JDay GP, Lanesborough, MA

 

This Sunday we went to the JDay Mohawk GP race in Lanesborough, MA. I was excited to get out and race again, I’ve been riding and training quite a bit and felt confident. Going back to Lanesborough meant a lot to me as that is where we I broke my ankle at the season opener this year. The weather was awesome…perfect fall day, not too dry so dust would not be an issue. I signed up to race Juniors and – since dad is still hurt from his last race – I decided to ride his bike in A250.

A couple of fast kids from  from the Netra series showed up and signed up for juniors as well, so this was going to be a tough/fun race

Moto1 Juniors: I got a mid pack start (not ideal) and it took me half a lap to work my way up to 3^rd. Unfortunately the top 2 guys had checked out by then, and frankly, I didn’t have enough speed to reel them back in. I settled into a comfortable pace and just focused on being smooth and learn the course as best as I can so I will be ready for the remaining motos. The extreme section was really no big deal…a couple of logs and a few rocks and a fun downhill. The rest of the course was really flowy and fast, with the exception of one off camber section that turned out to have a few good lines to make some passes.  Anyway, I finished the first moto in 3^rd place and felt good about my ride…time to get ready for A250

Moto 1 A250: Since I was riding dad’s CR 250 for this one (enduro computer and all), I was really wondering how hard I could push and how comfortable I would be on it. I haven’t logged a lot of hours on it yet, so I was really nervous. I got a mid pack start and by the time we got around to scoring I saw that I was running in 14^th. Not good. I was not happy. It was time to get going…my goal for A250 is to get consistent top 10’s, I’d be happy with that. Passing in this class is hard, they are all fast and no one gives it up easily. I found a good rhythm, and made some good line choices in the extreme section, which allowed me to get up to 10^th place by lap 3. Dad’s bike felt awesome and with every lap I got more confident. I ended up in a battle with a guy on a Kawasaki. I’d pass him and hold him off for a little while, then he would get me back, we swapped spots just about every other turn. When all was said and done I ended up in 9^th for the moto…not a bad morning and I was still in it for the afternoon.

 

Moto 2 Juniors: I got a much better start this time and came out in 3^rd after turn 2, right behind the 2 Netra guys. I really wanted to hang with them, but I have to admit, they were faster than me that day. I just could not quite get them. I’d have moments of brilliance where I would work my way back up, only to make a few silly mistakes. So I ended up in 3^rd again for the moto, and 3^rd overall for the day in the junior race. I felt good about my ride though and was ready for the A250 moto 2.

Moto 2 A250: I really needed to get a good start so I wouldn’t have to work through the pack again, and maybe I could improve my result. When the flag dropped I got a good jump and going into turn 1 we were about 5 bikes wide, all going for the same spot. Unfortunately the guy on the inside washed out, starting a little bit of a chain reaction and we all went down hard, I would have been top 5 if I would have gotten out of there clean. By the time I picked the bike up I was in dead last…seriously? Come on…here we go again. Funny thing was…I still felt great!!! I rode as hard as I know how, things just seemed to click.

By lap 3 I had caught up to 8^th place, and was able to make the pass pretty easily. I stayed in 8^th for a lap or so, but then I think I must have lost focus and made a few small mistakes. I spun out on a flat right hand turn, which allowed the guy in 9^th to catch up to me and make the pass. I ultimately finished the moto in 9^th, securing a 9^th overall in A250.

I am pretty happy with that, as my effort was pretty consistent all day and I had no major mishaps.   

 

This pretty much closes out my race season for the year, we are going to be moving  over the next few weekends, so I doubt that I will be able to hit the final Jday race in 2 weeks.

It’s been a great year for me, I learned a lot and am getting closer to getting this New England stuff figured out. Next year we’ll hit a few more Netra’s and nationals in addition to the JDay series just to keep it interesting. The Honda CR 125 is for sale, I am switching over to 250 racing full time for the season, so if anyone is looking for a sweet race ready bike, let me know.

 

Thank you to my mom and dad for getting me to all the races and supporting me the way you do, thank you to my grandparents for the help, thank you to my sponsors – Fly Racing, Kenda Tires, Panic Rev, EkS Brand Goggles, Magical Gogo…

 

Next up….I have to get my driver’s license, and then I need to buy a van so I can travel more!

 

Thanks for Reading and taking an interest!!!

 

Braaaap

 

Hunter “747” Neuwirth

 

 

JDay Crow Hill GP, September 2013

Time for another short blog…I haven’t done one in a while as we’ve been awfully busy over the last few weeks. Since my last blog we hit a GNCC race, and a couple other events, but I just haven’t had time to write about them…school got in the way…ha!
Anyway, we decided to head to the JDay GP race at the Crow Hill track in Baldwinville, MA. This is the track that Robby Marshall and his family own/operate, and apparently Robby did a ton of work on this JDay course layout. 

I decided to focus on racing my CR 125 in the A200 class and not worry about the junior class this time around. Dad had to swap out a leaky head gasket the day before, so I just wanted to make sure the bike held up for 2 motos.
The track looked awesome, the extreme section had a rock garden, a few double logs, and some culvert jumps. There was a RAM TRAX sand section in the woods, and of course the Crow Hill MX track…this was going to be huge fun.

 Moto 1: My start was not so hot…while the bike started right away, I just could not get to the front, so when we entered the super fun and flowy MX track I was towards the back of the pack. It totally reminded me of riding in the Midwest…sandy, smooth jumps, and lots of lines to pass. By the time we got to the woods I worked myself up a little ways and put myself in a decent mid pack position. After quite a bit of dicing in the woods and the extreme section, we came back out to the track and I found myself in 4th. Luke Yanke was in front of me, so I figured I’ll stick with him and see if I can get him. Unfortunately even though I grew up riding sand, I proceeded to drop the bike twice in a sandy corner on the MX track, then once in the extreme section, and ended up working awfully hard just to stay in 4th for the moto. Not bad but I definitely gave that one away. I was happy though…over all I felt good, the bike felt awesome and I knew I had something for moto 2.

Moto 2: This time my start was way better…I came out in 3rd and immediately started charging to get to 2nd. First place was a little further ahead, I could not quite catch up to him at that point and I really wasn’t worried about it. My tires (Kenda Triple sticky) hooked up incredibly, I don’t know if it was the changing track conditions or the small suspension adjustments dad made, I felt like I was on rails this time. I really just focused on smooth lines and smart choices. I made the pass for 2nd and was starting to get my flow. I did not want to drop the bike for any reason and give up another freebee. But I took a digger on lap 2 in some nasty woops before the extreme section. I kept the bike running and I lost 3rd and 4th position in the process of getting up but I quickly made the pass for 3rd and then it was once again me and Luke duking it out for 2nd. I made the pass and it was a battle for the whole race. When we first started battling we were about 1 minute behind 1st place but as the race went on it turns out, we made up time each lap and by the end we were only 10 seconds off the leader. When it was all over, I ended up taking 2nd for the moto which put me in 3rd place for the day – I’m good with that. This is my 1st podium in A200…I am super pumped, especially since I know I made lots of mistakes in moto 1 and left quite a bit of room for improvement. The Honda ran awesome (I love racing 125’s), the suspension was dialed in! I can’t wait for next week’s race to do it again.

As always, thank you to my awesome sponsors: Fly Racing, Kenda Tires, Magical Go-Go, EKS brand goggles, Panic Rev, my grandparents, mom and dad, and a quick shout out to the Wisconsin Crew – you guys would have loved this one :)

Thanks for reading and taking interest in my racing progress!

“Braaap”       

Hunter “747” Neuwirth