JBC 10 HOURS OF GLEN HELEN

Team Blaise wasn't always the fastest, but they were the best prepared. — Team Blais wasn’t always the fastest, but they were the best prepared.

Team Blais was the toughest, fastest and best prepared contender in the JBC Ten Hours of Glen Helen this weekend, and it paid off with a narrow victory. The Blais KTM 300 was ridden by Brendan Crow, Ben Meza and Kyle Mercier, and throughout the race, they fought back and forth with the John Burr team of Jeff Loop, Sean Lipanovich and Dalton Shirey. In the end, the margin of victory was measured in seconds. The main opponent was the heat; Southern California was amidst a heat wave that saw track temperatures over 110 degrees.

Morgan Tanke was the first woman to win the Solo class at a Gleh Helen Endurance race. — Morgan Tanke was the first woman to win the Solo class at a Glen Helen Endurance race.

The course was configured to be easier on the riders than the other races in the Glen Helen Endurance Series. It was eight miles around and consisted of two motocross tracks, the Lucas Oil Truck track and moderate single track trail. Glen Helen’s staff did a good job of keeping the main MX tracks waters, but there was nothing that could be done about the off-road sections that were too remote and too rugged to be accessed by water truck. For the most part, the riders dealt with the heat and the dust well, and the finishing rate was high.

Dalton Shirey helped propel the John Burr team to second overall.

This year saw history made in the Ironman Division. Endurocross pro Morgan Tanke became the first woman to win the solo competition in a Glen Helen Endurance race, forcing organizers to rethink the name of the class. Stephen Pangburn somewhat salvaged the honor of his gender by finishing second ahead of another woman; Christina Silva and fourth place Kord McKinney.

Jacob Clements' team won the 250 class and was third overall. — Jacob Clements’ team won the 250 class and was third overall.

The 250 Expert class was another great battle. The Beta team of Jacob Clements and Ty Cullins led for most of the race, but they were harassed through the early laps by Nick Stover’s team on a 2004 Honda CR125. Eventually the 125 Honda was taken out by crash damage, and Stover rejoined the race on the KTM they had in impound.

Nick Stover's 125 Honda team was fun to watch, and finished seventh overall. — Nick Stover’s 125 Honda team was fun to watch, and finished seventh overall.

One of the toughest men in the entire race was Ryan Gouveia, who came out from Hawaii to ride the Last Dog Standing Extreme Enduro, which was held the previous day at Glen Helen. He was one of only 15 riders to make the final event on Saturday, and then anchored the TM Racing USA team on Sunday. He rode with Ralf Schmidt, and David Turner to win the 40 Expert class. For more results, go to www.glenhelen.com.