The 103rd running of the Loudon Classic headlined a weekend of racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and New England weather made sure no one got too comfortable. The forecast promised a clean weekend; the reality had other plans. NEMRR racing and Loudon Classic Pro Class Pre Qualifying Friday delivered exactly as advertised with perfect conditions, but a forecast of 15-20% chance of rain on Saturday and Sunday turned into intermittent showers both days that scrambled tire choices and rewrote some results.
The marquee event, the 103rd Loudon Classic, lived up to its billing. With 40 riders on the grid, the race looked like it might run dry — until rain arrived right as the final call to grid was scheduled. Riders swapped to full wet tires and the Classic was run in fully wet conditions.

In at the start, New Hampshire local Teagg Hobbs took the holeshot as the rest of the field sorted through the wet conditions. At the first trip across start finish, NHMS veteran Eric Wood was at the front, followed by MotoAmerica Junior Cup rain race winner Eli Block, who took his turn at the lead on lap two. However, a red flag halted the getaway of the two locals on lap three and reset the field. On the restart it was again Hobbs at the front with an 8-rider freight train behind him. By lap 6 Block, putting on an amazing show on an Aprilia RS660 in a field full of larger Supersport machines, was back at the front. As the race wore on the track started to develop some dry spots and the Suzuki GSX-R750 duo of Tyler Scott and Brandon Paasch took their turn at the front. When it was over, M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott had taken the win and $40,000 on his personal GSX-R750 practice bike, holding off M4 ECSTAR Suzuki MotoAmerica Superbike racer Brandon Paasch by just 0.328 of a second — a margin you could measure in inches at the line. Paasch got $25,000 for his efforts on a borrowed, third-hand GSX-R750. Eli Block completed the podium in third on his Aprilia 660, 2.647 seconds back.

The Classic capped a full Saturday pro program that the weather toyed with all afternoon. The day opened bone dry for the Pro Streetfighter feature, where Gus Rodio on his Rodio Racing Ducati Streetfighter V2 controlled the race to win by just over five seconds from teammate Ben Gloddy, with Robertino Pietri third on a Yamaha.

Rain then interrupted the Pro 500 Superbike race after just two laps; once restarted it ran in the full wet, and Eli Block edged a three-way fight to win over Matthew Sweeney and Thomas Hynes V, the trio covered by under two seconds.

After the wet Classic, the track dried again for the final feature, Pro Thunderbike, where Logan Cunnison pulled clear to win by 12 seconds over the ever-present Eli Block. Block’s day — a win in the 500 Superbike, third in the Classic and second in the Thunderbike — made him one of the busiest and fastest riders in the paddock on this prestigious Loudon Classic Weekend.

Sunday brought intermittent showers all day, and tire choice became the single biggest factor on track. Riders gambled on a surface that was never fully one thing or the other — some were caught out on rain tires as the track dried, others on slicks where it stayed too wet.

The weather finally made up its mind for the last race of the day. The Seacoast Sport Cycle / Dunlop Dash for Cash ran in fully dry conditions. Eric Wood on his Penguin Racing / Woodcraft Yamaha R6 took the win in the Expert Dash, crossing the line in ahead of Jacob Crossman by 5.667 seconds, with Adam Guyer third another 1.7 seconds back. In the Amateur Dash for Cash, Paul Berger took the win over Miguel Betancourt Jr. and David Komm, the top three separated by under five seconds.

Away from the features, Adam Guyer was the weekend’s busiest winner, racking up six Expert class wins on his duo of Seacoast Sport Cycle mounts (Aprilia RS660 and Ducati Streetfighter V2) across Thunderbike, Super Twins Combined, GTL, Lightweight Superbike, Lightweight Grand Prix and Heavyweight Streetfighter Combined. Eric Wood added four Expert wins of his own — Unlimited Superbike, Heavyweight Superbike, Formula 40 Unlimited and the Dash for Cash. Renee Franco completed a hat trick in Motard, Lightweight Sportsman and Super Singles, while Tyler Scott backed up his Classic win with a victory in Unlimited Supersport.

In the Amateur ranks, Paul Berger backed up his Dash for Cash win with a four-win weekend, adding Formula 40 Middleweight, Middleweight Supersport and Formula 40 Unlimited. Miguel Betancourt Jr. and Kyle Sackett each took three Amateur wins.
The Novice class saw Mark Parise sweep three Grand Prix wins across the Middleweight and Unlimited ranks. In Super Street, Stephen Holubiak swept all three Unlimited classes (A, B and C).

The next round of the NEMRR series will take place July 25-26 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

For more information please visit www.nemrr.com.