Honda of Houston Racing - Mini O's

The past few months everybody here at HHR has been working their butts
off getting ready for the Mini Olympics. Naveen has been putting in the hours
in the race shop to make sure we have the best possible equipment. Chris and
Vann have really been putting in the laps and time in the gym to make sure that
they are in the best shape and going faster than they ever have. I know that
our support riders( Jonah Cormier, Forrest Player, Jayme Gardiner, Adam
Cedillo) were doing the same, and were getting prepared to race at Gatorback.

But……..

No matter how much preparation, this is moto cross and IT HAPPENS!!!

We got to Florida,
got everything set up and got ready to go. Chris was first practice and he was
on it, looking really fast and learned the track relatively fast considering he
did not get to see anybody else on it before he rode. Vann was second practice,
but he had the advantage of seeing the first practice, so by the second lap, he
had the track down and was really looking good. The only place either rider was
struggling was in the whoops. I think it was not really the issue of the whoops
being so big, but rather they were coming into a corner. This means that
instead of carrying your speed, you had to slow down, which makes it a little
trickier. Chris’s second practice was awesome; he was laying it down and
looking really comfortable. Vann’s second practice started off great, but
about the third lap he dropped the front wheel in the whoops and crashed,
breaking his arm.

So off to the hospital we went! While at the hospital (FOR 12 HOURS!!)
first came Forrest with a broken collarbone, then Jayme with a separated
shoulder.

Chris got second in his first moto after a bad start, then he holeshot
his next moto and was about 12 seconds ahead when he fell in the whoops. This
allowed Zach Freeburg to pull right up on him. In Supercross the first moto is
just for gate position, but in the last turn, Freeburg went wide hit a jump and
landed on Chris’s hand taking them both down, and breaking his hand!! I
can’t even describe the feeling, it was more than depressing.

But I do want to say that Chris handled it way better than I would
have. He picked up his bike and could not even pull in the clutch. He kicked in
gear and just rolled by Freeburg without saying other than thanks a lot. I am
extremely proud of Chris for his action at that time; he really is a great kid.

We went the medic’s tent just in time to see Adam getting taken
off in the ambulance with a broken femur.

Now five out of the six riders we have are out for the week! Words
cannot describe, but as they say the show must go on.

Jonah did a great job of carrying the flag.

Jonah’s results were as follows:

SX                                          
MX

250 C Mod  3rd
OA                
250 C Mod     1st OA

250 C Stock 7th
OA                
250 C Stock   2nd OA

                                         
       Open C Mod  1st OA

                                                
Open C Stock 2nd OA

We are back at the race shop and regrouping. Chris should be back on
the bike in about 2 weeks. Turns out that Vann’s injury is not quite as
bad as we originally though and should be back on the bike in about 3 weeks.
All we can do is start preparing for the next race, looks like we will be going
to the March Amateur national at Freestone and then follow that up with GNC
Final at Oak Hill.

Thanks for all your support!!!!

Shaun