VFORCE RACE REPORT – HEMOND’S 2
BROUGHT TO YOU BY MOTO TASSINARI
MOTO TASSINARI IS THE PREMIER MANUFACTURER OF PERFORMANCE ENHANCING REED VALVES
GREGOIRE WINS AGAIN IN MAINE
Coming into the 2023 FOX Racing J DAY Off Road Championship there were a few riders names bandied about as favorites to win the PRO Title but truth be told not many or if any had Brandon Gregoire picked as their favorite. He has always posessed good skills, determination and is an exciting racer to watch with lots of potential but not the guy on the tip of your tongue for Champion this season. After his second Overall win of the 2023 season at Round 9 Brandon on the Factory Connection / LBR Racing Yamaha now sits just 9 points out of the lead with only six rounds remaining and is a serious contender for that title. However he sits in fourth in the standings and in the closest battle for the title in many years he has very stiff competition from the reigning Champ Simon Johnson on his Plaistow PowerSports Yamaha who sits 6 points out of the top spot, Chris Canning the 19 time NESC PRO MX Champion on the Factory Connection GAS GAS who has 3 Overall wins to his credit in 2023 lost the points lead at round 9 and sits 4 points adrift and Round 1 winner who took back the points lead Gavin Simon on his Edelman’s Husqvarna. Brandon Gregoire earned his overall win with 1-2 moto scores and was joined on the Overall Podium by Gavin Simon 2-3 and Brayden Nolette 3-4 on the V3 Kawasaki who sits in fifth in the standings. Fourth overall at round 9 going 4-5 was Simon Johnson and in his best PRO finish to date was Yamaha rider Dylan Moriarty taking 7-6 moto scores to Fifth overall. Four of the remaining top ten had their best overall PRO finishes ever and it was “A” Class sensation Van Gosselin who hails from Pownal, Vermont and is only 15 years old and has not turned PRO yet but took his Ronnie’s Cycle KTM to Sixth Overall and the A Class Overall via 8-7 moto scores. Keep an eye on my buddy Van as he continues to impress with his riding ability and his friendly attitude. Nick Casey went 5-11 for seventh overall, with two more “ A “ Class racers joining the top 10 Ethan Pacheco went 9-9 for eighth and Grady Hall took an impressive 6th in the first moto with a 12th in the second for 9th Overall while winning the A Open class and seasoned veteran and former J DAY Regular Beau Viens showed he still has what it takes and rode his Trail Rider Magazine entry to a 12-10 tenth Overall. Chris Canning had a tough first moto as he took the lead early and held it for the first five laps when his bike suddenly stopped and he was credited with 36th place. Winning the second moto by 33 seconds was only enough to give him 19th overall and not in a points paying position because J DAY only awards points for Overall finishes not moto finishes even though they run two motos. Canning would lose his Championship points lead but was philisophical about it and now even more determined to go on a hot streak like he was known to do whilst winning all those MX Championships. He’ll be back at Crow Hill and the veteran rider from Connecticut will be on a mission and it will be a pleasure for all us race fans to be sure.
……And now for the rest of the story
On a day when no one was even certain we were going racing until 8 AM due to the almost 3 inches of rain that fell overnight when J DAY Officials called for an hour delay to finish the work that they and the Hemond’s crew had started at Oh Dark Thirty the Kenda Pee Wee Challenge bravely rounded the first turn and realized the course was far better than they expected and the tremendous effort put forth was well worth the wait. Sawyer Langenback took the win and was joined on the RED BULL Podium by Destry Tucker and Jaikan Johnson. The Squirt division was won by Dino Lucchetti, Crue Hopkins returned to his winning ways in the Bantam division, Hunter Aubin took the measure of the Trail Rider class and Sophia Teixeira cruised to the Girls win.
Ryan Amancio continued his winning ways in the Super Mini class with his buddy Colton McQuarrie standing on the second step of the Red Bull Podium. Anthony Pacella won Mini A, Luke Simpson rode to the B class win, Luke Trask beat Peter Angwin for the Mini C class win and the Rhode Island Rocket Addie Harris took the Girls class top honors and is always a pleasure to speak with on the podium.
C Class Overall winner was Max Rivera with Tyler Sears taking second and Devon Laroche rounding out the top 3 in the C Class.
Womens PRO class was again Ruby Fustini with Addie Harris taking the Womens Amateur overall and placing well among the PRO class. Super Seniors were back in the hands of Nate Martel, the Masters were mastered by Sean Bohan, C Vet win went to Leandro Cardoso with a double moto win and C Senior was won by Joe Hinckley.
PRO 125 class was all Chris Canning on the FXR / Factory Connection KTM and followed home by Van Gosselin and Curtis White. Junior A was won by Ryan Amancio, Peter Shaw took B Class Overall honors, the 250 win and 4th Overall in the whole shooting match on his MotorBikes Plus Husqvarna, with Robbie Webb taking a double moto win to the 200 B win and Chris Caido doing the same for the Open win.
The Junior B riders were again the fastest in this next set of motos as there is a changing of the guard taking place as they took the top 6 spots and none were faster than Trail Jesters KTM pilot Jiggs Fustini who went 1-1 to win it all. Senior A win went to Leo Silva, B Vet winner was Brian Hopkins and Emerson Cayer took his KTM to a double moto win in Senior B.
Last and certainly not least was the A divisions included with the PRO motos. The Vet A was again exciting racing as the individual moto scores were all over the place and Miqueias Gomes took the win with 4-1 motos. He was followed home by Wassley Teixeira, Dennis Baker, Kawboy Clint Angwin and BJ Lanigan.
The A 250 went to Van Gosselin, I’m sure you remember him, while Jacob Pacheco took the 200 class and Grady Hall who we mentioned earlier was by far the top dog in the Open class.
Exciting double day weekend with all the drama you could want in the racing , weather and track conditions. We take a three week break and get back at it August 20th at Crow Hill MX.
Until then this is JJ saying “ See You at the Next J DAY “