The Loudon Road Racing Series, Round 7

Loudon – Road racers found a newly configured turn 2 for Friday practice. Eric Wood explained; “The staff at NHMS paved the left side of turn 2 to make room for a 1/5th mile Legends Car oval at the south end of the speedway. We rode on the configuration that several track day providers laid out on Thursday and on Thursday night, LRRS modified the row of cones to construct a turn 2 apex that was similar to what we had over the past several seasons. The goal was to redirect the apex crash zone for turn 2 back towards the airfence and to also slow down the apex speed in order to lessen the potential to reach the wall in the event of a crash. These efforts also helped to lessen the effect of the bump at the transition.”

Wood continued; “After testing this all day Friday, LRRS then constructed a white line to mark the inside of turn 2, and held riders off the line by spacing a row of airfence about 3 feet to the inside of the turn. This gave riders a good temporary turn without the hazard of cones that often get knocked into the racing line. As a bonus, the new layout gave riders a much better and safer pit out system that fed riders predictably onto the racing line on the back straight between turns 2 and 3. Racers were generally happy with the layout and the weekend went off without incident in turn 2. For the future, LRRS will consult with our top riders who will help determine if further improvements can be made to the shape of turn 2. NHMS plans to purchase some removable low profile curbing to use on the inside of turn 2 as a permanent solution.”

Argo Cycle’s Scott Greenwood remarked on the shape of the new turn; “I can’t tell whether it’s slower or faster yet. Both Eric and I ran low elevens on it. Right now it’s a little narrower coming from turn 1A.”

Seacoast Sport Cycle’s, Jim Rich commented; “I like it. I set a new fast time with it. It’s got bumps, but I just roll over it.”

Meanwhile, Eric Wood found even more speed on Sunday, turning a fast lap of 1:10.6 in winning his Unlimited Grand Prix sprint race aboard his Dunlop equipped Ducati 1098. Cory Hildebrand stole the holeshot aboard his Bruce Transportation Yamaha R1, but was overtaken by Wood on the brakes in turn three of the first lap. Hildebrand was right in his tail section until falling a couple laps later. Brett Guyer took over second place aboard his Seacoast Aprilia RSV4 and held it to the flag over a lonely Rob Nigl in third.

The 3rd annual Ms. Match featured a good battle between Jackie Wood on her Honda CRF 450 and Lori Shaw aboard her Aprilia SXV 550. Wood came out on top, stretching her lead late. Keri Smith did a terrific job coming from the back to snag 3rd place on the last lap.

Middleweight Supersport turned into barn burner early, as Christian Cronin took a commanding holeshot over Scott Greenwood and brought Hildebrand’s R6 with him. Not to be denied, Greenwood powered into second place on the back stretch and took Cronin on the brakes going into turn 3. From there, he steadily built his lead, while Cronin and Hildebrand scrapped over second. Running nose to tail lap after lap, Cronin managed a big enough gap on the last lap to hold Hildebrand off at the flag. David Fett rode to a lonely fourth place followed by a strong ride from Chris Carella in fifth.

Greenwood won six races aboard his Dunlop shod Argo Cycles Yamaha. Rick Doucette won four races with his Plaistow Power Sports machines, while Mike Martire won three races aboard his GMD/Michelin Kawasaki KX 450. Other multiple winners included Jeff Wood, Eric Wood and Mark Dages.

Sunday morning featured the annual Larry Lap for Larry Hanlon’s Brain Injury Recovery charity. Over 175 riders participated in an event that gets bigger every season. The Loudon Road Racing Series will wrap up the 2010 season on October 2-3.

Motorace $1500 Dash (Middleweight Grand Prix) Pays to 8th 1. Scott Greenwood (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Christian Cronin (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Cory Hildebrand (Yam YZF-R6) 4. David Fett (Yam YZF-R6) 5. Joel Allen (Yam YZF-R6) 6. Jason Carter (Yam YZF-R6) 7. Houk Nichols (Suz GSX-R600) 8. Tim Barber (Yam YZF-R6)

Formula 40 1. Rob Nigl (Duc 748) 2. Rick Doucette (Suz GSX-R750) 3. Scott James (Yam YZF-R6) 4. Dave Fett (Yam YZF-R6) 5. Jason Carter (Yam YZF-R6) 6. John Van Lenten (Yam YZF-R6)

Formula 40L 1. Wayne MacKert (Suz SV650) 2. Doug Fogg (Bue XB12) 3. Brian Kent (Kaw EX 650R) 4. Ted Temple (Suz SV650) 5. David Sargent (Suz SV650) 6. Alan Quinn (Suz SV650)

Formula 50 1. James Brown (Apr RSV1000) 2. Alan Quinn (Duc 1000SS) 3. Shawn McCormick (Suz GSX-R750) 4. Jon Burbank (Suz GSX-R750 5. David Karten (Yam TZ250)

Formula 50L 1. Dan Frisbie (Duc PS1000) 2. Wayne MacKert (Suz SV650) 3. Dave Sargent (Suz SV650) 4. Alan Quinn (Duc 1000SS) 5. Michael Dube (Duc 800SS) 6. Bart Chamberlain (Kaw EX 650R)

GTL 1. Jeff Wood (Hon CRF450) 2. Rick Doucette (Suz SV650) 3. Mark Dages (Suz SV650) 4. Bill Tansey (Suz SV650) 5. Doug Fogg (Bue XB12) 6. Glen Coolbeth (Suz SV650)

GTU 1. Scott Greenwood (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Christian Cronin (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Scott James (Yam YZF-R6) 4. Jason Carter (Yam YZF-R6) 5. Peter Kates (Yam YZF-R6) 6. Alex Guilbeault (Hon RS250)

GTO 1. Cory Hildebrand (Yam YZF-R1) 2. Brett Guyer (Apr RSV4) 3. Rob Nigl (Duc 748) 4. Jason Staley (Suz GSX-R1000)

Heavyweight Superbike 1. Eric Wood (Duc 1098) 2. Dennis Levesque (Duc 1098) 3. Tyler Sweeney (Yam YZF-R6) 4. Jason Carter (Yam YZF-R6) 5. Zev Ginsberg (Yam YZF-R6) 6. Andrew Ferrera (Yam YZF-R6)

Lighweight Grand Prix 1. Rick Doucette (Suz SV650) 2. Todd Babcock (Suz SV650) 3. Peter Gaboriault (Suz SV650) 4. Alex Guilbeault (Hon RS250) 5. Doug Fogg (Bue XB12) 6. Victor Landau (Yam TZ250)

Lightweight Sportsman 1. Mike Martire (Kaw KX450) 2. Eric Block (KTM 450) 3. Jason Cavanaught (Hon CRF450) 4. Eugene Berrio (Hon 650) 5. Jason Hillsgrove (KTM 525) 6. Ted Norton (Kaw EX500)

Lightweight Superbike 1. Rick Doucette (Suz SV650) 2. Todd Babcock (Suz SV650) 3. Bill Tansey (Suz SV650) 4. Peter Gaboriault (Suz SV650) 5. Chris Cucinotta (Suz SV650) 6. Scott Mullin (Kaw EX 650R)

Lighweight Supersport 1. Rick Doucette (Suz SV650) 2. Mark Dages (Suz SV650) 3. Peter Gaboriault (Suz SV650) 4. Chris Cucinotta (Suz SV650) 5. Scott Mullin (Kaw EX 650R) 6. Brian Kent (Kaw EX 650R)

Motard 1. Mike Martire (Kaw KX450) 2. Jason Cavanaugh (Hon CRF450) 3. Eric Block (KTM 450) 4. Jason Hillsgrove (KTM 525) 5. Martin Hanlon (Yam YZF 450)

Ms. Match 1. Jackie Wood (Hon CRF450) 2. Lori Shaw (Apr SXE 550) 3. Kerry Smith (Hon RS125) 4. Debbi Atripaldi (Unk) 5. Lauren Mrozowski (Yam YZF-R6)

Middlweight Production Twins 1. Mark Dages (Suz SV650) 2. Rick Doucette (Suz SV650) 3. Scott Mullin (Kaw EX 650R) 4. Brian Kent (Kaw EX 650R) 5. Glenn Coolbeth (Suz SV650) 6. Dana Temple (Kaw EX 650R)

Middlweight Superbike 1. Scott Greenwood (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Christian Cronin (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Cory Hildebrand (Yam YZF-R6) 4. David Fett (Yam YZF-R6) 5. Joel Allen (Yam YZF-R6) 6. Justin Landry (Yam YZF-R6)

Middleweight Supersport 1. Scott Greenwood (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Christian Cronin (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Cory Hildebrand (Yam YZF-R6) 4. David Fett (Yam YZF-R6) 5. Chris Carella (Yam YZF-R6) 6. Ron Poulin (Yam YZF-R6)

Production Twins 1. Mark Dages (Kaw EX 500) 2. Branch Worsham (Kaw EX 500) 3. Dana Temple (Kaw EX 500) 4. Joe Latona (Kaw EX 500) 5. Mike Defazio (Kaw EX 500) 6. Steven Heider (Kaw EX 500)

Supersingles 1. Mike Martire (Kaw KX450) 2. Jason Cavanaugh (Hon CRF450) 3. Eric Block (KTM 450) 4. Ryan Oosterman (KTM 560) 5. Nathan Cunningham (Kaw KX450) 6. Travis Beaudoin (Hon CRF450)

Supertwins 1. Eric Wood (Duc 1098) 2. Rob Nigl (Duc 748) 3. Kyle Thompson (Duc 749) 4. Jim Rich (Apr RSV 1000) 5. Robert Kessell (Apr RSV 1000)

Thunderbike 1. Rick Doucette (Suz SV 650) 2. Kyle Thompson (Duc 749) 3. Dan Frisbie (Duc PS1000)

Ultralight Superbike 1. Jeff Wood (Hon CRF450) 2. Mike Martire (Kaw KX 450) 3. Jason Cavanaugh (Hon CRF450) 4. Eric Block (KTM 450) 5. Eugine Berrio (Hon 650) 6. Michael Dube (Duc 800SS)

Unlimited Grand Prix 1. Eric Wood (Duc 1098) 2. Brett Guyer (Apr RSV4) 3. Rob Nigl (Duc 748) 4. Tyler Sweeney (Yam YZF-R6) 5. Jason Carter (Yam YZF-R1) 6. Simon Wilson (Suz GSX-R1000)

Unlimited Superbike 1. Scott Greenwood (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Brett Guyer (Apr RSV4) 3. Rob Nigl (Duc 749) 4. Jason Carter (Yam YZF-R1) 5. Jim Rich (Apr RSV 1000) 6. James Brown (Apr RSV 1000)

Unlimited Supersport 1. Scott Greenwood (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Brett Guyer (apr RSV4) 3. Cory Hildebrand (Yam YZF-R1) 4. Simon Wilson (Suz GSX-R1000) 5. Paul Grimes (Kaw ZX-6R)

More, from a press release issued by Penguin Racing School:

Jeff Wood of the Penguin Racing School had a successful debut on his Ducati Monster 696 during the LRRS races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Labor Day weekend. The Penguin School has been using the 696 as an instructor machine for the past year and the staff has found it to be a surprisingly capable machine. “When we first got the Monsters in we knew that they were a great street bike”, said Penguin Advanced Instructor Eric Wood, “but we were really surprised how well they reacted to being ridden hard out on the racetrack. The strength of the chassis on the Monster made it the best handling air-cooled Ducati we had ridden to date and prompted us to build a race bike out of it”. The modifications to the bike consisted of engine preparation performed by Seacoast Sport Cycle and a set of factory Ducati slipons. Woodcraft rearsets, frame sliders and axle sliders were added and GMD Computrack set the bike up with a Penske Shock and revalved forks. All else on the bike was 100% stock. Jeff started off racing in the GTL class and had a race long duel with Rick Doucette, a Suzuki SV650 rider with nearly 40 LRRS championships. The naked Monster 696 had more than enough power to match the SV down the straights, and Jeff got the chassis dialed in well for the highly technical Loudon track. Jeff won a hard fought battle and at the end of the race hung on to win by just under 2 seconds. Between races Peter Kates from GMD Computrack made some adjustments to the forks to give Jeff better feel on the brakes. Jeff went on to handily win the Ultralightweight Superbike Race, a class that is build perfectly for the 696. After the race Jeff commented “I was really happy with the bike at the end of the day. After only one round of adjustments we had the chassis working nearly perfectly….it turned very well and offered really good feedback. I think that this will make a great race bike for anyone looking to enter the lightweight class for next season”.