The Beta Factory race team was busy this past weekend with their extreme team's first event at the King Of Motos (KOM) held in Johnson Valley, California. Factory rider Max Gerston finished the event in second aboard his 300 RR two stroke. Woman racer Morgan Tanke rode her Beta Xtrainer to a solid 16th place in the amateur division beating more than 60 other racers.

Gerston describes his race, "King of the Motos 2017 was a crazy one. GPS navigation and an added night race portion complicated the race and amplified the technical aspects of the Extreme Enduro. I had a solid setup with my Beta 300 RR and was able to have consistent rides with a 3rd in the night portion, a 2nd in the morning portion, and a 3rd in the afternoon segment resulting in a 2nd place overall. I am happy with the result and excited to build off of that for the rest of the 2017 race season."

Morgan Tanke was also pleased with her finish, "The new 3 moto format at King of the Motos this year was awesome. The night race was definitely one of the craziest races I've ever done. Starting up a technical canyon with 100+ racers all at once at night was insane! The morning desert moto also had a super difficult start but once I got through I was able to ride a steady pace and conserve my energy for the extreme moto. Midway through the 3rd moto I had a major bike issue and there wasn't much I could do to fix it. I kept on going and limped it home to the finish! Betas are the toughest motorcycles out there, no doubt!"

Across the country, round one of the National Enduro series was getting kicked off. The season opener was held in Wedgefield, SC which was the same location as the East coast Hare Scramble. The event was used as a warm up for many of the factory teams so the Pro class was stacked. NEPG regular Drew Higgins made his Beta race debut finishing in a solid 14th position. Higgins teammate and GNCC racer Nick Davis used the event as a warm up finishing 20th.

"My day started out really good, got off to a good start in the first test and ended up 8th. Tests 2 and 3 were good, made minimal mistakes and tried to just maintain my speed throughout the test. I felt like my bike was working awesome all day, besides some mistakes in test 4 that cost me some time. I hit a tree that was bent over and it ripped me off my bike, after I got going I crashed again trying to get back into my groove. I rode as hard a could for tests 5 and 6, but my pace was a little off of what it should be. All in all I was really happy with my fitness and my bike, I just need to limit the mistakes that I make, and ride smoother. I'm looking forward to building off this result, and going up from here in my finishes." Higgins explains.

Next on the Factory Team's schedule is round two of the National Hare & Hound championship in New Mexico where Joe Wasson will try to put his Beta 480 on the box. Beta racers Jordan Ashburn, Nick Davis, and Drew Higgins are competing in Gaston, South Carolina at round one of the Full Gas Sprint Enduro.

Photos by Diahann Tanke