Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott led every lap of the 102nd Annual Loudon Classic presented by Dunlop and walked away with a check for $60,000 for the win on Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Scott, who qualified his GSX-R750 on pole, has won the Classic Main twice in three starts and finished second in last year’s race, bringing home a total of $150,000.
Joseph LiMandri Jr. finished second, which paid $37,000 before bonuses, and Jake Lewis took third and $26,000.
Scott jumped into the lead and tried initially to make a break from the field, but found LiMandri Jr. on a Yamaha YZF-R6 and Lewis on a Yamaha YZF-R9 were able to run with him in the early laps.
“I tried to make the break five times. Joe – I grew up racing with him, he’s a really great rider. I knew I would have to do a lot to break away from him and Jake Lewis,” Scott said.
Scott then adopted a different strategy, maintaining his pace on a relatively slick track that was washed clean by overnight rains. The track was wet in the morning, leaving the qualifying session devoid of participants, and Scott said he was racing the green track more than his competitors.
At the halfway point, Scott said, the tires had dropped off and the leaders were about to engage with lapped traffic. In last year’s race, battling with lappers cost him the win, so this year he said he wanted to “be a little more aggressive, trying to keep the gap that I’d worked so hard to build.”
It worked. For the rest of the race, the Vision Wheel team was showing Scott +2 on his pit board, with only a “chilled out” final lap cutting the gap to 1.417 seconds at the finish line, Scott said.
“I struggled with the track, even though the setup was perfect. I couldn’t have asked for any more from the team,” Scott said.
Eli Block won the Pro 500 Superbikes class, earning $3,000, with Adam Muscaro second and taking home $2,500 and Nathan Bettencourt completing the podium and earning $1,000. All three riders raced Kawasaki Ninja 400Rs.
Adam Guyer won the Pro Thunderbikes class on an Aprilia RS 660, ahead of Jacob Crossman on another Aprilia and Maverick Cyr on a Triumph 675R. Guyer earned $3,000, Crossman $2,500 and Cyr $1,000.
Dominic Doyle won the Streetfighter class on a Yamaha MT-09, ahead of Teagg Hobbs and Gus Rodio, both on Ducati Streetfighter V2s. Doyle won $25,000, Hobbs $15,000 and Rodio $10,000.
