Hannegan Speedway - Bellingham, WA
Saturday September 11, 2010
Well, here goes another update of the 2010 Washington State MX Series. It was back up to Hannegan for round 6 and 7. With reports of rain all weekend, the chances of a dry race surface were pretty much slim to none. And well, better off preparing for the worst!
Boy was I excited when I woke up to blue skies and warm air. Well, as warm as it gets in Bellingham at 7am. But there was not a cloud in the sky and it was time for some racing.
The track was not much different from the last time I raced up there, with the exception of a couple corners. There were no new jumps and none removed. Practice went well. I felt good, fairly fast, and was eager to get the day started.
Unfortunately, since I planned to race two days and didn't want to wear myself out, I only signed up for one class. And I ended up in moto 12, so there would be a good amount of anticipation before I would have the chance to hit the track.
The first moto started out fairly well. I was a little late getting to the starting line because of a last minute potty break, so I was lined up a few gates outside of the middle. I was able to come through the first turn in about fourth and make a pass in the whoops two sections later to put myself in third. I would stay in third for a lap and a half and then get passed in the long back straight after casing a small double.
I tried to stay with the third place rider, but I soon found out that taking a week off did not help my stamina at all. I got tired around lap 3 of 4, and did my best to hold off the rest of the pack. I was able to stay in fourth, with three riders right behind me the entire last lap.
With a fourth place finish, I was happy but wanted to get back out there and go again.
Another two and a half hour wait and I was lined up for moto 2. This time I was on-time for the gate, but still ended up a few gates from the middle. This start was not quite as good and I settled in around 6th for the first few sections. There was a small pile-up after a tabletop that I was able to avoid and pass a couple riders. After getting around another downed rider, I was sitting in third trying to make a move on second.
We came around and got the white flag, and I knew it was time to go. I was taking every line I could to try to get by the 147 Honda in front of me. I pulled up to him in the whoops only to get pinched off in the upcoming corner. After the big tabletop in the middle I slid into the corner and exited right next to him. We went side by side over the next jump and I took a little roller on the inside of the next corner. He just wasn't going to give it up! Two corners before the finish I slammed the brakes and took the inside. We bumped elbows off the next little tabletop and I took the good rut in the final corner. I pinned the throttle down the finish straight and as I was crossing the line, I saw they were waving the white flag.
WHAT?!?!? So, Hannegan speedway has a long finish straight, then about 100 feet before a hard right corner. I was fourth pinned when I realized what was going on. Stopping on hard-pack is nearly as hard as the surface. I overshot the turn by about 50 feet and turned around as I was being passed by another rider. Both myself and 147 had exited the track already! A little angry I took off back down the start straight to complete another lap.
I would end up finishing third in moto 2, which was my goal. It turns out they gave the white flag a lap too early, and so they gave it again on the next lap. It sucks that they messed up, but that's racing sometimes. I ended up 4th overall, but it was a good day.
Round 7 of the series would get cancelled due to pouring rains on Sunday. I'm looking forward to being back out at Ward Creek next weekend barring rain. Hopefully we can get some good racing and more good results.
I'd like to thank Dad and Macauley for making the trek up to B-ham and supporting me. Thanks to Mom and the rest of the family at the birthday party I missed, Two Wheelers Racing, MTW Design, O'neal, Factory Backing, Steel MX, Torc1Racing, ODI, and all of you out there for the support!
