The Aftermath – 2021 Twins Cup Round 1 – Road Atlanta

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It’s been said once too many times, “Twins Cup does not disappoint” and the opening round of the 2021 season was no exception. A plethora of passing combined with crashing and drama, lead to two fantastic races leaving a championship points leader that may have been slightly off the radar.

Teagg Hobbs appeared to have the weekend well under control from the moment the green light lit to start the first practice session. Hobbs came out P1 aboard his Team Hammer built Suzuki SV650 in P1 with a 1:36.561, 0.614 in front of Kaleb De Keyrel who spent the session learning the brand new Aprilia RS660 built by Robem Engineering. Teagg continued his path of dominance in both qualifying sessions posting a 1:34.951 in Q1 (1.433 over 2nd De Keyrel) and a 1:34.631 in Q2. Q2 saw the #51 of Kaleb De Keyrel close the gab to Teagg Hobbs by posting a 1:34.935. Jody Barry, after being absent from MotoAmerica competition for a few years, rounded out the front row with a 1:35.238 in Q2.

Race 1 had everything you wanted. Teagg Hobbs had to fend off Jody Barry and Kaleb De Keyrel for the majority of the race until a devastating yellow jump start board was shown at the start finish tower with the #79 on it. Trevor Standish, Chris Parrish, and Hayden Schultz were also in the lead pack early in the race. Hobbs eventually retired from the race as he did not participate in the ride through penalty. I do not know the story behind as to why he did not choose the ride through penalty but the placement of the jump start board is in a very poor spot for the riders to see as they exit the last turn at Road Atlanta.

After the departure of Hobbs from the race, it was down to De Keyrel, Barry, and Schultz to fight it out for the win. Kaleb De Keyrel was able to score the opening race win of the season over Jody Barry by 0.614. Hayden Schultz made a bobble in the last corner forcing him off track. This shoved the #49 Aprilia into the grasp of Trevor Standish and teammate Toby Khamsouk. The final podium spot was secured by Hayden but only 0.287 covered 3rd through 5th.

Race 2 is where the fun is. The first 7 laps were nothing short of a barn burner. Teagg Hobbs, Jody Barry, Kaleb De Keyrel and Hayden Schultz were putting on a show. You can easily lose count of passes. We say the first 7 laps because disaster struck if you were riding an Aprilia RS660. De Keyrel was attempting an inside pass on Hobbs entering turn 1 when his RS600 starting smoking and dumping coolant out the left side of the Italian machine. This caused the rear end to break loose high siding Kaleb. Kaleb landed on his back while his bike started flipping. Directly behind him had Jody Barry and Hayden Schultz also low siding out of the race. All three riders and their bikes made it into the gravel trap. A few seconds later Toby Khamsouk on the 3rd Robem Engineering Aprilia RS660 came flying into the picture. Toby ran into Hayden and Toby’s steed nearly missed a walking De Keyrel. A truly scary moment for everyone. The race was red flagged as the there was clearly fluids on the race surface.

MotoAmerica Twins Cup Crash Race 2 at Road Atlanta 2021 – YouTube

On the restart of race 2, it would be Trevor Standish grabbing the holeshot. Teagg Hobbs would put an inside pass on Standish but the #16 Suzuki never gave up. Standish hounded Teagg all the way to the finish securing his first Twins Cup podium in 2nd place. The 2018 champ Chris Parrish, also on a Suzuki SV650, was on the heels of the two “kids” but wasn’t able to get quite close enough. Parrish finished up in 3rd place, a strong showing.

Race 1 showed three Aprilia RS660’s on the podium. Race 2 had the old guard, Suzuki SV650, securing all three spots. The Championship points lead? Well that goes to Trevor Standish. Consistency pays off the the #16 Pure Attitude Racing rider. The series moves on to round 2 at Virginia International Raceway on May 21st-23rd.

All Photos used are by Sara Chappell Photos, if you decide to use these photos in any way, please give her credit.

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