{"id":3171,"date":"2026-09-14T08:18:32","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T14:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/?p=3171"},"modified":"2026-09-14T15:35:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T21:35:18","slug":"mra-round-5-2026-high-plains-raceway-west-course-racing-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/2026\/09\/14\/mra-round-5-2026-high-plains-raceway-west-course-racing-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"MRA Round 5 2026 – High Plains Raceway West Course – Racing Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I hadn’t ridden on the west course for a good, I don’t know, since 2022 if memory serves. That was my first year back racing, and I was on my lightweight bike. I had never ridden my middleweight bike on the west course. I barely remembered the “crossover,” which is the feature unique to the west course configuration. All I could remember was the bike getting light, and it being a blind right into what would usually be turn 14. Other than the crossover, the track is the same from turns 1 through 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Returning from the paddock after the last race of the ’26 season. Pic by Chandler Dahl. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I signed up for the track day the day before to get some practice. The track day was run by the local track day org, Legion Moto. To be perfectly honest, I prefer track days run by the tracks themselves. I have my reasons, and I’m not going to get into them here. Ask me about it in person, and I’ll share my thoughts. I’d rather not commit them to writing for various reasons. This is a race recap, not a bitch session! I’m not going to air my grievances here! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I met or exceeded all of my “back up goals”. My big, ambitious goal was to run under 1:30s per lap, which would have made me “certifiably fast<\/em>” in my own mind. That didn’t happen. My fastest lap was 1:30.8s, which isn’t bad. I turned that lap during the first and longest race of the day in the Middleweight 2x class, where I finished P5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My fastest lap was faster than the fastest laps put up by both P4 and P3 during that race, but I couldn’t figure out a way around either of them that stuck for any length of time. I started at the back of the grid and had to spend multiple laps getting passes off and clawing my way toward the front. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I passed a bunch of other racers and closed a huge gap after the start to catch up with Sal Rizzo on an Aprilia RS660 in P4. At first I was like “how the fuck am I keeping up with Rizzo?!<\/em>” and then I heard his exhaust and realized he was on a bike with half as many cylinders as mine. That explained it. I’d pass him on the back straight, and he’d pass me back in the infield. I think I made the pass stick for at least one lap, but he came flying around me on the next lap. I’m sure I was holding him up in the corners, like what sometimes happens to me when I’m racing against open class riders who aren’t as fast as I am in the corners. I know exactly how frustrating that can be! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

18 riders started that race. I started at the back. I finished P5. I ran my fastest lap all day. I survived. I didn’t crash. I didn’t scare the hell out of myself. I didn’t have any close calls. I didn’t push it as hard as maybe I could have pushed it. I’m happy about my performance during that race and the rest of the day. The rest of the day shook out like this: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middleweight Supersport, 1:31.0s fast lap, finished P4 out of 10 starters behind fast-guys Geo, Orkun, and Racz. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middleweight Superbike, 1:31.7s fast lap, finished P4 out of 10 starters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amateur Middleweight, 1:32.8s fast lap, finished P8 out of 13 starters. During the 2nd lap of this race 2 riders right in front of me collided with one another and crashed during the entry into turn 4. There was no way for me to hold my line without risking a 3-bike pile up, so I stood my bike up, stayed hard on the brakes to scrub as much speed as possible, and ran it into the dirt. This cost me 15s and any chance I had at finishing well. I’m happy I kept it on 2 wheels, and THAT’S RACING! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amateur Open, 1:31.9s fast lap, finished P4 out of 6 starters. P1-P3 were all on liter bikes. I actually won some money during this race, which I found hilarious, a whopping $27 I donated back to the club. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My fastest laps this year were a 1:57.0s at the HPR full course round and 1:30.8s at the west course round. I’m proud of those numbers, but I know I can go faster next year. The forks on my bike need work. The way they’re set up right now, they don’t give me the confidence I need to really “stuff it into” corners hard on the brakes. I’m planning some improvements during the off-season as I write this. I intend to come back stronger and faster than ever next year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Huge thanks to the MRA board and everyone who works the races and makes all of this possible. Huge thanks to my friend Jose, who helps me more than anyone else in the paddock. Huge thanks to Racz for lending me his tire warmers during the full course round. I’ll see all of y’all next year! Until then, thanks for reading! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I hadn’t ridden on the west course for a good, I don’t know, since 2022 if memory serves. That was my first year back racing, and I was on my lightweight bike. I had never ridden my middleweight bike on …<\/p>\n

MRA Round 5 2026 – High Plains Raceway West Course – Racing Recap<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-motorcycles","category-racing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3171"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3187,"href":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3171\/revisions\/3187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moto2n.com\/braap\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}