WarhawkMX WMX Racer Jacqueline Strong WMX # 10

2010 WMX Round 3 Race Report: Thunder Valley Lakewood, CO

Photo courtesy of Carl Stone

2010 Thunder Valley WMX MOTO 1

Colorado treated me quite well. I’d been working really hard during the break since Freestone and I felt great going into Round 3. The track was fun and my bike was dialed! Practice went good. I qualified 5th fastest, which set me up for a good gate pick in both motos.

So far this season my biggest struggle has been starts and consistency. My main goal this weekend was to put two solid motos together. I wanted to overcome the bad start trend and keep it on two wheels.

Photo courtesy of Carl Stone

In the first moto I got off to a much better start then usual. I didn’t know what place I was in exactly but I just had a feeling I was around the top 10. First few corners were critical to stay up but get through the traffic in a hurry… Once I survived the mayhem of the first lap, I got in my groove and started working through the pack. By the end of the moto I had uninvited company, Tarah Geiger, and Sara Price was within reach! That was a hint that I was part of the “front crowd” but I had no clue I was currently 3rd. Unfortunately I was unable to pass Sara but I did hold off Tarah. When I crossed the finish line and saw the track staff waving towards the podium I was ecstatic! Seeing my mom in tears and the smiles on my dad and sister’s face was the best reward I could have asked for. In that moment every bit of work from my family, friends, sponsors, and myself paid off.

Photo courtesy of Austin White

Although a podium finish was awesome, my work wasn’t finished yet. I still had not achieved all my goals. I needed to have another good moto to satisfy myself for the weekend. Obviously after such a great first moto I had a new confidence for the second moto but I didn’t want to speak too soon. There are many factors in motocross and weather appeared to be getting fussy too.

2010 Thunder Valley WMX Moto 2

When we loaded in the gate for our second moto around 5:30 it was apparent that a big storm was on the way. There was a wall of black clouds and the wind was picking up. That’s when Jeff Canfield called all the women off their bikes for a discussion behind the starting line. Mr. Canfield informed us that for our safety they were going to postpone our moto until the weather died down… He then instructed us to go back to our paddocks and wait for an MX Sports worker to come get us when it was time to run our second moto.

We waited about 20 minutes then we were called back to the line to run moto two. It had begun to sprinkle during our site lap. By time we were all on the line ready to start the moto, the sprinkle had turned into a full on pouring rain/hail. Thunder and lightning were checking in right by us and it was getting cold. Our second moto took off during the worst part of the storm. I had been previously informed by local friends that if it rained it’d be slick and deep, and that it was! AZ doesn’t offer much mud riding experience so I was a bit out of my comfort zone. As the moto went on my mud riding skills started to improve and I began to pick girls off. I really had NO clue where I was placed in the mud moto. My top priority was to be smart and complete my day with a crash-less moto. Thankfully I achieved that goal and wound up finishing 5th in moto two. My 3,5 moto scores sadly lost the podium battle to Sara Price’s 2,6. Although our places were tied and I finished better second moto, MX Sports overalls are determined based on the POINTS you receive for your PLACES. My points were 20, 16 for a total of 36 and Sara’s were 22, 15 for a total of 37.

It was a bummer to be so close and not make it on the podium for the overall but I’m not upset with how my weekend went. I achieved my goals, got my first podium finish on the year, and also walked away with the $100 Rekluse bonus check. Now it’s time to get ready for Round 4 at Red Bud and keep improving.

I’d like to give a BIG thanks to Merge Racing and Jeremy Winchester for prepping my bike top notch prior to Thunder Valley. Rekluse and Dunlop have contributed so much to help me this whole season as well. I also owe a big thanks to our friends Greg Madsen, Sam Lynch, and the Fink family for all their help in Colorado. I’m looking forward to having Warhawk Powersports and Fist City MX a part of my team from here on out. I can’t forget to thank my family for supporting me 110% every step of the way, thanks everyone!

Jacqueline Strong WMX # 10

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