High Plains Raceway, Byers, CO – July 28-29, 2012
After being on injured reserve for the last few months, due to a motocross crash, Ricky was anxious to get back on the Rocky Mountain Kawasaki ZX-6.
It has become typical Colorado summer weather; it was a hot weekend with temperatures in the nineties.
With no points for this year, Ricky had the pleasure of starting on the last row for all of his races. The start of the middleweight supersport class saw Ricky move through traffic cautiously. At the halfway point he was in fifth position. As the laps wore on and his confidence grew, he moved past another rider. At the checkered flag Ricky had secured a fourth place finish with the leaders in sight.
Sunday brought the same hot weather and bigger field for the middleweight superbike class. As the lights went out, Ricky was moving through the pack like a knife through hot butter. As he continued to work through the field, he did get hung up behind a rider wasting valuable laps. Once clear he started to make time on the leaders but ran out of time. Fifth place was his finishing on track, but scoring had him in sixth. Not making a protest in time had official results listing him as sixth.
Ricky was happy with the weekend, for being off the race bike for four months, and was looking forward to the next race.
High Plains Raceway, Byers, CO – August 25-26, 2012
The penultimate round for the MRA 2012 was held at HPR. Weather was spectacular with sunshine and temperatures in the eighties. Ricky was very excited about this weekend primarily because he was aboard a new Rocky Mountain Kawasaki ZX-10. Throughout the weekend the team was tweaking the bike to his liking.
Open supersport was the first race Ricky was to run on the new bike. With no points in the class, it was a back row start. As the lights went out, Ricky was passing riders before the first turn. After the first lap he was in eighth place. As he moved toward the front, it was becoming more difficult to make his passes
stick. Getting past four more riders he was on the lead group. Unfortunately, the laps ran out and fourth place was his finishing position. Seeing his lap times inspired Ricky because they were faster than the two riders in front of him.
Open superbike was called to the grid on Sunday morning and Ricky was very anxious for a good start. Once again on the back row, he had his work cut out for him. An extremely large grid for the superbike race had the crowds lining the fence. As the lights went out, Ricky got a great start. As Ricky got more comfortable on the bike, he was moving through traffic like a knife through hot butter. Moving into the second group of riders, Ricky was getting no respect. As he would pass a rider for position, he would lose the spot in the next turn. This went on for the remaining four laps with the end result being a sixth place finish for Ricky.
With one round remaining, Ricky will be preparing to finish the season on the podium.
Pikes Peak International Raceway- September 16, 2012
The last round of the Motorcycle Racing Association was held under beautiful weather conditions at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Ricky was excited to be at PPIR as he always does well there. Being back on the Rocky Mountain Kawasaki ZX-10 was also bringing new excitement to the program. With points from the last round, Ricky was starting midpack which would definitely help, due to the short track layout. The open supersport race on Saturday was scheduled before lunch. As the lights went out Ricky got a great launch. Exiting turn two he was already in sixth place. Methodically he kept attacking the riders in front. One by one he worked his way up to the leader on the last lap. With time running out Ricky came up short of the win by a half a bike length for a second place podium finish. One consolation was that he did run the fastest lap of the race.
Sunday saw a repeat of the great weather the racers enjoyed on the previous day. Once again with a midpack start Ricky was in the top ten by the end of the first lap. Quickly moving though the pack, he caught the fourth and fifth place riders as they were battling. Not finding an opportunity to get by, Ricky was sixth at the checkered flag. With changes to the ZX-10 from Saturday, Ricky did not feel the bike was working as well, resulting in slightly slower lap times.
Due to Ricky’s injuries at the beginning of the season, he was happy to get back on the podium before the season ended. With a new bike and all winter to get back in shape, Ricky is already excited for next year’s race season to start.