Team Johnson Bros./BMP Racing are off to a strong start in both the OMRA GP and XC series after Round 1 at Eddieville (Over The Bars Gang, Goldendale, WA).
This year the 50 Expert starting line is 50% Red with Mark Johnson (defending 1R) on a 310R, Nelson Lyon (just bumped up from 50 Am championship) also on 310R and Lonny Johnson (Old guy out for a ride) on TXC449.
Saturday's GP race on the dry hard packed course had Mark and non-series rider Chuck Worley run away from the field. While Mark did manage to pass Chuck's 450 KTM on a long uphill ...yes you read that right .. stock 310R passes KTM 450 on long uphill. Ultimately Chuck got back by and Mark had to settle for 2nd on Saturday but went away with the GP series points lead. Nelson also put in a solid run in his first 50 Ex race and old guy Lonny, cruised around for the exercise :-)
Conditions changed dramatically overnight, temperatures dropped and we were greeted by a thin crust of snow on Sunday for the XC races. Longer course, lots of grass track added. Decision was made to delay start and combine all classes at 11 am. By then the moisture had soaked in and conditions were epic. (Pictures coming soon) Mark had a short tussle with another non-series KTM rider about 3 corners in and then he ran away with race, but did get to dice with some of the 30 and 40 Experts in the earlier waves for entertainment, scoring a strong 1st. Last year he did it with the 511, this year 310R. Same result !!
Thanks for BMP in Salem and Watson Performance Suspension (who was at the track helping refine the setup on the 310)
