Our Troy Lee Designs/ Red Bull/ KTM West Coast duo Brandon Hartfranft and Derek Drake made their way out to Salt Lake City last week to join the team in the last few races here in Utah. After altitude sickness had the boys not feeling themselves at round 14 on Wednesday they were able to show up on Sunday feeling much more acclimated to the weather and conditions here in Salt Lake City.
The day started off with decent qualifying sessions. The team was able to make some changes to the bikes and both Hartranft and Drake were confident with bike set up for the heat races. Our TLD riders found themselves both lined up in Heat 2 where they would need to position themselves in the top 9. Drake was able to put himself in a good position early on and lead a few laps after a great start had him out front. It was a P3 finish for Derek and P4 for Brandon giving us two transfer positions direct into the main event. After an unfortunate start for both our TLD riders they found themselves in the middle and nearly last place and unfortunately were just not able to push through the pack of riders quick enough in fifteen minutes time. Overall, we were able to salvage two spots in the top 10 with 8th and 9th finishing positions for Hartranft and Drake. They will have one more race left to prove themselves on Sunday June 21st.
In the meantime, we go back racing on Wednesday June 17th with Pierce Brown again on the East Coast and then finish out our last race on Sunday when both coasts will come together head to head for the East West Showdown!
Results 250SX West Class – Salt Lake City (Round 8)
- Austin Forkner (USA), Kawasaki
- Dylan Ferrandis (FRA), Yamaha
- Jett Lawrence (USA), Honda
OTHER KTM
- Brandon Hartranft (USA), KTM
- Derek Drake (USA), KTM
Standings 250SX West Class 2020
- Ferrandis, 181 points
- Forkner, 174
- Cooper, 164
OTHER KTM
- Hartranft, 141
- Drake, 106