At the checkered flag it was Kelley making it five in a row to start the year with Bollinger claiming his second podium in a row , with Baylor making a last lap charge to pass Delong and take his first podium of the year after a rough start to 2022 . Delong would hold on for fourth with Ashburn taking fifth .
In the XC2 Pro Lites class with Witkowski faltering at the previous round , a whole host of riders were hungry to take advantage and put their name into the conversation for podiums and wins . When XC2 fired off the line it was Australia ’ s Gus Riordan taking the holeshot aboard his RPM Racing KTM with Coastal Racing GasGas mounted Ryder Lafferty and Liqui-Moly Factory Beta ’ s Evan Smith right behind . 17 year old Riordan would lead the field at the end of lap number one with Lafferty in second , Smith in third with points leader Witkowski in fourth aboard his AmPro Yamaha , with Liqui-Moly Beta ’ s Jonathon Johnson in fifth . Witkowski would take the lead on lap two , dropping Riordan and Lafferty to second and third with Team Babbitt ’ s Monster Energy Kawasaki ’ s Lyndon Snodgrass and Johnson in fifth , while a battle raged from places 6-10 between Smith , MCS Kawasaki ’ s Benjamin Herrera , 760 Motorsports Husky ’ s Thorn Devlin , and Phoenix Racing Honda teammates Ruy Barbosa and Cody Barnes .
MICHAEL WITKOWSKI , XC2 photo by kyle wolfe
ON THE PEGS // PAGE 118