Budd's Creek Race Report...Dragon Race Fuels

Courtesy of Dragon Race Fuels
Mechanicsville, MD – Budds Creek proved to be disappointing for the Team Dragon Racing Fuels #175 Phil Nicoletti. With solid qualifying times Phil and the Team were excited about the day ahead.

As the gate dropped in the first moto, Nicoletti came off the start in 16th place. Working his way through the 13th spot, Phil battled with Tommy Searle for the 12th position. With confidence building as Nicoletti pushed towards the top ten riders, fate reared up and bit hard. Nicoletti‘s bike experienced a rare clutch problem that forced him out of the moto early. Between moto’s, the team worked hard to get the problem resolved and had his bike ready for the second moto.

In the second moto, Nicoletti lined up in the first gate on the inside and visually drew his line towards the first turn. When the gate dropped, he grabbed a handful of throttle and headed into the corner banging bars with Justin Barcia and Christophe Pourcel for the holeshot. Coming into the turn, Nicoletti was pinched tightly and picked up a piece of the tough block cover in his rear wheel. Unaware of the problem he came out in 12th position. Phil worked his way up and battled with Martin Davalos for the 9th position. Blake Wharton jumped into the battle and it was a three way race for the position at that point. Wharton passed Nicoletti and the chase was on. With Trey Canard now chasing the group, Nicoletti was pushing and riding hard. As Phil was screaming hard down Henry Hill, his rear break became clogged with the piece of a tough block cover he picked up on the first turn and his rear brake failed causing him to go over the bars. Unable to fix the problem on the track he was forced into an early exit from the moto. Nicoletti went (39) (36) giving him a 39th overall.

AG Motorsports, Team Dragon Racing Fuels/1-866-KTM-PART would like to thank their sponsors for their incredible support; Dragon Racing Fuels, 1-866-KTM-PART, Motorex, PR2 Racing, Fox Shox, Dunlop Tires, MGX Unlimited, DUBYA, KSR Wheels, K&N Engineering, Gold Fren Brake Power, DT1, TAG Metals, Cycra Plastics, FMF Racing, Boyesen Engineering, and Mechanix Wear.

Dragon Racing Fuels is solely manufactured by Performance Products Inc. a division of Newton Oil Company Inc. based in Lafayette, Indiana. Dragon Racing Fuels can be purchased from elite distributors nationwide. Stay tuned for upcoming news from Team Dragon Racing Fuels.

www.dragonracingfuels.com
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Mt Morris National...Dragon Fuels Race Report

Courtesy of Dragon Fuels
Mt. Morris, PA – Team Dragon Racing Fuels – 1-866-KTM-PART headed into the High Point MX National for the 3rd round of the 2010 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship for their first race of the series with the newly acquired #175 Phil Nicoletti.
The day started off with good weather conditions and it looked to be promising for Nicoletti. But as fate would have it, the weather turned as the 250 riders lined up for Moto 1. When the gate dropped, Nicoletti got a mid pack start and with multiple lines, it was anybody’s guess as to which was going be better in the rain. As the race went on, Nicoletti experienced goggle problems as they packed on the mud and had to pull off for a quick change. He dropped back to 30th before the change and quickly fought back with fresh eyes to lead him back towards the front. The rain continued to fall yet Nicoletti clawed his way to an 18th place finish in Moto 1.
As the day went on, the rain subsided and the track began to shed its muddy conditions. The gate dropped for Moto 2 and Nicoletti got a great start off the gate and came out with the lead pack. He found his groove and picked solid lines throughout the moto. As the battles went on, Nicoletti found himself in the 13th spot and was looking to have his best finish of the series. When the two lap board came out, the rain began to fall again and Nicoletti was all alone with a 5 second lead on his closest contender. As with many of the riders, they are still recovering from the brutal heat of the Texas race and it took its toll on his endurance. He made a couple of mistakes that allowed Alex Martin to quickly catch up and fight for the 13th spot. The track conditions quickly changed with the rain and Nicoletti went down. He gave up a few positions to end up 20th in Moto 2. High Point saw some new faces on the podium as it threw a few curve balls to make it interesting. Overall, it was a great weekend and the #175 of Nicoletti ended up 21st overall. He is currently 18th in the overall season point standings and is looking to fight his way up the board.
As the series heads into Budds Creek this weekend, don’t forget to pre order your Dragon Racing Fuel so it can be delivered to you at the track. Contact Dragon Racing Fuels at (800) 286-2500 or 1-866-KTM-PART (586-7278) to place your order today. Pre orders must be received by Wednesday to insure delivery at the track. Pick up your fuel order at the Team Dragon Racing Fuels pit on Friday.
AG Motorsports, Team Dragon Racing Fuels/1-866-KTM-PART would like to thank their sponsors for their incredible support; Dragon Racing Fuels, 1-866-KTM-PART, Motorex, PR2 Racing, Fox Shox, Dunlop Tires, MGX Unlimited, DUBYA, KSR Wheels, K&N Engineering, Gold Fren Brake Power, DT1, TAG Metals, Cycra Plastics, FMF Racing, Boyesen Engineering, and Mechanix Wear.
Dragon Racing Fuels is solely manufactured by Performance Products Inc. a division of Newton Oil Company Inc. based in Lafayette, Indiana. Dragon Racing Fuels can be purchased from elite distributors nationwide. Stay tuned for upcoming news from Team Dragon Racing Fuels.
www.dragonracingfuels.com
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FMF/KTM Race Report

Courtesy of FMF/KTM
Seattle, WA – FMF/KTM rider Phil Nicoletti earned 8th overall in his first race aboard the FMF/KTM 250 SX-F race machine.

The wet weather in Seattle narrowed the day’s schedule to one practice session. Each group went out for their practice session by warming up the first few laps and then trying their hardest to put down their fastest lap in the remaining minutes. Nicoletti rolled out of practice with the 16th fastest time of the night. “The track was difficult and very rutted. It was hard to get in a solid lap time in the short practice but if gave us a good taste of what would come for the remainder of the night,” remarked Nicoletti.

Nicoletti was placed in Heat #1. He got out to a good jump but got tangled with a tuff block in the second turn. He managed to stay up but caught the tuff block cover in his wheel and had to pull off and remove the cover. Once back on course, Nicoletti was sitting in dead last and had to make a come from behind charge into the top nine qualifying positions. Nicoletti charged hard and made it back up to 8th to grab a spot on the main event gate.

As the gate dropped for the main event Nicoletti got a good jump on his KTM and came around the first turn within the top ten and made it up to 6th by the second corner. A small mistake caused him to drop to 9th on lap two. He remained in 9th position through the halfway mark of the race. On lap ten he lost a position to Trey Canard but then gained the position back when he caught and passed Hunter Hewitt on lap eleven. One lap later Canard crashed and Nicoletti moved into 8th position. The final two laps were filled with excitement as Nicoletti and Max Anstie battled for 8th position. Anstie was able to get around him on the final lap but went wide in a turn allowing Nicoletti to make the necessary block pass to close for the position. Nicoletti finished 8th overall.

“I am not overly pleased with my result as I hoped to be in the top five. However, considering the conditions of the track, I am happy to finish within the top ten and will work toward improving that result at Salt Lake,” stated Nicoletti.

Next Event: Salt Lake City Supercross – May 1, 2010

Overall Results Supercross Lites –
1) Broc Tickle
2) Wil Hahn
3) Jake Weimer
4) Blake Wharton
5) Ryan Morais
6) Josh Hansen
7) Cole Seely
8) Phil Nicoletti – KTM
9) Max Anstie
10) Hunter Hewitt

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Phil Nicoletti to Fill in for Tommy Searle

Courtesy of KTM Racing
Murrieta, CA – Top performing West Lites Supercross privateer Phil Nicoletti will temporarily fill in for FMF/KTM Factory rider Tommy Searle at the remaining three Supercross rounds

After injuring his shoulder at the beginning of the year, Searle has sat out most of the Supercross season. Once healed during the break in the Lites Series, he began training for the outdoor nationals. “Now that Tommy is on the outdoor bike and after nearly two months training outdoors we decided it would be best to let him make a clean return at the outdoors and give Phil a chance to ride a Factory bike,” reported FMF/KTM Team Manager Casey Lytle. “Phil’s results on his own KTM bike have been quite impressive this season and we would really like to see if we can help him break into the top five.”

If this story sounds familiar, you would be right. The FMF/KTM Factory Team also gave the same opportunity to PJ Larsen at the beginning of the SX season when Searle was originally hurt. Larsen performed well and ended up with a 5th place performance on the bike after only two weeks before heading down under to contest the Australian Motocross National Championship.

Like Larsen, Nicoletti was left without a ride at the beginning of the year and is grateful for the opportunity to ride the remainder of the season on the FMF/KTM Factory bike. “It is amazing to get recognized by a factory team and be given a chance to ride and perform on the best equipment out there. I am looking forward to the last three rounds and will do my best to represent the FMF/KTM team,” commented Nicoletti. “I would love to give a shot out to my sponsors that have helped me get to where I am now, St. Lawrence Radiology, Alessi Racing, Moose, Scott, Twin Air, Renthal, Belray, Varner Motorsports, Dr. Maresca, FMF, MGX Unlimited, Dunlop and Hot Hedz Design.”

KTM fans can cheer on the #175 bike of Nicoletti at his first race as a FMF/KTM Factory rider this weekend at the Seattle Supercross event.
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