NGPC TAFT,CA

FEB 12-14

NGPC Round 2 Taft, CA. It was a successful weekend getting caught up on our 21' team shoot and a couple of our riders found some progress forward. We were skeptical about the weather coming into the weekend as there was quite a bit of cloud coverage and random rain coming though Friday and Saturday. It ended up being a beautiful day on Sunday for racing. 

We unfortunately had a couple riders go down over the weekend resulting in a DNF.Thomas Dunn had a severe crash that put him out on lap one of the pro race and he will be out the next couple of months. Caitlyn Kurtz also went down and knocked herself out and still finished. She should be healthy to race this weekend at the Canyon Worcs race. 

JUSTIN SEEDS

1ST

VET PRO

Seeds had a great weekend winning the Vet Pro race by a landslide. A lot of 30+ pros have been moving into the vet class and it has become a race to watch. Seeds was able to use this win to the teams advantage helping the rest of our riders understand what the track was doing and where they could be the fastest. 

In his words: "I was able to get a good start and was running second until Mark Tilley went down. After that I was able to check out and have a comfortable lead at the finish.  It was a great race to look for lines and let my team mates know where the lines were to ride for there practice later that day."

NICK BURSON

4TH

VET PRO

Burson showed up for the team photoshoot and decided to jump in on the vet pro race with Justin and didn't miss a beat. He battled hard most of the race with Mark Samuel and Nick Stover for the third place spot. He ended up 4th by the end and put on a spectacular race for the spectators. Burson will be competing the rest of the year at the District 37 Hare & Hound series on a YZ 450FX.

In his words: "This past weekend I decided to line up for the Vet Pro race at the NGPC series.  I haven't raced a GP since I hurt my knee at one in 2019.  I have always liked the GP's and hope to get to more of them this year.  I got off to a decent start probably around 5th around the first turn. After some chaos in the first few corners I settled into 3rd. Watching Seeds and Tilley battle I was trying to pace them and stay with the lead. They were pulling away a little bit and as I came around a corner Tilley was laying on the ground and I almost hit him. I missed him and immediately turned around and made sure no one else ran him over. Luckily there were some spectators nearby that ran down to help him.  Most of the other riders stopped as well so when I took off I was still in 3rd place just with Seeds way up ahead now and Stover not too far in front. I caught up to Stover and battled with him for a little bit and he let me by on lap 3.  But soon after that my right hand went completely numb.  An issue I've been dealing with since getting back on the bike.  I tried to push through it but didn't want to crash so finally just slowed way down when I didn't get the white flag. I shaked out my hand and got it to come back so I could actually ride normally.  This pushed me back to 4th but I thought I still had two laps left. Finally my hand came back and I took back off trying to catch 2nd and 3rd.  I ended up catching right up to them coming into the scoring shoot and was hoping to pass them the next lap. Well little did I know they throw the checkered flag out on time now which is a great improvement to keep on schedule but I was waiting for the white flag.  Well I didn't get it but got the Checkered and finished 4th overall.  Not bad but still far from where I should be.  All in all it was a fun weekend with the team and family and I enjoyed getting out and doing some racing as well!  Looking forward to the next one!"

MASON OTTERSBERG

3RD

PRO 250

Ottersberg finally made it back on the box. Precision Concepts has worked hard on new settings for him as he gets faster and the move was successful. He is starting to get back to his previous form and is becoming a threat to the 250 pro championship. He had a hard fought battle with Chance Hymas all the way to the end getting the 3rd place spot right at the last turn before the finish. His confidence and edge is coming back sooner than we expected. 

 In his words: "I am happy to get this monkey off my back and feel close to where I was before the injury. I recently hired a new trainer, Miles Brazil and he has turned my program around in the short two weeks I have been working with him. I am not satisfied with this 3rd, but it is a very good step in the right direction."

TYLER LYNN

6TH

   PRO  

Lynn has worked diligently with Precision Concepts to get his YZ 450FX comfortable for him. He has made some forward momentum with the settings and it showed. He rode hard and battle arm pump before the pit. He loosened up soon after and put on a smooth charge to a 6th place finish. 

 
In his words: "I got off to a really good jump and came around the first corner top 5. I tried to hang with the top group but i just was riding to stiff and let them guys go. After a quick pit I finally was able to loosen up and put on a charge, I felt really comfortable and was able to put in some good laps. Coming into the finish with another 6th place pro. Definitely not where we want to be but we’re gonna work out the kinks and keep pushing. Thanks to everyone involved in our program!"

THOMAS DUNN

DNF

PRO 250

Dunn looked great all weekend and showed strong potential to compete for a podium. Unfortunately early on in the race he took a hard hit and knocked himself out of the race. He will be on the mend for a couple months as he has some severe injuries. We hope he heals quickly and he can get back to doing what he loves. 

In his words: "I was feeling pretty good and was off to a good start inside the top 10 and working my way forward. My hand slipped off and I put it back on to grab a handful of throttle to get the front wheel up over the next bump but my weight was to far forward. I went over the bars and rebroke my thumb (we now think it has been fractured whole time.) I have little fractures on my l1 and l2 vertebrae , a separated shoulder and some torn stuff in there. Thanks to everyone that supports the program and we will be back soon!"

AVA SILVESTRI

4TH 

WOMEN'S PRO

Silvestri had another solid weekend on the bike getting valuable seat time. The rough taft track was difficult for her to overcome and will let this round serve as another valuable round to grow. Her speed is there, she just needs to keep dialing in the small things to get her to that next step. 

In her words: "Another race weekend down. Taft was an experience for sure and it took a lot of me mentally to be able to accept the position I was in and back it down later in the race to prevent injury. I was riding very timid but still was able to keep a good pace. All is well and I’m super happy with where I’m at on the bike and with my fitness. Per usual, only way to go is up from here."

CAITLYN KURTZ

3RD 

WOMEN'S EXPERT

Kurtz rode well all weekend and looked very confident with the track. She is a tuff one, she took a hard fall Sunday and knocked herself out and still kept going finishing 3rd in women's 4 stroke open A. Her resilience is exactly why we want to keep supporting her efforts. 

In her words: "Round two of the NGPC series at Taft was a fun weekend. My race on Saturday went off with a decent start and an epic battle for second. Halfway through I fell into third and couldn’t get back to second for the Women’s Expert class. Sunday’s race I had a great start running first in class, but on the first lap I wadded pretty hard and fell back to third. I managed to get up and keep a steady pace and finish the race in third for the Women’s Four-Stroke Open A class."  

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