Robby Bell: BITD Parker 250 | Race Report

BITD Parker 250 | January 10, 2015 | Parker, AZ

The Best in the Desert season kicked off this weekend in Parker, AZ and all of the riders were treated to scattered showers the morning of the race, making the dirt conditions nearly perfect. Ricky Brabec and I are once again teaming up to defend the N1 plate and since Ricky specializes in riding in the early morning semi-darkness, he would start the race for us.

I waited for the bike at the alternate pit, where I would take over from Ricky, ride a full loop and bring the bike back to him, and I was caught a bit off guard as I heard the roaring engine of our Precision Concepts race bike approaching. He got to the pit so quickly I actually didn’t get my helmet on gloves on until he was onto the speed-controlled pit row and I wasn’t able to get a water pack prepped or my GoPro on; next time slow down a little Ricky. I got my goggles on just as Ricky came in to give me the bike and after gassing up, I took off for my loop.

The racecourse is pretty similar year on year so though there was no prerunning for this event, I still had a pretty good memory of the track and I instantly felt the flow of the course. I was having a blast racing through the Arizona desert and just as I neared the finish of the first loop the rain began to fall, raising the fun-factor a few more notches. Riding in the rain totally took me back to when I was a kid splashing my way across the desert on those perfect wet weekends with an ear-to-ear grin; I was almost disappointed to make it back to alternate pit and have to give the bike back to Ricky.

At this point in the race we had stretched out a lead over our main competition, the Beta entry of Nick Burson and Axel Pearson, to around four minutes and during Ricky’s lap we were getting updates that he was stretching away even further. Ricky got back to alternate pit after a smooth run and with just over fifty miles left to race I hopped on our bike for the final stretch as the rain continued to fall; this time I was able to get the GoPro ready and I had my helmet on in plenty of time.

The final miles of the race flew by and again I was a little bummed to see the checkered flag, and the end of the race, but as I crossed the finish line I was definitely happy to get the first win of 2015 and help Ricky get the first Parker 250 victory of his career. I’d like to thank all of my personal sponsors for their continued support in this new year:

Precision Concepts, MSR, Shoei, Sidi, Spy, Focus Apparel, EVS, USWE, FMF, BRP, A’ME, RAD graphics, Alamo Alarm, and ATP Mechanix. Thanks to Ricky for being so fast and teaming up with me again in Best in the Desert, to Rick Brabec for supporting us and helping make the race possible, and to Bob, Ty and Kyle for helping us in the pits.

My next event is the WORCS series opener and I’m definitely looking to get back to winning ways on the Grand Prix circuit and get my 2015 title chase off to the best possible start. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at Taft!

Robby Bell
www.robbybellracing.com

Thank you to each of the team sponsors: Precision Concepts, Dunlop, FMF, THR Motorsports, Maxima USA, Renthal, GPR stabilizer, CryoHeat, Rekluse, VP Race Fuels, IMS, BRP, LA Piston Co., A’ME grips, Braking, RK/Excel, ARC levers, DT1 filters, Acerbis, Matrix Concepts, Zip-Ty, Ryan Abbatoye Designs, Seal Savers, MotoSeat, MotoHose, Northland Motorsports

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