MotoAmerica Twins : NJMP LWT Racer Team Report – 2018

by Sam Wiest · Published September 10, 2018 · Updated September 12, 2018

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It was another good showing in the MotoAmerica series for the LWT Racer team. Tyler Humphreys continued his solid riding when friday practice got underway. He came out fastest in FP1 with a 1:30.1 but didn’t stop there. In Q1 both LWT riders got faster. Brian McGlade was able to qualify 4th on his 2017 SV650 with a 1:30.172. That bike has very little time on it and McGlade is still searching for that happy set up point. Humphrey’s destroyed the NJMP Thunderbolt circuit doing a 1:29.024. Both riders were looking to improve times and best their finishes from the the prior round in Pittsburgh (Tyler 4th, Brian 5th). Saturday rolled around and so did the clouds as the track surface became soaking wet from 7am until the sun went down.

We knew this is not what anyone wanted but we were all in the same boat. Humphreys would do his first ever laps on rain tires and manage a 5th place finish. McGlade on the other hand has some wet weather experience and used it. He carefully stayed with the other front runners (Turner & Ferriera) and on the last lap put the hammer down. He would miss out on victory over Turner by .003. Both LWT riders in the top 5 again and on the one on the podium.

Brian McGlade – 2nd

Massive thanks to everybody at ECD NY, ATLANTIC HYRAULIC HOSE, BART CON CONSTRUCTION, ORIENT EXPRESS, Woodcraft, Zoran@TWFRacing, M4 Exhausts, Hotbodies Bodywork, K-Tech Suspension, Shoei Helmets, Forma Boots, DC Paintworx, Drippin’ Wet Graphics, and Sportbike Track Gear.
M4 EXHAUST

Tyler Humphreys – 5th

Photo By : Brock Imaging

My second round racing with MotoAmerica in the books! Practice and qualifying went absolutely perfect on Friday. I set the fast times in both sessions by nearly a second qualifying pole position with a 1:29.024 lap time, and a gap of .8 back to second place. The bike was on rails and I was super confident heading into Saturdays race. However, the weather had different plans. it rained all day Saturday which gave us a wet race track come race time. The sighting lap was my first time ever on rain tires. When the red lights went out and the race was under way I got passed by two bikes which both crashed coming out turn one a few feet in front of me, I was able to avoid the carnage and lead for a few turns. After witnessing all the crashes in the early stages of the race I had a new plan for the race, to survive. Overall I ran a very lonely, cold, and honestly boring race finishing 5th place. Super bummed it was not a dry race, I know I would have been fighting for the race win in different conditions, but hey thats racing,

Huge thank you to Sean Dougherty for entrusting me with his bike for the weekend, Sam Wiest from LWTRacer.com builds one hell of a SV650. My MDM Metric Devil Moto LLC suspension was absolutely perfect, I have never ridden a better set up motorcycle. Michael Faillace was and will continue to be my go to guy for all things racing, he knows what it takes to compete at this level. I can not say thank you enough Mike. Mark Lienhard, Bill Sink and all of my other friends from Evolve GT Track Days (you know who you are thank you so much!). Ryan Fleming and Nathan Granoff from NJ MiniGP taught me how to ride a motorcycle a mere 3 years ago and have been in my corner ever since, thanks you guys. Justin Levy from Trackside Parts Club made sure I had everything I needed this weekend to be on a competitive motorcycle, thank you so much you are a great friend. Keith Culver and the whole Yamaha Champions Riding School for helping me push my riding even further, they are another invaluable asset I have had access to this year. My parents Ed and Lynn Humphreys and amazing girlfriend Rachel Smith came down and supported me and it meant the world to me, thank you so much. Thank you to Michael Brock from BrockImaging for not only the amazing camera work, but also for the words of wisdom and friendship. It was truly a honor getting to represent Bell Powersports on the grid this year, they make some phenomenal helmets, Big thanks to Sergei Susanin form Mad8vcycles for making sure I have the spares I need for the mighty SV!
Thank you to everyone for the words of encouragement and all the support this season, you have all helped make dreams become a reality!!!

I am not sure what the plan for next year is yet, but you will see me on a grid somewhere, always pushing myself to go faster!