Minimoto USA 2013 Round 5, Willow Springs

Aug 112013
 

Minimoto USA was back at Willow Spring for Round 5, but going counter-clockwise this time to switch things up. During practice Evan picked up the new lines quickly and was really starting to rip, getting his knee down for the first time!

Qualifying went well for Evan, but he wasn’t the only one on fire—all the Juniors were riding well. When the grids were posted, Evan was elated to learn that he was on pole—his first time as a Junior. The times were unbelievably close with the top 4 separated by less than 0.2 seconds.

Evan1:07.55
Max1:07.70
Errol1:07.73
Andrew1:07.74

 

The second Minimoto USA endurance event of the season took place on Saturday after qualifying. Evan teamed up with Troy for the 1-hour Minomoto Endurance race. Evan had a crash on the second lap, but the boys stayed the course and finished a strong 2nd place. Miles got the chance to team up with Cory for the 2-hour Big Bike Endurance race, “taking it easy” on his still healing shoulder. After a grueling two hours of Cory doing most of the work and a minor malfunction that forced Miles to run the bike into the pits, they squeezed onto the podium with a 3rd place finish.

Race day was a good day for Evan. He got a great start in Junior Race 1, and even with some major pressure from Andrew, Evan held on to first place the whole race. In Junior Race 2, he didn’t get quite the start he got in the first race, and Errol got out in front of him. Evan made a move quickly and got up the inside of Errol in turn 5. Evan was able stretch out a lead for a while, but by the end of the race, Troy and Andrew were right on his back wheel. Evan kept with it and crossed the finish line with only a few bike lengths separating them. Pole position and 2 wins—Evan’s first sweep!

AFM 2013 Round 5, Thunderhill

Aug 042013
 

For Round 5, AFM was back at Thunderhill…again. Miles was feeling great Saturday morning and ready to get to it. He was struggling with the front end during the first two practice sessions, but was trying to ride around it. In the third session, the bike slammed him into the ground going into turn 10. He hit his shoulder pretty hard and it hurt to lift his elbow more than 90°. A visit to the medical center, some icing, and a few ibuprofen later, he was back on the bike. Luckily it didn’t hurt too much in the riding position, and he was stubborn enough to keep going. All it took was some suspension adjustments to get the bike back in shape. Too bad Miles hadn’t taken care of that earlier, but lesson learned.

Miles was still having a little trouble with his shoulder on Sunday, mainly with right to left transitions. He was a few seconds off his normal pace in Formula IV, his first race of the day. He finished 12th, but was getting his confidence back. In his second race, 650 Twins, he got a little more time back, but was still off his pace, finishing 9th in a thinner than usual field. His last race was 650 Production, and Miles was running about the same times and brought it home for the day in 7th. Time to get packed up, get some rest and have that shoulder looked at. Hoping Miles is 100% for Sonoma!

Minimoto USA 2013 Round 4, Grange

Jul 282013
 

This was the first time Texas Devil Racing had made the long trek out to Grange Motor Circuit. Evan picked up the track quickly during Friday practice, and had his lines down by the end of the day. His bike was running well and the order of the day for Saturday was to qualify on the front row. Evan really turned it on and did just that. It looked like there were going to be two awesome Minimoto Jr. races on Sunday. The top 5 racers were separated by only 1 second in their qualifying times. Evan qualified 4th with Troy getting pole at his home track.

When the green flag came up for Race 1, the kids didn’t disappoint. Evan got the hole shot and stayed in the lead from green flag to checker, though he was getting some major pressure from Emi the whole race. In Race 2, Evan got another great start and took the lead. With Troy and Emi in hot pursuit, Evan was pushing hard and lost the front in turn 2. Troy had to run off track to avoid Evan, and Emi squeezed up the inside. Thanks to the lightning fast reflexes of his competitors, Evan hopped right back on his bike and was able to finish the race in 7th place. He was disappointed that he crashed in the race, but that disappointment wouldn’t last long because he was on top of the podium for the first time in Minimoto Junior that afternoon. Congratulations, Evan!!!

AFM 2013 Round 4, Thunderhill

Jul 072013
 

It looked like it was going to be another wonderful weekend at Thunderhill. Unfortunately, Miles was getting over a pretty nasty cold, and Saturday practice was pretty rough. He got some rest that night, and come race day he was feeling much better.

Miles had a pretty bad start in his first race—a bad launch and a miss-shift put him back a bit. But once he caught up to some other riders, he had fun dicing and had a nice drag race to the line on the last lap, which he lost by only a bike length. Miles got another mediocre start in the second race, and once he settled into his position, he stayed there and rode a lonely race. Another miss-shift off the line at the start of his third race put Miles a few spots back. He was able to pick off a few riders throughout the race, making those spots up, and making some good passes in the process. He finished the weekend with a 7th in 650 Production, 11th in 650 Twins and 12th in Formula IV. He would like to thank his parents for coming out to support him, even though he knows how nervous it makes them!

Minimoto USA 2013 Round 3, Redding

Jun 162013
 

Evan couldn’t wait to get back on the track at Redding, where he got his first ever race win in Mimimoto Beginner last year—and it turned out to be another weekend of firsts. Since Evan already knew the track, he was able to really start getting comfortable on his new bike. He was ripping on it by the end of the day, and was able to qualify 2nd. First time on the front row this year! Later in the day on Saturday, he also got to participate in his first endurance race with Rocco. After his first ever Le Mans start, 3 rider changes, and 1 hour, Evan took the checkered flag in first place! Miles even got in on the fun, pairing up with Mike Welch for the 2 hour big bike endurance race. It was his first time on a 2-stroke race bike, and it was quite a new experience. Even pulled off 2nd place!

Evan got a great start in his first race and was in first  for two corners until Emi got around him. He then held on to second place for most of the race until he got into lapped traffic. He was a little tentative getting around the lappers and Andrew, who had been right on Evan’s tail the whole race, took the opportunity to get around him. Evan finished third—his first podium as a Minimoto Junior racer! Unfortunately, Race 2 didn’t go as well. Evan jumped the start and got his first ride through penalty. In such a competitive class, that pretty much relegated him to last place. He was very upset with himself, but learned a valuable lesson. By the time he was giving his podium speech, all was good.

Big thanks to all the moms who put on the Father’s Day barbecue on Saturday night. The dads really enjoyed it!

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