Written by Stone Hendrikx
Photos by Brian J. Nelson / Stone Hendrikx
For the first time in history, the Super Hooligans took on 'The Ridge.' Two heart pumping rounds of qualifying, followed by two nail-biter Races. It was truly a great spectacle of Racing.
The morning of the races on Saturday was concerningly sprinkly outside, but by the time of the race it was a beautiful sun-filled summer day. Missing from the front row in race one was Stefano Mesa who ended up starting from pit lane. He would then go on to pass about ten people to get to the battle at the front. The KTM 890 rider Andy Dibrino lead the first couple laps, but hot on his heels was Jeremy McWilliams with Tyler OHara closely behind. On lap three of eight Jerry McWilliams got by Andy Dibrino passing him going into turn 11 and going underneath him. Tyler OHara would also line up a pass on Andy dibrino going into the tight turn 13, a corner very similar to the Corkscrew. This was a place where a lot of passing happened throughout the weekend and a place where Tyler OHara was extremely strong, and he showed that coming by Andy on lap 5. Jeremy and Tyler went on to fight the rest of the race, a terrifying battle for the lead. Lap 13, with two laps to go Tyler came by Jeremy and led the rest of the race, and the final order of the race concluded Tyler OHara in first, Jeremy McWilliams 2nd, and the hometown hero Andy Dibrino in 3rd.
The Ridge consists of a 2.47 mile road course with nine left hand corners, and seven right hand corners. The track was constructed in 2011- it's a very smooth track with a lot of grip but definitely has some chatter bumps. The Ridge is proven to be a very difficult and challenging track for everybody with a lot of elevation changes and blind corners so it's not the easiest track on the calendar as a lot of the new riders have found out.
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Race 2 on Sunday was begun with a textbook start from Andy Dibrino but his lead didn't last for long as Tyler OHara came around him a few laps later, and Tyler never looked back. Slotted behind Andy was Jeremy McWilliams, followed by Jake Lewis and chasing him was Bobby Fong. Tyler OHara set the fast lap of the race with a 1:45.7, just a few tenths off of Andy Dibrino's qualifying time. With five laps to go there was about a second gap of Andy Dibrino and a second back to Jeremy McWilliams. We wondered if it was going to pan out this way but Jeremy McWilliams had other ideas.
Race 2 proved to be a second faster in lap times than race one, as the riders dropped down into the 45's.
With 4 laps to go Jeremy Williams comes underneath Andy Dibrino to take over second place, and the question was would he be able to chase down his teammate Tyler OHara who bested him in race one. On the last lap with Tyler in the lead, Jeremy McWilliams would go on top of the curbing as they passed a lapper, swerve to the left as they entered turn 13, and overtook his teammate deep on the brakes. Tyler OHara ended up letting go of the brakes to try and stay in front of Jeremy but tucked the front and ran off into the dirt while Jeremy safely made it by and went on to take his first Super Hooligan win at the Ridge. Tyler was lucky to get it gathered up, got back on track, and managed to stay in front of Andy Dibrino at the line. Cory West landed 4th, Bobby Fong 5th, Stefano Mesa 6th, AJ Peaslee in 7th, Mark Price in 8th, Mallory Dobbs in 9th, and Sean Cresap rounding out your top 10.
The Air-Cooled finisher would be Hawk Mazzotta, racing with Lloydz Garage on the RSD Indian Chief.
As if there hadn't been enough drama on the race track this weekend, the real drama hit after the race and in the pits when both of the S&S Indian riders were protested for too low of a handlebar. It was determined that both riders violated the handlebar rule and were disqualified which meant that your third-place rider Andy Dibrino was declared the official winner. Cory West was then announced 2nd, and Bobby Fong 3rd.
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TOP 10 WEEKEND QUALIFIERS:
- Andy Dibrino firing off on all cylinders on his KTM with the overall best time of 1:45.497 - a Super Hooligan track record (and within 5 seconds of the Super Bike pole time which is just smoking fast.
- Less than a second behind him was Tyler OHara on his Indian FTR1200 with a 1:45.906
- and less than a second behind Tyler was no one other than his FTR brother Jeremy Mcwilliams pulling in a 1:46.391.
- Team Saddlemen's Jake Lewis on his Harley Davidson Pan America positioned 4th with a 1:48.778.
- The number 50 of Bobby Fong on the Roland Sands Design Indian FTR takes 5th with a 1:49.196, despite having wadded the bike up on Friday's qualifier.
- Following right behind Bobby was Stefano Mesa on the electric Tytlers Cycle Racing Energica hauling in a 1:49.232.
- Next was Team Saddlemen's Corey West on his Harley Davidson Pan America with a 1:49.352.
- Then AJ Peaslee on his KTM with Zone 9 Racing with a 1:50.538
- Mark Price racing with Gray Area Racing with a 1:50.913.
- In 10th was Sean Cresap another Gray Area racer with a 1:52.208.
- And the top Air-Cooled qualifier was Hawk Mazzotta on the Roland Sands Design Indian Chief racing with Lloydz Garage, ringing in a 1:58.089.
Stay tuned for more drama, because there certainly will be more at Laguna Seca next weekend as the S&S Indian team will have a lot to prove getting back out on the track.
It was an incredible weekend of racing out at The Ridge, loads of drama on and off the track, and the Super Hooligan National Championship continues to bring the heat.
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