From the outside looking in, Round two of the Northeast Motorcycle Road Racing series looked like it might be a carbon copy of Round one. The Saturday forecast was for rainy conditions with the possibility of some clearing later in the day, and Sunday’s races looked like they would be held under sunny conditions with a little extra wind to keep things interesting. As many of the top NEMRR riders continue to prepare for the upcoming Loudon Classic June 13-15, some additional talent arrived on Friday to add to the anticipation in the paddock.

First was New Hampshire native and current BPR Racing Yamaha MotoAmerica rider Teagg Hobbs, who will be participating in the Loudon Classic on a Yamaha R6 and the highly anticipated Street Fighter division on a Seacoast Sport Cycle Ducati Street Fighter V2. Second was Loudon Classic winner Shane Narbonne, seeking his 11th Loudon Classic title on a new Suzuki GSX-R750 and also looking to win the Street Fighter Class on a Triumph 765. Finally, current Moto America Twins Cup champion Alessandro Di Mario was racing to gain some track time before focusing on the Street Fighter class on a Warhorse Racing Ducati Street Fighter V2. The buzz at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was palpable!

Cool temperatures and torrential overnight rain led to some slow times in practice. The riders who went out were greeted with standing water in several areas of the track which were passable, but definite slowed things down. As practice wound down the rate of the rainfall had slowed significantly and NEMRR officials took to the track to blow off the standing water. The result was a track that was much more race-able, an effort that the riders surely appreciated. The GTO and GTL races were won by Yamaha R6 riders Sam Martin and Micheal Lee, both riders taking advantage of the nimble Yamaha chassis to carve up the rainy NHMS circuit. After several more races the rain stopped, and NEMRR director John Grush took advantage of a 15 minute afternoon break to clean up some standing water on the otherwise dry racetrack. Despite the best efforts of the NEMRR corner working crew the volume of overnight rain left two areas where water was coming up out of the ground and streaming across the racetrack. For the remainder of the day riders would have to take in account these wet areas while braking into Turn 1 and driving up the hill out of Turn 3.

Among the races run in the afternoon in these conditions was one of NEMRR’s largest classes, Ultralight Superbike. The NHMS circuit is very popular with the lightweight crowd and packed grid of riders on machines including the popular Kawasaki Ninja 400/500 battled with riders on Motard bikes, Suzuki SV650s and even a Kramer Apex 350 from the MotoAmerica Talent Cup. At the checkered flag it was Renee Franco, one of the top female riders in the nation, taking the victory on her Kawasaki Ninja 400 over the KTM 450 mounted Nathan Baeyens. Kawasaki Ninja 500 mounted Adam Muscaro emerged as the final podium finisher over 14 year old young gun Nathan Bettencourt, who finished just ahead of the Supermotard machine of Teagg Hobbs who started on the back row and fought his way forward after a challenging start through the wet section in turn one.

The featured Seacoast Sport Cycle Dash for Cash featured all the star power from Round 1 of the NEMRR series, plus three star riders coming from the back of the grid. Teagg Hobbs on his Ducati V2 Street Fighter and Shane Narbonne on his Suzuki GSXR750 were both absent in round one, and Eli Block, after finishing 2nd in the shortened round one event, missed the pre entry deadline and as a result started towards the back of the grid as well. With bright sunshine and 95% of the track perfectly dry, the grid lined up and the crowd held their breath as the pack roared into turn one and crossed over the stream of water coming up from the ground in turn one. Off the line it was the Yamaha R6 of Paul Duval with the jump, but the Ducati V2 of Eric Wood slid though on the inside to secure the holeshot as they tucked in past the wall and headed to the apex of turn one. Wood steadily pulled away over the first half of the race while Duval held steady in second. The 2025 format for the dash for cash separates riders into MW and HW divisions, with Wood entered in the HW and Duval in the MW categories. Behind Duval there was a ton of action as Narbonne and Block were storming through the pack. By the halfway point Narbonne secured the 2nd spot and set off after Wood, but there was simply not enough time to make any meaningful inroads into the lead the veteran Ducati rider had established. The Dunlop-mounted Wood earned $700 for his HWGP and overall combined victory checks put up by Seacoast Sport Cycle, who is the Dunlop vendor at NHMS and a major contributor to the series. Block made an impressive push to the front to secure the final podium spot on his Street Fighter KTM 890 and looks set to be a force to be reckoned with at the Loudon Classic in that division. Duval held on to 4th place overall and first in the MW Grand Prix division, securing himself a pair of checks totaling $400.

Block won a number of races on his KTM 790 and 890 Duke machines. The CT rider set some blistering times in the rain on round one on his 790, and this motivated him to seek out the more powerful 890 that he will be campaigning in the Street Fighter class at the Loudon Classic. As the results would show later in the weekend, these Street Fighter machines are proving to be quite capable around NHMS, running at the front of many classes at NEMRR normally dominated by traditional sport bike machines. Wood was back and forth between his Ducati Panigale V2 and new Yamaha R6 throughout the weekend, and won a total of 4 classes prior retiring from the lead in his 5th and final race of the weekend when his R6 had a mechanical issue.

Next up on the NEMRR calendar is the Loudon Classic weekend. NEMRR regulars will be racing Friday and Sunday, and Saturday will feature a slate of four professional races with a record setting total $400,000 purse. Friday will serve as a very interesting prelude to the pro day as the professional riders grid up against the locals in the NEMRR events as they come up to speed for their feature races on Saturday. The entry list is filled with super stars from Moto America and beyond, including a bevy of Superbike race winners and both past and current national champions. The Loudon Classic is the crown jewel of the Laconia Motorcycle Rally, and tickets are available at
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nemrr-102nd-loudon-classic-tickets-1036972682207.