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New England ATV Motocross -- Round 7
Joe Haavisto
Michael Pahlas
Michael Pilotte |
Middleboro, MA – Joe Haavisto took a double
win this weekend at round eight of the NEATV
series in the Pro and Pro-am classes aboard his
#75 Kawasaki KFX450 despite an impressive
challenge from BCS Performance backed Michael
Pilotte.
Capeway Rovers was once again the hosting
facility for the weekend’s races. Mother Nature
decided to cooperate for the most part, offering
up partly sunny skies for most of the day until
just before the first Pro moto when a rain
shower moved through but soon dissipated.
Michael Pilotte grabbed the holeshot in moto
one with Joe Haavisto close behind. Although
Haavisto applied the pressure, Pilotte was able
to hold him off on the tight track all the way
to the finish line. “Joe was right behind me the
whole time. If I would have made a mistake, he
would have been able to get a round me,” said
Pilotte. In moto two it was Haavisto that took
the holeshot with Pilotte in second. “The
Capeway track is pretty tight and has limited
places to make a pass, so it really helps if
someone in front of you makes a mistake. I was
behind Joe, waiting for him to make a mistake,
but he never did,” said the #748 rider. Pilotte
went on to take second in Pro moto two, which
earned him 2nd overall. In the Pro-am class,
Pilotte went on to take both moto holeshots and
claimed a 1-1 finish to take the pro-am overall
win.
Joe Haavisto, who is the points leader in
both the Pro and Pro-am classes took second in
the first Pro moo holeshot. “It rained right
before the first moto and it made things a
little slick off the line and I spun more than I
wanted to so I just missed getting the holeshot,”
said Haavisto. “I stayed right with Pilotte the
whole time, but he rode a good race and I never
had an opportunity to pass him.” Moto two was a
different story for Haavisto as he grabbed the
holeshot and rode strong all the way to the
finish line. Joe’s 2-1 finishes allowed him to
take the top spot on the podium in the Pro
class.
In the Pro-am class, Haavisto could not catch
a break on the holeshot as Pilotte shut him down
in both motos. “My bike was running really well
and I was able to edge Joe out off the line,”
said Michael. The finishing order of the Pro-am
class was basically the same as how riders came
off the gate as there were limited areas to
pass.
Justin Hoffler rode strong in both the Pro
and Pro-am classes this weekend, claiming a
solid third place finish in both classes. “I had
a pretty good weekend. I had strong finishes in
both classes, even though the track was tight
and hard to pass on, and I had no issues with my
bike,” said Hoffler happily. “But I’m really
looking forward to the next round when we go
back to Jolly Roger. That’s my favorite track.”
Jolly Roger is also a favorite of Joe
Haavisto as well. “Jolly is my favorite track in
this series and I usually do well there so I’m
really looking forward to going back there,” he
said. Haavisto also has something else to look
forward to this month, as he will be joining the
Kawasaki team at the Steel City Invitational on
August 30th. “Kawasaki got four invitations to
the event, so they gave one to me. I’m really
excited about it!” Joe stated. “But it’s going
to be tough because I have to race there on
Saturday and be at Jolly Roger on Sunday for
round nine.”
In the Women’s class, Amy Thompson lost her
points lead as she was not in attendance for
this round. Angie Maher ran a strong race and
claimed 2-1 finishes which gave her the overall
win for the day, with Tiffany LaClair in second
and Paige Whipple took the final spot on the
podium. With Amy missing round eight, it allowed
Paige Whipple to take over first place in the
points race and Tiffany LaClair to move within
striking distance of Amy’s now second place
standing.
Ralle Rookey dominated both the 4stroke
Expert A class and Open Expert A this weekend
and leads both classes in the point race. Ryan
Coleman, the points leader in the Open Amateur B
class ran into issues in both motos with a DNS
in the first moto and a DNF in moto two, which
allowed Ryan Krohn to take a1-1 finish and the
top spot on the podium with Justin Alger in
second and Dylan Bisson in third. Coleman also
was not able to compete in the 4-stroke Amateur
B class, where Justin Locke took the overall
with a 1-1 finish, followed by Dennis Sharpe in
second and Nick Orluk in third.
In the 90 Senior class, points leader Chris
Dipietro got tangled up in the first moto which
allowed second in points, Ryan Ouellet to take
the first moto win. Dipietro came on strong in
the second moto. Chris took the holeshot and led
for the entire race, but it was not enough to
take the overall win, which went to Ryan Ouellet
with his remarkable 1-2 finishes. Ryan Bournival
went on to take the final spot on the podium in
the 90 Senior class.
In the 90 Auto Junior class, points leader
Ryan DuPont suffered a DNF in the first moto,
but even with his second moto win it wasn’t
enough to earn his a podium spot as Cody
Paolella took the overall win with Chris Kearny
in second and Riley Bishop claimed third. In the
70 Limited class, Andy Cummings rode an
incredible race claiming a 1-1 finish to take
the overall win, while class points leader
Michael Pahlas finished in second and Wade
Pollard rode to a consistent third place. In the
50 Limited, Deven Fontaine dominated both motos
to take the overall win while Luke Brown and
Jacob Jean battled for second and third with
Brown ending his day in second overall and Jean
taking third.
The next round of the NEATV series will head
back to Jolly Roger Motorsports park in Lempster,
NH on August 31st where the points races will
intensify as there are only four races left in
the 2008 season.
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