MotoAmerica Twins : Round 2 Pre-Game Ponders
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Round one of the MotoAmerica Twins Cup championship was near perfection to watch as a race fan . Can it get better? We had finishes close as .002 up front. How could it get any better? Kaleb and Rocco made it interesting. Jackson showing up in race 2 was just icing on the cake. What do we see happening for round 2?
Kaleb and Rocco are going to be there doing the same thing they did at round 1. Putting in those laps that make you question why you even bother throwing a leg over the motorcycle yourself. The main thing I noticed between Kaleb De Keyrel and Rocco Landers is that Rocco on the Suzuki was able to carry mid corner speed at a higher rate than Kaleb was on the Yamaha. If De Keyrel is able to change the set up on the tuning fork twin that allows him to match a bit of Landers’ apex velocity, then I would not be too surprised to see Kaleb come out on top by a larger margin.
Here’s what I’m really looking forward too; the opposing forces stepping up. We got a taste of that in the form of Jackson Blackmon who caught up to the leaders and made a pass on Rocco Landers at the line for P2 one month ago. Jackson Blackmon on the Robem Engineering Suzuki SV650, who set the class lap record, is going to be a force again. That’s to no surprise, why wouldn’t Blackmon be shoving himself into those podium positions?
Jackson’s teammate could be why the #18 is absent from the podium. Toby Khamsouk quietly put in some of the fastest laps in race 2. If it weren’t for a mistake made down in turn 5, Toby could have easily replaced Jackson in the P2 spot on the podium in race 2. Toby got a rocket start putting himself in the top trio. Keep an eye on Toby.
The two veterans (Jason Madama / Chris Parrish ) fought each other in both races at the first round. Both of them put in awesome laps but just a hair off Rocco/Kaleb. Madama did finish race 1 with a 3rd place but not as close to the top 2 as he would liked. Parrish had some very fast laps in race 2. I know he’s happy with the times from race 2, but he’s got even more in him. I expect Parrish on his APMotoArts/BarnesBros Yamaha MT07 to step it up a wee-bit and be closer to the winner this go-a-round.
Besides Toby, the other rider I’m looking at to have a much better result is Hayden Shultz. He was fast out of the gate but had mechanical issues forcing him to be way down on power in both races. If no problems for the #259, (not james stewart) , well inside the top 10 for Hayden.
OR can someone else cement themselves in that top 5? Cooper McDonald? Justin Filice? Daniel Adams?
Predictions are fun. Lets do it.
1: Kaleb De Keyrel
2: Rocco Landers
3: Toby Khamsouk
4: Jackson Blackmon
5: Chris Parrish
6: Hayden Shultz
7: Jason Madama
8: Cooper McDonald
9: Kris Lillegard
10: Daniel Adams
Except for the #51 De Keyrel, everyone on that list is mad at me. Good.
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