Keystone Offroad Racing Team: Big Buck GNCC Race Report

KEYSTONE OFFROAD RACING TEAM: BIG BUCK GNCC RACE REPORT

The Keystone Offroad Racing Team has seen a wide variety of conditions and results throughout the first three rounds of racing and round four continued that trend.  After making the ten hour drive south, Jed Haines, LeeAnn Bange, Zack Smith, and Ian Pannebakker were greeted with an unfamiliar rush of warm South Carolina air.  Temperatures were forecasted to be in the mid to upper 80's all weekend long, a true test as to who's been putting hard work in during the week.  Rain several days prior to the event created a perfect loam at what is normally a very dry track.  After making some last minute bike adjustments, each Keystone member was anxious and ready to go racing on Sunday.

Women's class rider LeeAnn Bange found her spot on the starting line, confident the consistency she has shown this season would continue improving her points standing.  When the green flag dropped, LeeAnn was left sitting while she repeatedly tried starting her bike.  After several more tries her Yamaha fired and she immediately made a push to catch the leaders.  Thankfully the course layout presented plenty of passing opportunities for LeeAnn and she quickly made moves on her competitors.  The last several miles on lap one consisted of some of the tightest single-track-trails on the GNCC circuit.  The technicality of the trail required good rider judgment along with precise clutch, throttle, and brake control.  Unfortunately, so much work with the controls caused LeeAnn to suffer arm pump and made charging somewhat difficult.  Nonetheless, LeeAnn pushed through the issue and finished lap one in third place.  During the first half of the second lap she made a mistake while riding down a ravine, dropping the bike in several inches of mud.  Frustrated, yet determined, LeeAnn picked her bike off the ground and continued to press forward.  The incident allowed several riders to make the easy pass and she finished out the lap in sixth.  Immediately after starting her third lap, LeeAnn made a quick pit stop for goggles and cold drink before continuing the lap.  Her third lap was uneventful as she worked her way through the flowing trails logging the fastest lap of her race and reclaiming fifth place.  On the final lap, LeeAnn made the pass for fourth before falling once more in the same ravine she did on the second lap.  The mistake and increasing temperature quickly wore her out, but she rode out the lap to finish yet another race in a top five position.

In the one o'clock afternoon race Keystone Offroad's, XC1 Pro Rider, Jed Haines lined up on the front row to tackle the tight trails of South Carolina.  Once the green flag was flown, Jed's bike fired on the first kick and he rounded the first corner mid-pack.  However, trouble struck by the second corner when Jed was pinched off on the inside, sending him over the bars in Superman-like fashion.  Uninjured, he quickly remounted his Kawasaki and continued on with the race.  The pace and intensity of such a competitive class makes catching up an extremely difficult task and at the conclusion of lap one, Jed was only able to reach seventeenth position.  The track layout was a mixture of fast and tight woods which caused many riders to suffer arm pump fatigue and Jed was no exception.  For much of the first couple laps, Jed struggled to overcome the lack of feeling in his hands, halting any progression further forward than sixteenth.  By the start of his third lap, Jed was able to shake the arm pump and logged his fastest lap of the race while remaining in sixteenth position.  Each lap he consistently put more time between himself and the rider behind him but was unable to close the gap on the class front runners.  After three hours of racing in the heat and humidity, Jed crossed the finish in sixteenth position.  "I'm looking forward to the three week break to work on a few things and get myself back to finishing where I know I can," Jed said at the end of the race.  Although it was not the result he was looking for, this was Jed's first race of the season where bad luck was not a factor in his results.

In the XC2 Pro Lites division, Keystone's Zack Smith took to the line in search of further improving on his season best sixth place finish two weeks prior.  With a ten second call and drop of the green flag, Zack was off and headed for the first corner.  He earned himself a top ten start but experienced brake fade issues due to heat almost immediately, forcing him to back off the pace.  At the conclusion of lap one Zack was sitting back in a disappointing fourteenth place position.  With few options, Zack had no choice except to continue riding at a pace slow enough to avoid injury, but fast enough to remain competitive.  One particular section of the course was tight and technical which allowed Zack to mitigate his disadvantage and move up several positions into eleventh.  However, his inability to ride at full-throttle created a forty-four second gap between himself and the top ten.  Despite making a pit-stop for fuel and goggles on the third lap, Zack was able to close the time difference to within two seconds of tenth position.  On lap four he continued his charge and made short work of taking over tenth place.  However, what's more impressive is the forty seconds Zack then put between himself and that rider.  The last two laps of Zack's race were for the most part uneventful.  Despite the heat and brutal conditions, his lap times remained fairly consistent even during the latter portions of the race.  After three hours and thirteen minutes of racing, Zack crossed the finish in tenth place, which is also his current position in season points.  Finishing top ten in a highly competitive pro class is a feat in itself, but finishing top ten with unreliable brakes is the result of determination.

The fourth and final rider of the Keystone Offroad Racing Team to tackle the woods in Union, SC was Four Stroke A Lites rider, Ian Pannebakker.  When the green flag dropped, Ian fired his bike and nailed his second holeshot of the season by a comfortable margin.  The first several miles of the course featured wide open grass track in which Ian was able to maintain his lead until arriving at the only mud hole on the course.  Unsure of where to go, Ian picked a safe line along the outside, but was unfortunately passed by several riders.  He pushed forward and responded by passing several riders back when suddenly his front brake lost fluid and completely stopped working.  "I was pretty frustrated when my front brake stopped working on the first lap because I knew it was something I'd have to deal with for the next three hours of racing."  Regardless of losing the front brake, he finished out the lap running in second place.  Shortly after starting his second lap Ian made a quick stop for gas, as his bike was not fitted with the normally oversized tank.  His earlier than normal pit stop allowed several of his competitors to get past and he slipped back to fourth position in which he remained for laps two and three.  Midway through the race Ian adapted to riding with no front brake and he began pushing the limits, utilizing engine braking to help slow his momentum.  On lap five he made a push to the front, capturing second place and putting nearly a minute between himself and third.  On the final lap, Ian maintained his second place position and finished out the race running lap times almost identical to his competitors.  Despite riding without a front brake, he salvaged a second place finish and moves up to a respectable fourth in points.

With round four of the Can-Am GNCC in the books, the riders of the Keystone Offroad Racing Team continue improving their results each and every week.  LeeAnn Bange rode hard to a solid top five finish in the Womens class after several mistakes threw curve balls at her race.  XC1 Pro rider, Jed Haines, was able to recover from an early crash and finish his first race of the year without bad luck being a factor.  Coincidentally, both Zack Smith and Ian Pannebakker suffered brake issues from the very start of the race only to work through the problems and log solid points paying positions in their respective classes.  The Keystone Offroad team now has a three week break before the series makes its next stop at the infamous Loretta Lynn Dude Ranch in Tennessee.

South Carolina Results:

Jedediah Haines (XC1 Pro)-  Class: 16/19   Overall: 38/225  Season Point Standing: 16^th

LeeAnn Bange (Women)- Class: 5/14   Overall: 39/247  Season Point Standing: 4^th

Ian Pannebakker (4 Stroke A Lites)-  Class: 2/12   Overall: 35/225  Season Point Standing: 4^th

Zackery Smith (XC2 Pro Lites)- Class: 10/21   Overall: 29/225  Season Point Standing: 10^th

Keystone Offroad Racing Team would like to thank all of its sponsors helping make the 2011 season possible: Ridersville Cycle, Toy Tech Cycles, One Industries, Dirt Tricks Sprockets, FMF, Rekluse, Utopia, Ride PG, Raines Racing, Visual Impact Group, Leatt Brace, All Balls Racing, Offroadjunkies.com, Digitaloffroad.com.

Written By: Ian Pannebakker