Canada

Interview with Edico Usak

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.

QXNWHORN_14714Reflecting 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.

Read moreInterview with Edico Usak

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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Interview with Canadian Racer Hunter Friesen

hunterfaceTell 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.

Read moreInterview with Canadian Racer Hunter Friesen

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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Edico Usak race report Straddleline and Airway Heights

IMG_2546-XLWe 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.

Read moreEdico Usak race report Straddleline and Airway Heights

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Spokane race report for Hunter Friesen #88

Quadcross Northwest Spokane, WA.

hunterfaceSaturday 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. 

Read moreSpokane race report for Hunter Friesen #88

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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

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.

Read moreEdico Usak race report

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Edico Usak’s QXNW Race Report

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.

Read moreEdico Usak’s QXNW Race Report

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Hunter Friesen’s #88 race report for Quadcross NW

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.

Read moreHunter Friesen’s #88 race report for Quadcross NW

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5 Questions with Jamie Vanderaa

Photo by Dylan Cole

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.

Read more5 Questions with Jamie Vanderaa

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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