MXHeaven Race Report: Washougal
Perris, CA – The beautiful Washougal surroundings and the Columbia river temperatures were welcomed by the team after the long haul from the sweltering mid-west temperatures.
Calle Aspegren had continued to recover from his shoulder injury and although he could not charge as hard as he liked to, it was enough to qualify for the race in 37th place.
For the races he set a steady pace with the intent to finish without risking crashes and further injury. This strategy worked well, especially in the first race, where he finished 29th. However in the second race, he could not keep up the charge to the end and had to slow down and settle for finishing in 38th, pretty much last place of those running.
The drama belonged to Fredrik Noren and it started already during the timed practice.
While working himself methodically up to speed, he hit a rock in one of the deep ruts that were forming and it broke his chain guide and derailed the chain, which in turn became jammed and broke the engine cases so that the oil leaked out. Luckily he has already set a time good enough to qualify 26th, so after an engine change he was ready for race one.
After a midfield start and a bar banging first lap, Fredrik settled down to a steady pace and advanced quickly to 18th. But when he set up to pass the next rider in his sights, he spun out and fell on the unpredictable track surface. He started all over again but could only get back to a disappointing 24th and no points, before the end of the race.
For the second and final race, Fredrik again started well, and advanced by picking off riders one by one until he was in 14th place, having passed several well known riders along the way, when the engine suddenly gave up and he had to coast to a stop, just a few laps from the end, resulting in a disappointing 34th place and again no points.
“ I am really disappointed, I felt like I could have scored solidly in both motos and advanced to the top 20 in overall points “ said Fredrik later. “ I really enjoyed coming to Washougal, a place I had heard about so many times. But now I am setting my sights on Unadilla, where my goal is to complete two solid motos, finishing in the low teens.”
The National tour now takes two weekends off and the team has already returned to the Perris, CA. base to prepare for the famous Unadilla, NY. race on Aug 13.
About MXHeaven:
In addition to the Motocross Racing Team, MXHeaven is the premier Motocross Holiday facility in California and is also offering a 2 or 4 year college / motocross program, where students study at a local college in the mornings and ride and train under MXHeaven supervision in the afternoons. www.mxheaven-usa.com
MXHeaven Team Sponsors:
GOLDfren brakes, Troy Lee Designs, X-Brand, Wiseco, NoToil, Yoshimura, Works Connection, Dunlop, MTA, BelRay, K&N, Fluidyne Radiators, FactoryEffex, Renthal, Acerbis, Gaerne, AME Grips, RK Excel.
