Offroad Motorcycle
and ATV Nationals
2007 OMA Racing Series
Round #7 - Boyers, PA
Penn
State XC
September 8, 2007 |
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Andy Lagzdins' Pro
ATV Race Report
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| #12
Andy Lagzdins |
Boyers, PA -
The Offroad Motorcycle and ATV Nationals Series
made its way east for the Penn State XC at the "historic"
Boyers track in Northwestern Pennsylvania. The OMA
Series is a ten-race National circuit that uses
a 2-hour cross country format similar to the GNCC's,
but with races that are located more in the center
of the country. The Boyers track had been used for
GNCC's for years, and I remember racing there as
early as 1998. This particular race was a co-sanctioned
event with the AWRCS series, and this helped attract
additional entries. Pennsylvania has become quite
the hotbed of XC racing, and this was evident as
many top National XC Pro and amateur riders were
in attendance for this race including top ten GNCC
pro riders Chris Bithell and Brandon Sommers. Jeremy
Rice was on his new KTM525XC, and amateur standout
riders Angel Atwell, Joey Margeria and Dave Simmons
filled the A classes. Three-time OMA Champion Rob
Zimmerman and I are in a close points battle for
the series title, and we were both looking to gain
an advantage on one another with only a few rounds
remaining.
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| Angela
Atwell |
Brandon
Sommers |
The weather leading up the event was dry, but
the threat of rain was constant on race day. Showers
began to fall occasionally, but the rain never
materialized. The terrain at Boyers is old school
cross country, with miles of tight virgin trails,
intermittent open field sections, and a few deep
water crossings to keep things interesting. The
start area was an uphill run, followed by a handful
of off camber switchbacks. Brandon Sommers took
the holeshot, with Jeff Pickens close behind.
It was apparent immediately that the dust would
play a factor in the race, judging by the way
the powdery berms were exploding as the riders
in front of me hit them. Brandon put in a blistering
first lap, and emerged from the woods with the
lead ahead of Chris Bithell, Jeff Pickens, Johnny
Gallagher, and Jeremy Rice.
The course had some tight spots where you had
to run your nerf bar into a tree on the inside
and let the impact swing the rear around to make
the turn without clipping a tree with the front
wheel. I went into a few spots too hot, and I
felt a human pinball, only I wasn’t getting
any points for hitting things. I was steadily
working my way up from a slow start, trying to
get up to Rob and the rest of the frontrunners.
By the third lap I had both Rob Zimmerman and
Jeremy Rice in sight, and they both had to find
alternate lines around a lapper on an uphill.
Jeremy made it around, but Rob got hung up good
and I was able to make the pass. I followed Jeremy
for a while, when out of nowhere came Brandon
Sommers up behind us. He had thrown a chain, setting
him back a ways, and he was on a mission to get
back out front. Bithell was now in control of
the lead, with Pickens and Gallagher in second
and third.
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Jeff Pickens |
Chris Bithell |
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