FACTORY SHERCO 250 GP BIKE

Getting full-factory support from a manufacturer is every privately owned race team’s goal, and for DC Racing, that goal was met when they signed with Sherco for the 2023 season and beyond. For team owner Dallas Chidester, this didn’t happen overnight, but rather the result of many years of hard work backing the team through his trucking company, Chidester Transportation.

Mason Ottersberg has been a member of the DC Racing family for two years. He is the current AMA West Coast Hare Scramble 250 Pro-class champion, and in 2023 will compete on a Sherco 250SE in a variety of West Coast-based off-road series. We caught up with Dallas and his DC Racing team to get some insight on Ottersberg’s race machine.

THE SCOOP
Ottersberg is one of four riders on the team aboard the Sherco 250SE, so developing a setup is a true team effort. Based out of Arizona, Ottersberg has been able to compete on the professional level in a variety of off-road disciplines, such as motocross, EnduroCross, grand prix, Sprint Enduro and desert-style events, which helped out hugely in setting up the new Sherco. The DC Racing team is the first professional-level team to compete on Sherco SE models in the faster West Coast-style off-road racing series, so they had to start from ground zero when it came to setup.

Precision Concepts is very active in off-road racing and took care of Ottersberg’s suspension needs. Team manager Scott Perkins commented, “Mason likes a progressive suspension setting, so he runs a little softer overall, but ramps up and stiffens up towards the end of the stroke. The team spent time testing with Bob Bell, owner of Precision Concepts, before the season started to get a comfortable base setting that we can adjust throughout the season for different types of events if need be.”

The team will be contesting the entire AMA West Coast Hare Scrambles series while also doing select AMA National Hare & Hound and National Grand Prix Championship events throughout the year, so getting Mason comfortable with a general setting is key.

All of the races Ottersberg competes in require him to be on the bike a minimum of 60 minutes, so rider comfort is very important, and that is very apparent with his chassis setup. His controls consist of 12-degree low-bend Flexx handlebars (Mason is on the shorter side) that have customizable elastomers that can change the flex characteristics, ASV non-breakable levers, A’ME nonwaffle soft grips, a G2 Ergonomics throttle for a smoother pull, and a G2 Start Pro switch. A very key component on Ottersberg’s Sherco is the V5 GPR Pro steering stabilizer system that includes a split-design top triple clamp, Rubber Bar Mount (RBR) system and the all-new V5 stabilizer that has on-the-fly adjustability options.

DC RACING SHERCO 250

Just like most race bikes, the DC Racing Sherco 250SE has some performance upgrades. The engine modifications come directly from the Factory 1 Sherco crew and are performed by the engine department at Race Tech that’s designed to increase midrange and top-end power. You might be familiar with the Rocket Exhaust name, because it has been around for a while, but this company has been bought. The production moved to Arizona, and the previous ownership has nothing to do with the operations of the new company. Scott Perkins commented, “We have worked closely with the entire Rocket Exhaust staff testing and developing our race team systems for the past of couple years. Their determination to make things better on both the performance and durability side is great to see as a team manager. The latest Sherco 250 systems are some of the best we have seen. The company has a new direction and look for a lot of goods to be announced soon.”

Other engine performance items include Rekluse clutch components, Moto Center AZ high-pressure radiator hoses and customprogramed mapping. Protection is another key area that the DC race team has focused on, and those items come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Things that are obvious are the Reflex hand-guard system, SXS full-coverage skid plate with additional rear linkage guards, BRP rear chainguide, Bullet Proof radiator guards, shark fins, fork lug guards, and swingarm guards, but what you might not think about is hiding just underneath the surface. Inside the Kenda Washougal 3 front tire and Millville 2 rear tire is a brandnew foam-insert system from Mr. Wolf called Mousse Balls that completely eliminate the chance of a DNF due to getting a flat tire.

DC RACING TEAM SPONSOR LIST:

Sherco USA
FXR
A’ME Grips
Antigravity Batteries
ASV Inventions
BRP
Bulletproof Designs
DDC Racing
EPIC Garage Designs
Fasst Company
FunnelWeb Filter
GPR Stabilizer
G2 Ergonomics
Innteck USA
IWC Motorsports Tire Pros
Kenda
Matrix Concepts
Maxima USA
Modified Machine Works
MotoSeat
Mr. Wolf Solve
Precision Concepts
P3 Carbon
RAD Custom Graphics
Rekluse Motorsports
Reflex Racing
RK Excel
Rocket Exhaust
SKF Group
SXSlideplate
TrueWerk
Works Connection
Moto Center
It’s great to see Sherco USA’s Ron Sallman and Bryan Kraham build on the very successful FactoryOne Sherco Hard Enduro team effort and step into a style of racing the brand is not particularly known for with the DC Racing West Coast effort. The new DC Sherco West Coast off-road platform and Mason Ottersberg have seen success early in the racing season with multiple podium finishes, so it’s probably just a matter of time before he gets a win.