Rain, mud and newly placed rock obstacles turned the 2016 Ultra4 MetalCloak Stampede UTV race into one of the most punishing short-course events we had witnessed. Paul Hart kept his Polaris RZR XP Turbo together through seven brutal laps to earn the victory at Prairie City SVRA.
2016 MetalCloak Stampede Course
The MetalCloak Stampede was held at Prairie City State Vehicular Recreation Area near Sacramento, California. John Goodby of NorCal Rock Racing designed a two-mile course filled with man-made rock obstacles, tight turns, jumps, whoops and fast straightaways.
For 2016, Goodby reversed the direction of the course and added a difficult rock section immediately after the starting line. That change ensured the UTV racers would be tested before they had a chance to settle into a rhythm.
Friday Practice Reveals a Punishing Course
Friday afternoon practice gave the UTV racers their first look at the revised course. The opening section sent them downhill and directly into rocks that had been freshly placed, with little dirt packed between them. The loose rocks moved beneath the tires and offered very little traction.
After escaping the first rock section, racers entered a fast stretch with rollers and small jumps before confronting another bed of rocks.
The course then made a U-turn into the back section, where racers encountered another high-speed jump and a short, technical descent. After returning to the infield, they faced another downhill rock obstacle followed almost immediately by a flat rock section.
Rain Transforms the Stampede
The course would have been difficult in dry conditions, but Mother Nature made it considerably worse. Following Friday’s practice and preliminary competition, rain fell through most of the night and continued throughout Saturday’s racing.
The water transformed the dirt into mud and made the rocks extremely slippery. Visibility became another major problem as racers were repeatedly covered by mud thrown from the vehicles ahead of them.
Racers made frequent trips to Rugged Radios for additional tear-offs just to maintain enough visibility to continue. The heavy mud also accumulated on the UTVs, adding weight and clogging radiators during an already punishing race.
UTV Preliminary Race
The UTVs entered the course at 8 a.m. Saturday for a preliminary race that established the starting order for the main event. Starting position was especially important for the larger and faster 4400-class vehicles, but the UTV racers faced a more immediate challenge: surviving the preliminary without damaging their machines before the feature.
Cagliero drove a smooth, fast preliminary and qualified first. Hart earned the second starting position despite experiencing overheating problems.
Defending Ultra4 UTV champion John Duckworth was not as fortunate. His RZR XP Turbo struck an immovable rock, damaging the right-front tire and wheel assembly.
Chaos at the Start of the UTV Main Event
The rock obstacles presented a serious challenge on their own. Once soaked by the rain, they produced one of the toughest short-course tracks I had ever seen.
There was almost no traction in the rock sections. Drivers had to use momentum to carry their UTVs across, knowing one poorly placed tire could damage a wheel, suspension arm or axle.
The start of the main event was an incredible sight. Cagliero, in the orange RZR, shared the front row with Hart in the blue machine. Cagliero charged into the opening rocks and skipped across them, with Hart following in second.
Behind the leaders, everything broke loose. Several UTVs lost momentum, became stuck and collided with one another. Duckworth avoided the center of the traffic jam but nearly drove his XP Turbo into the concrete K-rail while searching for a way through.
Rain, mud and rocks at the 2016 Ultra4 MetalCloak Stampede UTV race.
Paul Hart Takes the Lead
Cagliero remained out front for the opening laps, but a power-steering problem eventually slowed him. Hart made the pass and never looked back.
Behind the leaders, UTVs were dropping out with suspension, cooling and driveline failures. Duckworth had begun closing the distance to Cagliero when the right-front A-arm pulled out of its mounting tabs. The mounting area had most likely been weakened when he struck the rock during the preliminary race.
Hart completed seven laps in 25 minutes, 25.3 seconds to claim the win. Cagliero overcame his power-steering problem and finished only 29.6 seconds behind him. Ryan Bersamini kept his RZR together through the difficult conditions to complete the podium.
2016 Ultra4 Stampede UTV Race Results
| Position | Car | Driver | Laps | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1911 | Paul Hart | 7 | 25:25.3 |
| 2 | 21 | Phil Cagliero | 7 | 25:54.9 |
| 3 | 1933 | Ryan Bersamini | 7 | 28:55.0 |
| 4 | 1 | John Duckworth | 4 | 15:30.4 |
| 5 | 63 | Nathan Unruh | 4 | 17:40.9 |
| 6 | 90 | Darian Gomez | 3 | 11:48.1 |
| 7 | 83 | Jona Villalobos Gomez | 3 | 15:21.1 |
| 8 | 99 | Brent Vanderford | 2 | 8:07.5 |
| 9 | 511 | Robert Camilleri | 1 | 4:01.7 |
More From the 2016 Stampede
About Ultra4 Racing
The MetalCloak Stampede opened the 2016 Trail-Gear Western Regional Ultra4 Series. Ultra4 Racing is best known as the organization behind the King of the Hammers UTV race.
Ultra4 competition combines terrain and obstacles that are normally separated into different racing disciplines. Depending on the event, racers may encounter open desert, rocks, hill climbs, whoops, trees and short-course sections. That variety tests the speed, durability and technical capability of both the vehicles and their drivers.
Learn more at Ultra4 Racing.
