WITH a joint first place and a mere 0.78 seconds deciding his fate, Jesse Conci had to settle for an overall second place at Dezzi Raceway recently.
Consistency is key with these last few races, and with the championship standings being as tight as they are, there is little to no room for errors from here on out.
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Helluvafast’s team admin manager Carmen Conci said the qualifier and free practice went smoothly as always. Jesse, who rides in the 150cc super production class, got a good nine laps of practice during the course of the allocated time.
He qualified to start the first heat in second position on the starting grid. Lining up on the grid, racers were met with a very heavy wind, but this did not stop them from setting the highest pace they could. Jesse set off to lead the race for four laps, but under the difficult windy condition, they lost the lead in lap five.
“With the top four racers within less than a second of each other, it wasn’t long before the leader succumbed to the pressure and made a small mistake, enough to let Jesse reclaim the lead and hold onto it right to the finish line. Jesse finished heat one in first place,” said Carmen.
Thankfully, the wind had died down in time for the second heat, and racers were ready to get down and dirty. A similar series of events took place in the second race, where the top four, again, were battling it out from start to finish.
Carmen said Jesse shot off, as usual, to lead the first two laps, but shortly after, he made a tiny error which was enough to let the next rider through to take the lead from him. Over the next few laps, no positions were changed.
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“Lap eight and nine were when things got interesting as all riders knew they were running short on time to claim the title. The battle was very intense in those laps as riders were doing everything possible to take the lead. In the end, Jesse finished in third,” said Carmen.
The combined results of the day left Jesse in a tie for first place. “Race control stated that the winner will be decided by whoever holds the fastest lap time of the day.”
Unfortunately, that left Jesse in second place as his fastest lap time was just a mere 0.78 seconds off the winner’s time.
“Race control has also announced that racers will be awarded double points for the last event of the season, so you can bet that Jesse and his team are bringing the A-game,” said Carmen.
The next race and championship decider will be held on November 5, at Dezzi Raceway.
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