AMA Supermoto Round 4 / Sturgis
Were we blacked out or was it a media black out? Maybe what happens in Sturgis stay in Sturgis… nah in all seriousness we didn’t have my beautiful wife with us during this long trip to take photos and it was a night race so cameras capturing racing shots don’t do well in low light either. Luckily for us and you our friend and amazing photographer Chris Bruce came out and snaped some awesome shot before the sun set on Sturgis.
Bang: Sturgis never disappoints! We’re all thinking it, it’s not the “streets of Sturgis” But I will say this race event is one of the most memorable events I have ever attended. The track was a Oval & TT, Jump out of the oval and onto the MX track. The dirt is prepped to get packed, wet, and bluegroove, Riding it on Rains gives more traction than I expected. Made for some gnarly racing.
Russ Plane back on the podium
Bang: Riding with a broken thumb was brutal, it was my first time qualifying onpole so that was cool. Moto 1 I went down and rode around with a flopping handguard for half a lap until i decided to pull off to remove it. Zach Was moving.
photo: Chris Bruce
National Am
69 Zach Klassen 1-1
292 Johnny Bang 4-2
471 Russ Plane 3-3
141 Thomas Michelke 2-4
487 Graham Watson 5-5
938 Darren Kochanowski 6-6
Butters: Jbang rode awesome with a busted up thumb to get himself on the podium. After such a long week it was awesome to see Johnny get on the podium. Zach and Russ have been really impressive this year
who runs out of gas and still gets second place? Simpy does
Bang:fag!
photo: Chris Bruce
Pro Lites
929 Charlie Buffum 1-1
324 Ryan Samp 2-2
686 Jeff Panelley 3-3
266 Brandon Kinsey 4-4
Simpy: Sturgis hits different. I had such an awesome time going back and racing there again.. I feel like I missed out on the pinnacle of Sturgis supermoto racing since they don’t wind through the city streets anymore but something about riding an MX track on a supermoto kinda makes up for it. With gnarly ruts forming and the motos getting pushed back due to lightning delays it made for an unbelievable racing experience. Without the sun beating down on you during a race it makes it so much more enjoyable to just go out and turn laps. It was really cool how they incorporated the flat track/TT track into the course, it added a few technical spots that we didn’t have last year and made it way more unique than just running on the mx track. Even through all the delays we still managed to get through all the motos and have an awesome night racing with the homies.
Moto 1: Check your gas, folks. Moto 1 started off great, had a decent start on the “asphalt” but ended up getting pushed wide by Zach Klassen cause there was no traction and we had a decent amount of momentum going into the corner. After everyone managed to get through the first corner and onto the dirt I ended up being behind Zach and Charlie Buffum going into the first couple jumps. Once we made it through the dark shicane I was able to get around Zach on the big tabletop and beat him to the next corner. Once I got around him me and Charlie kind of checked out and lapped everyone except Zach. Charlie was on another level here, I knew I wasn’t gonna stand a chance of keeping up with him on an all dirt course but he exceeded my expectations and killed it the night. So Stoked for him and what he accomplished that night. After grinding through 8 more laps of just trying to keep Buffum in sight (which I didn’t) I was coming through the dark shicane and heard my bike cut out for a second and instantly realized I forgot to add gas after going out for practice. It wasn’t very much further before it shut off completely and stranded me on the side of the track. Trust me, running out of gas with a quarter lap left makes for a long walk back to the pits. After getting back to the pits I realized I should’ve pushed the back around the flat track to finish the last lap. This would’ve made scoring the moto a lot easier. Hindsight is 20/20. It was pretty discouraging watching all the people I had lapped come around and pass me back while I'm exhausted and pushing my bike back in the dark. Just had to get to the pits and get ready to go back out for Open Pro and not make the same mistake again.
Moto 2: Moto 2 started off pretty similar. I made it to the first jumps right behind Zack and Charlie but it took me a little longer to get around Zach since I wasn’t able to take advantage of the passing lines on the mx track. Luckily once we got to the flat track TT section I was able to get around him and push forward. Charlie was already gone though. It was pretty boring once I got into second, Just put my head down and found a flow. Ended up second in that moto which helped a lot for points. Going dnf/2 overall makes it a little complicated for scoring but luckily since I lapped everyone else in moto 1 it counted as a 2nd which led to a 2nd overall for the race. I’m stoked that’s how it turned out cause having a 4th place overall would’ve tanked any shot I had at the title. Even though Charlie is ripping this year I’m still within striking distance for season points. Just have to wait and see how the next two rounds unfold.
Bronson Pearce has picked up speed over in europe and brought it home, Career first victory for him
photo: Chris Bruce
Open Pro
32 Bronson Pearce 2-1
929 Charlie Buffum 1-3
41 Nicky Reimer 3-2
109 Sean Butterman 4-4
839 Brandon Hatle 5-5
324 Ryan Samp 6-6
175 Austin Pecoraro 8-7
266 Brandon Kinsey 9-8
33 Dawson Scheiffer 7-DNF :(
Simpy: This was my favorite Open Pro race this season. I was able to find a decent flow and always have fun racing with the homies. I was on the 250 all night cause I was short on rain tires and felt more comfortable on the 250 in the dirt. I was getting close to Brandon in moto 1 but tucked the front going around the flat track section. It was a quick crash but I still didn’t have enough time to try and catch back up. After doing the pro Lites motos and Moto 1 for Open Pro I was pretty gassed so I just found the same spot in finishing order and ran smooth laps to get through the race. Running double duty was pretty tough on that track but it was cool being able to get more seat time on it and racing in front of all the bikers that showed up from the rally. Overall it was another awesome road trip out to Wisconsin and Sturgis and I’m already looking forward to next year.
Butters: I did myself no favors at this race, we had lightning delays resulting in practice and qualifying being combined into a single 20min session. I brought a set of stock airforks off my moto bike to put on to try to give myself more comfort and feeling on the majority motocross style track. It proved to be a bad move as it threw the balance of the bike far of what i know and i left my caliper bolts loose in my hurryied attemp to swap forks resulting in 4 laps of practice/qualifing for myself. the track was super fun to ride with a unique layout of a tt track and moto track the jackpine gypies facility in Sturgis. with the race being during the 83rd annual bike rally. The track and Ama supermoto decided to try to hold the race during the evening under the lights like because thats when they traditional hold the flattrack or tt races. They had to mobile lights for the motocross portion of the track that were not able to be delivered until the day of the race so they were untested and the lighting was very dark in some sections of the track. Overall it was super fun to ride the dirt rutted up and made for a very unique circuit. First moto my guy Charlie Buffum straight up beat us all on his 250f, yep a 250f… wild. Buffdaddy raced both classes as normal so he had so much riding to do and it took a toll on him by the second open moto but still got second overall with 1-3 finishes. Bronson Pearce made his return to the series with his first ever overall win going 2-1! Nicky figured out the track better on moto 2 and going 3-2 for third overall. I felt good but a stall in the second moto and just being a tad off pace left me in 4th.
Bang: Buff Daddy was untouchable moto 1, It was very impressive. Bronsons Flat track abilities showed, I think he has an edge at a track like that.
tossin Dawson tossed himself into the ground first lap of the second moto after catching a rut weird and dislocating his shoulder. heal up homie
photo: Chris Bruce
Nicky found himself off the top step off the podium for the first time this year
photo: Chris Bruce
It was nice to have Brandon Hatle at the races again
photo: Chris Bruce
I found myself off the podium for the first time this year, looked good though
photo: Chris Bruce
“buffdaddy” came out swinging in sturgis winning the first Open Pro race in impressive fashion, on his 250f… he sweeped both prolites moto and was 2nd overall in Open Pro
photo: Chris Bruce
Huge thanks to Chris Bruce for the photos check him out on Instagram
