Race Report: 2015 BIG 6 Round 2 | Taft
D37 BIG 6 GP championship series Round two | Jan. 31, 2015 | Taft, CA Honolulu Hills Raceway was the site for the second round of the D37 BIG 6 grand prix series. Justin Seeds was confident coming into the race off the back of his second place finish at the first round of the series in Adelanto, and showing some impressive lap times at the WORCS race two weeks prior which was held at the same venue as this weekend. His teammate Robby Bell was also riding a wave of confidence as at the Taft WORCS round he was able to take home the win. Both riders were looking to finish up on top of the box by race end.
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Robby Bell | 1st place The grand prix would utilize a motocross-style start, with a green starting light release, and as the first line took off, Robby was right up toward the front. “I got a pretty decent jump, but Blayne [Thompson] absolutely rocketed off the line and owned that first turn. I thought I had a lock on second through the first corner, but Colton [Udall] came flying up the inside of me and pushed me wide into a Yamaha. I got pinched in between the Yamaha and Colton pretty hard, as we all made contact, but luckily we stayed upright and I was able to salvage a third place start.” Robby held on to third place for the first half of the race, remaining patient and feeling out the course for slick spots. “Taft is known for being incredibly slick when it’s freshly watered, and it caught Colton off guard around a left hander as he slid out and handed second place to me.”
With only Thompson left out front Robby began to turn up the intensity. “Once I had a good idea of where the slick spots were I decided I wanted to start pressing for the lead. I made a really nice outside-in pass on Blayne, but he caught me off guard over the next hill and passed me back.” It wasn’t long before Robby got back around Blayne, taking over the lead once more, and this time he would hold on to it for the remainder of the race. “There’s something about this place [the Honolulu Hill race track] that I really like. It always gets really rough, and the scary silt hole kind of rough, so it separates the competition and really makes you pick good lines.” This was Robby’s third win of the young 2015 season. “I feel like I’m really on form right now, and my bike is working so unbelievable well. The way we have the bike working, it’s making it so much fun to ride no matter how rough the courses get. I just really want to keep this momentum rolling.”
CLICK HERE to view Robby’s full race recap
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Justin Seeds | 4th place Justin’s race got off to a decent start as he came through the first couple corners just outside the top five. “I wheelied a little bit and when I got to the first turn I got pushed a little wide so I think I came around the first corner in sixth or seventh.” Justin then methodically made his way into the top five through through the early part of the race. “I made a couple passes, got into fifth place, and I was pretty much by myself for a while. I finally caught up to Blayne Thompson and got around him when we pitted, but at the same time Colton got around me so I was basically stuck in fifth place.”
Late in the race Eric Yorba (who was running second) would suffer a DNF, moving Justin up to fourth which was where he would finish as the checkers came out, earning him solid points toward the championship. Though it was a good performance, Justin wasn’t quite satisfied with how the day turned out and is turning his thoughts to the next race. “My goal coming in to Taft was to get on the podium, but I just didn’t quite have the speed of the guys up front today. Next race I want to sprint at the beginning and run up front right away. I really want to get beck on that podium. I want to thank Precision Concepts, John Burr Cycles, Monster Energy, Moose racing, Parts Unlimited, A’ME grips, Shoei, X-Brand, Focus, my family and all of the team sponsors that support us.”
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