This was my 3rd race of the season and the 2nd one at Planet-x-treme.

The day was overcast and damp with temps in the mid to upper 60's.

I went to start the bike before my practice session and it did one of those hiccup/backfire stalls that always scare me cuz then I wonder if the bike will start again. Well, it took a few pushes on the green button but it fire up and was running irradically, like something was missing. Then there was a big bang, a lot of black smoke and it cleared itself up. After it did that and was running normal I revved it a few times to make sure it was running clean.

The track conditions were the best I've had ever. Because of the moisture in the air and several 'sprinkle' episodes (it never really rained) the track stayed tacky and dust free! Traction was not a problem and the corners developed good berms for railing around them with.

Once again I entered the 250D class. Our moto had 9 bikes in it -- 4 250C riders; 4 250D riders and 1 Vintage rider ('97 Yamaha 250). I didn't get a very good jump off the line and ended up in the middle of the pack in the first turn. I had 2 250D and the Vintage rider in front of me as well as the whole 250C class. But by the end of the first lap I passed the D and Vintage guys and was trying to chase down the 4th place 250C guy. For whatever reason I was feeling really good this day and confident enough to push harder than I ever have on this track. According to the video my buddy took I finished 25 seconds ahead of the 2nd place rider in my class!

The bike ran and handled awesome. Although I'm still getting a slight hesitation when I land hard from jumps.

In Moto 2 I decided to line up a lot closer to the inside line of the first turn. I had a YZ250 next to me and he told me he was going to get the holeshot. This gave me the incentive to get a better start than Moto 1. The gate dropped and I'm off. Good start this time and I'm second into the corner out of 9 bikes. The guy next to me made good on his statement, he got the holeshot. I thought I was going to pass him on the inside but he was pushing as hard through the first turn as I was. This time it took about a half of a lap before all the C guys got passed me. The same guy that was chasing me in the 250D class in Moto 1 was on my tail again. He told me afterwards that he rode his but off to try and catch me. But the X440s had the power and handling to keep me in front and I won the 2nd Moto! This time I only finished about 10 seconds ahead of him.

I was pumped, a 1-1 finish for 1st overall! Our tracks here pretty much force you up to the next class after you place 1st in the D class. Which I'm excited about because those guys will make me go faster in order to stay up with them.

The next race I have will be May 31st at this track again. It will be my first 250C race. Maz gave me some starting tips to practice and work on so I'm hoping that I can at least holeshot that class and make people work to get around me.

We'll see how it goes!

Here's some pics of me from the race if you're interested --> My race pics .

L8r,

Troy
Racer on Christian Brothers MX Team (CBMX) #126
Member of One Way Racing (OWR)
Sponsored by cdaleparts.com