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The 2014 King of the Motos Presented by Trail Tech lived up to its reputation as the toughest extreme enduro in the U.S. as 75 riders took the green flag in the third edition of the race. Less than three hours after he raced across the wind-scoured Mojave desert and manhandled his Beta two-stroke up a series of rocky ravines with names like Chocolate Thunder and Wrecking Ball, Cody Webb, 25, from Watsonville, Calif. won his second King of the Motos crown. The two-stage race began with a high-speed desert 40-mile course in the morning and concluded with a 36-mile highly technical course covering multiple rock climbs and descents. Sunday’s afternoon race was a mass start at the bottom of the famed trail, Chocolate Thunder. The spectacular land rush start began with a sandy-hill then quickly pivoted left to head up the rocky ravine. This is where Webb separated himself. Because he was wearing the yellow jersey, he got the best “lane” choice, and he avoided the carnage heading up the rocky canyon. "I rode great today,” said Webb, even though he lost his GPS during the morning’s desert section and then suffered a flat tire 15-miles before the finish. “I had a clean start, and I think that was the key to getting into to my own race.”
Jarvis, who won the inaugural KOM in 2012, has made the voyage across the pond to compete in KOM every year. Despite being tangled up during the afternoon’s mass start, Jarvis, a three-time Hell’s Gate winner and 2013 Erzberg winner, still managed to pick off riders in the technical sections of the course before finding his way to the podium in 3rd. Sandwiched between Webb and Jarvis in second was Taylor Robert, an emerging star in world of endurocross. Robert rode a 300cc two-stroke during the race, the bike of choice among most riders because of its speed in the desert and maneuverability in the rocks. Class News
Racing for the unofficial crown of “Queen of the Motos,” Louise Forsely, Morgan Tanke and Ruth Gutish put in respectable efforts. While Gutish DNF’d the morning race, both Tanke and Forsely timed out during the afternoon competition. Forsely, an X Games medalist and trials champion who competed in the 2013 King of the Motos commented that this year’s course was much more difficult than the previous year. Perhaps the most prestigious honor of the day, though, went to Steve Behunin. Behunin was given the first annual Kurt Caselli Sportsmanship Award for his efforts helping other riders throughout the day. There were numerous times during the brutal start that Steve would get off his bike to assist other riders who were struggling. Caselli, a well-loved rider in the role model in motocross community, was killed in 2013 Baja 1000. Hammertown Grows Results Riders 1-10 Click here for complete results. Photo Credits: Kathy Durrett & Nicole Dreon Share |
Webb
Retains King Status As Top Riders Battle it Out at the 2014 King of the
Motos Presented by Trail Tech
The
all-star field packed the Pro class including former X Games competitors
like Kyle Redmond, Corey Graffunder, Colton Haaker and Peter Weiss, in
addition to factory KTM rider Taylor Robert, GNCC star Kailub Russell and
the legend of extreme enduro riding himself, Graham Jarvis from the UK.
Steven
Foord and Michael Salsman won the team category and both were riding trials
bikes. While Foord and Salsman won the category, it was the “Flying
Hawaiians” Robert Madden and Nathan Brown that were crowd favorites as
they returned to KOM to defend their 2013 win. The uncle and nephew team,
who were also riding trials bikes, and dressed in their signature Hawaiian
shirts.