Team Suzuki’s Ryan Hughes made a big splash at the beginning of the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC World Off Road Championship Series, winning the first two rounds. He then suffered his first loss at round three, where he ended up a still respectable third behind motocrosser Mike Alessi and Brett Metcalfe. At round four, Hughes led until late in the race when he made a mistake that allowed teammate and former two-time series champ Mike Kiedrowski to grab his first victory of the season.”At Havasu, it just wasn’t my day, wasn’t my track,” Hughes said. “[At] Honey Lake, I should’ve won, but that’s racing; sometimes you have bad luck and that’s what happened.”So, when round five visited Race Town 395 in Adelanto, California, Hughes was itching for revenge. The fast, whooped-out, sandy course suited him well, due in part to the fact that it was so physically demanding. But, he countered, “That’s why I train. I train really, really hard, and I do a lot of stuff that simulates what I do [in races]. That’s why I think I can hold on for that long and go that pace.”What he did in this race was get off to a mid-pack start, though he quickly sliced through to the front and from there took off, leading every lap. But the severity of the course and trickiness of the brief Endurocross-style section before the pits took its toll on Hughes and many of the rest of the field. By the finish, Hughes’ ECC/FMF/Moose RM-Z450 had no left radiator shroud, a dented header pipe and many scratches from three separate crashes.Second-year Pro Ricky Dietrich moved into second place early in the race on his Carter Powersports/Pro Circuit/ARC KX450F, but he couldn’t hold off Bobby Garrison’s Zip-Ty Racing/Montclair Yamaha/Moose YZ450F near the end. Garrison’s runner-up finish marked his best of the season and broke him out of the tie for third in series points he’d been in with Dietrich.Unofficially now, Garrison is tied for second in points with round four winner Mike Kiedrowski, Hughes’ teammate who had to ride with no front brake yet finished sixth.Unofficial results, Pro top 10
1. Ryan Hughes, Suzuki RM-Z450
2. Bobby Garrison, Yamaha YZ450F
3. Ricky Dietrich, Kawasaki KX450F
4. Nathan Woods, Kawasaki KX450F
5. Ty Davis, Yamaha YZ450F
6. Mike Kiedrowski, Suzuki RM-Z450
7. Lance Smail, Kawasaki KX450F
8. Mike Corder, KTM 450 SX
9. Matt Karlsen, Kawasaki KX450F
10. Russell Pearson, Yamaha YZ450F
1. Ryan Hughes, Suzuki RM-Z450
2. Bobby Garrison, Yamaha YZ450F
3. Ricky Dietrich, Kawasaki KX450F
4. Nathan Woods, Kawasaki KX450F
5. Ty Davis, Yamaha YZ450F
6. Mike Kiedrowski, Suzuki RM-Z450
7. Lance Smail, Kawasaki KX450F
8. Mike Corder, KTM 450 SX
9. Matt Karlsen, Kawasaki KX450F
10. Russell Pearson, Yamaha YZ450F
