keep his head down and focus on the task , and riders ahead .
Fighting his way through to a strong position , Howes found himself in cleaner air in the final 100 miles of the race and was able to push to make up time on his rivals . Ultimately delivering an impressively consistent and near mistake-free ride from start to finish , the FR 450 Rally rider was able to take the win – his second career victory at the event – by just over four minutes from second-placed , FX 450-mounted Dalton Shirey .
Skyler Howes : “ I ’ m super-stoked to get the win ! Especially as a solo rider versus the other teams . The organisers did an incredible job of managing the difficult conditions – so many of the dry lake beds were full of water and a lot of the rest of the course was destroyed by flooding . Qualifying wasn ’ t so good , I had a little tip off that cost me a little time , and on such a short course it meant I set off last of all the pro class on the main race . The dust out there was incredible , thankfully riding the rally bike , I was able to carry on for longer without stopping for fuel and so that helped to make up time on the guys ahead . I just rode my own race and ticked off the miles . With a bit more clear air towards the end , I was able to make up those last few minutes I needed . Dalton crossed the line first , but on corrected time , I managed to take the win by about four minutes . It ’ s back to training and testing now – we ’ re working on the roadbook a lot and I want to be at my absolute best in time for Morocco . It ' s still a little way off , but I ’ m feeling good and can ’ t wait to get back to some world championship racing now .”
ON THE PEGS // PAGE 50