Star Racing Motocross Round 1 Race Report
Finding good form here early in the series, after sitting out with injuries all season, Swanepoel dug deep and took control of his outcome. The first moto was a trying one at that, Swanepoel started 22nd, then after a few calculated moves near mid moto. Swanepoel had climbed the charts slightly, holding steady at 14th, he rallied to close the gap and make more advances. In doing so, just past the halfway Gareth made up the ground needed, moving forward with only a few laps until the finish. Still charging in good fashion to snatch up a few tiring riders, as the moto concluded he’d settle in at 9th. In moto two Swanepoel’s start panned out a little more to his liking, with him in 5th, however he kept on the pressure and passed for 4th in the first few minutes of the race. Finding his comfort zone and holding 5th easily as he rode at the tail end of a four rider freight train, he made smart moves on a section of the track where he excelled. Not settling one iota, Swanepoel displayed great strength on the rough terrain and when it was over, he’d come away with a 5th, netting him 6thoverall on the day.
Cunningham had a good start to his first season of outdoors on the team, through his consistency he did fairly well but it was not where he would have liked to land on the results page. For the Texas rider moto one began with him in 7th, from there Cunningham maintained his composure and put his head down. Impressively, Cunningham rode in the thick of a battle for the top five for much of the race, and now sat in a solid 8th. In the closing stages Cunningham had one bad bobble which cost him a few seconds on the clock as he crossed the finish line in 8th. Cunningham’s second part of his tally had him starting 9th; and that was after passing a couple of riders in lap one. By the halfway mark he had crept his way into 8th, riding solidly he maintained this position for most of the race, leaving him to a finish of 8th and a 7th overall.
The rookie learning curve of Audette could be felt, starting 5th in moto one, the DNA backed rider could not find his contending speed after tightening up early on. Doing what he could all the while, one rider after another would shift him back through the moto. The tough showing, only allowed Audette to muster up a 14th finishing position. Moto two looked more promising, as he started 12th, and then moved to back a few spots into 14th. Racing with some passion, Audette pushed hard in 15th where he’d finish out salvaging 14th overall.
In closing, Ryan Sipes had a rough start to his outdoor series, starting off in a mid pack position unfortunately he crashed in a first turn pileup and had trouble restarting the motorcycle. This resulted in Sipes riding a portion of the moto, before pulling off with an injured wrist. Moto two was not in the cards and as of early this week his prognosis is fine and he’ll be attending the next round in Texas.
Holding the torch high for the team, Jessica Patterson went out and destroyed her competition in a convincing fashion. Starting out in 1st, Patterson checked out and took the win leading every lap. Moto two was a little more dramatic, starting 5th after making a mistake; Patterson forged forward every lap and took the 1st spot by the halfway mark which gave her the overall win with a statement.
Also adding to the great race results, was Kyle Partridge our 450F pilot who put two steady moto’s together going 27-28 for 28th overall.
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