Round two of the Loudon Road Race Series hit the track for a full weekend of motorcycle racing, despite the rain. Nearly 165 riders from all over New England geared up to take on the 1.6-mile road course at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for 26 races.
Veteran racer and Dunbarton, N.H. native, Scott Greenwood was the big winner over the weekend landing in victory lane for seven races. Greenwood's experience on a wet track was helpful for his podium finishes.
"I wanted to get some rain laps in," said Greenwood, winner of the GTU, HW Superbike, HW Supersport, MW Formula 40, MW Grand Prix, MW Superbike and MW Supersport on his Yamaha YZF-R6. "Usually I don't practice when it's raining out; I just kind of throw the tires on and go figure it out the first couple laps."
Greenwood certainly figured it out, and put on a display of skill for the younger riders.
"You can learn stuff from him all the time," said Alex Guilbeault, who came in second place on his Yamaha YZF-R6 behind Greenwood in the GTU. "He's been here for years, so you just do what you can to learn from him and hang with him. Once the rain came, I hung with him for a couple laps. Then he was dropping the hammer on us."
The tough competition continued as the races went on.
"I just put my head down, and, lap after lap, I saw the leader," said Jason Fairclough, winner in the Amateur GTO on his Yamaha YZF-R6. "I don't know if he made a mistake or what, but with about two laps to go, I caught him and just took off. It was awesome."
Kip Peterson and Greenwood battled it out in the MW Grand Prix, and although Peterson led Greenwood for a majority of the laps, Greenwood hung back to figure out where he was stronger. In the final lap, he made his move in turn one, held Peterson off for the remainder of the lap and took the win.
"Sure enough," started Peterson on his Yamaha YZF-R6, "Scottie came around me and got the win."
The riders continue to increase the level of riding, and safety is always a number one priority. There have been a number of improvements to the track this year including airfencing, concrete curbings through turn 11 and the addition of a red flag light in turn four.
"I just want to say thanks to the staff at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for all their hard work for the motorcycle competitors," said Kevin Allen. "They spent a lot of money this season for us on air fencing and it's an amazing facility, and we really appreciate it."
Round three of the Loudon Road Race Series returns during Bike Week to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Loudon Classic, the longest running motorcycle race in the United States, on June 17.
Check out the full results from all races: https://trackintel.com/ti/lrrs/ajax2014/results/index.html
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For ticket information on all 2018 events at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, including the July 20-22 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race weekend and the September 21-22 Full Throttle Fall Weekend, please stop by the ticket office, visit the speedway website at www.NHMS.com, or call Fan Relations at (603) 783-4931.