The Penguin Racing School held Round Two of the inaugural New England Sport Bike Club (NESBC) races on Sunday July10th at Cannan Fair Speedway in Canaan, NH. NESBC was founded to give track day riders the opportunity to experience the excitement of racing in a fun, low pressure atmosphere. There are four classes for track day riders, and two purse-paying classes for licensed racers on entry level machines (motard and Formula 300) to show the track day crowd how much fun a rider can have racing an entry level machine.

For the second weekend in a row, rainy skies made for a wet track all day long. The newly paved Cannan Fair Speedway has tons of grip and features great mix of both banked and off-camber turns, giving the participants a fantastic opportunity to challenge themselves all day long. The races opened up with the Kawasaki Formula 300 class, and there was plenty of action for all to see. John Grush hadn’t ridden all day and surprised the field when he mounted up a set of rains, rolled to the line and grabbed the holeshot. As John was feeling his way around the track he was overtaken by Dan Rosato and Roger Ealy Jr, and his determination to keep his rivals within striking distance got the best of him when he slid out on lap three. Dan Rosato rode smooth as glass and steadily gapped the field while a fierce battle for second place was going on between Clarence Beaudette and Roger Ealy Jr. After several attempts to get by which lead to much exuberance from the crowd watching on pit lane, Clarence finally made his pass stick and set off after Dan but ran out of laps and had to settle for a well earned second place.

In the Hindle Street Bike 1 division, a newcomer showed everyone the way as Brian Bloom simply rode away from the field on his Honda CBR600RR. Steve Morische finished second on his Yamaha R1 and Fred Bross pushed forward all race long from a mid-pack start to secure 3rd place on his vintage Yamaha FZR600! In the Garmin Street Bike 2 division, Hannah rounds showed the men the way around the track with an impressive ride on her Kawasaki Ninja 250, followed by Dr. Mahesi Pillai on a rented Penguin Schoo Kawasaki Ninja 300 and Ivan Percia, also on a Ninja 250.

In the Bazzaz Novice 2 class, “Flat Track” Frank rounds put on a class in rain riding as he sped away from the field. Behind him, SV650 mounted rivals from week one Nic Peterson and Troy Hodgkins were putting on a show again and rode the entire race separated by no more than a couple bike lengths. DOT-mounted Hodgkins simply couldn’t match the drives of the rain-tire shod Peterson, but for the second week in a row wowed the crowed with his ability to rail into the corners and make up ground. Alas, the pass was not to be and the pair of rivals/newfound friends kept the bikes on two wheels in finished a mere .05 seconds apart at the line. Troy is hungry for revenge at the season finale in August!

The Firsttrax Motard race was the final event of the day and began with seasoned expert (and Penguin coach) Scott James chasing down NESBC newcomer Brett Larson for the lead in the early stages of the race. Unfortunately Scott pushed a little bit too hard entering over the off-camber hill leading to the pit straight and got his new Husqvarna all covered in mud. While Scott picked his bike up to charge back to an eventual 5th place, “Flat Track” Frank Rounds put on quite a show on his street tired shod Honda CRF 450, charging through a pack of racers (all on rain tires) to a second place finish. Honda mounted Brett Larson opened up his lead steadily over the course of the race, winning by 5 seconds at the checkered flag.

7/10/16 NESBC Results

Street Bike One by Hindle

1. Brian Bloom (Hon 600)

2. Steve Moriche (Yam YZF-R1)

3. Fred Bross (Yam YZF-R6)

4. Charlie Gerry (Suz GSX-R750)

5. Carl Williams (Yam YZF-R6)

6. Cameron Ashbaugh (Duc 899)

Street Bike Two by Garmin

1. Hannah Rounds (Kaw 250)

2. Mahesh Pillai (Kaw 300)

3. Ivan Percia (Kaw 250)

Novice 1 by Arai

1. Jack Kimball (Yam YZF-R6)

Novice 2 by Bazzaz

1. Frank Rounds (Hon 50)

2. Nick Peterson (Suz SV650)

3. Troy Hodgkins (Suz SV650)

4. Mark Brown (Husq 450)

5. Elia Hamilton Husq 501

6. Fletcher Rood (KTM 525)

Formula 300 by Kawasaki

1. Dan Rosato (Yam YZF-R3)

2. Roger Ealy Jr (Kaw 300)

3. Clarence Beaudette (Kaw 300)

4. John Grush (KTM RC390)

5. Jeff Vaughn (Yam YZF-R3)

Motard by Firstrax

1. Brett Larson (Hon 450)

2. Frank Rounds (Hon 450)

3. Bill Morey (KTM 525)

4. Sergio DiMofetta (Hon 450)

5. Scott James (Husq 450)