Shelton, CT (3/27/2009)
- The New England ATV Motocross (NEATV-MX)
Series has been consistently growing over the
past couple of seasons, but the upcoming season
is a highly anticipated one among racers and fans
alike because this year there will be three returning
Pro ATV Champions all sporting factory rides for
the 2009 season.
| |
| Kawasaki's
Joe Haavisto wraps up the 2008 NEATV-MX
Pro & Pro-Am ATV Championships on
a KFX450R |
“Most of the pro riders move on to another
series once they have won here. This is the
first time in the history of the series that
the current champ (Joe Haavisto) will be returning
to defend his championship,” stated series
promoter Howard Payne. “In addition, we
have two previous pro champions that will be
running the full series as well, so things should
get pretty exciting out there.”
Kawasaki’s Joe Haavisto is the Pro rider
that will be tackling the NEATV-MX series in
hopes of taking his second consecutive Pro and
Pro-am championships. “I’m glad
to be returning. I think there will be some
good competition this year,” said Haavisto,
who has been recovering from knee surgery to
repair a torn ACL during the off-season. “I’ve
been training about four days a week and will
be riding again very soon,” said Joe.
The 2008 champion is also looking forward to
his second season aboard the Kawasaki KFX450R.
“I’ve got it pretty well dialed
in so I’m excited about getting back out
there and defending my championship,”
concluded Haavisto.
Haavisto feels his biggest competition will
come from 2007 Pro and Pro-am dual champion,
Nate Morello, who will be riding his new KTM
450SX. “I’ve been doing a lot of
training, and I am planning to win the championship
again,” said Morello. “The NEATV-MX
series is a really good series. It’s grown
in size and is very well run, so I’m looking
forward to going back this year,” Morello
added. Nate, who is actually Joe Haavisto’s
cousin is looking forward to giving it his all
in hopes of dethroning the current champ and
putting his name on top at season’s end.
Another contender for the championship title
is 2006 NEATV-MX Pro champion, Matt Pomeroy.
Matt began his racing career at the NEATV-MX
series eight years ago and turned pro in 2005.
Matt is looking forward to returning this year
aboard his new BCS Performance backed Can-Am
DS450. “The NEATV is such a great series.
It has grown immensely in the last couple of
years. There used to be very little support
when I first started out and now there’s
factory involvement and contingencies. It’s
really come a long way,” said Matt, who
was piloting a Polaris 450 last season. “I’m
really looking forward to getting out there
on the new bike. BCS is helping me out a lot
with it and I can’t wait to see what it
can do,” said Pomeroy excitedly.
The first round of the 2009 NEATV-MX series
will kick off on the weekend April 25-26th in
Wallkill, New York where Walden MX will play
host to the season opener festivities.
