The opening round of the 2017 NESBC series was held June 3rd at Canaan Motor Club, and the action was fantastic from the first green flag. NESBC events are a track day event that conclude with a series of 6 races at the end of the day. Street bike classes are purposely set up as a low pressure, fun time that give track day participants a feel of what a race really feels like. Intermediate classes are for highly experienced street bike riders and newer racers who are getting started in racing. The purse paying Formula 300 and Motard classes are purse-paying contests that showcase top talent on entry level motorcycles. These feature races pay out over $1000 in each class over the top 5 positions. Riders in all classes join together to compete in the NESBC Team Championship, which is purposely designed to pair together these experienced experts with the new racers and track day riders to form friendships and to give these newer riders some mentors to help develop their riding skills.

The day kicked off with the Kawasaki Formula 300 event, and Chris Woodman on his KTM 390 quickly established himself as the man to beat on lap one and steadily pulled away from the field. Behind Woodman there was a thrilling three way battle between the Yamahas of Dan Rosato, Roger and Phil O’Donnell with the Kawasaki of Roger Ealy Junior. The trio swapped places several times in the closing laps, with Rosato narrowly holding on to second place finish behind the surging O’Donnell and the hard charging Ealy.

Not to be outdone, the Intermediate A & B riders them lined up and put on a fantastic show themselves. In the A class was tight from start to finish, as there was never more than a second between the lead trio of the Kawasaki mounted Nic Peterson and Scott Briody and the Ducati of Chris Hall. Briody secured the holeshot and looked to be a lock for the win, but a critical mistake on the last lap let Peterson (and almost Hall) through and resulted in a second place finish. The race of the day was the Intermediate B class. Fletcher Rood picked up where he did last season with a wire to wire victory on his KTM, pulling well clear of the field by the midway point. However, the battle for 2nd was one for the ages between the Kawasaki 300’s of Fred Bross and Conor McGuire and the CRF 150 of 14-year old Teagg Hobbs. The trio swapped back and forth all race long, with Hobbs making big moves on the brakes to close the gaps created by his competitors on the straights. After a couple failed attempts to make his passes stock and a big front end slide that wowed the crowd watching from the front straight, Hobbs finally made it stick and brought it home in 2nd place, just a whisker ahead of the strong riding Bross and McGuire. On the following day Hobbs got to test out real street machine for the first time (a new Kawasaki 300) and came back grinning ear to ear. We think that this young rider has a world of potential!

The street bike classes featured the biggest grids of the day, and helped highlight some of the hidden talent that our track day riders have. In the larger displacement Street Bike 1 class Thomas Metz simply set sail and left on his Suzuki 600 pulling away from the field at a rate of almost 2 seconds per lap. Carl Williams put in a great ride, charging from the back of the pack to pull clear of the Kawasak ZX6i of Kudd Rood. In the lightweight Street Bike 2 class Miles Allen rode fast and smooth to secure the win on his Husky 450 motard bike, with Penguin rental Ninja 650 mounted Phl Cyr capping off a great day with a solid ride in 2nd. Doug Hanks rode well on his Kawasaki Ninja 250 in 3rd, having excellent mid corner speed but not able to quite keep pace on the straights.

The final race of the afternoon was the Motard race, and we got to see where young Teagg Hobbs gets his talent from as his father Ryan grabbed the holeshot and never relinquished the lead. Top Penguin coach Eric Shaw didn’t get the best start, but worked his way through the field and closed up on Hobbs on the final lap, but was forced to settle for a 2nd place finish. Lee Schmidt and his Kawasaki 450 got the best of his battle with Husky mounted Bill Morey to round out the podium and collect a nice 3rd place check.

Round 2 of the NESBC series is scheduled for Sunday July 2nd at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Information can be found at http://www.penguinracing.com/NE-Sport-Bike-Club

RESULTS:

Hindle Street Bike 1

1. Thomas Metz (Suzuki GSX-R600)

2. Carl Williams (Yamaha YZF-R6)

3. Kudd Rood (Kawasaki ZX-6R)

4. Steve Morishe (Yamaha YZF-R1)

5. Fleming Wertz (Yamaha YZF-R1)

6. Marc Deshaies (Honda CBR600RR)

Dunlop Street Bike 2

1. Miles Allen (Husquvarna 450)

2. Phil Cyr (Kawasaki 650)

3. Doug Hanks (Kawasaki 250)

4. John Johnson (Yamaha FZ07)

Arai Intermediate A

1. Nic Peterson (Kawasaki ZX-6R)

2. Scott Briody (Kawasaki ZX-6R)

3. Chris Hall (Ducati 748)

4. Colm Costello (Honda CBR600RR)

Bazzaz Intermediate B

1. Fletcher Rood (KTM 450)

2. Teagg Hobbs (Honda CRF150)

3. Fred Bross (Kawasaki 300)

4. Conor McGuire (Kawasaki 300)

5. Michael Vallante (Kawasaki 250)

6. Glen Cavanaugh (Ducati 750SS)

Firsttrax Motard

1. Ryan Hobbs (Honda 450)

2. Eric Shaw (Honda 450)

3. Lee Schmidt (Kawasaki 450)

4. Bill Morey (Husquvarna 450)

5. Adam Clark (Honda 450)

6. Sergio Dimoffetta (Honda 450)

Kawasaki Formula 300

1. Chris Woodman (Yamaha YZF-R3)

2. Dan Rosato (Yamaha YZF-R3)

3. Phil O’Donnell (Yamaha YZF-R3)

4. Roger Ealy Jr (Kawasaki 300)

5. Conor McGuire (Kawasaki 300)

6. Roger Ealy Sr (Kawasaki 300)

Team Championship

1. MT Wallet Racing, 85 points

2. Team Rosato, 76

3. HSW Racing, 60

4. Team America, 55

5. Team Shake N Bake, 55

6. Team Hunter Farm, 21