#drew higgins

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EnduroCross Highlights and Round 6 of the NEPG Series

Enduro Cross Highlights

Round 1 of the EnduroCross series kicked off last weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada. Practice times started at 9:00 AM and races went on past 10:30 at night. A lot of riders said that the course was easy compared to what they raced last year, however there were a few difficult sections that created big problems for some of the riders.

When a rider went down, or got hung up on a section of the track, it created a traffic jam for the other riders behind them. The traffic jams allowed the riders that cleared the obstacles to increase their lead on the rest of the pack. Having everyone grouped together created a tight battle for positions and made the race super exciting to watch. 

Overall the event was a great start to the season. The riders got a taste of what is to come for the rest of the EnduroCross series, while being able to see what they can improve on for the next event.

The next event in the series will be in Reno, Nevada on September 23rd.

Max raced on his new 2018 Beta 350 four stroke for the first time this year. The Beta Factory rider finished the 1st round of the series in 5th place. 

Max Gerston Commented; "The first round in Vegas went well. The 350RR suited the fast track perfectly but was still able to chug in the technical sections. I had a bit of a rough day program, which didn't set me up very well for the main event. However, I was able to ride to a solid 5th place. I definitely learned a lot and look forward to improving the rest of the year."

Beta Factory rider Ty Cullins won his qualifying heat that placed him in the main, but he had a few errors in the main event that landed him in 13th place for round one.  

Ty Cullins Commented; "The night started out good with a win in the qualifier, but in the main event I went down in one of the first corners and another rider had his bike on top of mine, after that it was hard to make up time on the fast paced track. With over a month until the next race, I know I will have time to work on my speed and fitness to be ready for Reno."

Beta Factory rider Morgan Tanke was doing great on board her Beta XTrainer, but an early traffic jam on the first lap of the main event caused her to fall to the back of the pack, which she didn't recover from. Morgan came in 5th place in the women's class for the first round of the EnduroCross series.

Morgan Tanke Commented; "I struggled a little bit in Vegas and look forward to a few weeks break, so that I can work on a few things and come out swinging in Reno!"

Round 6 of the NEPG Series

The 6th round of the National Enduro Series was held in Matthews, Indiana. The riding conditions were perfect and the event drew in spectators and racers from all all over. Drew Higgins was in 11th place for the first test, but ended up finishing in 13th for the day.

Drew Higgins Commented; "This is one of my favorite races on the schedule, because of the dirt, and it's more enduro trail. My day started out good, I was riding good in the first test, and ended up just outside the top 10. The second test I was riding good until I had a big get off, I rode as fast as I could for the last mile to get the best time I could. The next few tests were good for me. I changed it up for test 6, and made sure I made it to the finish safe."

Photo by Adam Booth

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Higgins earns a top 5!

Beta USA's Drew Higgins finished in fifth place at round 2 of the GNCC series held in Palatka, Florida this past weekend. Filling in for the injured Nick Davis, the young Texan proved his fitness and riding ability is on point. Higgins' teammate Jordan Ashburn hit a knocked down telephone pole on the first lap after running seventh in the XC1 class, ending his day.

Drew Higgins explains his weekend "I was really looking forward to this opportunity to race in the GNCC this weekend, it was something that I have been working towards. Leading up to the race was awesome, Rodney put us through a couple days of conditioning which I feel helped. I really think that his additions to my workout routine are going to be beneficial. The race started off great, I nailed the holeshot and led for a little. During the first lap I got passed by a couple guys, I followed them to learn as much as I could. I was sitting in 5th after the first lap and stayed there pretty much the whole race. I passed and got to fourth place for one lap, then got stuck back in fifth when I pitted the second time. After the pit I rode smart and tried to minimize the mistakes to end up 5th. The bike worked amazingly all day long, I was very pleased with the suspension. My suspension tuner Bryce Rivera has it spot on and I'm really glad he is now working with the team."

"I found myself off to a bad start early on. I was close to the back and the dust had us to a near stand still. It started pouring rain halfway through the first lap, so the conditions changed very quickly, and I was able to work my way to 7th place on the first lap. I suffered a major get off directly behind the pits clipping a telephone pole that was sawed off 5 feet above ground. This ended my day in a hurry landing head-first and obtaining a nice knot on the head." explained Ashburn.

Factory rider Justin Wallis raced round 5 of the WORCS series in Lake Havasu however suffered a rare mechanical failure during the race and not be able to finish the race.

This weekend the Factory Team's schedule is round two NEPG help in Ormond Beach, Florida. Drew Higgins will try and put his Beta 300 RR on the podium. In the West, Max Gerston will be racing in the round three WHS held in Gorman, California.

Photo by Ken Hill

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Ashburn earns second podium!

Beta USA's GNCC specialist Jordan Ashburn finished in third place at Round two of the Full Gas Sprint Enduro held in Monticello, Georgia this past weekend. The Tennessee racer continues to improve his speed at the two-day events and is becoming very comfortable aboard his Beta 430 RR.

"Saturday started off good as I stayed consistent in the top five. Although I kept struggling on the cross test I ended up fourth for the day. The conditions continued to deteriorate Sunday and the cross test was super dusty and sketchy. I found myself picking my bike up in the second test from sliding out in a corner. At the end of the day and with the scores all added up I finished in third place for the weekend." explains Ashburn.

Ashburn's teammates Drew Higgins and Nick Davis finished 8th and 13th. Higgins posted his best finish so far this season and is using the series as a cross training tool for the National Enduro Series.

Drew Higgins describes his race weekend, "The race for me this weekend went awesome, I felt like I'm starting to get my speed near where I want it to be to go for top 5's and podium finishes. The race on Saturday went good, I didn't have anything crazy happen, but stayed consistent all day and finished the day in 10th. They ended up running the cross test four times, and the enduro test only twice because of mud, which kind of hurt me because the cross test was mainly motocross. But I did the best I could and my times were still pretty close. Sunday I found my groove early in the day and started moving up in the overall. There was four enduro tests today, and only two cross tests, so I felt more confident in my speed in the woods to be more competitive with everybody. All in all the weekend was a step in the right direction for me, and I'm very happy with the new suspension. I'm feeling really confident on it now, and ready for the National Enduro on March 19th."

Next on the Factory Team's schedule is round one of the GNCC series this weekend known as the Big Buck held in Union, South Carolina where Jordan Ashburn and Nick Davis will duke it out to be the first Beta rider to win a GNCC in the XC1 or XC2 class.

Photo by Shan Moore