Jimmy Jarrett picked up his third OMA win this season in Minnesota, leading wire to wire.
Defending series champion Jimmy Jarrett pulled off a wire-to-wire win on August 28 at Spring Creek MX Park in Millville, Minnesota, to claim his third victory in the Parts Unlimited Off-road Motorcycle and ATV Nationals.
Coming on the heels of a disappointing DNF at round six, Jarrett's win at round seven, presented by Smith Sport Optics, was just the thing he needed to strengthen what had been an uncomfortably close lead in series points to round six winner Justin Williamson. Going into the race, Andrews Cycles/Kenda/Moose RM250-mounted Jarrett held a slim two-point lead over Williamsonracing.com YZ250 racer Williamson, 122-120. At the end of the day, Jarrett's victory added five more points to that lead, with Williamson having to settle for runner-up points. The spread is now 152-145, unofficially.
Shane Watts chased Justin Williamson down to end up a close third.
"I wanted to get away early because it was tight," Jarrett said of his race strategy. "I knew if I could get a little time on them, they wouldn't be able to see me and I could keep a gap on them, and that's what happened. It was awesome."
After eight laps of the course under nearly perfect conditions, Jarrett had 50 seconds on Williams, 2:33:08 to 2:33:58.
But Williamson was grateful the damage was that limited. Just before the start, he discovered that his race bike's engine was about to fail despite replacing the head gasket so he jumped on his practice/backup bike, only to find out it too was about to grenade. With time running out, he accepted the offer of a 2004 Honda CR250R that A-class racer Chuck Garetson had sitting in reserve. A frantic amount of work ensued by Williamson and several friends as well as rivals, and he made it to the starting line in time to practice one start on the bike he'd never ridden before.
Fifteen-year-old Alex Martin easily topped the minibike race, then hopped on his KX250F to take seventh in his first Pro race.
"Second place is good," Williamson said. "I wanted to stay on the podium the whole year. I'm sure with my bike I could've done a little better out there, but you never know."
Asked about the last-second switch, Jarrett said, "All the bikes out there are good. For me it doesn't take long to get used to a bike so I figured he'd be okay."
Despite the front brake lever falling off on the final lap, Williamson managed to hold off Shane Watts, who ended up a close third on his KTMHutt.com/Fun Mart Cycles/Moose 200 E/XC. "Third's better than what I was expecting coming here," Watts admitted. "It was like the last racesecond was a lot better than what I was expecting there. It's good just to cruise along at a nice, cruisy pace. Eventually here, I'll be able to get back into my training program and start riding and that. I'm not too stressed about it this year; we're really focusing on next year so it's just good to have another good result."
Brian Garrahan rode to fourth for the fourth time this season.
Brian Garrahan claimed a solitary fourth overall on his Rentone.com/NorCal Motorsports/Moose RM250. He had to fight off Cole Calkins for the first half of the race, but the pounding took its toll on the wrist that Calkins broke five months ago, enabling Garrahan to pull away in the last three laps. Calkins switched to survival mode in what was his first race back and finished fifth on his Throttlehead.com/Kenda/Moose KX250F.
OMA Nationals, Round Seven: Millville Pro Results
From left, Watts, Jarrett and Williamson show off their trophies.
1. Jimmy Jarrett, Suzuki RM250
2. Justin Williamson, Honda CR250R
3. Shane Watts, KTM 200 E/XC
4. Brian Garrahan, Suzuki RM250
5. Cole Calkins, Kawasaki KX250F
6. Chris Bach, KTM 250 E/XC
7. Alex Martin, Kawasaki KX250F
8. Kyle Nelson, Gas Gas EC 250
9. Chris Robertson, Kawasaki KX250
10. Jesse Blomberg, Gas Gas EC 250
11. Tracy Bachman, Honda CRF250R