May 30, 2010: Loudon Road Racing Series Round 3

New Hampshire Motor Speedway – Round 3 was the warm-up race weekend for the 87th running of the Loudon Classic to be held at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, June 11-13. The all-important Classic is the oldest professional motorcycle competition in the land, and will feature the 4th round of the 2010 ASRA Michelin Pro Series national schedule.

Wood Craft- Anybody who has had the benefit of personal riding instruction from the Penguin School’s Eric Wood, knows he prizes hard work and attention to detail above all. He likes his students to take notes on everything from finding the fast line to mastering body technique. He wants them up on the pegs and leading with their inside shoulder, well off the bike even when their thighs are burning. He has them run lap after lap, practicing his techniques while he watches trackside to make sure they get it. It’s a never-ending pursuit of excellence through thoughtful analysis and exhaustive repetition. None of his students is surprised that Eric Wood is faster today than ever.

The first two rounds of the LRRS season saw Shane Narbonne and Wood trade impressive LRRS track records while battling fiercely aboard their Superbikes. With Narbonne away at the Springfield Mile this weekend, Wood had to push his own wind in round three.

Supertwins was his first chance to see if he had anything new. He went under his own record on the fourth lap when he recorded a fantastic 1:10.490 aboard his Dunlop shod Penguin School/Woodcraft Ducati 1098. He finished out the race with a string of laps in the high 10’s… and he wasn’t done. On Sunday in Unlimited Grand Prix under gusting conditions, Eric Wood lowered the mark yet again to 1:10.39. A nine can’t be far off.

Motorace $1500 Dash for Cash (and a mighty scare)- Scott Greenwood showed up Friday with a 2008 Yamaha YZF-R6. With no opportunities to win OEM contingency money this season, Greenwood dusted off a bike he built a few years ago to see if he could find a little more speed for the upcoming Loudon Classic.

Bruce Transportation’s Cory Hildebrand, grabbed the holeshot over Greenwood’s Argo Cycles R6, but there was trouble in turn one just behind them. Brent Lyskawa touched Kip Peterson and went down hard. Also caught up in the melee was Motorace’ Jason Carter. Jason explained; “There wasn’t any room. Brent went down and his bike was spinning one way and he was spinning the other. I picked his bike to run over and it launched mine into the Airfence.”

Lyskawa’s R6 also slammed into the Airfence, while Brent blasted through the low tire barriers intended to slow sliding riders before hitting the Airfence. After a tense few seconds watching him lay still, the crowd erupted into a loud cheer when Lyskawa slowly got to his feet. His bike was done for the weekend, but he was seen happily chatting at the podium ceremony later.

On the re-start, Scott Greenwood took the holeshot with Cory Hildebrand catching his tow. Surprisingly, Jason Carter made it to the grid with his Yamaha and had a solid grip on 3rd, with Seacoast’s Charles Sandoz and Motorace’ Kip Peterson rounding the top five.

Greenwood picked up the pace early laying down a string of laps in the 1:11.8 area until hitting traffic. Hildebrand stayed close, setting personal best times and looking very strong for the upcoming National. Kip Peterson took Sandoz and Carter in the middle laps and held them off to the flag.

Scott Greenwood responding to race announcer, Bruce Berlinger; “I bought this bike in 2008 for Daytona. It rode well enough, but the motor broke. I had Sean Sweeney build a new motor for the Classic. I tested it for the first time yesterday and it seems pretty good, still a long way to go, though. Hopefully I’ll have something for Jeff Wood and Shane Narbonne in the Classic–Cory too. He’s getting very fast.”

King of the Lightweights- Plaistow Powersports’ Todd Babcock won six races with his teammate, Rick Doucette, battling him fiercely for five of them. Number three in those races was Scott Mullin aboard his Souhegan Valley/Dunlop Kawasaki EX650R. Babcock, Doucette and Mullin are looking set to defend the home turf in the Michelin Pro Series Thunderbike class during the Loudon Classic weekend.

Bike Week- The week leading up to the 87th Loudon Classic is packed with track activities. Monday will feature the 5th annual ‘Ducati Rev’s New England’ school. Hosted by the Northeast Ducati Dealers and taught by the Penguin Road Racing School, the event is specifically for Ducati riders looking to develop their riding skills. Tuesday and Wednesday feature the Penguin two-day Pro School, with none other then record holder, Eric Wood, as lead instructor. It is open to riders of all levels. Thursday is a promoter practice day, specifically intended to give visiting race teams a chance to learn one of the trickiest tracks on the ASRA Michelin Pro Series schedule. Vendors and displays will add to the fun and camping will be available on ‘Animal Hill’.

Check www.nhms.com for more information.

LRRS Round 3 Results

Motorace $1500 Dash (pays to 8th) 1. Scott Greenwood (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Cory Hildebrand (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Kip Peterson (Suz GSX-R600) 4. Jason Carter (Yam YZF-R6) 5. Charles Sandoz (Duc 848) 6. Joel Allen (Yam YZF-R6) 7. Ivan Debord (Yam YZF-R6) 8. Houk Nichols (Yam YZF-R6)

GTO 1. Steven Giacomaro (Hon CBR1000RR) 2. Brett Guyer (Apr RSV4 1000) 3. Cory Hildebrand (Yam YZF-R1) 4. Norman Pomerleau (Suz GSX-R1000) 5. Robert Nigl (BMW 1000RR) 6. Hlynur Atlason (Duc 848)

GTU 1. Scott Greenwood (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Scott James (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Jason Carter (Yam YZF-R6) 4. Alex Guibeault (Hon RS250) 5. Wojciech Kasperuk (Yam YZF-R6) 6. Brent Lyskawa (Yam YZF-R6)

GTL 1. Todd Babcock (Suz SV650) 2. Rick Doucette (Suz SV650) 3. Scott Mullin (Kaw EX650R) 4. Mark Dages (Suz SV650) 5. Eric Connolly (Suz SV650) 6. Douglas Fogg (Suz SV650)

Heavyweight Superbike 1. Eric Wood (Duc 1098) 2. Charles Sandoz (Duc 848) 3. Dennis Levesque (Duc 1098) 4. Jason Carter (Yam YZF-R6) 5. Hlynur Atlason (Duc 848) 6. Christopher Carella (Yam YZF-R6)

Heavyweight Supersport 1. Cory Hildebrand (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Rick Doucette (Suz GSX-R750) 3. Houk Nichols (Suz GSX-R600) 4. David Clark (Yam YZF-R6)

Lightweight Grand Prix 1. Todd Babcock (Suz SV650) 2. Rick Doucette (Suz SV650) 3. Peter Gaboriault (Suz SV650) 4. Alex Guilbeault (Hon RS250) 5. Victor Landau (Yam TZ250) 6. Douglas Fogg (Suz SV650)

Lightweight Sportsman 1. Mike Martire (Kaw KX450F) 2. Jason Routhier (Hon CRF450) 3. Eric Block (KTM SX-F450) 4. Eric Shaw (Yam YZF450) 5. Branch Worsham (Kaw EX500) 6. Jason Cavanaugh (Hon CRF450)

Lightweight Superbike 1. Todd Babcock (Suz SV650) 2. Rick Doucette (Suz SV650) 3. Scott Mullin (Kaw EX650R) 4. Rick Breen (Suz SV650) 5. Peter Gaboriault (Suz SV650) 6. Chris Cucinotta (Suz SV650)

Lightweight Supersport 1. Todd Babcock (Suz SV650) 2. Rick Doucette (Suz SV650) 3. Scott Mullin (Kaw EX650R) 4. Peter Gaboriault (Suz SV650) 5. Chris Cucinotta (Suz SV650) 6. Brian Kent (Kaw EX650R)

Motard 1. Brent Lyskawa (Hon CRF450) 2. Mike Martire (Kaw KX450F) 3. Hlynur Atlason (Apr SXV 5.5) 4. Eric Block (KTM SX-F450) 5. Jason Routhier (Hon CRF450) 6. Eric Shaw (Yam YZF450)

MW Production Twins 1. Rick Doucette (Suz SV650) 2. Scott Mullin (Kaw EX650R) 3. Mark Dages (Suz SV650) 4. Brian Kent (Kaw EX650R) 5. Dana Temple (Suz SV650)

Middleweight Superbike 1. Scott Greenwood (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Cory Hildebrand (Yam YZF-R6) 3. David Fett (Yam YZF-R6) 4. Houk Nichols (Yam YZF-R6) 5. Brent Lyskawa (Yam YZF-R6) 6. Ivan Debord (Yam YZF-R6)

Middleweight Supersport 1. Scott Greenwood (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Cory Hildebrand (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Ivan Debord (Yam YZF-R6) 4. Norman Pomerleau (Suz GSX-R600) 5. Houk Nichols (Yam YZF-R6) 6. Christopher Carella (Yam YZF-R6)

Pirelli Diablo 600 Challenge (all on Pirelli tires) 1. Zachary Holcomb (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Peter Gaboriault (unk) 3. David Kagan (Hon CBR600RR) 4. Wojciech Kasperuk (Yam YZF-R6) 5. Jason Hillsgrove (Hon F4i 600)

Production Twins 1. Mark Dages (Kaw EX500) 2. Dana Temple (Kaw EX500) 3. Joe Latona (Kaw EX500) 4. Matt Guilbault (Kaw EX500) 5. Richard Blake (Duc 620SS) 6. Mike Defazio (Kaw EX500)

Supersingles 1. Mike Martire (Kaw KX450F) 2. Mike Donovan (Hon CRF450) 3. Eric Block (KTM SX-F450) 4. Eric Shaw (Yam YZF450) 5. Jason Cavanaugh (Hon CRF450) 6. Axlejak (Tig TWR450)

Supertwins 1. Eric Wood (Duc 1098) 2. Robert Nigle (Duc 748) 3. Dennis Levesque (Duc 1098) 4. Charles Sandoz (Duc 848) 5. Kyle Thompson (Duc 749) 6. Jim Rich (Apr RSV1000)

Thunderbike 1. Todd Babcock (Suz SV650) 2. Rick Doucette (Suz SV650) 3. Kyle Thompson (Duc 749) 4. Rick Breen (Suz SV650) 5. Dan Frisbie (Duc PS1000) 6. Doug Fogg (Suz SV650)

Ultra-Light Superbike 1. Eric Wood (Hon CRF450) 2. Scott Furguson (Hon NT650) 3. Mike Donovan (Hon CRF450) 4. Richard Blake (Duc 800SS) 5. Eric Block (KTM SX-F450) 6. Andy Hull (Duc 800SS)

Unlimited Grand Prix 1. Eric Wood (Duc 1098) 2. Cory Hildebrand (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Brett Guyer (Apr RSV4 1000) 4. Jason Carter (Yam YZF-R1) 5. Norman Pomerleau (Suz GSX-R1000) 6. Jim Rich (Apr RSV1000)

Unlimited Superbike 1. Scott Greenwood (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Rob Nigl (Duc 748) 3. Brett Guyer (Apr RSV4 1000) 4. Charles Sandoz (Duc 848) 5. Jason Carter (Yam YZF-R1) 6. Zachary Holcomb (Yam YZF-R6)

Unlimited Supersport 1. Scott Greenwood (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Cory Hildebrand (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Brett Guyer (Apr RSV4 1000) 4. Zachary Holcomb (Yam YZF-R6) 5. Simon Wilson (Suz GSX-R1000) 6. Barry James (Yam YZF-R1)

Formula 40 1. Rob Nigl (Duc 748) 2. Rick Doucette (Suz GSX-R750) 3. Dennis Levesque (Duc 1098) 4. David Fett (Yam YZF-R6) 5. Scott James (Yam YZF-R6) 6. Jason Carter (Yam YZF-R6)

Formula 40 Lights 1. Todd Babcock (Suz SV650) 2. Brian Kent (Kaw EX650R) 3. Doug Fogg (Suz SV650) 4. Michael Dube (Duc 800SS) 5. Andy Hull (Duc 800SS) 6. Charles Brighenti (Suz SV650)

Formula 50 1. Shaul Perry (Yam YZF-R6) 2. James Brown (Apr RSV1000) 3. Shawn McCormick (Suz GSX-R750)

Formula 50 Lights 1. Dan Frisbie (Duc PS1000) 2. Michael Dube (Duc 800SS) 3. David Sargent (Suz SV650) 4. Skip Kelleher (Suz SV650) 5. Stephen Doody (KTM MXC)