VFORCE RACE REPORT – BUCCANEER
BROUGHT TO YOU BY MOTO TASSINARI
MOTO TASSINARI IS THE PREMIER MANUFACTURER OF PERFORMANCE ENHANCING REED VALVES
BEN KELLEY PLUNDERS THE BUCCANEER
Round 12 of the FOX Racing J DAY Off Road GP Championship saw the return of FMF / KTM Factory pilot Ben Kelley and for the third time in as many tries he came away with the victory and moved himself into 10th position in the title fight which by the way became very interesting after first moto winner Chris Canning on the Factory Connection Gas Gas was curiously absent from the 2nd moto start line and would lose his championship point lead and now sits 13 points adrift of 2022 J DAY Champ Simon Johnson and now in fourth place. Simon Johnson would take his Plaistow Power Sports / Factory Connection Yamaha to the second step of the podium and leave Lempster with 224 points and a 7 point lead over another Vermonster Gavin Simon on the Edelmans Husqvarna who would finish fifth overall today. Third Overall at round 12 was Factory Connection / LBR Racing / FXR pilot Brandon Gregoire on his Yamaha and he now sits 12 points out of the lead while V3 Kawi rider Brayden Nolette scored 4th overall today and sits 5th in points but now 42 points out and his hopes of a championship are getting slimmer. Van Gosselin on his Battery Park / Ronnies Cycles KTM was impressive again as the A Class standout would finish 6th Overall against the PRO riders for his career best overall finish. Honestly it is only going to get better as Van is only a few months shy of 16 and on a meteoric rise through a tough J DAY field. Dylan Moriarty, Taylor Beckwith, Joshua Lussier and Grady Hall rounded out the top ten on the day.
All I could see and talk about was Ben Kelley as he controlled his pace on the very fast track and after battling from a mid pack start in moto one to catch Canning with two laps to go by gaining 9 seconds on the penultimate lap he challenged for the lead but the veteran Canning would not be denied the win and Kelley erred on the side of caution and reluctantly settled for second but knowingly set himself up for the overall as he only had to beat Canning in the second go round to seal the victory which he very handily did and cruised to a 41 second win on the FMF / Factory KTM. Ben is always a pleasure to have at J DAY Off Road and really enjoys his many friends and fans. At the Buccaneer Ben was presented a signed event jersey by his buddy Tucker Aldrich and his smile was a mile wide as the pictures on the podium were snapped. Ben still has a very real chance of scoring the 2023 GNCC Championship which would be his second in XC 1 to go along with his 2 in XC 2. All of us here at J DAY and in New England will be routing for you buddy and we will always be so proud of you as a racer but even more importantly because you are a good man and a good friend. Go Get ‘ Em !!
……. And now for the rest of the story
Ben Kelley’s good buddy Tucker Aldrich would claim the win in the Kenda Pee Wee Challenge on his KTM. Tucker would be joined in the Red Bull Victory Lane Podium by fellow KTM pilots Sawyer Langenback and Jaikan Johnson. This class has some great racing in it and is always fun to watch and then be a part of the podium celebration.
Crue Hopkins continued his winning ways in the Bantam division, Bryan Ramos took the Squirt division, Connor Maguire won the Trail Rider division, Isla Kastel took the Girls division and David Alipio scored the Electric division win.
Maxwell Rivera again stood at the top of the podium in the C Class with Porter Breton and Joey Nadworny flanking him and all three riders from the 250 division.
PRO Womens race was exciting as usual as my buddy the Rhode Island Rocket Addie Harris won the first moto as an Amateur rider but would not be able to repeat in the second go round. Ruby Fustini would claim the overall win with a second moto victory with Savanah Kipp grabbing second and the northern girl Nykea Williams scoring her first PRO Womens podium ever !!
Nykea was successful in another class that included all guys as she scored 4th overall in the Veteran B class for riders over 30. Nykea is really adapting to the off road way of things as she has concentrated mainly on MX in her career and still is very successful there as she now leads the Championship hunt in the Veteran B class in the NESC series against you guessed it …..all the guys. Most guys can’t stand being beaten by a girl at anything but Nykea makes it just a little bit easier with her big friendly smile and her great attitude. Glad to have her at J DAY anytime !! Addie Harris did claim victory in her own class the Womens Amateur, Nate Martel was again the Super Senior winner , Dave Price took the Masters, Victor Medeiros won C Vet and C Senior winner was Steve Skrzat with a double moto win.
PRO 125 was exciting and had some of the greatest racing of the day where Brandon Gregoire took the victory with a double moto win. Gavin Simon was second and Van Gosselin third and provided most of the entertainment with their creative passing technique and the places attempted.
The Junior A riders continue to impress and Logan Tenney took that class win with Kyle Rougeau and Jordan Franklin 2nd and 3rd and most notably all three in the top 8 with the PRO riders.
B Overall went to 250 rider Shane Czelazewicz with the Open win going to Treston Kelleher and 200 to Robbie Webb and all three riders on Yamaha YZ s.
Senior A win went to Leo Silva, Junior B was Jiggs Fustini on his Trail Jesters KTM, Vet B went to Brian Hopkins and Senior B was Emerson Cayer and all four on KTM.
Lots of great racing in the A Classes as the Vet class saw Matt Obuchon take the win over Dennis Baker, BJ Lanigan, Wassley Teixeira and Kawboy Clint Angwin.
The 250 and A Class Overall was easily won by Van Gosselin with Bullit Racing / MotorBikes Plus team rider Zak Earley taking the win in A Open and the 200 class was won by Jacob Pacheco with the KTM brand realizing victory in all A Classes.
Great to have Ben Kelley back with us at J DAY as he is such a pleasure to watch race a motorcycle and to have a chat with. He looked strong physically and more important mentally and has a very serious chance to take home another GNCC Title. Fast track and fun times abound at Jolly Roger / NHMX. No break this week as we are right back at it with Crow Hill 2 next Sunday.
Until then this is JJ saying “ See You at the Next J DAY “