KEYSTONE OFFROAD RACING TEAM: POWERLINE PARK GNCC RACE REPORT
The penultimate round of the Can-Am GNCC Series took place in the rolling hills of the Ohio Valley in St. Clairsville. Keystone Offroad Racing Team was once again blessed with perfect racing conditions for the weekend's events. Although the track was somewhat dry, the sun was out and temperatures held steady in the seventies for Sunday's racing action. The Ohio course was relatively easy; however, good throttle control was imperative as the trails consisted mostly of a hard-packed clay.
At 10 o'clock, Keystone Offroad Racing's Women racer, LeeAnn Bange, found her spot on the starting line as she prepared to tackle the eleven mile course. When the green flag flew, LeeAnn's bike fired up on the first kick giving her a good jump. She rounded the first corner in fourth position and continued swapping places until they entered the woods. Roughly a mile into the race she was faced with a tricky mud section. Unfortunately, LeeAnn picked a bad line and was passed by several riders. She ran the remainder of her first lap consistently and in no time worked her way up to fourth position. At the start of the second lap, LeeAnn had put nearly fifty seconds on the rider in fifth. Despite showing impressive speed her second time around, she had the exact same lap time as third place and therefore neither lost or gained any spots. At the start of LeeAnn's third lap, she made a quick stop for fuel and goggles before mounting a hard charge to catch third place. She remained in third place until the end of the fourth lap, a minute and a half behind second. On the final lap of a now choppy and rutted track, LeeAnn somehow over came her time deficit and took control of the second place position. She crossed the finish line with arguably her best ride of the year and maintains third in points.
For the one o'clock afternoon event, Keystone riders Jed Haines, Ian Pannebakker and Zack Smith once again lined up against some of the world's fastest off-road racers. In the XC1 pro division, Jed Haines got a decent start and passed several riders in the first couple of corners after picking a good line on a grassy uphill. Dusty conditions in the open sections of the course forced Haines to ride conservatively during first lap. At the conclusion of lap one, Jed was running steady in 13th. Unfortunately, on lap two his streak of bad luck continued when his radiator was smashed by a tree. Jed was forced to return to the pits and replace the damaged radiator costing him a valuable eleven minutes. After the repair, he dropped to a disappointing 18th position. However, Jed never gave up and overcame his time deficit to pass three riders on his third lap. On laps four and five, Jed worked his way past yet another rider to move into a solid 14th position. Perhaps the most impressive part of Jed's race was his final lap where he passed two more riders, in route to grabbing twelfth place. At the finish Jed explained, "I'm not happy with my day as a whole, but all things considered, came back with a good finish." Jed's speed throughout the second half of the season has been overshadowed with mechanical issues but he looks forward to turning things around in two weeks.
In the Four Stoke A-Lites class, Keystone Offroad's Ian Pannebakker found himself off to a great start holding down the third place position for most of the opening lap. Unfortunately, a rider went down in front of him while climbing a hill, costing valuable time and separating him from the leaders. As a result, Ian came through the first lap in fifth place, but had third and fourth place in sight. On the second lap something clicked and Ian was riding the fastest he had all season. He caught up to the back of third place when all of the sudden his 250f shut off. Unfortunately, throughout lap two and three the bike did this several times indicating an electrical issue. "It was frustrating, I felt so good and would catch up to a rider ahead of me and then randomly the bike just quit," he explained in frustration. Towards the early half of his fourth lap, he clipped his brake pedal on a tree stump which punctured a hole in the clutch cover. In determination, Ian pushed his bike a quarter mile back to the pits where a repair was made. After returning to the track, Ian rode for another three miles and then encountered more problems. This time his bike shut off and would not restart. Although Ian's race was plagued with bike problems, he rode well and will carry his speed and confidence into the final round of the season.
Keystone Offroad Racing Team's 250A racer, Zack Smith, finally earned himself a decent start this weekend after struggling the last several rounds. Unfortunately, Zack's run up front was short lived. After trying a new hydration drink prior to the race, the choppy conditions caused Zack to suffer severe stomach cramps. He rode at a steady pace in sixth position for the first two laps in hopes the pain would eventually stop. Unfortunately Zack's stomach only got worse and by the third lap the pain became excruciating. "At one point they were so bad I had to pull off to the side of the track and take a break," said Smith at the end of the race. As a result, his third lap was roughly five minutes longer than his average time. After a pit stop for gas and goggles on the fourth lap Zack continued on with the race still maintaining his sixth place position. Out of pure drive and determination, Smith rode through the fifth lap in pain to make up a minute on the rider in front of him. On the sixth and final lap, Zack put in an incredible effort, logging his fastest lap despite deteriorating track and stomach conditions. Upon crossing the finish line, Zack toughed-it-out for a solid fifth place ride after fighting cramps for three hours.
Keystone Offroad Racing Team had an unfortunate race weekend with all three afternoon racers facing some sort of problem. However, Womens racer LeeAnn Bange rode to a season best second place finish even after taking a vine to the face and receiving two black eyes. Despite the bad luck, each rider did everything they could to finish the race which showed their dedication and determination to succeed both individually as well as a team. Keystone Offroad Racing will head west to Indianapolis for the grand finale of the Can-Am GNCC series in less than two weeks.
Results:
Jedediah Haines (XC1)- Class: 12/20 Overall: 48/190 Season Point Standing: 13th
LeeAnn Bange (Women)- Class: 2/11 Overall: 41/402 Season Point Standing: 3rd
Ian Pannebakker (4 Stroke A Lites)- Class: 10/12 Overall: 154/190 Season Point Standing: 6th
Zackery Smith (250 A)- Class: 5/9 Overall: 53/190 Season Point Standing: 3rd
Written By: Ian Pannebakker
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