LONE STAR NATIONALS

Photos by: gOrk Words by: Justin Wahl

he return to Houston was upon the USA BMX National Series. After a crazy two years of pandemic pandemonium, international racers rushed to Rock Star Energy Bike Park for the first unofficial World Cup of the year. A track built with the top echelon of BMX in mind forced the entire field to test their race craft and rely on making moves, just as much as using their power, down the first straight. Sylvain Andre, Jeremy Rencurel, and Romain Mahieu joined the four time champ, Joris Daudet, to bring back the French connection French colors in Friday and Saturday’s main events. The Dutch riders Laura Smulders and Niek Kimmann made a big splash in their return. Smulders doubled up with two dominating mains leading Canada’s Molly Simpson and Australia’s Lauren Reynolds to the line each day. The Gold Medalist, on the other hand, was putting all of his focus on race craft like no other. Friday, laying down a last to fourth main event lap and Saturday going fourth to first, it was clear he had the fastest second straight in the field, which he utilized for making moves in and out of turn two. Others making significant impacts in the pro racks were Izaac Kennedy and Simon Marquart, who each became a force to reckon with in their own right. Kennedy, who had trained at Houston with Connor Fields during his Olympic prep, had the track dialed and could get to the front to defend his lines, grabbing the Avian/SpeedCo crew a second on Friday and fourth on Saturday. Friday’s winner Simon Marquart (or MarQUADS as he’s known online) showed off the Swiss speed, charging to the front with a holeshot winning lap and grabbing his first win of the season Friday night. Marquart looked to do it again on Saturday, until a quarter main tangle up in turn one ended that plan. But what about the Americans?? It was a rough weekend for the USA colors come quarter and semi mains with veteran world cup racers overpowering the moto sheets. Haro’s Kam Larsen was looking solid coming into the week and laid down some dominating laps in motos, but come quarter mains, he got high-sided over fellow US racer Corben Sharrah’s front tire, taking them both to the grass. The saving grace was the Mongoose ride of Cam Wood making it to the main event on Friday night and looking like a top-four finish was coming until the international elbow started flying in turn one, putting him to the seventh spot for the night. Who will be the answer to the US program’s needs? We’ll leave that to the powers that be, but the riders are there and hungry for their turn, which is right around the corner in the coming races.

Supercross’ Josh white charging down the first straight along with Brady O’neil, and Carson Nuhn

The only thing brighter than Olivia Alvidrez’s shoes is her future Brady O’Neil dives into turn two Elbow up with Ronan Weber

It wasn’t just the pros laying down hot laps at the bike park, the amateur racing was as hot as always. With the largest moto count the national series has seen in Houston, racers were ready to grab big scores to set them up for the rest of the season. It kicked off hot in the 11-12 ladies cruiser class with Answer’s Preslie Gould and LDC’s Lily Ashley going to battle in the main. Ashley got the early holeshot, but Gould put her skills to use down the second straight and set up the high low in turn two, leaving Ashley in the grass. In the next class, we got another battle that would last all weekend long between Keeaira Sherrill and Avery Jones in the 13-14 Girls Cruiser and 13 Expert Girls class. These best friends laid it all out on the track, but Avery Jones took home the perfect weekend for the double-double! With the #GIRLSCLUB going bar-to-bar, the 8 & 16 cruiser classes wanted to continue the battles. Pumping hard down the third straight, Trenton Paxman was busy holding off the shark attack from Cruz Gallegos in Saturday’s main, while John Kerr was after them both. Kerr settled for a third on Saturday and biding his time, he got it done with a win on Sunday. For the 16 Cruisers, it was a battle of endurance, who had legs left to take it to the line. And that question was answered outright by Ricky Carter, who flipped on the late-race afterburners to take home the double on the big wheels. Snapping to the Expert racing, the track and weather tested the best of the ams making everyone power down and make moves for the win. However, those moves didn’t quite go as planned in some cases. 15-16x Girl Stella Sunseri, Grecia Cristodulo, and Keiley Shea fought for much-needed national wins until disaster struck in turn two. All three racing in a tight pack, Cristodulo went for the low line, losing her front wheel and collecting Sunseri. Cristodulo would get her redemption the following day with a photo-finish pass at the line on Factory BABS’ Sara Garcia. With photo finishes in mind, a big one has to be discussed with a newcomer, Thomas Maturano. Picked up by Alpha Products over the weekend, Maturano went from dominating the SuperX Open class to setting his eyes on current NAT No.1 Sean Day in 15 Expert. Tailing the black No. 1 plate around to the last straight, Maturano charged to the line where he gave the fans a show, passing Day and creating a buzz of how the rest of the year will go down in 15 Expert.

Samuel Valencia Vargas laying down the practice speed getting ready for Day One in Houston

The hometown hero, Jonathan Suarez, dominates the Vet Pro class not losing a lap all weekend long. DATE: MARCH 4-6, 2022

LOCATION: ROCK STAR ENERGY BIKE PARK CITY/STATE: HOUSTON, TX

States Represented: 34 Countries Represented: 17 Moto Counter: Friday 153 , Saturday 251, Sunday 214 Social Media Reach: 3,249,566

TEAM WINNERS

Saturday: Bike Shop-BMX Sharks / Factory-Factory Babs Sunday: Bike Shop-BMX Sharks / Factory-Full Tilt/Radio

SQORZ TIMING LEADERS

Overall Men Romain Mahieu 34.633 sec Overall Women Sae Hatakeyama 38.285 sec 12 & Under Boys Laudie Harashe 41.394 sec 12 & Under Girls Preslie Gould 43.519 sec

DOUBLES

Jordan Callum 17-20 Expert Jordan Callum 17-20 Open Jim Bauer 41-45 Cruiser Jim Bauer 41-45 Intermediate Sequoia Gomolicke 9 Girls Expert Sequoia Gomolicke 9-10 Mixed Open Rowdy Holzer 12 Cruiser Rowdy Holzer 12 Expert Hannah Leakey 13-14 Mixed Open Hannah Leakey 14 Girls Expert Knox Perkins 10 Expert Knox Perkins 9-10 Open Drew Polk 17-20 Expert Drew Polk Men U23 Remy Sessa 6 & Under Mixed Open Remy Sessa 6 Girls Expert Craig Prince 51 & Over Expert Craig Prince 51-55 Cruiser

DOUBLES x 2

Ayden Dechenne 17-20 Intermediate Ayden Dechenne 17-20 Mixed Open Hutch Griffith 6 & Under Open Hutch Griffith 6 Expert Jaxsonhowell 9 Cruiser Jaxson Howell 9 Expert Lorenzo Idarraga 7-8 Open Lorenzo Idarraga 8 Expert Avery Jones 13 Girls Expert Avery Jones 13-14 Girls Cruiser Erin Jones 31-35 Women Cruiser Erin Jones 31-40 Women Expert Heather Latimer 41+ Women Expert Heather Latimer 41-45 Women Cruiser Eliza Newton 10 & Under Girls Cruiser Eliza Newton 10 Girls Expert Heston Novotny 7 & Under Cruiser Heston Novotny 7 Expert Guadalupe Palacios 11-12 Mixed Open Guadalupe Palacios 12 Girls Expert Jena Sagendorf 21-30 Women Cruiser Jena Sagendorf 21-30 Women Expert