DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing/Yamaha - Steel City Report

Delmont, PA - The AMA MX National Series came to the penultimate round over the holiday weekend at Steel City MX Park in Delmont, Pennsylvania. DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing/Yamaha comprised of #20 Broc Tickle, #341 Nico Izzi, #577 Martin Davalos, newcomer #942 Gareth Swanepoel, and #2 Jessica Patterson all came in with hopes of showing their faces at the front of the pack.
 

The first moto was a steady, long battle for the team leader. Tickle started 9^th, and after a few good passes he was fortunate enough to claim 7^th. Moto two was somewhat duplication as on lap one Broc found himself starting in 10^th. Early on Tickle paced himself just inside the top ten until the midway point when he made a sprint forward and took over 8^th. Riding out the race there his consistency paid dividends, seeing him take a 5^th overall on the day.
 

For Davalos moto one started out in a decent fashion, rounding lap one in 15^th the Ecuadorian spent much of the race in that spot. Late in the moto, Davalos was still much into the fight but he’d finish out where he began. Moto two got underway with Davalos acquiring a 11^th place start, now with his potential coming to existence, Davalos held his own and rode up into the 9^th spot. Striving to keep his form, his pace fell off momentarily and that shifted the #577 machine back to 12^th. Reluctantly, Davalos found some reserve energy and bounced back in the closing laps to nab 9^th.
 

Swanepoel had a pretty quiet day, but still a very solid showing. In moto one Swanepoel took to the track with a 13^th place start and settled in there for the duration. From there, Swanepoel‘s moto two got underway with him sitting in 20^th, holding his own Gareth scrapped it out with the pack for much of the race. Making good on his outing, Swanepoel pulled himself to a commendable finish of 12^th.
 

Next in line on the day would be Izzi after a strong start to the weekend. Izzi’s moto one showed great promise, after a 8^th place start, Izzi put his head down and worked on building a base after struggling as of late. Lap by lap, the FMF backed rider stayed consistent and maintained his position in the field. This allowed him to very convincingly take a well deserved 6th. An eventful moto two saw Izzi start 2^nd, and really established himself in the top three spots. Keeping pace with the leaders well into the moto, unfortunately Nico slightly popped his knee out and had to retire. However, with rest he will compete this coming weekend.
 

Jessica Patterson raced like the point leader that she is, in both moto’s she made it happen. A crash in moto one, only was a blip in the system as JP rallied from 30^th to 2^nd. Moto two had her sitting in 2^nd and within striking distance. A few laps into the race, Jessica took the lead and fought off relentless pressure the entire moto. Once again a 2 – 1 gave her the overall win and maintained a 22 point advantage entering the final two moto's at Pala.

Results:

Moto 1                  Moto 2 = Overall Finish                 

Gareth Swanepoel                  13^th                     12^th                     = 12^th

Star Racing thanks our valued sponsors for their great assistance.
 

DNA Shred Stix, Division 7, Yamaha Motor Corp, FLY Racing, DNA Energy, NCY, Bell Helmets, Easton ExP, FMF, Sunstar, Factory Effex, Dunlop, Enzo, DC Shoes, RK Chains, Yamalube, GYTR, Ride Engineering, Mechanix Wear, Twin Air, Lightspeed, ARC, Braking, Vortex Ignitions, CP pistons, Web Cams, ICW, JD Built, Renegade Fuels, Crank Works, Eibach, EVOMX fuel foam, Met Tec, Champion Tools, Cosworth.