Supermoto Media Press Release:
Lets clean up an old amusement park and build a supermoto course, that's exactly what the FIM North America Supermoto Championship crew did for round 5 of the 7 race series. "We wanted to bring a different style of track to our riders, so far this season we have hosted events at a go kart track, Nascar style oval facility, road racing track, and purpose built supermoto tracks across the northeast and into Canada and we wanted to take it one step further", stated FIM NA SMC owner Marco Pedde.
The crew was able to take the once booming New Castle Delaware amusement park and creative their own supermoto track featuring one of the longest dirt sections the series has ever hosted during an supermoto event. The event hosted not only a minute and a half supermoto course for the riders but also worked with Cafe Racer XXX to host a " Run what you bung" class giving fans parade laps on their street bikes with FIM NA SMC SMEC 1 points leader Johnny Lewis, giving the fans the ultimate experience to see what the urban style supermoto track was really like.
The round 5 event was brought to you by the Solid Performance KTM dealership located just 35 miles from New Castle Delaware, leading up to the 2 days of racing Solid Performance KTM hosted a one day motocross training class with AMA Supercross rider Blake Wharton and a one day supermoto training class with Johnny Lewis to give the northeast riders a chance to learn from two talented professional racers. Throughout the weekend the Solid Performance KTM shirts could be spotted as a ton of the shops motorcycle enthusiast were on hand watching the action packed racing take place and routing for the Solid Performance KTM riders on track.
The first moto of the day saw Solid Performance KTM/ EyeBall Moto rider Johnny Lewis take the lead on the second lap and controlling the pace as the real battle was for second place. 2013 SMEC 1 champion Eric Stump would have some ups and downs throughout the first moto, crashing while battling with Boyd Brower #598. AMA Supercross rider Blake Wharton who was making his second appearance with the FIM NA SMC series riding the GoldenTyre/ SMEC CRF450 Honda slipped into 2nd while the battle between Stump and Brower heated up. Lewis would take the first moto win by a few second over Blake Wharton with Boyd Brower edging Eric Stump at the line.
SuperMoto East Coast - Blue Diamond Race Highlights:
With a heat race in the books and an one Moto format for the SMEC 2 class, it was all Atlanta, Georgia's rider Benjiman Kelly race to lose on his MVD supported KTM 450 after the dominate heat race performance earlier in the day. Kelly #414, in his return back to the series after missing the last two rounds in New Hampshire and Montreal wanted to gain back some available points towards the SMEC 2 Championship and did so at round 5 by pulling the hole shot ahead of Solid Performance KTM / Eye Ball Moto SMEC 2 rider Dieter Willenbrock #72 and young gun Karsten Tribus on his BBR Motorsports/ Fly Racing/ East Hanover Powersports/ GT Bicycles #1N Kawasaki 100 .
Just like the first SMEC 1 moto, the battle for second place was the race to watch, 16 year old Tribus running the number #1N worked Willenbrock the whole moto, trying the inside and outside in almost every corner on every lap. The Kawasaki rider Tribus would take over second place on the final lap on the pavement but it didn't last long. Willenbrock, 18 years old with an off-road background would then get Tribus back has he over jumped the 65ft step down jump to be able to close the door from the outside on Tribus in the right hander before the right left dirt switch back before entering the last section on pavement coming to the checkers. Tribus would end up tucking the front after Willenbrock passed him but would remount to finish a hard fought respectable third place. SMEC 2 points leader Mike Davis would finish in the top ten to keep his points lead, but Gerry McGinnis who had a comfortable second place in the championship is now only 4 points ahead of Willenbrock with 2 rounds remaining.
The final race of the day was the second Moto for the SMEC 1 Pro riders. All the fans were excited to see what Eric Stump could do if he was able to stay on two wheels and if Supercross rider Blake Wharton could secure another podium performance like he did in Moto 1. Just like Moto 1 it was Stump ( Stumpy) who took the hole shot from the pole position, but series veteran Lewis who has only lost one Moto since entering the series was right on Stumpy's rear wheel. Lewis, who comes from a flat track background would enter the dirt section 2 bike lengths back as he looked like he had the pass for the lead already planned out. Lewis would dive under Stumpy in the first left hand dirt corner to take the lead on the opening lap. 2013 Series champ Stumpy would keep Lewis honest all moto long but Lewis didn't make a single mistake and would win the Moto taking the overall and extending his points lead to over 27 points.
Stumpy, Brower, and Wharton would end the day with a three way tie for second points but the finishing order would be based off Moto two results, giving Stumpy with a 4-2 finish second, Brower with a 3-3 finish third and Wharton with a 2-4 finish 4th. Local AMA Motocross racer Tyler Wonzey on a Solid Performance KTM/ Eye Ball Moto KTM 450 would round out the top 5 in his first ever supermoto event, just the day after Tyler made his first AMA Pro Outdoor Motocross National.
For more information: www.FIMNASMC.com