After being cancelled last week due to excessive rain and conditions that would have destroyed the property, it was time this week for the JDay Red Fern Grand Prix in Chester, NH. This property is typically used for horse activities, so I thought it was pretty cool that they would let a bunch of dirt bikers race there.
We left the house at 6.30 in the morning to drive a little over 2 hours to get there...as usual, not a bad drive at all. Conditions were interesting...super nice day, temperature was in the high 80's, and the woods and track were extremely wet and muddy from the rain during the week. This was one of those days where anything could happen...and it certainly did. GP racing is funny that way...at Red Fern we had the usual dead engine start, a woods section that beat you to pulp, a grass section with mud that was knee deep, and I am not exaggerating, and an extreme section with huge logs that made you feel like you signed up for an enduro cross. All in all big fun. John Day and his crew put on another awesome event! You can check it out at www.jdayoffroad.com
Moto 1: I lined up on the outside left as it looked like the mud on the inside would swallow your bike up hole. The flag dropped and off we went...I started decently, and was mid pack going into turn one - a sweeping right hander. The outside worked well, I stayed in it and sort of flat tracked around the corner, coming out of turn one in 3rd place...not bad...I had accomplished my goal of being in a position to be able to race for the win.
In my class there seem to be 6 or 7 of us that could beat each other at any time, and if you like to race it really doesn't get much better than that....we battled back and forth, wheel to wheel, elbow to elbow, jockeying for position as we entered the extreme section for the 1st time. I REALLY should have looked at this before the race and thought about it a little bit more, but I didn't....brain fart. I was in second place when I hit the first monster log and decided to hit it at speed and send it - hey, it would have looked cool if it worked - I landed the monster log but wasn't set up for the small greasy log that was on an angle right behind it, and there was no room to correct or slow down. So I hit that thing hard and things went "B-O-O-M". Bike flew right, I flew left, or maybe it was the other way around...I don't remember. Good thing it was muddy...made for a softer landing. Of course dad was standing right there and got to see/experience the entire thing, my bike actually hit him and a few other spectators. Shouldn't have been so close to the track people...good times. So this wipe out took me from 2nd all the way back to 6th place, but I was still close enough to have a shot at it. I went to work and got back up to 3rd when we entered the extreme section for the second time. Normally I'd learn from my mistakes, but nothing about this day was normal...I sent it again, hit the 2nd log way too fast and "B-O-O-M" it went again...bike flew right, I flew left, and of course dad was standing right there...again...this time he was laughing hard, maybe he was laughing at me, maybe he was laughing with me, not sure. Anyway, it must have been another good one for the many spectators lining the track as they were cheering pretty loud (hopefully someone got a picture of my lawn dart). This crash took me right back to where I just came from...6th. I definitely learned my lesson now...I am definitely not Taddy Blazusiak, and I have the scars and bruises to prove it. I rode my butt off for the rest of the moto, crashed a few more times on the super slick grass track...did I mention that the ruts were just really deep? I did manage a 3rd and had an insane amount of fun battling with the guys. Time to ice my wounds...
Moto 2: I picked the same spot on the starting line as in moto 1, as that seemed to work well for me. The flag dropped, my bike started 1st kick, and just like in moto 1 I entered turn one somewhere mid pack and came out in 3rd. Not bad. Let the battle begin. This was a good one. The top 5 were so close, dad said you could throw a blanket over us...I made a pretty hard pass for 2nd (nothing like a little pushing and shoving when 2 of us are going for the same line) and figured I can now take my time and let the heat (85 degrees) and difficult course do the work for me. I felt strong and didn't want to rush anything. Unfortunately the grass track bit me yet again, I dropped the bike on a right hander and lost 2nd place to drop back to 4th. At this point we entered the woods section and man, was it gnarly. Considering that it was really pretty wide open in most sections, the trail still got to be super technical, mud holes, roots, rocks...it was so slippery I felt like someone put ice on the trail to make sure we crash more. There were many lines burnt in so it almost got a little confusing at times. I passed for 3rd and figured I could get back up to 2nd within the next lap. The extreme section was much kinder to me in this moto, I gave up being Mr. Spectacular for consistent lap times...maybe I did learn my lesson after all. Then Jake S. on his Yamaha passed me, and I decided to go with him to see if we can work our way up to the front together....we spent the better part of lap three and four working our way through lappers and ended up in 2 and 3 going into the final lap. I had one more nasty crash where I somehow got my arm stuck in the "crotch of a tree" ...for real...but I didn't lose too much time and was able to catch back up. When we came out of the woods/extreme section for the last time I saw dad spinning his arm like a wind mill...at first I thought he was warming up for his race, but then I realized that he was telling me to gooooooo! as I was right on 2nd place and could still get it in the last few turns. I made the pass on the very last straight away, a slight uphill, going into the finish. Just goes to show...you just can't ever quit...no matter what. So with a 3 & 2 in my motos I ended up 3rd over all, and yes, I'd rather win, but I'll take a 3rd too. I am still learning this terrain (it is so different from the Midwest stuff I'm used to), and race format, and I truly think that the only reason I was able to get on the box this time was because I worked harder. Nothing about this race felt smooth or easy...all of it was just nasty and as you know...I like nasty - Big Fun.
To cap the day off, they gave me the wrong trophy (2nd), and I didn't realize it until we were too far down the road...so Jake, I have yours and you have mine :)
Unfortunately I don't have any pictures, windmill dad decided to race (err....ride, ha-ha) and his race started right after mine, so he didn't have time to take pictures, and mom and my sister sat this one out. The one riding shot of me is taken by Economy Photography...I hope you guys don't mind that I am using it.
As always, I really need to say "Thank You" to my sponsors, Moose Racing/Parts Unlimited, Kenda Tires, Summit Clothing, Amsoil (Thank You Rummels for the hook up), my friends that help me with my riding, and of course my mom and dad.
Braaap
Hunter "747" Neuwirth
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