MotoAmerica Twins : De Keyrel does Double in Season Opener – RA#1 Aftermath.
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“Twins cup never disappoints”. It’s been the slogan for the MotoAmercia Twins Cup class now for every weekend the class races. The first round of the MotoAmerica championship was no exception. In fact, it might have just been one of the best yet. The best part about predictions is that they are predictions, they are opinions, they are theories, and they are meant to be wrong. Coming into the weekend picking Rocco Landers was a wise choice for the win. Then Kaleb De Keyrel said “nah dawg, hold my covid, I got this. ”
Photo By: Sara Chappell Photos
Kaleb De Keyrel (1st/1st – 50 points) has nearly the perfect weekend. He was your Twins Cup top qualifier with a 2:28.904. His start in race 1 was not great and was forced to pass the top riders and make the pass at the line for the win..by .002 over Rocco Landers. .002 margin of victory is just stellar for any race fan, Twins Cup does not disappoint. Race 2 had a much better start but quickly lost ground to Landers. Kaleb kept his cool and pulled out of the draft perfectly to take the win in Race 2 by .081 over Blackmon. Just like his performance at Laguna in 2019, De Keyrel’s speed and race craft were just about perfect. Best Race Lap: 2:28.892
Photo by Sara Chappell Photos
Rocco Landers ( 2nd/3rd – 36 points ) RedBull Rookies cup rider was the favorite coming into the weekend for both classes he competes in. Rocco’s weekend started out not too bad qualifying 2nd with a 2:29.722… but if your Rocco, you are gutted with how the weekend finished just missing out on a double race win weekend. Rocco got out to early leads in both races looking to check out. Losing race 1 by .002 to De Keyrel and then coming out of the last corning in race 2, ran a bit ride which allowed Kaleb to draft on by. Finishing 3rd just .001 behind Jackson Blackmon and .082 behind De Keyrel. Best Race Lap: 2:28.928
Photo By: Sara Chappell Photos
Jackson Blackmon ( 5th/2nd – 31 Points ) Coming off the high of setting Roebling Road’s lightweight twins lap record, Blackmon was ready to roll. Qualifying 6th with a 2:31.493 was not where the former Jr. Cup rider wanted to be. Race 1 was a solid performance for Jackson but was far from happy with his 5th place. Left the #18 hungry for something more. Race 2 was a very impressive performance for Jackson. He passed Parrish, Madama then reeled in De Keyrel and Landers. Jackson’s last couple laps were stellar. His incredible riding put him in the perfect position to contend for the win on the last lap. Coming out of the last corner he caught the double draft missing out on first by .081 and securing 2nd place by .001. In the process this awesome race, Jackson put in a new class lap record. Best Race Lap: 2:28.584
Photo By: Sara Spicer
Jason Madama (3rd/4th – 29 points) – Mamada had a very solid opening weekend of racing. Qualified third behind Kaleb and Rocco with a 2:30.408. He would find himself in battles with Parrish in both races. Race 1 would be a nice 3rd place podium getting Parrish at the line by .006. Race 2 was another battle with Chris Parrish with came down to the line again; .177. If you’re Jason Madama, you should be decently pleased with these results as they are a step forward from the norm of 2019. Best Lap : 2:29.111
Photo By: Sara Chappell Photos
Chris Parrish ( 4th/5th – 24 points ) – Solid weekend for the 2018 champ with 4th and 5th place finished. Chris qualified 7th with a 2:31.815. Both finishes could have easily been 3rd and 4th. I talked to Chris a bit after race 2 and he knows exactly where the Yamaha needs to be adjusted to put him back on the Podium. Best Race Lap : 2:29.255.
Toby Khamsouk ( 7th/6th – 19 points ) – 2:31.445 in qualifying secured him a 4th place spot on the grid. Race 1 doesn’t appear to be much of a stand out ride but the team made some changes for Race 2. Those changes clearly worked. Toby was running upfront early but caught a false neutral forcing him to fall back. He worked his way forward putting in FAST laps. I look for Toby to be a podium man in the future. Best Race Lap : 2:28.913
Photo By: Sara Spicer
Cooper McDonald – ( 6th/7th – 19 points )- Cooper’s weekend went about exactly as I expected. He qualified well with in 8th with a 2:32.213. Solid riding put in trading positions in each race with Toby. Best Race Lap : 2:30.053
Photo By: Sara Chappell Photos
Daniel Adams – ( 8th/10th – 16 points ) – Like Cooper, Daniel had the weekend predicted. Good qualifying, smooth race laps. Didn’t set the world on fire but top 10 each race, leaving him 8th in points. After all the mechanicals last season, I am sure it’s a huge relief for Adams to get out of round 1 finishing both races. Best Race Lap : 2:31.457
Kris Lillegard ( 9th/9th – 14 Points ) – Well slap me sideways, the guy got something other than 10th place…. 9th place… in both races and also 9th in points. I don’t think Kris is doing the whole season, but if he does… he will probably end up 9th. Best Race Lap 2:33.021
Hayden Shultz‘s weekend started out well but with a blown motor in qualifying, it left him massively down on power come race time. With another fresh built motor, next round back at Road America will see him well inside the top 10.
One more rider that needs a good rebound is Trevor Standish. He qualified well in 5th place with a 2:31.462 but a crash in race 1 put a fork in his weekend for an overall good result. Race 2 was better but he didn’t match his Q2 time. Best race time 2:33.268
The series heads right back to Road America for round #2 (make up round for VIR cancellation.) June 26th-28th the Twins are back in action.
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