At Round 3 of the 2023 AMA West Hare Scramble Championship series in Prineville, Oregon, Factory Beta’s Zane Roberts finished five laps in 2:33:12 for third overall out of six in the Pro class after a fifth-place start and said the rocky and somewhat muddy course made for some challenging conditions. 

“I got off to a bit of a slow start as I was a little unsure about how much I could push it in those conditions, but I started to find my groove about midway and reel in some of the guys up front,” Roberts said Monday. 

In fourth after the halfway point, Roberts said he started battling with his teammate about 45 minutes out from the finish and that closed the gap up to second. When his teammate went down, Roberts stopped to wait with him to make sure he was OK. 

“Then, about a mile and a half out from the finish, we were going along a rocky single track that paralleled the fence and I must have hit a rock the wrong way or something because I was thrown off the track and into the fence before I could even process what happened,” Roberts added. “The fence wouldn’t break or fall over, so I got drug along it for quite a while before finally hitting a post and getting knocked the other way where I finally hit the ground. From there, I cruised in to secure third.”

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Factory Beta’s Daniel Lewis finished sixth out of 25 in the Pro class at the 2023 Fallen Timbers in Little Hocking, Ohio, on May 6 & 7 for the second East Regional round of the 2023 AMA IRC US Hard Enduro Series, presented by KLIM. 

The knockout format featured some of the hardest rocks, roots and hill climbs Ohio has to offer with two races on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s main event. 

“Had a fun weekend with a third in qualifying and ran with the top boys for some of the main race,” Lewis said Monday. “Some unexpected events happened toward the end of my race leaving me with chemical burns and a sixth place. Just adds fuel to the fire!” 

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At Hoosier Ironman Raceway for Round 6 of the Grand National Cross Country Series in Crawfordsville, Indiana, Jesse Ansley finished 11 out of 14 in the XC2 250 Pro class with eight laps in 3:07:02.

“The Hoosier GNCC was definitely one I’d like to forget,” Ansley said Monday of the 6.5-mile track. 

“Eight laps made the track insanely gnarly and just outright grueling,” he added. “A lot of personal stuff going in the last few weeks hindered my performance at Round 6, and I’m not typically a good mud rider so those combined just wasn’t an ideal weekend for me. Regroup, get settled and attack the next round like nothing happened.”

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Up next: 

AMA National Hare and Hound - Round 5, Jericho, Utah, May 13 

AMA GNCC - Round 7 - The John Penton, Millfield, Ohio, May 21

AMA US Hard Enduro - Tamaqua, Penn., May 28 

AMA West - Round 4 - Heppner, Ore., June 4

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Ride hard, ride often, ride KLIM. #KLIMLife