Canada – Pit Traffic

Interview with Edico Usak

March 2, 2015February 18, 2015 by Megan

Edico Usak is one of the Canadian kids that blew the doors off the B class in the first year on 450s. He and fellow Canadian Hunter Friesen (interviewed here) had a pivotal year of learning on the big bike and now they are ready to jump up into A and the ProAm class and cement themselves there among veteran riders. We asked Edico a few questions about his upcoming race season. Here is what he had to say:

Going into the new season, what kind of expectations do you have for yourself this year? Going into the 2015 season my expectations are to try my hardest and do my best. I have trained very hard this off season and got myself into really good shape and feel ready to take on the challenge of Production A and ProAm.

Reflecting on last year’s racing, what did you focus on most for the off-season in order to improve for 2015? Last year was a really good year and a learning year being it the first on my 450. I focused this off season on my strength in the gym a lot. I felt like last year my stamina was great but the new, bigger machine was a lot more for me to handle. I didn’t feel like I would get out of breath tired, I just felt like I would get physically tired and felt like if I was a bit stronger it would help a lot. That’s what I focused on a lot this off season.

Megan

Megan grew up riding quads and got involved with the racing community in 2004, creating PitTraffic.com in 2005. A lifelong love of motorcycles keeps her involved, while her two small kids keep her very busy.

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Friesen Racing’s Hunter Friesen Announces Partnership with H2R Fox Shox Canada & RMR Suspension

February 18, 2015February 16, 2015 by Pit Traffic Staff

Abbotsford, BC, Canada – Hunter Friesen will be partnering with Fox Racing Shox of Canada for the duration of the 2015 season. After a short negotiating peroid, Hunter signed with Fox in early February, just in time to get shocks for his YFZR race and practice bikes. “I’m very excited to run Fox again,” Hunter said, “I ran them when I was on 250s and really appreciated the way they handled. I’m looking forward to getting that same handling again on my YFZRs.” Friesen Racing’s manager Tyler Friesen concurred with Hunter’s statements by saying, “Hunter just rides differently on the … Read more

Interview with Canadian Racer Hunter Friesen

February 2, 2015January 23, 2015 by Megan

Tell us about last year, your first racing a 450. How was the transition from your 250? Was there anything you would have liked to do differently? My biggest obstacle last year was my size. Big bike small rider! I have been working out as often as I can in preparation. But overall I was very comfortable by the end of season. I can’t say I would do anything different. I had a good transitional year so I’m happy with the results.

What did you learn by the end of the season that you wished you had mastered at the beginning of 2014? Power management. The 450 has so much more power then I was used to with the Raptor 250.

Megan

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Edico Usak race report Straddleline and Airway Heights

August 25, 2014August 25, 2014 by Pit Traffic Staff

We got to Straddleline on Friday morning and set up, then did a few practices. They had done a few changes to the track that I really liked. I thought the track was a lot of fun. I felt really fast and comfortable after doing a few practices on Friday. From practice Saturday morning I could tell I would need a good start or I would be taking a lot of roost the whole moto.

First moto I didn’t have a very good start. I was in fourth and used all my tear offs in the first two laps so I couldn’t see anything. Then I jumped one of the big table tops and landed on a huge rock which wrecked my nerf bar and I got passed over a double, so I ended up fifth in that moto. That was pretty disappointing. The next moto, which was the first Schoolboy Sr moto of the day, I went out on my practice bike because my nerf bar was so wrecked it was rubbing on the rear tire and the peg was bent back really far. I decided to use the practice bike til we had time to fix the race bike.

I got a good start on the practice bike, I came out third in the first corner and was right behind second but couldn’t make the pass. Two laps into the race my front right tire went completely flat so I had to roll everything but still managed to stay ahead of a few people and got another fifth. I was pretty disappointed at this point, not because of my finishes just because of all the problems I had in just two motos. I put it behind me going into intermission and helped my dad fix the nerf bar on the race bike enough to use it again.

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The Pit Traffic staff is made up of volunteers throughout the ATV community. Interested in being involved? We'd love to have you contribute. Contact us!

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Spokane race report for Hunter Friesen #88

August 20, 2014August 20, 2014 by Pit Traffic Staff

Quadcross Northwest Spokane, WA.

Saturday moto 1 Production B: First start did not go as planned. I was last to the corner. By the 3rd corner I was making my way through the pack. I made it to 2nd and battled #82 for first. I got him on the outside of a turn. I was leading until I overshot a jump. I
found myself scrambling through hay bails to return to the track. Rider #82 had passed me back during this time. I managed to take the lead again and we battled to the finish. I placed 1st that moto.

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The Pit Traffic staff is made up of volunteers throughout the ATV community. Interested in being involved? We'd love to have you contribute. Contact us!

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Edico Usak race report

July 16, 2014July 16, 2014 by Pit Traffic Staff

We arrived to Riverdale on Friday morning and the track was open for practice so Hunter Friesen and I did a few practices to help get the track down better for the following day of racing. They really switched up the track this year from last year – it was backwards this year and there were jumps switched around and changed. It was still a good track but I could tell just from doing a few practices it would be a very challenging track to pass on and very one lined.

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The Pit Traffic staff is made up of volunteers throughout the ATV community. Interested in being involved? We'd love to have you contribute. Contact us!

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Edico Usak’s QXNW Race Report

May 28, 2014May 28, 2014 by Pit Traffic Staff

I couldn’t have asked for a better first weekend of racing on the new 450 at Horn Rapids for the first and second round of Quadcross Northwest. I had two great practices on Saturday morning to get me feeling confident for the motos later that day.

My first moto of the day was in Production B and first moto ever on a 450. I was feeling good on the line and a little nervous. I got a great jump off the line and managed to come out second in the start behind John Coburn and held second the first lap and passed John and rode in first the rest of the moto to take the moto win. In my second Production B moto I was lucky enough to do the exact same thing: come off the line in second make the pass for first and lead the rest of the moto to take the win and overall.

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The Pit Traffic staff is made up of volunteers throughout the ATV community. Interested in being involved? We'd love to have you contribute. Contact us!

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Hunter Friesen’s #88 race report for Quadcross NW

May 28, 2014May 28, 2014 by Pit Traffic Staff

Hunter Friesen’s #88 race report for Quadcross NW round 3&4

I was nervous for the first race on my 450. I had only limited practice on the bike. Saturday morning the track was in good shape. I went out on practice and started with a site lap. As I turned it up lap after lap I
felt good on my bike. By lap 4 I was comfortable enough to hit every jump.

Back in the pits we made some adjustments to my Elka Stage 5’s but overall the setup was feeling good. I went to Production B staging feeling confident in my Daytona Motorsports bike. And a bit nervous. The gates dropped and as it turns out there are some fast guys in this class! 10 to be exact. I was about 4th to the first turn. There was a pile up in the first turn but I managed to sneak by. I charged ahead with Seth Coburn in my
sights. I would catch him then he would pull away. It went like this the whole race. I was never able to pass him. Arm pump and sore back started to set in on lap 4, the front pack had some separation and I went unchallenged to the finish. I placed 4th.

The next moto was School Boy Sr. I was again about 4th into the first corner. After about half a lap the arm pump set in hard. I could hardly hold on to the bike and fell back to last (5th). The next 2 motos went much the same but the wind was making the Pro Taper jump a bit sketchy (a large table top).Overall first day (round 3) I was 4th overall in Production B and 4th in School Boy Senior. With some time to recover over night I focused on overcoming the arm pump. We also made some adjustments to the bike.

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The Pit Traffic staff is made up of volunteers throughout the ATV community. Interested in being involved? We'd love to have you contribute. Contact us!

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Grant Mitchell Video from Gifted Productions

May 29, 2013May 23, 2013 by Pit Traffic Staff

Grant Mitchell has been charging hard in the ProAm classes at both WORCS and QuadX. You can expect great things from this young rider as he progesses through this year and into next. Learn about Grant by reading this interview with him, and then check out Gifted Production’s video. Pit Traffic StaffThe Pit Traffic staff is made up of volunteers throughout the ATV community. Interested in being involved? We’d love to have you contribute. Contact us!More Posts – Website Follow Me:

Help Quadcross Northwest

February 7, 2013February 7, 2013 by Megan

At the last minute the financing for the 2013 series of Quadcross Northwest fell through leaving racers from Washington, Oregon, Canada, and more places in a bit of a pickle! And not the kind with a motor. The series is NOT canceled, but it is in need of funding to make sure this year is successful. After a few donations from the community members and aggressive sponsorship requests from us here at Pit Traffic, things are looking up, but the series is not official yet, and we only have a week left to get things going. So How can you … Read more

TiLUBE’s Sponsorship Season is OPEN!

January 4, 2013January 4, 2013 by Pit Traffic Staff

TiLUBE Motorsports Now Accepting Racer Resumes for the season through April 15th. All racing disciplines will be considered. All levels of racers will be accepted.

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The Pit Traffic staff is made up of volunteers throughout the ATV community. Interested in being involved? We'd love to have you contribute. Contact us!

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5 Questions with Jamie Vanderaa

October 29, 2012October 29, 2012 by Megan

Jamie Vanderaa is from Alberta and makes the trek to compete in the Yamaha QuadX series. His year was going great, leading the points in Pro/Am, until July when he crashed. He is looking towards next year with a positive attitude and you can expect him to compete in Quadcross again, only this time under a Pro tent. We asked Jamie 5 questions about his season, and here is what he said.

Megan

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