From a press release issued by Bob Holcomb for LRRS:
LRRS Round 3, June 12-13
Round 3 of the Loudon Road Racing Series is the official warm-up for next weekend’s Loudon Classic. It was an odd event, in that the weather was perfect, yet the racing was frustrated by more red flags then the club has seen in a long time. Equally mystifying was that the track seemed a bit slower then expected. The only riders to run in the 1:12 second bracket were Scott Greenwood (Argo Cycles R6 and GSX-R750), Eric Wood (Woodcraft GSX-R750) and Jeff Wood, aboard his Bettencourt’s GSX-R600. All three rode on Dunlop tires.
Robby Nigl came closest with a 1:13 flat aboard his BCM Ducati 998, running Michelin slicks. Des Conboy was next quick, with a 13.3, aboard his Team Celtic Racing, Pirelli equipped Yamaha R6. Several others made strong bids to get their times down, but smacked the ground instead. Many will be struggling to repair their race machines by Friday practice.
Among the Lightweight contenders, only Rick Doucette and Eric Yoo got into the magic 1:16 bracket. Doucette rode a Plaistow Suzuki SV equipped with a new Superbike motor and Dunlop tires, while Eric Yoo did his time on a Honda RS125 mounted with Dunlop slicks. Doucette remarked, “The motor isn’t what I’d hoped it would be, and we’re still having some issues with the bike.” When told that some of the Buell teams saw him as a Thunderbike spoiler, He added: “It’s nice to hear they are worried about me a little, but I’m just out here to have fun. I’m looking forward to it, though.”
Yoo has his focus on the USGPRU/Can-Am National. He ran his 1:16.9 on the last lap of the 125GP race, while holding off Todd Puckett for the win. Asked about the lap, Yoo remarked, “I felt like I was slow. The lap didn’t feel that good.” 1:16.9 was the pole time set by Brian Kradget at last year’s Can-Am 125GP.
Yoo’s 125GP win was dampened by a turn 1 crash, suffered by his twin brother, Brian. While fighting for the lead, Brian tucked the front-end, and in the aftermath, lay motionless on the racing surface for several minutes. Brian was transported, but only suffered a broken collarbone in an incident that looked far worse at the time.
Michelin Motorace Dash for Cash:
The Saturday money race was finally called after three red flags and restarts. Webcrush Racing’s Adam Vella was transported to the hospital and it was decided to reschedule the race for Sunday. Vella suffered a separated shoulder, and will be out for a while.
On Sunday, Mike Martire took the holeshot aboard his GMD/Dunlop ZX636. He was quickly overtaken by Scott Greenwood, who subsequently pulled off with a thrown chain. Coming from the back, Jeff Wood led the first lap, with Martire close behind. Meanwhile, Des Conboy followed Wood through the pack and eventually took over 2nd, with Steve Giacomaro (Yam R6) and John Scheehser (Hon CBR/Michelin) in hot pursuit. Caught with a bad start, Gus Holcomb worked his way up to 5th on his Concord Honda/Dunlop CBR. With 4 laps to go, Giacomaro crashed out leaving the finishing order Wood, Conboy, Scheehser, Holcomb and Martire. Wood ran a best of 1:12.7 with Conboy recording his 13.3.
Heavyweight Supersport/Supertwins:
Both on 2004 GSX-R750’s, Scott Greenwood took the holeshot over Eric Wood, Tom Bibeau (Hooters North GSX-750) and Bob Blanchette on his Mototech GSX-R750. After leading 3 laps, Greenwood crashed, turning the race over to Wood. Meanwhile Blanchette got past Bibeau late in the sprint to take 2nd. Chris Rockwell took early command of the Supertwins race aboard his Rockwell Cycles/Michelin Ducati, but Aaron Clark was coming fast aboard his Seacoast Sport Cycle/Dunlop equipped Aprilia RSV. Teammate, Jesse Sandoz, went with him. Clark took the point on lap 4, with Sandoz following into 2nd a lap later. The fastest man on the track, however, was Rob Nigl. He put his Ducati into 3rd place on the white flag lap.
Middleweight Supersport:
Gus Holcomb led into turn 1 from the front row, as Greenwood filed in behind with Steve Giacomaro in tow. Suddenly, Giacomaro crashed hard, but somehow the entire pack managed to miss him as he went airborne across the track. He was reportedly unhurt in the tumble. Greenwood pushed into the lead on the brakes entering turn 3, but Holcomb stuck with him hoping to get a tow. Entering turn 1 for the 2nd lap, Holcomb lost the front, sending his Honda tumbling out of second place. Des Conboy came from the back and took 2nd from John Scheehser. At the flag, Greenwood won over Conboy by 4 seconds, with Scheehser, Jason Yelk and David Fett rounding the top 5. Greenwood set his best Middleweight time at a 1:12.6.
Later, Jeff Wood and Scott Greenwood went at it in Middleweight Superbike. In that battle, Wood prevailed to take the win by 2 seconds, producing the fastest sprint of the weekend.
Unlimited GP:
The final race was vintage barn-burner between Eric Wood and Scott Greenwood. This time Wood got the holeshot and gained a second advantage by the half. Greenwood upped the pace and closed in tight, making several stabs at a pass. About the same time Aaron Clark ran 3rd, with Rick Doucette coming up fast on his Plaistow/Dunlop equipped GSX-R1000. A couple seconds back, Jesse Sandoz was gaining on the battling duo for 3rd. At the stripe, Wood held off Greenwood by a bike length, while Clark held off Doucette by a tenth. Meanwhile Sandoz tried a last ditch pass on Doucette in the last turn, and highsided big. Surprisingly, he jumped up, retrieved his Aprilia, and motored the final few hundred yards to the finish line. Asked what happened, Sandoz replied, “I spun it up and it pitched me over the top. I saw it was still running, so I thought what the heck. It was only a little ways. So where did I finish… 6th or so?” He did!
Supermoto:
The Loudon Classic will feature a Supermoto event for the 2nd year. The proposed layout will mix part of the road course with a dirt section, and include a portable jump. Friday evening, Jeff Wood tested the jump to determine appropriate approach speed. From a standing start with 100 feet of approach, Wood was getting about 8 feet of air and sailing some 50 feet along the paddock. It is planned to use chicanes to set the approach distance.
The buzz is that KTM will send 5 factory prepared Supermoto machines to the Classic next weekend. Meanwhile the local favorites include Jeff Wood, Steve Kessler and Jason Routhier. All three have been running Motard machines in the small bike classes with great success. Routhier had been concerned about the proposed jump as he has little off-road experience and wasn’t sure he could do it. Asked about his chances, Routhier offered; “I have been practicing at a little MX track all week. I started with the small jumps and worked up. I think I may have figured them out. It’s going to be fun!”
Wood, Kessler and Routhier dominated Supersingles, running 1, 2 3.
The 81st running of the Loudon Classic will begin next Friday with The Loudon Team Challenge at 2:30pm, followed by Supermoto practice and qualifying. Saturday will feature the Supermoto event, 7 big factory contingency races, and all qualifying for Sunday. Sunday will feature the 4th round of the Formula USA National Road Race Series, along with the Carrera Leathers/Infinity Can-Am 125GP and the Rising Sun/Infinity 250GP.
Complete finishing results of LRRS Round 3 (including lap times), are posted in www.lrrsracing.com.