Article: Round 17
November 3, 2011
Dade City Motocross – 2011 Points Championship Series
October 1st, 2011 – Round 17
Author: Gifford Quast
Jump from the past!
In Dade City Florida, as the temperatures begin to finally cool down, the racing heats up. Round 17 of the 32nd annual points championship series took place on the first beautiful afternoon and evening of the fall. Racers and fans alike came out in droves to enjoy both the weather and the racing.
Round 17 featured the Sponsor’s Cup class, for the top 450 riders in the southeast (and frequently many other locations), and as always their practice lap times would be used to determine gate picks. Kyle Keylon, past master of Dade City, has struggled most of the season with bad starts and less than stellar finishing positions. However, this round Keylon posted the fastest lap in the qualifying session, which gave him first the all important first gate pick for moto one. Not far behind Keylon was defending champion Mike Picone, with current points leader Tyler Livesay third fastest. Journeyman pro rider Troy Adams laid down the fourth fastest time with Ricky Renner completing the top five.
Just a couple of motos before the Sponsor’s Cup were two of the classes where the points battle is heating up as we head into the last few rounds of the season. The Plus 45 class and the Women’s class are often run together, with the old guys going on the first gate and the women on the second. Both classes have narrowed the championship to two rider battles, and each was extremely competitive at round 17. On the first gate drop for Plus 45, Rick Bigalow grabbed the holeshot just ahead of Reggie Ferry and Robert Noa, while behind them (on the second gate) Shelby Quast and Marissa Hampshire went into the corner side-by-side, with Quast on the inside. Quast held the inside, drifted a bit wide and took the holeshot, with Hampshire in hot pursuit. By lap two Noa had gotten around Ferry to take over the second spot in Plus 45, and he was chasing down the leader Bagalow. Lap four was eventfull for both classes, as Noa took the lead away from Bigalow, and in the Women’s class Quast made a mistake in the tight right hander leading into the table-table section. Hampshire got up beside Quast and held the inside line in the off cambered corner heading onto the back straight. The two racers headed down the back straight with Hampshire just a wheel ahead of Quast. Hampshire held the lead and took the inside line in the sweeper, while Quast took the outside, and just pinned the throttle. The two were just centimeters apart when Quast came around the outside to retake the lead. Down the long middle straight Quast tried to stretch out her lead, but Hampshire stayed right on her. Women’s leader, Quast, had to deal with pressure from Hampshire the final lap, but rode flawlessly to take the win over the always hard charging Hampshire, while third went to Alexus Gunther. Meanwhile, Noa had pulled ahead and took the win over Bigalow and Ferry in the Plus 45 class.
Everyone in attendance always crowds to the fences when the Sponsor’s Cup class takes to the track, and the crowd was out in force for moto one. Lately Livesay has been on fire, and at the drop of the gate he rocketed into the lead, with Picone, Ian Millett and the finally-back-from-wrist-injury, Kory Keylon in tow. Livesay put his head down and put in some consistently blazing fast and nearly identical laps to pull a gap on second place Picone. While the three leaders had settled into their positions behind them the older Keylon brother, Kyle, was working hard to make his way to the front. On lap four Kory Keylon showed that he was a bit rusty from his time off, by hitting the ground and losing a whole bunch of spots. The older Keylon, Kyle, after a number of laps applying extreme pressure, finally over-jumped his way past Adams down the long middle straight to take over the fourth spot. By lap eight Keylon also managed to get around Millet to take over the final podium position. Livesay led the entire way to take the moto win, and Picone kept him honest and finished second, Millett fourth and Adams fifth.
Moto two for the Plus 45 and Women’s classes was midway through the program. Once again, Bigalow grabbed the start from his arch rival Noa, and led him for the first lap. This time around Noa was much closer, and he wasted little time in once again taking the lead. Once out front Noa took charge, and rode a smart moto to take the win and the overall, with Bigalow doing the same in second and Ferry also taking third overall with his 3-3 scores. The front runners in the Women’s class swapped the start order from the first moto, with Hampshire getting the better jump and coming out of the first turn ahead. Quast was in second, and pushing hard to catch the veteran Hampshire. Early on Hampshire gapped Quast, but lately Quast has been able to run down Hampshire and make a late charge at her. The front running Women not only have to race one another, but also simultaneously work their way through the slower Plus 45 riders and also lap past some of the other riders in their class. This adds an additional element that many classes do not encounter, as typically only the first gate class needs to contend with getting past the slower riders. However, this applies to the front runners alike, so the timing on catching slower riders can work to each rider’s advantage or disadvantage. As Quast was putting on a charge she got held up for a few corners by one of the Plus riders, this time getting the worse end of the deal, effectively putting an end to her charge. After the great first moto battle the Women’s second moto was a bit anticlimactic, with Hampshire putting in a great effort, winning the moto and the overall on a borrowed bike she had never ridden before. This battle will continue all the way to the last round, as both contenders are hungry to win each round and the championship. Overall results were Hampshire – 1st, Quast – 2nd, and Gunther 3rd.
Livesay made a somewhat unprecedented move a couple of months ago, when he made a change to the all new 2012 KX450F, while in the midst of a winning streak. The first outing or two were not victories, but Liversay stuck it out and his gamble has thus far payed off. Once again, at the drop of the gate, Livesay jumped out ahead of all of his competitors. This time around Adams was in tow, with the resurgent Kyle Keylon close behind in third. Picone had gotten a poor start, going down in the first corner, but immediately charging hard to be mid-pack again by the end of the first lap. Out front Livesay was doing his usual job of pulling away, while Adams held off Keylon. By lap four Keylon had overtaken Adams to secure the second spot, and set his sights on Livesay. Within a couple of laps Keylon had closed the gap, and was applying all kinds of pressure to Livesay. Livesay responded to the pressure and stepped up the pace, but Keylon kept charging, over-jumping everything in sight, constantly showing Livesay a wheel. On lap number eight, as the riders came down the back straight, Keylon again over-jumped the last table, getting close to Livesay as they entered the sweeper. Through the sweeper Keylon and Livesay both held it on and they came out charging hard. Keylon jumped the first single, grabbed another gear, soaked up the second single and then just launched the small table, over-jumping it by a good 50 feet. Keylon had the inside line to the corner, but it appeared that there was no way that he could get the bike slowed down for the corner, much less the inside rut. Livesay saw what was going on and appeared to slow down, with the intent of diving back inside as Keylon overshot the corner. However, Keylon braked very hard, threw the bike into the inside rut, and grabbed a handful of throttle. It was one of the most impressive passes I have ever seen, and from there Keylon immediately pulled away from Livesay. Within a lap Keylon had already amassed a large gap, and would deservedly win the moto. Livesay held on for second while Adams came home third to cover the final step on the podium. The second moto gave us back the Kyle Keylon we used to see every race, fast, fearless and exciting, and if this is any indication the rest of the season will be unbelievable.
In the Plus 45 class Noa has only a 30 point lead over his rival Bigalow, so only three finishing positions separate the two this late in the season. Both are veteran racers who are highly motivated to win, so it will be a battle all the way to the end. Hampshire leads Quast by 60 points going into round 18, but anything can still happen in this class as well. Hampshire, the cagey veteran versus Quast, the young contender; it will be some great racing all the way to the final round here as well.
Sponsor’s Cup overall results were as follows: Livesay – 1st with his 1-2 scores, Kyle Keylon – 2nd (3-1), Picone – 3rd (2-4), Adams 4th (5-3), and Millett 5th with a 4-6. Ricky Renner had an off night, and could only muster a 7th overall, and it was good to see Kory Keylon, the early season points leader, back in action, even if he did not have a very good night. The championship has become a 2 man race, with Livesay holding a 60 point lead over Picone, last year’s champ. Both have won DCMX Sponsor’s Cup titles, both are talented, hungry , skilled riders, and with only a 60 point lead Livesay needs to keep winning in order to ensure that he becomes the first repeat winner. Remember, the final two rounds count for double points, so it is still wide open. Make plans to be at DCMX on October 15th, and catch the spectacle of the best night racing in the Southeast.
By admin
