Star Racing Washougal Race Report

Courtesy of Star Racing

Washougal, WA. - The AMA MX National Series rolled into the beautiful state of Washington to attend round eight at Washougal MX Park. DNA Shred Stix/Star Racing/Yamaha comprised of #25 Ryan Sipes, #35 Kyle Cunningham, #387 Gareth Swanepoel, #533 Gannon Audette, and , #76 Kyle Partridge came in with hopes of keeping their status of fixtures up front intact. Things proved to be tough, but our day at Washougal did end up having some bright moments that occurred sporadically.

Taking top honors on this weekend would go to Cunningham, who continues to bring his total package together and match it up with the raw speed he holds. After a strong 7th place start in moto one, the likeable rider pulled himself up through the field. The task was accomplished, and he successfully piloted the #35 YZ 250F up to 3rd place by the races end. Moto two was a much more trying showing, sitting 18th on lap one, Cunningham battled for every position through the races entirety. By doing so, he took a hold of 7th and made it his own with four laps until the finish due to his determination and closed this round out positively.

Bringing another positive to a tough day was Swanepoel, grabbing an 8th place start in moto one, #387 put the hammer down. After moving up one spot very quickly, Swanepoel kept the fight going. With less than four laps to go, he battled relentlessly to maintain his position. In the end Swanepoel fought off all attacks, seeing him go on to a finish score of 7th. Gareth’s moto two began well with him sitting 4th momentarily. The talented South African climbed to 3rd on lap four, riding hard and holding his position all the way until three laps to go. When the checkers were thrown, Swanepoel had slipped back into 4th, and his consistency was a building block.

The next guy in line was Audette, pushing forward all the while in moto one, the rookie started 18th only to jump four spots early on. Now sitting in 14th, Audette raced from there to take a tally of 12th. After starting poorly around 25th in moto two due to being chopped off out of the gate, Audette bounced back and netted 14th.

Having just plain horrible luck throughout the outdoor series and still on that path is Sipes, after riding up into 1st in moto one following a great start. Things unraveled mid moto when his strength frustratingly fell off, struggling to continue on Sipes finished out 15th. Prior to moto two beginning, it was decided Ryan would sit out and look into tests to determine his issues of unexplainable fatigue. More updates will follow when available.
Results:

Moto 1 Moto 2 = Overall Finish

Kyle Cunningham 3rd 7th = 4th

Gareth Swanepoel 7th 4th = 5th

Gannon Audette 12th 14th = 12th

Ryan Sipes 15th DNS =20th

Also making the big show again, was Kyle Partridge our 450F pilot who put two steady moto’s together going 18-31 for 20th overall.

Be sure to tune in to the X Games this weekend to see Jessica Patterson go after the Women’ Super X Gold Medal!

Star Racing is proudly supported by:
DNA Shred Stix, Yamaha Motor Corp, Scott Sports, N-Fab, FMF, Cosworth, Sycuan Casino, North County Yamaha, DNA Energy Drink, GYTR, Factory Effex, Dunlop, Easton EXP, Enzo, Renegade Fuels, Sunstar, Motion Pro, ARC, ODI Grips, RK Chains, Excel A60 rims, Yamalube, Ride Engineering, Twin Air, LightSpeed, Braking, Vortex Ignitions, ICW, JD Built, Crank Works, Eibach, Met Tec, Tammer MX
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