EKS Brand Podiums Again
It was another great weekend for EKS BRAND goggles and the XB team riders.
Gary Sutherlin 3rd overall, Bobby Garrison 4th overall. Pro 1 class.WORCS Off road race, Primm NV.
Third overall went to EKS BRANDS Gary Sutherlin for his first career WORCS podium. Sutherlin scored 4-2 over the weekend with a second in race #2 being his personal best-ever in a single event. With help from Zip-Ty racing, Sutherlin was able to carefully prep his Kawasaki for Primm and had an ideal set-up from the desert racing expert. Gary rode incredibly well in both races, coming from a mid-pack start to take fourth in race #1.
Then in race #2 Sutherlin impressed everyone by charging through the pack from a last place start, carefully picking off riders one by one until he found himself in third and closing on Soule. Then on the white flag lap, Sutherlin pounced and took the pass for second just before the finish line. “I can’t describe how I feel,” Said Sutherlin. “It makes such a difference when you can train and have a bike that really works. I just want to thank everybody who has helped me out especially EKS BRAND goggles and Zip-Ty Racing. This is the first time I’ve made the podium overall and now that I’m here I want to go up higher on the boxes and see if I can win one of these.”
Bobby Garrison took fourth overall while nursing torn ligaments in his shoulder.
Ivan Ramirez 1st, Corey Graffunder 2nd, Travis Coy 3rd. Pro 2 class. WORCS Off road race, Primm NV.
It was a great weekend for EKS BRAND goggles in the Pro 2 class sweeping the podium! Ivan Ramirez ripped to the Pro 2 win on his FMF/EKS/RPM/KTM Racing/Maxxis mount. Ramirez was the class of the Pro 2 field cutting an 18:18 lap time which was as fast and some of the Pro class riders and more than 20 seconds faster than the rest of the Pro 2 class field. Ramirez finished more than 3 seconds ahead of second place and now leads the Pro 2 points chase with 47/1win after two rounds. Second place went to EKS BRAND goggles Corey Graffunder who battled his way forward after stalling his bike on the line. Back on a Husky, Graffunder charged his way forward but could not catch the disappearing form of Ramirez by the flag. FMF/EKS/RPM/KTM/Maxxis Racing’s Travis Coy scored his best finish this year with a well-earned third place. Coy gated decently and rode a smart race, taking his time and working his way forward to take the final slot on the podium.
After two rounds Ramirez leads the title chase in Pro 2 with 47/1 win with Graffunder second with 42 and Coy third with 36 and defending Pro 2 Champion Justin Seeds sitting fourth with 33 points.
San Diego SX Kyle Chisolm 8th. SX1 class
Once again, XB's Kyle Chisolm had to battle back from a very poor start. He entered the first turn nearly dead last and worked his way back to a very impressive 8th place overall at the end of the 20 laps. Look for Kyle to be in the top 5 once he figures his starts out. Here is a link to a great, short, interview with Kyle.: /2012/02/14/5-minutes-withkyle-chisholm
San Diego SX Nick Paluzzi 10th. SX2 class
Nick has had a bit of a struggle getting used to his new bikes this year. He results have not shown his true potential up until this week. Nick rode hard all night and finished the 15 lap main event in a very impressive 10th place overall.
AMA National Hare & Hound Series Round 2 - Ridgecrest, CA
EKS BRANDS Nick Burson rode hard 4th overall!
King of the Moto's Kyle Redmond 2nd
The very first King of the Motos ran its course Thursday, February 9, at Means Dry Lake in the Johnson Valley OHV Area near Lucerne Valley, California, and it was a very difficult course for the 21 riders who were invited to compete for the $10,000 winner-take-all purse The King of Motos was held in conjunction with the 6th running of the popular King of Hammers event, a near week-long, four-wheel off-road competition, which concludes on Friday, February 10. Motorcycle off-roaders were invited to join in on the fun for the first time for a three-plus-hour extreme off-road event. The King of the Motos combined both high-speed sections across the desert floor and a number of extremely technical sections, one which was estimated to take the riders up to 40 minutes to complete an 1/8th-mile section. Some of the sections included rugged, rocky downhills and hillclimbs, and sand dunes.
Kyle Redmond gave Jarvis a race, finishing second.
The race boiled down to a two-rider shootout between Husaberg two-stroke riders Jarvis and Kyle Redmond. Jarvis put his World Championship trials skill to good use and edged away from Redmond in the late stages of the race, taking the checkered flag ahead of Redmond. Other XBRAND racers at this race were: Cody Webb, Cory Graffunder, Chris Ridgway and Nick Burson.
SORCS Milledgeville Georgia, ZACH OSBORNE 3rd.
After coming off of a highly successful supercross season, Zach Osborne has wasted no time in picking up where he left off in supercross. In an effort to continue his training for the long 40 minute motos of the World Championships, Zach entered round two of the SORCS Off Road Series in Milledgeville, Georgia against the likes of Russell Bobbitt, Stewart Baylor, Ted Mullins, and Grant Baylor.
There, he was able to take home a 3rd place finish just 24 seconds outside of 2nd place and 2 minutes behind the leader. As the race began, Osborne pulled the holeshot and was able to lead for about an hour, until the halfway point in the race. At the halfway point Osborne made a mistake trying to get around some of the lapped riders, Bobbitt was able to take advantage of the mistake and take the lead. In the closing stages of the race, Osborne was pushing hard to make a pass on Bobbitt for second place, cutting Russell’s lead in half, but ran out of time at the finish.
Between training, Osborne will contest two more off-road races before heading back to Europe to race the World Championship Series Osborne hopes to continue his wave of success into the World Championships before making a return to the American supercross and motocross series in 2013. According to Osborne: “I’ve been riding my dirt bike for 15 years and the past 6 months have been the most fun I’ve ever had!” This new sense of enthusiasm for riding and training everyday will surely lead to another highlight year for Osborne.
Zach would like to thank his sponsors for their continued support, they include: Monster Energy, Yamaha, DC Shoes, EKS Brand Goggles, and ClubMX.
EKS BRAND would like to congratulate all of the racers on our team!
