Lucerne Valley, Ca (10/9/2011)
Veteran Duncan Racing rider Andy Lagzdins scored the overall quad victory at Round Seven of the National Hare and Hound Series that took place in the Johnson Valley OHV area near Lucerne Valley, Ca, and in doing so clinched the 2011Pro ATV Championship with one round remaining.
The event, which was put on by the AMA District 37 club SoCal MC, was laid out over 38 miles of some of the most challenging terrain in the California desert. The race began with a dead engine start and a mile-long bomb run across the desert. "I picked a bad line on the start and Kyle Penner and Bill Markel got in front and dusted me out bad. It wasn't until we got into the tight rock sections that I could see enough to make a move on those guys" said Lagzdins after the race. "The last thing I wanted to do was break the quad by hitting something in the dust, and not score any points." After making a pass for the lead on Penner at roughly the halfway point of the race, Lagzdins made no mistakes and opened a minute gap at the finish on his
Fat Boy 4 powered Honda.
Lagzdins, a veteran of the East Coast-based GNCC Series, now adds the 2011 AMA National Hare and Hound Series to his 2007 OMA National Pro ATV title and 2009 Score Baja Overall ATV Championship. "I can't thank everyone enough who stood by me when I made the move to the West Coast. It took some time to learn how desert racing is done-the mental game of racing at high speed through unknown terrain, but it's coming easier to me now," said Lagzdins.
The series concludes on October 23rd with the 100's MC National also taking place in the Johnson Valley OHV area. This 189,000 acre BLM-regulated portion of the desert is currently in danger of being converted from a public recreation area to a live ammunition testing ground, an issue that the American Motorcyclist Association is aggressively fighting.