THE NELSON REPORT

Yamaha Quad X Series Round 3                               Cahuilla Creek MX, Anza, CA                                    5/8/11

Round  3 of the Yamaha Quad X series was held in Anza, CA at Cahuilla Creek MX.  Definitely the biggest, most quad friendly layout we have seen for this year’s series.  The fastest pro lap times were in the 2:25 range and there were multiple lines in plenty of places around the track.  All this along with cool temps and overcast skies made for great racing.

Moto 1:  Beau Baron and I drag raced down the start straight and through the first turn with Baron just edging me out as we reached turn two.  Baron was running a good pace out front but I could see his lines and felt I had some better ones.  About halfway through lap three I began my set up by staying way outside over the fall away table top that led into a very off camber left hander.  This set me up to cut across the inside and be far left as we entered the right hand u turn before the whoops.  As Baron held the main line and railed the outside berm I was able to cut my #94 YFZ-R to the inside and make a block pass.  Baron kept pace all the way to the checkers as we were never separated by more than a half second.  The battle for 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th was also a good one with Josh Row silencing the charge of South African Dirkie Baard and Ethan Thatcher.

Moto 2:  Baron again grabbed the holeshot and this time the $250 GYTR/Yamalube Holeshot Award.  My teammate Josh Row and I fought for second through the first turn.  I claimed the spot heading into turn two with my eyes set on Baron.  The track had become quite a bit rougher and developed some new lines since the first moto and for the first half lap I experimented, hoping I might find something to help get past the leader.  As luck would have it Baron made a small mistake over the same fall away table top I had used to set him up in the first moto.  I used the exact same tactics in pulling off another block pass, only this time Baron cut back inside of me and we had a great battle through the first set of whoops, over the right hander and through the second set of whoops with my YFZ-R taking the lead by the end.  It was basically a replay of the first moto after that with exception of Baard making the pass on Row through that same section later in the race.  At the finish I took the win by a very slim margin over Baron with Baard 3^rd, Row 4^th and Thatcher 5^th.

Round 3 of the Yamaha Quad X series was a great battle all the way to the end of both motos.  We were able to notch our 3^rd win of the year in as many races and add to our points lead.  Looking forward to the next race which is our first night race of the year at Speedworld in Surprise, AZ on June 18^th.

Top Five Results                                                                                            Top Three Points

1)      Dustin Nelson                  Yam                                      1)  Dustin Nelson            75

2)      Beau Baron                        Hon                                       2)  Beau Baron                  66

3)      DirkieBaard                       Hon                                       3)  Ethan Thatcher          58

4)      Josh Row                            Yam

5)      Ethan Thatcher                Suz