Cycle News Staff | June 22, 2016
For the past two seasons of the AMA Supermoto National Championship Series, everyone has been chasing Gage McAllister. But in race one at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, June 18-19, it was McAllister’s turn to do some chasing and his RSR KTM teammate Eric Stump’s turn to win. It didn’t take long for McAllister to get back to winning as race one proved to be a wake-up call for the defending champ, and he got back to his dominating form to take a victory in race two.
Stump went into New Hampshire with a lot of confidence. He felt the fast road course at Loudon would suit his style and he was right. Stump led straight out of the gate and ran a solid race on the track and in the dirt to hold off McAllister to take his first win in the championship.
Eric Stump held off Gage McAllister in race one to get his first win of the 2016 AMA Supermoto National Championship at Loudon. The two split wins on the day.
“It’s a relief,” Stump said. “I’m glad to finally have a win under my belt. It’s good to know I can run out in front of the pack. I look forward to giving Gage [McAllister] some competition this year, but as we all knows he’s an alien on a Supermoto bike. That’s who I’ll be chasing again.”
The win didn’t come easy. He had an intense battle with Laforge Racing/Block Built KTM’s Jake Laforge in the dirt, and the pair exchanged leads back and forth a few times. A mistake by Laforge’s allowed McAllister through, dropping the Loudon regular to third. With two laps to go, McAllister was putting the pressure on Stump, but Stump held on to take the win.
Fellow RSR KTM rider Dustin Hoffman finished just off the podium in fourth, followed by Intents Racing Honda’s Tyler O’Hara.
McAllister realized what he did wrong, biding his time in second for too long. He was not going to make that mistake twice. Stump scored his fourth holeshot of the season, but McAllister was not going let his teammate lead the way, and he made a bold pass early on and built a comfortable lead to take his third win of the season.
“I think I was just being a little too patient in that first race and that kind of cost me a little bit,” McAllister said. “In the second race, I made it a little bit easier on myself. I was able to use all the aggression that I didn’t use in the first race as quick as possible to get out front and do what I normally try to do, which is put in some really fast laps in the beginning and break away.”
Hoffman made the most out of Stump’s error to take second, making it a RSR KTM podium sweep in race two. Rounding out the top five was Boyd Brower, on a Yamaha ,and Laforge.
Cameron Welsh took advantage of other people’s mistakes to take the Pro Lites victory.
The Pro Lites race was a wild one as the battle resumed between series’ points leader Josh Jackson, on the Lean Six Sigma Racing Husqvarna, and reigning champion Nicky Reimer on the Tri-County Powersports Husqvarna. As the pair duked it out, Damn Dummy Racing’s Cameron Walsh was waiting to take advantage of the fallout. It paid off as Reimer came together with Jackson at the top off the hill on the last lap, allowing Welsh to slip through and take his first win in the championship.
Reimer was able to get up quickly and salvaged a second-place finish. PDRacing Suzuki’s Dawson Schieffer was right behind in third, bumping Jackson off the podium and shaking up the title chase. Rounding out the top five was privateer Brady Tauson on a Kawasaki.
Fifty-four year-old Lee Schmidt took top honors in the National Amateur class in his first ever Supermoto race. Joining Schmidt on the podium was Sergio Di Molfetta and Tom Taylor, making it a New England sweep. CN
RESULTS
Pro Open Race One:
- Eric Stump (KTM)
- Gage McAllister (KTM)
- Jake LaForge (KTM)
- Dustin Hoffman (KTM)
- Tyler O’Hara (Hon)
Pro Open Race Two:
- Gage McAllister (KTM)
- Dustin Hoffman (KTM)
- Eric Stump (KTM)
- Boyd Brower (Yam)
- Jake Laforge (KTM)
Pro Lites:
- Cameron Welsh (Hon)
- Nicky Reimer (Hus)
- Dawson Schieffer (Suz)
- Josh Jackson (Hus)
- Brady Tauson (Kaw)
