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MOTO TASSINARI IS THE PREMIER MANUFACTURER OF PERFORMANCE ENHANCING REED VALVES

KELLEY UNBEATABLE AT THE ‘ WICK

Welcome to the first VFORCE Race Report of 2022 and if this first race is any indication – it is going to be another great year for the Fox Racing J DAY Off Road Championship GP Series. With nearly 800 riders in attendance the rough, sandy circuit of Southwick Massachusetts proved a challenge to one and all but it was Factory KTM star and reigning National XC1 Champion Ben Kelley who cruised to victory in both Pro motos. With his smooth, flowing style, Kelley, on one of the most demanding sand circuits in the world was a pleasure to watch ride his motorcycle so convincingly to victory and continues to show he should be considered one of the best Off Road riders in the world. The competition was fierce and the lineup comprised of the best riders in the Northeast and even Kelley himself told me earlier that day that there were at least 5 riders capable of winning on the day including Coastal Gas Gas rider Ricky Russell who calls the state of Washington home and is a top competitor for the National Championship. Unfortunately for the rest of the Pro field Ben Kelley continued to be the Steam Roller he has been all of 2022 even on the Grand National Cross Country circuit where he has won all 5 races so far this year.  Ben has a strong fan base here in New England and it is great to see how he interacts so easily with young and old alike and genuinely appreciates their encouragement and shows it with that smile that is his trademark.

We were welcomed by the tremendous crew of the ‘Wick and the track was prepped to perfection and the first few laps were clear sailing but early on the track would claim many a victim but most if not all persevered and provided some of the best bench racing stories ever to be told because Southwick is, has been and Always will be a brutal circuit and only the strong survive and can be proud of doing so. No matter what place you finish in at  this world famous course you definitely should be proud of yourself. Always remember and never forget…… You must First finish to Finish First.

This is the first year for the J DAY E-MTB Series and at Round One on Saturday there were 17 participants with Jake Korn landing on top followed by Jake Desmaris and Evan Grekos. Be sure to bring your E-MTB to Round 2 at Chesire, MA on  Saturday June 18th.

Another new feature for 2022 are podium celebrations for the PeeWee class and Mini classes as well as the returning 125 PRO class and Womens PRO class. This is a fun time and will be a part of our schedule throughout the season.

The first podium of the season saw DJ Leblanc on the top step as winner of the Kenda PeeWee Senior class. Second went to Tucker Aldrich and Third to Trentin Hurley. They all were great interviews and it was the best attended podium celebration of the day and truly a lot of fun.

There are now 5 PeeWee classes with this years addition of the Girls class that was won by Sophia Teixeira on her KTM. The Squirt class winner was Dylan Carlson, with the Bantam class being handled by Sawyer Langenback and Nicholas Bello with the win in the TrailRider class.

The Mini podium was topped by Big Wheel class winner Ryan Amancio who had some great battles with second place rider Van Gosselin and Jiggs Fustini who finished third.

Eric Kinsley on his Yamaha was the top overall finisher in the C class and surprisingly from the 200 cc division. Second overall in the C class went to Matheus Magalhaes the C Open winner and third to Anthony Perez.

Jocelyn Barnes travelled from Pennsylvania and rode her Kawasaki to the Womens PRO class win while Addison Harris claimed the Womens Amateur win.

Big news this year is that the PRO 125 class is back at every round and some heavy hitters have signed up for it. None other than 5 Time Jday PRO 125 Champ Kyle Hangos who had an impressive ride on his Plaistow Power Sports 2006 Yamaha YZ125 going 3-2 for Second Overall. The top five were filled out by multi time NETRA Champ Nick Kordana in third, Chase Gosselin was solid in Fourth and Aaron Zielfelder on the Factory Connection/ Bullit Racing entry was Fifth. The first moto was won by 19 time NESC Moto Cross Champion Chris Canning but a previous injury would keep the always smiling and friendly champ out of the rest of the days action and probably a few more weeks. Heal up soon my friend and give it your best in the MX Nationals this summer. An impressive Overall win would go to Justin Cokinos who continues to mature and show real promise in not only this off road racing but moto cross as well. Justin would battle with Hangos in Moto 1 and best the 5 time champ and then ride to a convincing second moto win for the Overall victory.  His day was not done yet as he would have some very solid rides in the PRO class later in the program and his continued improvement is evident.

Junior A class winner Corbin Owens had some impressive lap times and finished ahead of a few PRO riders. Travis Murphy on a KTM was the fastest B rider and won the 250 class.

In the battle of the elder statesmen it was Dan Forgione with the AVet win, Grant Carter on his MotorBikes Plus KTM toughing it out for 2nd overall in A Senior but losing out to Yamaha rider Steve Meacham. The B Vet class was won by Nick Colombo and Dave O’Brien took home top honors in B Senior.

When the Green flag flew for the first moto of the 2022 FOX Racing J DAY Off Road PRO Championship it looked like it was going to be a repeat of 2021 as the reigning champ Robby Marshall lead lap one and two and looked to be very much in control of the moto. In the opening laps as per usual there was a lot of changes of places as Bubz Tasha on the Tely Energy KTM, Coastal Gas Gas’s Ricky Russell,  Trail Jesters KTM’s Simon Johnson, Bullit Racing/ Factory Connection’s Cody Williams and Justin Cokinos battled for the top positions. Coming from a good start and better than he is used to here at JDAY Ben Kelley rode smart and smooth through the front runners and passed Marshall on lap 3 and then set sail to a convincing 30 second victory over a KTM rider and no it was Not Robby Marshall. Marshall would have a great battle with Bubz Tasha who is healthy and always game for a good race and truly a crowd favorite, as well as a heck of a lot of fun at the podium interviews. Tasha however would prevail over Marshall in moto 1 and stand on the podium today. Marshall was solid and smart in 3rd. Ricky Russell would come through on terrain that he later said he just can’t get the hang of and finish fourth while Simon Johnson locked up the top five finish. Sixth went to Brandon Gregoire and Justin Cokinos, Drew Torrance, Jason Connell on the 150 KTM and Cody Williams rounding out the top 10.

Moto 2 saw Factory KTM’s Ben Kelley get an even better start and lead from the first lap to the hard fought finish for a convincing 51 second victory over the stacked field. Kelley who later said in the podium interview that the Moto Cross track was his favorite part of the course definitely has some serious moto skills and is so smooth and smart throughout the whole course and his close attention to race preparation is evident. Bubz Tasha showed his lessons learned over the last few years at the GNCC events and battling for JDAY Championships against Kelley are starting to pay off as he motored his way to a second overall on the day going 2-2. In this second moto he had to battle his friend and house guest Ricky “ Muscle “ Russell , as Bubz so fondly calls him, for the final podium steps but in the end Tasha would prevail with bragging rights over his buddy that they openly expressed on the podium afterwards. The PRO podium celebrations are a fun time that a lot of you are missing out on so stick around and enjoy with us ….. won’t you ?? Ricky Russell did go 4-3 for third overall and he enjoyed staying on the Cape with the Tasha’s for the week leading up to the opener but not so much the encounter with the tree.  TrailJesters KTM rider Simon Johnson has also learned many lessons here at JDAY and GNCC  and last years Vice Champion was a consistent fourth with 5-4 moto finishes.

The second moto was not so nice to defending champ Robby Marshall as he finished  sixth in the moto and fifth overall. Completing the top ten PRO riders overall on the day were Justin Cokinos, Drew Torrance with a fine return to JDAY after a few years away, Cody Williams, Jason Connell and Cole Daniel and that is how the points stand heading into Round Two at Unadilla on Saturday May 14th .

The FOX Racing J DAY schedule is uncertain for the top 4 PRO riders today as their GNCC schedule is their priority and may conflict but they all assure me they will be back as much as possible so that means that as much as it was to start the day the championship is just as uncertain at this very early stage and anybody’s guess who might be the favorite. Tune in and find out.

JJ McGrath signing off for now…. See you at the Next J DAY