Star Racing Round 5 Race Report
The big highlight came out of Swanepoel in moto one, coming out of the first turn in 6th; he then began to apply some pressure to the competitors ahead on lap two. Riding at his best and moving into 5th, Swanepoel continued to hold the pace of the leaders through the halfway mark which enabled him to capitalize on other competitor’s mistakes. At this point he showed strength by finding his lines and breaking away with the top five. With a handful of laps remaining, Swanepoel had slipped to 6th place, with better positions in his sights; he couldn’t capitalize as he still marched on to a 6th place finish. Also in moto one, the rest of the Star squad all came out pretty well with Sipes riding strong from a start of 38th to come in 15th, and Audette finished out 16th. Cunningham all but had a top five finish started early on running 4th, but an electrical issue shifted him right out of the race.
In moto two, it was Sipes and who acquired a stellar start and continued on riding outstandingly through the race. Early on Sipes paced himself in 4th, until lap three when he put on a sprint and took over 2nd. Meanwhile, Cunningham who was taken down on lap one, raced up back into contention by the mid way point, and applied heavy pressure moving forward. Once Sipes filed back to 4th to smooth out his pace, he worked to bridge the gap for a podium shot, he made several attempts causing him to lose some steam and have a need for regrouping. Fortunately, in the closing stages of the moto, Sipes and Cunningham kept it together, allowing them to net finishes in 4th and 8th. Also riding consistently, Swanepoel and Audette fell down early on, only to gather themselves late in the race and go on to notch in at 21st and 33rd.
Results:
Moto 1 Moto 2 = Overall Finish
Ryan Sipes 15th 4th = 6th
Gareth Swanepoel 6th 21st = 14th
Kyle Cunningham 40th 8th = 16th
Gannon Audette 16th 33rd = 20th
The WMA series returned to action over the weekend, with Jessica Patterson picking up just where she left off. In moto one Patterson took the lead on the first lap and put her head down, having the confidence and team behind her took Jessica to a big lead and eventual win. Moto two went off under anticipation, grabbing the lead once again, Patterson rode off to yet another win to gain much needed points and kept the great season intact. This was a big win for JP$ because in the past she hasn’t had the best of finishes at this race.
Unfortunately our 450 pilot Kyle Partridge, crashed in moto one and rang his bell slightly. Further assessment determined he’d sit out the rest of the day and will return at the following round this weekend at Red Bud.
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