Veteran Bobby Fong was unofficially fastest during Friday’s action at the 101st Loudon Classic presented by NEMRR at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS), in Loudon, New Hampshire.

Riding his Wrench Motorcycles Suzuki GSX-R750 MotoAmerica Next-Gen Supersport bike on Dunlop tires, Fong recorded a lap of 1:11.164 around the 1.6-mile infield road course during one of the NEMRR sprint races he was using as practice.

“Today went good,” said Fong, who never rode at the tight and technical track before Thursday’s Penguin Riding School/Racer Practice Day. “We made good progress with the bike, and I’m getting used to the track. I like the track. It didn’t expect it to be so physical, but it’s really physical.

“We had some electrical issues on Thursday, but the crew worked through those and we’ve just been taking some baby steps with the setup and trying to figure out what tires to run in the race.”

Tyler Scott, the defending Loudon Classic Champion, was unofficially second-quickest with a lap time of 1:11.374 on his Dunlop-shod Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R750.

“We’re slowly getting the bike dialed in,” said Scott, who didn’t run as many NEMRR sprint races on Friday as other Loudon Classic competitors. “We didn’t do too many laps today. We thought we were going to have that last session, and we didn’t. But I think we have a good setup for the race.”

Alex Dumas, the 2021 Canadian Superbike Champion, ended up third on the unofficial list of lap times with a 1:11.502 on his Bridgestone-equipped MPG Moto/Liqui Moly Suzuki GSX-R600. Dumas said he opted to sit out the 2024 Canadian Superbike season and winning the Loudon Classic — and its $55,000 first-place prize — is his primary racing goal this year.

Scott’s teammate Teagg Hobbs, who started road racing at NHMS, was unofficially fourth with a 1:11.529. Hobbs crashed during one of Friday’s NEMRR races, but his crew repaired his Suzuki in time for him to take it out in another NEMRR race to make sure everything was good to go for qualifying.

Hayden Gillim, another MotoAmerica Pro rider racing at NHMS for the first time, unofficially rounded out the top five with a 1:11.541 on the Dunlop-fitted Vesrah/Steel Commander Suzuki GSX-R750 he raced in the Daytona 200 in March.

The lost session Scott referred to was the pre-qualifying session scheduled at the end of the day Friday. That session was intended to whittle the field of 51 entries down to 48 ahead of final qualifying sessions on Saturday morning.

Unfortunately, crashes and injuries during Friday’s NEMRR sprint races resulted in most of the track’s ambulances leaving the property with injured riders. All of the riders are expected to recover, according to officials, but not having enough ambulances onsite caused on-track activity to be paused. With daylight running short, NEMRR officials held a riders meeting, polled the field, and decided to postpone Friday’s Loudon Classic, Pro 500 Superbike, Pro Thunderbike, and ASRA Outlaw Baggers qualifying sessions until Saturday morning.

On Saturday morning there will be three rounds of qualifying for Loudon Classic competitors, two 20-minute sessions that will determine the fastest 32 riders, and one 25-minute round for the final 32 riders. Riders’ lap times from all three sessions will count toward their final qualifying position.

Saturday’s revised schedule looks like this:

8:00 AM

500 Superbike – 8min

Pro Thunderbike – 8min

ASRA Outlaw Baggers – 8min

Loudon Classic Group One – 20min (23 Riders)

Loudon Classic Group Two – 20min (23 Riders)

9:15 AM

500 Superbike  – 12min

Pro Thunderbike  – 12min

ASRA Outlaw Baggers  – 12min

Loudon Classic Group One – 20min (23 Riders)

Loudon Classic Group Two – 20min (23 Riders)

10:45 AM

Loudon Classic Group One – 25min (16 Riders)

Loudon Classic Group Two – 25min (16 Riders)

There is no pro practice.

Because there was no official qualifying session on Friday, we have compiled a list of fastest lap times pulled from Friday’s NEMRR races.  

Friday’s Unofficial Best Lap Times (as compiled from Friday’s NEMRR race results):

1. Bobby Fong (Suz GSX-R750), Dunlop, 1:11.164
2. Tyler Scott (Suz GSX-R750), Dunlop, 1:11.374
3. Alex Dumas (Suz GSX-R600), Bridgestone, 1:11.502
4. Teagg Hobbs (Suz GSX-R750), Dunlop, 1:11.529
5. Hayden Gillim (Suz GSX-R750), Dunlop, 1:11.541
6. Stefano Mesa (Duc Panigale V2), Pirelli, 1:11.756
7. Jacob Crossman (Yam YZF-R6), 1:12.308
8. Joseph LiMandri, Jr. (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, 1:12.311
9. Eric Wood (Duc 848), Dunlop, 1:12.334
10. Eli Block (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, 1:12.432
11. Ben Gloddy (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, 1:12.491
12. David Anthony (Suz GSX-R750), Dunlop, 1:12.823
13. Tyler O’Hara (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, 1:13.035
14. Shane Narbonne (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, 1:13.037
15. Spencer Humphreys (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, 1:13.761
16. Carl Soltisz (Suz GSX-R750), Dunlop, 1:14.139
17. Ian Beam (Tri Daytona 675), Pirelli, 1:14.652
18. Justin Landry (Yam YZF-R6), 1:14.678
19. Rick Doucette (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, 1:14.783
20. Harlan Hildebrand (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:14.848
21. Kevin Nolde (Yam YZF-R6), 1:14.982
22. JC Camacho (Suz), 1:15.440
23. Levi Badie (Yam YZF-R6), Dunlop, 1:15.459
24. Asher Rubright (Suz GSX-R750), 1:15.848
25. Michael Guarino (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:16.234
26. Geoffry Bonnard (Yam YZF-R6), 1:16.284
27. Daniel Weems (Yam YZF-R6), 1:16.455
28. Paul Hosue (Yam YZF-R6), 1:16.593
29. Tim Barrows (Yam YZF-R6), 1:16.610
30. Ezra Beaubier (Yam YZF-R6), Pirelli, 1:16.635
31. Wojciech Kasperuk (Yam YZF-R6), 1:16.865
32. Joseph Townsend (Yam YZF-R6), 1:17.008
33. Semir Fazlic (Yam YZF-R6), 1:17.018
34. Sam Martin (Yam YZF-R6), 1:17.473
35. Brandie Cox (Suz GSX-R600), 1:17.616
36. Lincoln Gottier (Yam YZF-R6), 1:17.665
37. Nicolai Greco (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:17.731
38. Robbie Nigl (MV Agusta F3 RR), 1:18.152
39. Scott French (Yam YZF-R6), 1:18.535
40. Houk Nichols (Suz GSX-R600), 1:18.882
41. Josh Gallusser (Suz GSX-R), 1:18.963
42. Mavrick Cyr, no lap time recorded
43. Gabriel Da Silva, no lap time recorded
44. Paul Duval (Yam YZF-R6), no lap time recorded
45. Jimmy Fassino, no lap time recorded
46. Brian Fernald (Yam YZF-R6), no lap time recorded
47. Vicente Frontinan (Yam YZF-R6), no lap time recorded
48. Joel Laub (Yam YZF-R6), no lap time recorded
49. Michael Lee (Yam YZF-R6), no lap time recorded
50. Tyler Sweeney (Yam YZF-R6), no lap time recorded
51. Kyle Thompson (Yam YZF-R6), no lap time recorded