Star Racing Motocross Round 2 Race Report

Wortham, TX. (May 28, 2011) The AMA MX National Series made its move towards the eastern direction this past weekend by landing in the state of Texas and racing at Freestone County Raceway. The second stop on the circuit, track conditions and exceptionally hot weather at this race would prove to show what each rider had within themselves. DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing/Yamaha’s top contending riders, #25 Ryan Sipes, #35 Kyle Cunningham, #387 Gareth Swanepoel, #533 Gannon Audette, and  #1 Jessica Patterson, as well as, #76 Kyle Partridge who is racing the 450, all knew that they were provided with the tools for a successful outing, and now it was time to get to work.

Moto one went into session, and for the first time in outdoor competition, Cunningham started strongly in 5^th, and was followed by Swanepoel in 6^th, Sipes held 9^th. However the other Star Racing pilot Audette, circulated in 22^nd with tons of work in his near future. But with the heat index reaching high temperatures, the boys put their heads down and mounted some serious attacks. Up front #35 was proving his skills; Cunningham had battled his way to 3^rd and maintained consistent lap times as other competitors faltered. Coming quickly to join the top five riders was Sipes now in 6^th, which put in an incredible ride and looked really solid. Upfront Swanepoel rode with consistency, and at a pace to ensure he’d get to the finish, while Audette forged forward into the top fifteen. Unfortunately, Sipes had his breakthrough moment come to a halt when he started suffering with some severe back spasms six laps into the race, which in return caused him to pull off and call it  a day altogether. From then on, both Cunningham and Swanepoel battled vigorously to keep their placing till the last lap. In the end, Cunningham took a nice 3^rd place finish, Swanepoel nabbed 4^th, and the rookie Audette did good by taking 12^th.

The gate dropped for moto two with Cunningham getting another great start holding down 4^th.  Audette was off to a much better beginning sitting 10^th, while Swanepoel pursued in 18^th. In the early laps, Cunningham jumped to 2nd and was on the move, Audette was falling back and now held 16^th position, meanwhile Swanepoel was riding his way towards the front. Moving past the mid way point, the DNA backed riders were staying consistent, Cunningham and Swanepoel who had been holding 3^rd and 6^th dug deep for several laps to make a dent into the time difference they had in front of them. Fortunately for Audette, the energy reserve was there after the hard charging done earlier, and with that Gannon moved back into 12^th, twenty five minutes into the race.  Unfortunately, Swanepoel never was able to enjoy his efforts, because in the closing laps his machine encountered some issues and he was taken out due to the mechanical. At the checkers Cunningham pulled out a 4^th, and Audette finished up 12^th, and to clarify Sipes did not start the moto due to needing more recovery time.

Results:

Moto 1    Moto 2 = Overall Finish

Kyle Cunningham                    3^rd 4^th = 3^rd

Gannon Audette                      12^th 12^th = 10^th

Gareth Swanepoel                  4^th 28^th = 11^th

Ryan Sipes                                 DNF          DNS

 

Once again, Patterson looked to be decimating the field of WMA competitors by winning both moto's. However, in moto one a fierce battle turned bad as she crashed and finished out 13^th. In moto two, in great fashion Patterson led every lap going on for the win, and went on to obtain 4^th overall.

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DNA Shred Stix, Yamaha Motor Corp, Scott Sports, N-Fab, FMF, Cosworth, North County Yamaha, DNA Energy Drink, GYTR, Factory Effex, Dunlop, Easton EXP, Enzo, Renegade Fuels, Sunstar, Motion Pro, ARC, ODI Grips, RK Chains, Excel A60 rims, Yamalube, Ride Engineering, Twin Air, LightSpeed, Braking, Vortex Ignitions, ICW, JD Built, Crank Works, Eibach, Met Tec, Tammer MX