I AM STILL SWEATING FROM HANGTOWN: The high temperature at Hangtown on Thursday and Sunday was 80 degrees. The high temperature on Friday and Saturday while we were there was 103 degrees. You can say that it is a dry heat, but so is an oven and that is exactly what it felt like. All of our Flo Motorsports backed athletes knew it was going to be a hot one and we had them prepare for the worst-case scenario, as did most everyone that had to race. After watching both motos, I am not sure it was possible to endure that kind of heat and I give credit to the promoters for recognizing the same thing. They shortened the second moto by five minutes and that saved quite a few racers from certain issues that come with that kind of endurance. The racing turned out to be very exciting from the Friday Combine and WMX races to the Saturday pro races. Great story lines throughout the weekend.
COTY SCHOCK #37: Coty aboard his Flo Motorsports equipped Yamaha made some serious strides on the weekend with moto scores of 11–12=12 overall. That does not tell the entire story. He has been working on his starts and coming across the line in P6 the first moto and P5 the second moto. Pretty amazing for the depth of the field, beating some of the best “starters” in the business. In his normal workman like fashion, he put in good, consistent laps for some good finishes. The effort propelled him up to thirtieth in SMX points for the season and more importantly, helped build more confidence running up front. The weekend effort and the weather limited training to one day this week, and it was a good one. ClubMX has a sophisticated scoring system in place on the main track that increases the intensity of everyone on the track. Wednesday was dedicated to long motos followed by two lap sprints – all day.
MAX VOHLAND #92: Flo Motorsports backed Max also had a decent day with moto scores of 14-11=12 on the day. He continues to build as the series goes on and with this weekend being the last west coast round for a bit, he will be ready for everything High Point has to offer. Not to say he is looking past this weekend at Thunder Valley. Quite the opposite – our bike is good at altitude and so is Max. He continues to work on his starting procedure and keeps making a few “tweaks” during testing. There is no denying that last weekend was difficult for everyone, but he had a plan in place to recover this week to get ready for the altitude. This is something that will separate him from this peers this weekend.
ALEX FEDORTSOV #784: Teaching the rookie the ropes of professional racing has been fun – for the most part. What some people take for granted cannot be overlooked or assumed when it was only his second professional race. The good news – Alex is a quick study and learns from his experiences to make improvements every weekend. The other obvious challenge is learning the new tracks, something that he has done very well with aboard his Flo Motorsports equipped bike. His moto scores were not indicative of his potential going 39-15=20. You are reading that right – he finished fifteenth in the second moto, not bad at all. Alex is a fierce competitor and we expect more quality finishes as the series heads east.
MOTO SCOUTING COMBINE:
JESSON TURNER #257: In what was one of the most exciting races of the weekend, Jesson represented us in fine fashion finishing fifth overall at the Combine. His starts were impressive, and his fitness was on point. The weather on Friday was brutal but he seemed to manage the heat effortlessly. Jesson made the best of his opportunity, networking with the coaches and being a part of the pro team for the day. The Moto Scouting Combine program continues to elevate the level of preparation for all of the participants and helps them fully develop for the professional ranks.
JETT REYNOLDS #54: Jett has returned to training but as of this issue we do not have a date for his return to racing.
REID TAYLOR #186: Perhaps you have not heard of Reid Taylor from Australia, but we will have a press release coming next week for an opportunity at High Point.
The Endless Summer YouTube program has returned. Check the new episode out from Pala:
https://youtu.be/WHSRvVpqCoM?si=ucsx--vwQ7RWpYjp