Story by: Rich Price //  #807

With rain soaking the track all day Friday, ending early Saturday morning, and the sun baking the track all day Saturday afternoon, Diamondback Motocross was in good shape by the time Sunday morning rolled around. A huge turnout of riders were on hand to do battle in the 1^st District 34 race of the season. The first 4 races of the year were either rained or snowed out, and everyone was chomping at the bit to get some action in on the Diamondback course. There were even many New England riders that stuck around and raced Diamondback after racing NEMX at Walden the day prior.

There was excitement in the air. The smell of race fuel burned in the early morning practice sessions, and practice went off fairly smooth for everyone. Everyone on hand waited to see who would be the dominant rider this year in their respective classes. It would not take long to find out who would be the cream-of-the-crop in the Expert classes. Carlo Coen would go on to win all 6 of his motos on the day, and leave as "KING" of Diamondback.

The 6^th moto of the day was the plus 25 Expert class, and everyone was wondering if Coen still had it in him. Let me tell you…he sure does! Pat Mahan was the newcomer this time around. He would put in good rides in his 1^st ever plus 25 Expert race.

As the gate hit the ground, Carlo got his new KTM ride out into the lead with the early holeshot. Following him through turn one was Mike Spear, Pat Mahan, Tom Hamilton, and 2001 champ in the plus 25 class, Terry Finkle. Hamilton made a quick pass on Mahan exiting turn one, and would take over 3^rd, but this wouldn’t last.

Coen would make a quick get-away, and leave everyone else to do battle without him. On lap 2, Mahan got around Hamilton who was riding strong in the opening laps. On lap 3 Finkle also made his way around Hamilton. Once Finkle got into 4th he started to reel in Mahan, who was noticeably out of shape, and was starting to feel the effects of some arm pump. Mahan was also not doing the uphill triple, while Finkle was, and Finkle gained ground in a hurry. On lap 4, Finkle made his move around Mahan, and set his sights on Spear who was alone in the 2^nd place position. Finkle made time up on Spear in the last 2 laps, closing to within 4 seconds of him at the end, but it was too little, too late. Spear would finish in the runner-up spot, while Finkle would take home 3^rd. Mahan would take home a lonely 4^th, which was a great ride against some of the best talent in District 34. A little further back a dice-match ensued between 5^th place rider Hamilton and the charging Honda ride of Darren Edsall. These two would battle for the last 2 laps, with Hamilton edging Edsall by a half-bike length in the whoops as the checkers flew.

Of course in all this battling, we forgot about the winner. Carlo put a clinic on and won by 10 seconds, after cruising on the final lap. His lead was about 12 seconds at one point. Coen proved that he still has what it takes to play the game and WIN.

The other class that I decided to cover was the 125 Expert class. These are the young guns who give it 100% each time the are out on the track. The class only had 5 riders in it, but the talent was very much there. The riders included 2001, and 2002 125 Expert Champion Terry Finkle. 2002 Loretta Lynn and Outdoor National Qualifier Dave Ginolfi. There was Adam Wald and Tom Lheureux who moved up into the Expert ranks last year, and one other wild-card. This wild-card was none other than Andrew Pingotti who was returning to action this season after sitting out all last year with a nasty broken leg injury. Andrew was hoping to get in some seat time and prove that he still has what it takes.

As the gate hit the turf for the opening moto, Finkle powered his 4-stroke into the lead followed by Pingotti, Ginolfi, and Wald. Lheureux would hit the deck in turn one and would have to start in dead last.

Ginolfi went to work on Pingotti and made a quick pass before the uphill triple to get into 2^nd. Ginolfi was clearly on a mission and started applying pressure to Finkle. As they hit the whoop section for the 1^st time, Ginolfi triple-tripled through, while Finkle doubled through. They were side by side as the green flag came out, but on the small tabletop, Ginolfi launched his 250F as far as he could and flat landed to the inside of Finkle taking over the top spot. This was all she wrote for the rest of the field.

Ginolfi was consistently tripling through the whoops, and no one else dared to try. He opened up a nice gap on Finkle and went on to take the win uncontested, opening up a bigger lead with each lap. Finkle kept the young Ginolfi in sight, but could not mount a charge to retake the lead. He would take 2^nd. Third would go to Pingotti, who rode a strong race in his comeback to D-34, he was also the 1^st 2-stroke in the race. Fourth was Wald, and Lheureux was a distant 5^th after his 1^st turn mishap.

Just a small note, Ginolfi, Finkle and Wald were all on the Yamaha 250F.

Coen grabbed another holeshot as they entered turn one. Following in this order were Finkle, Spear, Hamilton, and Edsall. Mahan had a terrible start and was mired in about 9^th place. He would not stay there for long.

Coen would do his usual routine, and took off leaving everyone behind to battle amongst themselves. Finkle tried to hitch onto Carlo, but to no avail. Hamilton passed Spear for a brief moment on the opening lap, but Spear took the spot right back before the uphill triple. This would allow Spear to get right behind Finkle and the two would battle all race long to see who would take runner-up honors. Mahan was up to 6^th place by the end of lap 1, jumping by Mark Janisewski on the big spectator tabletop.

The running order midway through the race had Coen way out front, Finkle dicing with Spear for 2^nd, while Edsall diced with Hamilton for 4^th. Edsall won this battle and dropped Hamilton to 5^th. It appeared as though Hamilton was tiring, as Mahan stepped up to do battle. Mahan would make a nice move on him in the whoops as the white flag came out. This is when the battle for 2^nd also heated up. Finkle and Spear came through the whoops wide open, and the race was on. Spear is a wily veteran, and he took Finkle with a strong inside move in the turn before the tabletop that is before the uphill triple.(Don’t know what to call it?) Spear got around and would hang on to take 2^nd by a few bike lengths over Finkle. Edsall had a good ride and finished in 4^th, while Mahan soldiered through with a 5^th place. Hamilton ended up 6^th after running as high as second in the early going.

So you ask…where was Coen in all this. You guessed it! He won by 12 seconds.

Coen’s 1-1 gave him the overall for the day. Spear’s 2-2 gave him 2^nd overall.

Third overall was Finkle with his 3-3. Mahan showed the crowd great speed all day, and will be up front with some more training. He knows that he has the speed His 4-5 ride was good for 4^th overall. Rounding out the top 5 was Edsall with his 6-4 rides.

Ginolfi blasted off the gate and took the early holeshot. In tow were Finkle, Wald, Pingotti, and Lheureux, in that order. As they exited turn 2, Pingotti sped around Wald and took away 3^rd. Ginolfi was looking sharp and confident on his 4-stroke, after almost beating Carlo Coen a few races prior to this 125 slugfest. He was pulling out a nice lead. Finkle had his hands full with Pingotti, and the two would dice for the opening 2 laps.

Ginolfi was opening up a bigger lead. He appeared to be checking out and well on his way to a victory in moto 2, when DISASTER struck. He hit a rut that caught him off-guard over in the back section before the uphill triple. He hit the ground hard, and his race was over. He got back up, shaken up, shaking his arms out to remount. Only problem is that his machine will not start. He will DNF moto 2, and end all of his hopes of the overall for the day.

The battle that was for 2^nd between Finkle and Pingotti now becomes the battle for the win and the overall for the day. That same lap, Pingotti made his move on Finkle taking an inside line just after the uphill rockers section. As they came around to take the white flag, Pingotti was in control of the race. Finkle appeared to be tired, and would not put up much of a fight. Pingotti kept his YZ 125 upright for the final lap, and ended up taking the easy victory. Finkle took 2^nd, with Wald in 3^rd and Lheureux in 4^th. Ginolfi was disgusted as his father pushed his machine off the track. The DNF would mean no glory this time around.

The overall would go to an elated Andrew Pingotti, who spent a lot of time last year on crutches due to his injury. He took the overall with a 3-1 and served notice that he is back in business. Finkle’s 2-2 would give him 2^nd overall. He will try to circle the wagons and get his fitness up to par over the next few weeks. Wald would round out the podium with his 4-3 rides. He is adapting well to his 4-stroke rides this year.

The "next big thing" to come out of D-34 appears to be young Thor-backed pilot Justin Barcia. Barcia made mincemeat out of the 60cc 10-11 year-old and 80cc 7-11 Junior Mini classes. He went on to win all 4 of his motos and prove that he is a force to be reckoned with. Barcia was clearing the spectator tabletop every lap on both his 80 and his 60! He was not only clearing it, but he was throwing out his own version of the kiss-of-death each lap. With the proper backing, Barcia is looking good as prospect to make the podium this year at Loretta Lynn’s. Keep up the excellent work!

Carlo Coen MX School/Thor-backed Suzuki rider Mike Stryker also won 4 of his motos in the Senior and Super Mini classes. Stryker is also looking to better his performance at Loretta’s this season, and he looks well on his way to his goal.

The 1^st battle of the year on the +35 class was a barn-burner. "Papa" Joe Fritz took moto one, with Kurt Renzland taking 2^nd. In the 2^nd moto the order was reversed with Renzland taking the win followed by Fritz. This would give Renzland the overall, but this is only the beginning of what looks like could be a year-long slugfest in the +35 division. Throw other hitters like Ralph Scannapieco, and Mike Hoensch in there, and this could get interesting.

Massachusetts rider Joe Belmore won the highly contested 125 Amateur class, taking both moto victories and dominating in the process on his 250F.

Henry Kriz was SOLID in the 250 Amateur class, winning both of his motos and taking the overall for the day. Kriz is only, I believe, 1 point from turning Expert, and should make the step-up in the next few weeks.

The battle of the day, was in the 2^nd moto of the 250 Expert class. Ginolfi was leading Coen, when Coen snuck to the inside of him on the opening lap, in the hairpin just before the Gator-Pit. While everyone expected Coen to take off and hide, Ginolfi had other ideas. He kept a TON of pressure on Coen and was on his rear tire in every turn for the full 4 laps. Ginolfi would rev his 450F to the moon when he would enter some of the turns, just to let Carlo know that he was there. Ginolfi was tripling through the whoops, and Coen caught on and started doing the same to keep the youngster at bay.

Coen had just enough at the end to hold of Ginolfi by a bike-length. It was battle for the ages. The only bad part is that Ginolfi was only using this race as a warm-up race. He contests the bigger races like the Northeast Classis Series, and will be running plenty of Nationals this summer on his Yamaha. This may be the last time we see him all year, but I hope not. The battle was great for the spectators, the question is…who will step up and be the next one to challenge "KING" Carlo?

Next weekend the series is off for the Easter break. Then it’s on to Claverack, home of loamy soil, and wide-open straight-aways.