at professional racing as he leaves the opening weekend in 4th, tied with Supercross veterans Devin Harriman and Ben Nelko.
International racers Jorgen Talviku and Tyler Gibbs both left the stadium floor early after crashing on the same obstacle in two separate incidents. Baker, Taylor, Curler and Orres were in the mix throughout the weekend, while Bitterman, Kaub, Mclaud, Greenley, Walther, and Norred qualified for only one of the two nights 2-moto format main events.
Lance Kobusch was on hand and fast on Friday night, but escalated an off-track altercation with Talviku after the second main that violated the pro athlete code of conduct agreement and was grounds for ejection from the event, plus disqualification of payout and championship points.
The next weekend of the GT AMX Nationals are on December 1st and 2nd inside the Chisholm Trail Expo Center in Enid, Oklahoma.
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Read on…
CREO Report
Topeka is known for being the toughest weekend of the AX season, and it was exactly that for us. The bright side is, we got a bad weekend out of the way for the whole team and it’s only up from here.
Friday:
Only 43% of the 32 pro riders entered would see the main events, and 2 of our guys made it in with Jorgen and Tyler. Dawson was close, and raced the LCQ with heart but didn’t quite pull it together.
Jorgen got an unprovoked warm welcome to America from Lance Kobush in the first main while running 5th, and it left him on the ground with a broken front brake lever. He would salvage a 10th place.
In the second moto, Jorgen was battling for 6th with Harriman and Marquier, and he spun out after the finish line, stalling the bike and getting up to finish 11th. On the last lap, Harmon passed him and put him a lap down with no blue flag. Kobusch was behind him and had no chance to catch Harmon, but because Jorgen didn’t roll over for him, Lance and his posse of 3 guys started shit with Jorgen as soon as he pulled off the track. If Jorgen did something wrong, I would’ve seen it and brought it up to him, but he simply finished his lap with no blue flag.
The brawl that broke out in the concourse exiting the arena floor was all the Kobusch crew going ape-shit on our rider, and ended with the Stormont Vail security team and Shawnee Co Sheriff’s dragging the Kobush crew out by their shirt collars.
They’ve been barred from entering the building permanently, disqualified from the GT AMX series, and the Sheriff dept highly encouraged Jorgen to press charges. It was a complete disgrace from the SPR Honda camp, and I hope they enjoyed their (literal) private jet flight back to Texas as we’re continuing forward with what we set out to do.
Tyler made two laps in the first main while running 6th before making a gear selection error after the whoops and went into the rhythm in 1st gear. After tripling in he seated the next triple, the bike went nowhere and he went over the bars and nose picked the landing, resulting in a very jarred wrist. X Rays on Saturday morning showed no fracture, and the swelling is practically nonexistent, but that put Gibby out for the weekend. He will need a couple weeks off, but we’re aiming for him to return for Enid.
Friday Pro Results:
- 1 Michael Hicks YAM
- 9 Chase Marquier KTM
- 7 Cheyenne Harmon YAM
- 723 Ben Nelko KAW
- 199 Lance Kobusch HON
- 350 Chandler Baker KAW
- 16 Devin Harriman KTM
- 958 Matthew Curler KTM
- 996 Preston Taylor KAW
- 26 Jorgen Talviku KTM
- 45 Jayden Clough GAS
- 104 Bryce McLaud HON
- 22 Tyler Gibbs KTM
Saturday:
Dawson worked his way into the main events, but with a bumpy road after being in qualifying position in the heat race which was red flagged – more on that in a minute – and after a full race restart he didn’t get the same jump. Our biggest goal with Dawson is to help him work through his mental blocks, and he closed the deal in the LCQ and went on to finish a very smooth 10-11 in the mains putting him 10th overall. This is pretty on par with what we expected and what we strategized for, was to make the mains one night in Topeka. I expect him to make all the mains moving forward as the crowd lightens up after the first weekend.
Jorgen was the cause of the red flag, over the same obstacle that took out Tyler, though I didn’t see it – he somehow slipped his right hand off the bars in the rhythm and took off the face of the second triple one hand on the bars and had to step through the front end. He took a pretty good hit to the right foot/ankle, and he’s currently in flight to see a foot and ankle specialist in California that Jim Holley has got him connected with. Initial X ray didn’t show a fracture, but we want to make sure. The goal will be to see him back for Enid in a month, but that’s a pretty soft goal.
All three riders have championship points, and we got a bad one out of the way. We have a small hole to climb out of, which every good organization has had to do at some point.
Saturday Pro Results:
- 7 Cheyenne Harmon YAM
- 9 Chase Marquier KTM
- 581 Kyle Bitterman HON
- 45 Jayden Clough GAS
- 1 Michael Hicks YAM
- 16 Devin Harriman KTM
- 723 Ben Nelko KAW
- 996 Preston Taylor KAW
- 350 Chandler Baker KAW
- 23 Dawson Kaub KTM
- 11 18 Ronnie Orres HON
- 266 Brett Greenley HON
- 958 Matthew Curler KTM
- 688 Branden Walther HON
- 188 Eddie Norred KAW
Next Round: December 1,2 – Enid, Oklahoma
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