After the supermoto race at VIR, it was time to reconfigure the YZ250. I swapped number plates and wheels, then fitted a new kickstand to the moto. The bike came with Cycra Powerflow plastics, so I had a second set of graphics from SKDA to apply to those parts as well. Within a day, though, the bike was ready for the dirt!
I'd missed a couple VCHSS races (one was during the supermoto), but wanted to make sure to get to this stop, as its venue was only about a thirty minute drive from downtown Richmond. I pulled into the Virginia Motorsports Park around 9am on Sunday, finding some friends to park near. After registration, it was a short ride to the start line where we scoped some of the "moto-style" jumps we'd see for the first time on lap one.
It was obvious that the open sections would be particularly dusty, as we kicked up the silt just walking on them.
As we watched the earlier classes leave the line, my friend Lory & I realized that they were allowing for live-engine starts. When it was our time to go, our entire line started their engines and awaited the green flag. As per usual, I let everyone beat me off the line, immediately losing sight of the ground in a cloud of dust.
As we rounded the first turn, fallen riders emerged from the dust - proof that the holeshot just wasn't worth the effort.
Once in the woods, the logjams began. For some reason (perhaps the tightness of trees), this event seemed to be more prone to congestion. I made my way past a few slower riders, but for most of the first lap we all just simply had to adopt the pace of the slowest rider since room to pass was nonexistent.
Eventually we spread out some, but my intermittent stalls dropped me back into the traffic a couple more times.
After three laps, I saw the checkered flag. My friend Lory was in the front of the pack, so he was able to complete the entire four-lap race, netting a fifth place finish.
During the break between races, I'm going to fit the Rekluse clutch to the YZ in order to eliminate the stalls and hopefully remove one more excuse I have for finishing near the end of our class!
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