Mason Ottersberg and Max Gerston at the 3rd round of the Western Hare Scrambles series; Jordan Ashburn, Mike Witkowski, and Rachel Gutish at the 3rd round of the GNCC series!

West Hare Scramble Round 3 Overview
Location: Ocotillo, California
Course Conditions: Sunny skies with loamy soil from rain the day before
Beta Factory Race Team Results: 
-Mason Ottersberg placed 4th at round 3 of the WHS series aboard his 430RR Race Edition. 
-Max Gerston caught a cold the night before the West Hare Scramble event and was unable to race at 100%, but still managed to gain some points for the series totals. 

The next race event for Max Gerston will be at the 4th round of the AMA West Hare Scramble. For more information about the WHS go to: westharescramble.com

MASON OTTERSBERG
Series: West Hare Scramble
Bike: Beta 430 RR Race Edition
"On Wednesday morning I decided last minute to go race in Gorman after seeing pictures on social media about the upcoming rain. I was honestly just looking to show up to get some race seat time, and see where I stacked up. After struggling to find a flow from a dead last start, I was able to basically come from 16th all the way up to 4th place by the end of the 8 laps."

MAX GERSTON
Series: West Hare Scramble
Bike: Beta 390 RR Race Edition
"Gorman didn't exactly go as planned. I was hit with some sort of flu the day before with gnarly stomach pains. The next day it was all I could do to get geared up for the race. I was able to race the first two laps, but then I was hit with stomach pains super hard. I raced another few laps so I could at least card a finish. As of now I plan on resting up in preparation for the race in Idaho next weekend."

GNCC Round 3 Overview
Location: Washington, Georgia
Course Conditions: Scattered showers with occasional mud pits and loamy soil.
Beta Factory Race Team Results:
-Jordan Ashburn placed 6th in the XC1 class at round 3 of the GNCC and is currently in 12th place overall. 
-Mike Witkowski finished in 17th in the XC2 class after a freak mechanical issue forced him to pit for a repair. 
-Rachel Gutish placed 3rd in the WXC class at round 3 of the GNCC and is currently sitting in 3rd place for the season standings.

The next race for Ashburn, Witkowski, and Gutish will be Round 4 of the GNCC on April 7th in Morganton, North Carolina. For more information on the GNCC series go to: gnccracing.com

JORDAN ASHBURN
Series: GNCC
Bike: Beta 430 RR Race Edition
"The General GNCC started off pretty well for me. I was able to make a pass for 4th going into the 3rd lap. The track was very rough and had tons of lines. There were lots of lapped riders as well. I found myself in 5th place on the 4th lap just 21 seconds from the leader. We were all really close all day but the leaders were able to sneak away the last two laps. I finished 6th place for the day. I'm definitely gonna build on this and reach that podium!"

MIKE WITKOWSKI
Series: GNCC
Bike: Beta 250 RR Race Edition
"I got off to a near holeshot on my Beta 250 RR. I went into the woods 2nd. Then a little bit later my bike started to bog. I was trying to figure out the problem but couldn't diagnose it. Once I got back to the pits and we got the bike fixed I was about an hour down from the lead group and dead last overall. I charged on and didn't give up. I came back to 17th in my class."

RACHEL GUTISH
Series: GNCC
Bike: Beta 350 RR Race Edition
"I am happy to have repeated last round's performance, earning another WXC podium finish for Beta. I have always enjoyed The General, and I'm glad that the series returned to the property and reestablished the round. Despite a bad start and some issues throughout the day, I was able to quickly recover to a 4th place finish by the end of the first lap. From there I continued to charge and on the final lap moved into 3rd place. The course was a blast and I am looking forward to the next round in a few weeks!"

Photos by Kato and Ken Hill

Max Gerston places 5th in the second round of the Western Hare Scramble.

The 2nd round of the West Hare Scramble series took place last weekend in Prescott, Arizona. A large winners purse drew in big names and a lot of local riders showed up at the event. The Rough Rider 100 had one of the largest turnouts for a WHS event so far this year. Course conditions and weather were excellent at the race, making it a close race for the top riders.

Max Gerston raced on his Beta 390RR Race Edition ending up in 5th place. Gerston is now in second place overall for the series and is only 4pts away from 1st place. Mason Ottersberg also competed in the event placing 11th overall aboard his 430RR. Joe Wasson was also at the event, but took a rock to the face right after the start causing an injury that needed stitches and took him out of the race.

Gerston will be competing in the next WHS event on March 17th. For more information on the WHS series go to: westharescramble.com

Ottersberg's next race will be at round 3 of the Big 6 series. For more information about the Big 6 series go to: www.big6racing.com

Wasson's next race will be next weekend at the 2nd round of the Hare and Hound series. For more information about the NHHA go to: nationalhareandhound.com

Max Gerston: "The Rough Rider 100 was an awesome race. In the most stacked field I've ever seen, I ended in 5th. It is not what I wanted, but I definitely learned a lot and look forward to taking that experience to the next race. We either win or learn, and I learned a lot today."

Mason Ottersberg: "This weekends WHS event was one for the books for both myself and Beta USA. After some bad luck in the first two laps of the race, I was able to put my head down and move myself up from 28th to 11th. Between the training program I am on and the Beta 430RR, I have one of the best opportunities to be successful in my career."

Photo by Kato

Max Gerston Takes his 1st win at Mt. Baker West Hare Scramble!

Last weekend was packed with action in the West Hare Scramble. Max Gerston took his first ever victory allowing him to take the series points lead.

A small heat wave hit Bellingham, WA on Saturday with highs reaching over 90 degrees. The heated air helped dry up the weathered ridden track that was impacted by a storm the previous week. The mixture of heat and wet ground made for a grueling race that lasted over two and a half hours.

Max held the lead the entire race, putting a two minute gap between him and second place finisher Joey Fiasconaro by the third lap. Max later told us "After a bad start, I was able to set a good pace and put some distance between me and my competitors as I knew they would be charging hard."

After the race Max said,  "It feels good to get that monkey off my back and I want to keep the ball rolling for the rest of the year."

About 2,800 miles away in Snowshoe, West Virginia a battle for the 8th round of GNCC took place. The track conditions at the event were almost perfect with a rain storm that past through a week before the race, and the temperature at around 75 degrees. However, there were some sections thick with mud that made the track a little brutal to ride.

Jordan Ashburn stated,"I started in the second row 10 secs behind the first row. I made a couple mistakes the first lap picking bad lines. I worked all day trying to recover from that, and I feel like I could have been on the podium. "Jordan ended up finishing in fourth place in the XC1 class coming from 10th place in lap one.

With the points he earned from getting 4th place at Snowshoe, Jordan is seated 5th place in the overall points standing, which is only 3 points ahead of 6th place Trevor Bollinger. With such a tight points gap the next few races will be exciting to watch as the season end closes in.

At the same event Beta USA rider Nick Davis placed 8th, while his teammate Drew Higgins placed 12th in the XC2 250 Pro class. Nick was running in 5th place when his rear brake pedal snapped off making him stop for a quick pit. "The team got it changed fast and got me back out there. I came from 12th and ended up in 8th, and just made the top 20 over all."

Photo by Kato