Round 2 of the 2023 Northeast Motorcycle Road Racing (NEMRR) had a palpable
excitement in the air over the entire weekend. In preparation for the
100th running of the Loudon Classic in June, the paddock had a number of
top riders in attendance and everyone was excited to see how they would
fare. The list of “non regular” riders riding New Hampshire Motor
Speedway (NHMS) included the likes of Tyler Scott, Blake Davis, Joe Limandri
and JC Camacho. In addition, top NEMRR home town riders who are often
traveling at national events like Teagg Hobbs, Shane Narbonne and Jacob
Crossman were all in attendance as well. Although he wasn’t competing
this weekend, even AMA Superbike legend Josh Hayes was in attendance on
Sunday afternoon.
Brett Guyer started off the weekend with a dominating victory in the 25
minute GTL class on his Seacoast Sport Cycle Aprilia RS 660. Racing with
fellow NEMRR veteran Rick Doucette and his son Adam, Brett scored the
holeshot and was challenged by Doucette for the first five laps. A mistake
by Doucette on lap six gave Guyer a sizable cushion that he then extended
throughout the remainder of race. This race set the tone for an
extremely successful weekend for Guyer where he went on to win six of the
seven races that he entered. The only rider to get the best of Guyer all
weekend was fellow RS 660 rider Jacob Crossman, a rider who started at
NEMRR and is now riding the MotoAmerica Twins Cup Series with 3D
Racing. Crossman won the LW Grand Prix class by just over two seconds
from Guyer, and in the process ran a 1.15.00 lap time, the fastest trip
around NHMS on a LW motorcycle for the weekend!
The Pros from out of town were picking the track up quickly as many of
them were contending with series regulars for podium positions during
the weekend. The Gen-2 Moto America bikes of Tyler Scott and Teagg
Hobbs have not yet been incorporated into the Middleweight Grand Prix
rules on regular NEMRR weekends, so those riders competed in the
Heavyweight and Unlimited classes in their quest to get up to speed.
Those bikes will be legal for the Loudon Classic, and there is the
potential that NEMRR tech officials will get the training needed to
incorporate those machines into the Middleweight GP classes after the
June event. Hobbs and Scott battled at the front in all of their races.
The feature race of NEMRR weekend was the Michelin/MotoRace dash for
cash. The large 38-bike field was set via qualifying times from the
morning practice session, and the front two rows were stacked with
talent. As the field came around for the first lap, the race was led by
series regular Eli Block, followed closely by Dash for Cash rookies
Blake Davis and Joe Limandri. Recovering from sub-par starts were
contenders Shane Narbonne and Tyler Sweeney in fourth and fifth place.
Narbonne and Sweeney clearly had their heads down, but the young riders
in front of them were showing why they have had the success at the
national level. Narbonne, the all-time leader in Loudon Classic wins,
moved steadily forward as he passed Limandri on lap two and Davis on lap
three. By the time he got to second place, Block had opened up nearly a two-second lead. Meanwhile, Sweeney was close behind and moved past
Limandri on lap three and Davis on lap six. Once in third place, Sweeney was
the fastest rider on the track for several laps as he caught the lead
duo. On lap nine Narbonne used his signature braking move into the Turn Six
bowl and moved into the lead. As he inched away from his rivals,
Sweeney pressured Block and took advantage of a big slide that Block
saved while driving up the Turn Four hill to make his move into the second
spot. Davis and Limandri hung on to round out the top five.
After the races were all over, Dunlop held a tire test and that included
Blake Davis, Teagg Hobbs, Tyler Scott, Tyler Sweeney and Josh Hayes, who
last rode the track in 2001. With a fully open track and a weekend of
racing behind them the groundwork was there to churn out some impressive
times. Josh Hayes, riding a borrowed bike and seeing the track for the
first time in over two decades, got down to competitive times in a mere eight
laps! Tyler Scott was the fastest rider at the test, beating the best
race times of the entire race weekend on a consistent basis. These
riders are a sign of what is to come in next month’s classic, as these
top professionals adapt to new tracks quickly. The competition should
be intense!
The historic running of the Loudon Classic will be June 16-18. Friday
will consist of both NEMRR racing and Loudon Classic Qualifying, and
Saturday will be a dedicated Pro Day with practice, qualifying and
finals for the three pro classes. Enthusiasts looking for tickets to the
Loudon Classic June 16-18 can find a link directly on the www.nemrr.com
home page!
