The Loudon Classic Weekend is always the highlight of the season for NEMRR racers, with top riders from around the nation and thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts from New England descending upon New Hampshire Motor Speedway to take part in the kickoff weekend for Laconia Motorcycle Week. While Saturday is typically reserved exclusively for
the pro classes, Friday and Sunday feature the NEMRR championship classes. On Friday in particular the visiting pro riders take part in the club races, allowing NEMRR Expert and Amateur racers to share the track with these top racers and measure their performance against them.
This June event was the 3rd of six championship NEMRR rounds, and was a captivating event to watch as the historic NEMRR “Fast Guys” went head to head with the visiting pros and a number of riders made some big strides in their riding and set some personal best lap times in the process. Opening the Expert races was the Middleweight Formula 40 race
in which veteran Paul Duval edged out fellow Yamaha rider Justin Landry for the win. Next up, the Unlimited Supersport class gave the crowd its first look at the visiting pros, as Tyler Scott took the victory over David Anthony and Jake Lewis while NEMRR regulars Ian Beam and Justin Landry topped the field in the Middleweight Supersport class right behind them. Shortly thereafter, visiting pro Joe Limandri took the victory over local NEMRR rider Eric Wood and fellow Moto America star Jake Lewis in the Unlimited Superbike race. In the Middleweight Supersport ranks, a battle of local talent features Jacob Crossman as he came from behind to snatch the victory from Paul Duval while Teagg Hobbs – who suffered a mechanical issue on his primary bike – jumped on a backup machine and felt out a new motorcycle on his way to third place finish.
At the end of the day, after the pro riders had come fully up to speed, the Heavyweight Superbike race featured a battle between New England local Eric Wood and the visiting pros Joe Limandri and Jake Lewis. Wood rocketed to the lead off the line as Limandri and Lewis worked their way through the field on lap one. The three riders streaked across the line clear of the field on lap one, with Wood holding a one second gap on the visiting challengers. By the halfway point, Wood had extended the lead to almost two seconds as all three riders lapped consistently in the low 1:11 lap time range. The trio held their positions to the end, surely focused on the qualifying sessions for the Classic event that were to follow.
Saturday featured the Loudon Classic pro classes, in which local riders made a strong showing. The 500 Superbike Pro Class was swept by local riders with Eli Block, Adam Muscaro and Nathan Bettencourt filling out the podium. Bettencourt, who is an aspiring professional racer competing in the Moto America Talent Cup races made some significant strides on Sunday – more on that later. The Pro Thunderbike Class featured an epic battle between local stars Jacob Crossman and Adam Guyer, with Guyer taking the victory by 0.671 seconds at the line. Visiting Canadian Pro Series star maverick Cyr took the final podium spot from Brett Guyer (Adam’s father) by a single bike length at the line. In the feature $100K Street Fighter Class presented by Ducati, visiting pro Dominic Doyle and local star (and fellow Moto America Pro) Teagg Hobbs fought nose to tail throughout the race in Yamaha versus Ducati battle, while expected local front runners Shane Narbonne and Eli Block recovered from an off track excursion on the opening lap. In the end Doyle was able to edge out Hobbs for the win, with fellow Moto America star Gus Rodio taking the final podium spot over the charging Narbonne.
In the feature $300K Loudon Classic presented by Dunlop Tires, local riders who participated in at least half of the 2024 events qualified for the local rider bonus that paid $10k for the top rider and had an additional bonus all the way back to 10th place. The top qualifiers who were eligible for this bonus were Eric Wood (qualified 4th), Ben Gloddy (qualified 6th) and Jacob Crossman (qualified 10th). The race, was a barn burner, with the top 5 riders (Tyler Scott, Joe Limandri, Jake Lewis, Shane Narbonne and Eric Wood) breaking away from the field and running nose-to-tail past the halfway point of the race. The top 5 stayed tight but orderly through the race, with only Narbonne and Lewis swapping positions back and forth in the latter stages of the event. A few bad breaks in traffic separated first Wood and then Narbonne from the lead trio, with Scott taking the victory in the end over Limandri and Lewis. Wood was credit with 4th at the end after Narbonne was assessed a 5 second penalty for a clear jump start at the Green Flag. Wood took the prize as the top local rider, followed by Ben Gloddy (7th overall) and Jacob Crossman (10th overall).
Sunday’s NEMRR races featured three standout racers. First up was Adam Guyer, who made a statement in his Thunderbike victory on Saturday and followed it up with solid victories in the GTL and Lightweight GP races. Guyer pushed his Aprilia RS660 into the 1:13 lap time range, entering a very exclusive club of riders who have ever hit that milestone on a lightweight machine at NEMRR. Guyer is aiming for multiple championships in 2025 as he aims to assume the role as the fastest Guyer at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Adams father Brett has been an incredibly successful racer over multiple decades at NEMRR and is one of the winningest riders in the history of the club. The father=son duo competes in many of the same classes and the younger Guyer is riding extremely well over the past couple seasons.
The second standout of Sunday was young Nathan Bettencourt, who also made a leap into an exclusive group of riders with his performances on Sunday. Bettencourt took victories in both the GT500 and Super Singles categories, and scored runner up finshes in the Ultralight Superbike and 500 Supersport classes (both of which were won by fellow young star Adam Muscaro). However, the noteworthy feat was that he dropped nearly two seconds from his average best time, culminating with a 1:16.0 lap in the 500 Supersport class while charging from the back in an attempt to catch Muscaro. Like the accomplishment of Guyer, this lap time puts the young star in a very exclusive club of riders and bodes extremely well for his prospects of becoming a Moto America professional in the future.
The weekend closed out with the Dash for Cash events, and in the Amateur division Charles Keighley held on to a hotly contested top podium spot over Joseph Townsend and Sean Keech. In the Expert division, Eric Wood jumped off of his Yamaha R6 Classic bike and got back on his usual Ducati Panigale V2. Wood scored dominant victories in the Unlimited Formula 40 and Unlimited Grand Prix races before putting an exclamation point on his weekend with a solid win in the Seacoast Sport Cycles Dash for cash over Paul Duval and Jacob Crossman.
Round four of the NEMRR series in July 12-13 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and there are opportunities for riders at all levels (Track Day riders through top Experts to participate). For more information please visit www.nemrr.com