Manchester Sports Center rider Mike Hacia powers straight up the center for the holeshot.
Photo courtesy Paul Buckley http://www.buckleyphotos.com/
The racing season has kicked off here in New England and the cold, wet morning that greeted round one’s riders didn’t seem to dampen their spirits lining up to get some fast laps in.
For the young guns coming up through the ranks in the amateur classes there is nothing like finally getting to battle it out with one of the established fast guys to make you feel like you’ve arrived. John Dowd has been racing for a little bit longer than some of those guys have been walking and it must have been pretty wild for 17yr old Mike Hacia to find himself out at the front of a pack that included the affable Dowd. Grabbing the holeshot on his Manchester Sports Center ride and setting a blazing pace early in the moto Hacia pulled out a 2 second lead and held on for the duration while Spectro/Moose Racings Dowd keep the pressure steadily on.
New Hampshire’s own Cory Eaton put on a great ride to hang for a steady third. Going into moto 2 with a second place finish meant that Dowd had to put his Factory Connection ride into the top spot to bring home the overall but it was Honda mounted Eaton stealing away with the holeshot in moto 2. Before too long the honeymoon was over as Dowd put his Pirelli driven ride into first and that is right where he stayed maintaining a comfortable gap over Hacia who played follow the leader getting around Eaton into the second spot. Mike Sottile stepped up the pace on his Kawasaki securing himself the final spot on the overall podium.
Proving that there is no shortage of talent rising to the top the racing action just got better when the Open Amateur riders took the gate. Keene Motorsports backed Chris Sharra took it to the hole and came away with the early lead in moto 1 with Red-Rider Kenny Carr on his back tire and Yamaha mounted Jake Abbott chasing the pair. Carr whittled Sharra’s lead down to just over a second near the end of the moto but was unable to find a way around.
As they took the gate for the second Open Am moto the day turned a bit colder and the Winchester course developed its characteristic multiple lines and rutted surface setting the stage perfectly for the battle to come. Abbott grabbed the holeshot but was quickly dropped to second by Sharra and then found himself down to third as Carr put on the charge and got by on lap 4 but the pair continued to swap positions in every corner. The frantic battle for second allowed Sharra to get a little breathing room but that buffer was soon erased as Abbott and Carr pushed each other to within a half second of Sharra by the white flag. Smooth line choice allowed Sharra to pick through the lapped traffic a little quicker and he held on to take the checkers with Abbott in the second position and Carr not far behind in third.
Complete results for 4/13/2008
