A Successful Weekend for Brenden Ketelsen Racing at Chuckwalla
Brenden Ketelsen came down to Chuckwalla Valley Raceway to compete with some of the top racers in the region and show that he can be competitive anywhere.
Brenden and his team spent Friday learning the track and getting his Keyes Racing-built Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R dialed in. It didn’t take long for Brenden to get up to speed, setting a lap time Saturday morning that was good enough to put him on pole position for the weekend’s middleweight races.
Brenden won the Saturday Formula Middleweight race after a close battle with two other top riders. The team continued to make progress with setup which paid off in the Middleweight Supersport race where Ketelsen not only won but set a new class record of 1:46.053.
Sunday would prove to be challenging for the team, filled with ups and downs. In the first race of the day, Supersport Middleweight, Brenden would shatter the record he set on Saturday with a blazing 1:45.383. A lap later, disaster struck as Brenden lost the front in Turn 12, crashing his ZX-6R into the desert landscape. Brenden was uninjured but the bike was in need of extensive repairs.
With little time to spare before the Middleweight Shootout, the team got to work repairing the damaged ZX-6R. With help from Chad Williams and Simon Barrett to secure the parts needed the team had the bike ready to go for the race, though its condition was less than perfect.
In the Middleweight Shootout Brenden would have a race long battle with another rider. The two would trade the lead multiple times with Brenden coming up just short of the win in the end. Still, Brenden and the team were very pleased with the result after all the hard work put in to get the bike on the grid.
The weekend proved to be successful as Brenden came out to a new track, won two races, set a class record and nearly won the premier 600 race.
Brenden Ketelsen comments: “My weekend went amazing. Didn’t go totally to plan but I’m happy with my performance leaving the track!”
Brenden Ketelsen Racing would like to thank all of the team’s sponsors and supporters:
PCP Motorsports
Graves Motorsports
MC Tech
Keyes Racing
Arai Helmets
CT Racing
Pirelli U.S.A.
Southern Pride Performance
Mullico Specialty Products
Flex Racing
Vortex-EK
Wonder CBD
Oculus Financial
John Ryti
Paint by Ed Yoast
Eric Child of Starwood Leathers