Round 1: NEOC Cumberland County Fairgrounds

Race Report: NEOC Round 1: Cumberland County Fairgrounds Hare Scramble

Rider: Zack Huberty
Bike: MotoFIT KTM 200 XC
Result: A-Light 10^th, 44^th overall
Point Standings: 10^th

Report:
After the last race, I was extremely disappointed with my performance.  However, when it comes to overcoming a set-back, I am always determined to improve and get better the next time.  This past week, I was able to work on my race bike and take it to New Jersey to ride with an AA rider, Tanner Thomas.  I was able to straighten out some of my suspension settings.  It is very helpful when I can go out and mess around with suspension clickers.  For me, it is all about learning from my mistakes, and I am able to do that.

This past weekend was the first round of the NEOC Hare Scramble Series and it kicked off at the Cumberland County Fairgrounds.  This race hasn’t been my favorite since the course gets very rough and I’ve raced it quite a few times.  But it was going to be a good test of my endurance and a test to see if my suspension adjustments helped.  Upon arrival at the race, I quickly realized that everyone had come out to the race.  The main event was huge with a 220+ racers.  I raced in the A-light class which combined two-strokes and four-strokes into one class, which is different from other series which usually do an A-200 class.

The main was set to go off at 2pm.  I got dressed in my sweet Fly Racing Kinetic Gear and my F2 Carbon Kevlar helmet.  I have to say that the Fly helmets are impressive and remind me of a high dollar Arai or Shoei street bike helmet with all of the vents and 3-inch thick helmet padding.  I was also fortunate enough to have Jerod Stoner at JSdesigns.com do some vinyl lettering for me on my jersey which turned out great!  If anyone is looking for some jersey lettering or custom t-shirts, he is the guy to go to.  Additionally, Drew Smith helped me make some suspension changes during the week which I was anxious to try out.

A little before 2pm, I headed up to the line on my MotoFIT KTM 200XC and warmed up the bike.  Before I knew it, the flag dropped and we were flat-tracking it around the first turn.  I had a fairly solid start but my inside line wasn’t as good of a choice as the outer line where riders were able to carry more speed.  In the first corner, I got plastered by dust and rocks, and had to back it off a little.  I lost a few positions but kept my composure.  By the time we got to the woods section, I had picked off a few riders and was settling into a comfortable pace.  To my surprise, we headed across the street where some nice new trail waited for us.  This trail was fast and fun.  I felt a lot more comfortable in the woods than out on the flatter grass track style course.  I was able to pass a couple more people in the woods, and follow a few other riders.  Early on, my plan was to settle into a pace and then slowly turn my speed up each lap. 

After the first lap, I was 13^th and was feeling a lot better than the weekend before.  The next lap, I made a pass up to 12^th, and then made another pass for 11^th on the next lap.  I kept pushing and putting in consistent laps.  By the halfway mark, I was finding my stride and was able to pace myself.  I wasn’t as tired as I expected.  In the last couple of laps, the track started getting extremely beat up with lots of square edges, whoops, and roots.  The ruts in the grass track were forcing me to pick wider lines or alternative choices.  Towards the end, lappers also became worse and I made a couple dangerous passes in order to pass people.  The more it got rough, the more I tried to piece together lines that were less rough and I also tried to ride on the outer edges of the whoops to avoid hitting the deep spots.

In the end, I was able to finish in 10^th and 44^th overall which is a big improvement from the previous weekend.  My class was stacked with a lot of riders, but I am looking to improve in the upcoming races.  I am unsure of whether I will attend the full ECEA or NEOC series, but I will make that decision coming up.  My primary focus will be the enduros and I will stay in shape by racing hare scrambles.  This coming weekend is the Sandy Lane Enduro and Round 1 of the ECEA Enduro Series.  I feel more prepared than I did at last year’s first enduro, so I am hoping to be top 3 in A-200.

I would like to thank the support of my family and friends, especially my dad for his race support, as well as my sponsors which are Johnny Limp at Torc1Racing, Drew Smith at WER Suspension, Mike at MotoFIT, PowerSeal USA, FMF, Jerod Stoner at JSdesigns for the jersey lettering, EKS Brand Goggles, P3, All Balls Racing, Sixsixone, Mika Metals, N-Style, Vertex Pistons, Fly Racing, DT-1 Filters, Motorex, Hinson Clutch Components, Acerbis, and Clockwork KTM. I would like to thank Mike at MotoFIT for all of the KTM support and help with parts.


For more information:

Check WER Suspension out on Facebook “Works Enduro Rider (WER)”

Check MotoFIT Motosports out on Facebook “MotoFIT”

Check Zack Huberty out on Facebook “Zack Huberty”

Check Zack Huberty’s Blog http://zackhuberty323racing.blogspot.com/