Brandon Clarke
Welcome to this evening’s edition of The Ripple Effect, where we look at today’s results and, more importantly, what they mean for tomorrow. Not every class gets the microscope, but these three classes have my attention heading into Thursday’s Moto 2 races.
Girls (11-16)
The girls absolutely brought it today.
Hannah Jamison looked every bit like the rider to beat, ripping off a blistering 2:05 fastest lap. Even more impressive? She logged five of the seven fastest laps of the entire moto. Her only slower laps came at the very end, and with the gap she had, it looked like she was simply bringing it home.
With first gate pick tomorrow, it’s hard not to pencil Jamison in as the favorite again.
The battle I’m really watching is for the spots behind her.
Tinley McCoy rode arguably the most consistent race outside of Jamison, while Zoe Moore quietly put together one of the best comeback rides of the moto, charging from sixth to finish third. Those two look poised for another showdown.
Don’t sleep on the back half of the top 20 either. Riders from 10th through 20th were turning remarkably similar lap times. A better start or a cleaner lap could completely reshuffle that portion of the results.
Open Pro Sport
This class is exactly what makes Loretta’s so much fun. You’ve got tomorrow’s stars lining up against yesterday’s champions.
Kade Johnson ripped off the fastest lap of the entire moto with a 1:54.1 on Lap 2 going from 3rd to first. That’s a statement, especially considering he’s had a rough week in 250 Pro Sport. He needed this confidence boost.
After the race, Phil Nicoletti, who grabbed the hole shot before getting passed by Johnson suggested he may have shown his cards a little too early before passing him back to end the moto P2,, “He will learn,” Nicoleti said. A classic case of youthful aggression versus veteran patience.
Ultimately the moto belonged to Zach Osborne
Once Osborne got to the front, he looked like he found another gear. But here’s what’s interesting: if you stack Osborne, Johnson and Nicoletti’s lap charts on top of each other, there really isn’t much separating them.
That tells me Moto 2 is going to come down to race craft more than outright speed.
I expect Johnson to get another great start, but this time with the lessons of Moto 1 fresh in his mind. If that’s the case, don’t be surprised if these three are still swapping lines deep into the moto.
Schoolboy 2
This was the race of the day.
Seriously. I was on the edge of my seat from start to finish.
Ryder Skodras grabbed the early lead, but Tanner Dorman never let him breathe. The two traded fast laps and looked like they were settling into a heavyweight fight…
…until Tristan Prueitt decided he’d had enough.
Prueitt uncorked an absolute heater, laying down a lap more than a full second quicker than anyone else on the track. From there it was game on. He hunted Skodras down and battled him all the way to the checkers before hitting him with the now-famous “silencer” celebration made popular by LeBron James.
Something tells me Skodras didn’t exactly appreciate that.
If there wasn’t already a rivalry brewing, there is now.
Meanwhile, Kannon Hargrove and Dane Pappas quietly kept themselves in the mix with consistently quick laps all moto long.
My prediction?
Skodras and Prueitt steal the headlines again, and there may be a little extra intensity between them after today’s finish. Behind them, Dorman, Hargrove and Pappas have the speed to shake things up. It’ll come down to who gets the start and who can put together a mistake-free moto.
