Division7/Star Racing/Yamaha Glen Helen Outdoor National
Devore, CA - The Lucas Oil AMA MX National Series got the twelve race championship underway at Glen Helen MX Park over the Memorial weekend. Division 7/Star Racing/Yamaha attended with a huge presence, fielding our five man team comprised of #41 Matt Lemoine, #43 Broc Tickle, #159 Darryn Durham, #164 Michael Hall, and the Brazilian rookie #455 Lucas Moraes who will contend the entire series in the premier 450 class. Saturday’s timed qualifying started out promising with our ultra fast YZ 250F’s powering each rider to a fast lap time, the fastest being Tickle who obtained the 12th gate pick for the opening moto.
Finding good form early in the series, was Tickle who dug deep and took control of his outcome. The first moto was a trying one at that, Tickle started 12th, then after a few calculated moves near mid moto. Tickle had climbed the charts slightly, holding steady at 10th, he rallied to close the gap and make more advances. Even though Tickle made ground, almost moving forward on the very last lap, in the end it was too late and he was forced to settle for 10th. In moto two Tickle’s start didn’t pan out to his liking, with him in 16th, however he put on a brilliant charge passing for 11th twenty minutes into the race. Right till the bitter end, Tickle looked to have a top ten overall coming his way. But with a half a lap until the checkers, getting off line while climbing Mt. Saint Helens proved to be disastrous. This saw Tickle hit the ground halfway up, then once remounted he had maneuver his way still to the top and on to the finish. When it was over, Broc came away with a 15th, netting him 12thoverall on the day.
Durham had a good start to rookie season of outdoors, though his consistency was not where he would have liked to land on the results page. For the Pennsylvanian moto one began with him in 28th, from there Durham maintained his composure and put his head down. Impressively, in just six laps he gained ten positions. It did not stop there, in the closing stages Durham picked up even more spots and crossed the finish line in 14th. Darryn’s second part of his tally had him starting 19th; in two laps he forged his way into 13th, riding solidly he maintained this position for most of the race. Unfortunately a flat tire was all that was needed to hamper his destiny, leaving him to a finish of only 32nd and a 18th overall.
The desire of Lemoine could be felt, starting 30th in moto one, the Texas native found his usual contending speed after a crash early on. Charging all the while, one other bobble would take from his performance, only allowing Lemoine to muster up a 16th finishing position. Moto two looked more promising, as he started 10th, and then moved to 9th before a rock lodged itself between his brake pedal. A demoralizing 30th place finish, combined with his moto one score allowed Lemoine to salvage 20th overall.
In closing, Michael Hall had a rough start to his outdoor career when he was landed on early in moto one which caused a red flag. The outcome resulted in Hall suffering a broken hand and concussion, his return to action hasn’t been determined. Also having his troubles, was Lucas Moraes who just returned to riding after a wrist injury that sidelined him for close to a month. Though Moraes failed to qualify, he wasn’t far off and more seat time will pay dividends in his case.
Star Racing extends a great deal of gratitude to our sponsors.
Division 7, Yamaha Motor Corp, No Fear, No Fear Energy, NCY , Bell, Easton, FOX Racing Shox, FMF, Smith, N-Style, Dunlop, Enzo, Vortex sprockets, DID, Yamalube, Ogio, Ride Engineering, Mechanix Wear, Twin Air, Lightspeed, ARC, Braking, MSD Ignitions, Cycra, CP pistons, Web Cams, ICW, JD Built, VP Gas, Orbea bicycles, Crank Works, Eibach, EVOMX fuel foam.
