and just roots and rocks that you couldn ’ t see . Unfortunately , test two took out Stu and Ben ( AmPro Yamaha ’ s Steward Baylor ( who won the opening round of the series ) and FMF / KTM ’ s Ben Kelley , who ( won the second round ), both DNFed the event due to injuries suffered early in test two . Steward and Kelley finished first and second in the opening test ). That was a real bummer . I had a huge get-off in test three , myself , so things were going pretty rough . Then the last couple of tests I was able to put the hammer down and move up to third .”
DeLong turned in one of his best rides of the season for the first five tests of the day , but gave way to Toth in the end .
“ I was in the mix and pretty competitive up until the last test ,” said DeLong . “ Toth and I were close and just I didn ’ t perform . I went slower and he went faster . I just struggled in that last test .”
Coastal Racing GasGas ’ Ricky Russell was in the mix for third , as well , but ended up with fifth , his best finish of the year after missing the opening round due to injury .
“ I was riding kind of a little bit over-cautious at first , but I still had decent tests ,” said Russell . “ I was right there in the mix with everyone , except maybe Steward ’ s time in test one . Stu killed us in test one . Then going into test two , I felt really good the first couple miles , and I came
ON THE PEGS // PAGE 146