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Yamaha/ITP QuadCross
Round 1--2009
This is the opening round, folks, a new
season with new machines and an all new line up
of racers. The growing popularity of the
Quadcross is showing with a few national riders
coming way out west to test their skills. Some
riders came from overseas to compete in this
opening round. There was definitely a great turn
out for this round, since they combined the
opening round of the ATVA Pro Nationals on the
same weekend. So, some of the amateur racers
threw their hat in the ring to race the
Yamaha/ITP Quadcross--racers like Joel Hetrick
who had a nasty spill in one of his motos and
took out a photographer. Also, there was
Michelle Natalie and Adrienne Cooper who took on
the boys in the 450 Production Intermediate
Class. These ladies were also featured in a
local news story about women racing ATVs with
the guys.
The much anticipated arrival of Jason
Dunkleberger to the Golden West/Yamaha Team, and
his bid for the 2009 Quadcross Championship was
here. Dunkleberger was looking good in practice
on Saturday and was attacking the uphill whoop
section. He got sideways in one run though there
and just about took me out. Jeremie Warina had
already made a few appearances last year at the
Quadcross and also showed them he has what it
takes to race a WORCS race this year. Now it
looks like the Frenchman will be also tackling
the whole ITP Quadcross season for ’09. Another
notable Frenchman on hand to throw down in the
opening round was Yamaha/CT Racing’s Romain
Couprie. Couprie was here last year for the
opening round of the ATVA National. This year he
was going to try his hand at the Quadcross.
Pro Class Moto 1
Racers lined up for what would actually be a
qualifier, not a combined score of 2 motos, just
the best of finisher in the main. Since there
were over 20 entries, they ran two full gates of
pros. The first gate flew off the line and out
of Talladega, Dustin Nelson was off to the early
lead with Joel Hetrick and Jeremie Warina not
too far behind. The next wave launched from the
line with Evan Spooner from AZ. Spooner took off
with the early lead with Mike Machado not too
far behind him. Romain Couprie was in the second
wave of riders. With about a mid-pack start,
Couprie had some work to do.
Coming around for the second lap Nelson had
already started to pull away from the pack. Sage
Baker had already made a pass on a few riders
and bumped up to second. Warina was now back to
third and Hetrick now in fourth. For the second
wave of pro racers, Mike Machado had already
made his move and passed Spooner. Now Dustin
Terry was on Spooner’s tail and looking for him
to bobble so he could get around him for second.
French Racer Romain Couprie had now moved up to
fourth and was looking for his opportunity to
pass as well. Couprie finds his chance to get
around the other riders and move up to second by
the start of the third lap. Things were about
the same for the third wave. The fourth lap
around Warina was putting the pressure on Baker
looking to go after Nelson. As for Hetrick he
would lose a place to Landon Hurst aboard the
Polaris MX450.
Almost to the half way point Warina would
finally make his pass on Sage Baker stick. Now
is there enough time to catch Nelson? As for the
second wave, Frenchman Couprie was now was
looking to better his position and take home a
top qualifying spot. Also, a few other Yamaha
riders now moving up in the pack were Justin
Noss and Jason Dunkleberger aboard their new
YFZ450Rs, running third and fourth. At the
finish Dustin Nelson would take home the top
spot with Jeremie Warina in second, Sage Baker
was in third. As for the second wave of racers,
Romain Couprie took top qualifier in wave two,
followed by Justin Noss and Jason Dunkleberger.
Pro Main
Lined up for the big main event of the day,
engines revving, wrenches clearing the gate, and
the intense stare down to the first turn, these
boys are ready for battle. The engines picked up
R’s and then we heard the clunk of the gate
dropping. The racers shot off the start pads and
down the straight away with Polaris’s Landon
Hurst taking the holeshot. Motoworks/Can-Am’s
Jeremie Warina was in tow, followed by Factory
Yamaha’s Dustin Nelson. Before they could even
get half way around the course,Warina would make
his way around Hurst. Nelson would get held up
by Hurst and get around Landon on the second
lap. Nelson then set his sights on Warina who
had already started to pull away. Hurst would
begin to fade. As for Sage Baker another Can-Am
rider would move up a few spots and work his way
up to third. As for Romain Couprie, one of
the top qualifiers, he had been working his way
though the pack and moved up to fourth. The
highly-anticipated debut of Jason Dunkleberger,
Justin Noss and Dunk was a battle back mid pack.
They had worked their way up for Dunk to finish
fifth and Noss finishing seventh. As for the
front runners, Nelson would just run out of time
to catch the Frenchman Warina. Dustin Nelson
would finish second followed by the other
Frenchman Romain Couprie who finished third.
Both French racers ran the Pro Production and
Open Pro finishing first and third in both
classes with Warina taking home two wins.
What a great kick off to the Quadcross season
and I’m looking forward to covering the upcoming
rounds! If they are as action-packed as this
weekend, then it’s going to be a season full of
great racing.
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