Loudon, NH Wet weather forecasts dampened turnout but not the racing at the second round of the 2009 Loudon Road Race Series (LRRS) series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The skies stayed dry, the track cool, and lap times were fast all weekend long.
Bret Guyer led the list of multiple Expert winners riding his Seacoast Sport Cycle Ducati Classic to four wins in the Lightweight divisions. Todd Babcock pressured Guyer each race aboard his Dunlop-shod Suzuki SV650 with Nathaniel Mendell rounding out the podium twice aboard his Ducati 1000 SS. Other multiple race winners included Jeff Wood, Eric Wood, Scott Greenwood, Shane Narbonne, Michael Donovan and an emerging star, Christian Cronin.
New Challengers
Two of the best races of the weekend featured fierce battles between veteran stars and young guns looking to take their share. Unlimited Grand Prix saw young Shane Narbonne grab the holeshot from Eric Wood. Riding his Dunlop equipped GSX-R1000, Narbonne laid in a blistering 1:13.9 on his standing start lap. Wood answered with a 14.2 aboard his Woodcraft/Dunlop Ducati 848. Together they checked out running an incredible string of 11s right to the checkered flag. Wood clawed back fractions early but Narbonne stood up to the pressure and held on for the win. After being asked how he could run an 11 flat and come in second, Wood responded: “When the other guy does an 11 flat, too”¦ Shane is riding better right now then I’ve ever seen him. I had a little on him going in, and he had a little on me coming out. I tried to pressure him into a mistake, but he was perfect. It was fun and now we’ll both come back next weekend to do 10s…”
Later in the afternoon, second-year Expert Christian Cronin grabbed the holeshot from Scotty Greenwood in Unlimited Superbike. Riding his Argo Cycles Kawasaki/Dunlop ZX-6R, Greenwood powered into the lead on the first lap and put his head down for an attempted breakaway. But Cronin had seen enough of Greenwood’s tailsection all weekend and stepped up his pace. Shockingly, on lap four Cronin backed it into Turn One and took Greenwood on the outside like a half miler. It was a bold move but Cronin’s lead lasted only a few yards before Greenwood slammed the door on him in turn 1A. Cronin finally retook the lead on lap six and held off Greenwood to the flag for the second Expert win of his young career–Cronin recorded a personal best lap time with a 1:12.6 riding on Dunlop’s new AMA spec GPA race tires.
Earlier on the ‘Dash’ podium, Greenwood commented about his Kawasaki: “I’m chattering my brains out running mid 12s. We’re missing the set-up a little on the ZX-6 but we’ll get there”.
The Dash for Cash
The feature race of the weekend was the $1500 Dash for cash, sponsored by GMD Computrack, Dunbar Euro-Sports, New England Performance, Woodcraft, Street & Comp, Rob’s Dyno and Seacoast Sport Cycle. The grid included 31 of the club’s fastest middleweight racers with Narbonne grabbing the holeshot. Jeff Wood soon took over the point aboard his Higgins Powersports/Roadracing World ZX-6R and steadily built a lead towing Narbonne’s GSX-R600 with him a few ticks back. Greenwood trailed in third with Bruce Transportation’s Cory Hildebrand working hard to keep pace aboard his Yamaha YZF-R6 in fourth; 11 laps later they finished in the same order. On the podium Jeff Wood remarked, “Like Scotty, we are struggling with the ZX-6. Peter Kates is working hard to find a solution and Sweeny Engines has given me great power. We’re trying to get ready for the Nationals.”
Tire War?
The AMA Pro series spec tire rule is turning club racing paddocks into a front-line battleground among race tire brands. Motorace’s Sto Smead showed up with an attractively priced new Michelin premium race tire alongside last year’s product at even lower prices. Pirelli appointed Bostonmoto as the new LRRS trackside vendor and they, too, showed up with two grades of race tires at attractive prices. Bridgestone sent an 18-wheeler to support Street & Comp, while Dunlop’s Race Tire Service responded by offering the GPA spec tire at lower price points alongside their premium priced GP211 series. While Dunlop is dominant in the LRRS paddock, Michelin appears to be in position to make significant gains this season through the introduction of new tires and the recruitment of new riders to race them. Club racers have rarely had so many good tire options and trackside technical support.
The next LRRS race weekend is May 30/31. It will be the traditional warm-up before the 86th running of the Loudon Classic on June 12-14. For more information, log onto www.lrrsracing.com.
May 9/10 LRRS Round 2 Results
EX-MWGP/$1500 Dash for Cash 1. Jeff Wood – Kaw 600 2. Shane Narbonne Suz 600 3. Scott Greenwood Kaw 600
AM-MWGP 1. Timothy Barber Yam 600 2. Orlando Gonzales Yam 600 3. Josh Kruse Yam 600
EX-GTO 1. Shane Narbonne Suz 1000 2. Rick Doucette Suz 600 3. Scott James Yam 600
EX-GTU 1. Scott Greenwood Kaw 600 2. Cory Hildebrand Yam 600 3. Christian Cronin Yam 600
AM-GTU 1. Richard Maracina Kaw 600 2. Tyler Sweeney Hon RS250
EX-GTL 1. Brett Guyer Duc 1000PS 2. Todd Babcock Suz 650 3. Scott Mullin Kaw 650
AM-GTL 1. John Durans Suz 650 2. S. Schmidt Duc 750ss 3. Eric Connolly Suz 650
EX-MWSB 1. Jeff Wood Kaw 600 2. Scott Greenwood Kaw 600 3. Christian Cronin Yam 600
AM-MWSB 1. Tim Barber Yam 600 2. Orlando Gonzalez Yam 600 3. Josh Kruse Yam 600
EX-PT 1. Branch Worsham Kaw 500 2. Mark Dages Kaw 500 3. Dana Temple Kaw 500
AM-PT 1. Richard Blake Duc 620 2. Scott Brooks Kaw 500
EX-SSIN 1. Michael Donovan – Hon 450 2. Matt Silva Hon 450 3. Mike Martire Hon 450
AM SSIN 1. Eric Block KTM 450 2. J. Cavanaugh Yam 450 3. Mat Barber Hon 450
EX-125 1. Alex Guilbeault Hon RS125
EX HWSS 1. Christian Cronin Yam 600 2. Shane Narbonne Suz 750 3. Cory Hildebrand Yam 600
AM HWSS 1. Orlando Gonzalez Yam 600 2. Michael Lombardi Suz 750 3. Robert Cook Suz 600
EX LWSB 1. Brett Guyer Duc 1000PS 2. Todd Babcock Suz 650 3. Nathaniel Mendell Duc 1000SS
AM-LWSB 1. John Dorans Suz 650 2. Erik Lunderberg Suz 650 3. Cynthia Bisagni Suz 650
EX-ULSB 1. Michael Donovan Hon 450 2. Nicholas Rockwell Duc 800SS 3. Alex Dunstan Suz 450
AM ULSB 1. Erik Block KTM 450 2. Stephen Schmidt Duc 750SS 3. Mathew Barber Hon 450
EX FORT 1. Fred Stearns Yam 600 2. Dennis Levesque Duc 1098 3. Rob Nigl Duc 853
AM FORT 1. M. Lombardi Suz 750 2. R. Maracina Kaw 600
EX FORL 1. Todd Babcock Suz 650 2. Brian Kent Suz 650 3. Douglas Fogg Suz 650
AM FORL 1. Charles Brighenti Suz 650 2. John Dorans Suz 650 3. James Orezzoli Duc 900SS
EX-Motard 1. Michael Donovan Hon 450 2. Shane Narbonne Hon 450 3. Jason Routhier Hon 450
AM Motard 1. Ted Krum Hon 450 2. Jason Cavanaugh Yam Yam 450 3. R. Pittenger Suz 450
EX MWSS 1. Scott Greenwood Kaw 600 2. Christian Cronin Yam 600 3. Cory Hildebrand Yam 600
AM-MWSS 1. Tim Barber Yam 600 2. Josh Kruse Yam 600 3. Joel Bryan Hon 600
EX-UGP 1. Shane Narbonne Suz 1000 2. Eric Wood Duc 848 3. Christian Cronin Yam 600
AM UGP 1. Tim Barber Yam 600 2. Joel Bryan Hon 600 3. Tyler Sweeney Hon RS250
EX HWSB 1. Eric Wood Duc 848 2. Rob Nigl Duc 853 3. Fred Stearns Yam 600
AM HWSB 1. Dave Hanig Duc 749 2. M. Lombardi Suz 750
EX-USS 1. Scott Greenwood Kaw 600 2. Shane Narbonne Suz 1000 3. Zev Ginsberg Yam 600
EX LWGP 1. Brett Guyer Duc 1000PS 2. Todd Babcock Suz 650 3. Nathaniel Mendell Duc 1000SS
AM – LWGP 1. Tyler Sweeney Hon RS250 2. Eric Connolly Suz 650 3. Kevin Quinn Yam TZR 250
EX-Thunderbike 1. Brett Guyer Duc 1000PS 2. Todd Babcock Suz 650 3. Nathaniel Mendell Duc 1000SS
AM-Thunderbike 1. Dave Hanig Duc 749
EX-UNSB 1. Christian Cronin Yam 600 2. Scott Greenwood Kaw 1000 3. Fred Stearns Yam 600
EX-STWN 1. Eric Wood Duc 848 2. Rob Nigl Duc 853 3. Dennis Levesque Duc 1098