AMA MX Nationals’ comeback racer-of-the-year, Hamblin continues to
impress – even himself this past weekend from the sun of SoCal to the mud of
upstate N.Y.!
CARLSBAD,
Calif., (July 21, 2008) – Sean Hamblin (Yamaha)
looked out through his Spy Magneto goggles over the sprawling Unadilla Valley
Sports Center – home of the legendary Unadilla MX National – and wondered to
himself much the same as every other rider in the starting gate was thinking:
“Are we even going to get to race?”
Not
far off in the distance lightning riddled the sky and the chest thumbing
pressure of thunder was felt by racers and fans alike. The high tech MX
haulers, including Hamblin’s Yamaha rig, already had the Internet tuned into
the latest Doppler reports and everyone knew it was coming. All eyes were on
the sky, as well as the starting gate of the second MX class main event. And
when the gate dropped Hamblin, who no doubt prefers the friendly climate in his
SoCal home, hit the switch and was off across the black and loamy upstate New
York soil.
“Once
the gate drops it’s game on with guys that race the Nationals,” said Hamblin.
“Doesn’t matter if we’re in the mud at Unadilla or in go-karts at some charity
event, all 40 guys in that gate have one thing in mind – and that’s to pin it
through the first corner and try and pull the holeshot - or hope for the best.”
A
mid-pack start in the first moto had Hamblin playing catch up, which he did
quite well – moving up to 14th on the first lap, then picking his way through the competition up
to 7th by the end of the 16 laps. In the second moto – determined to get
out of the gate better – Hamblin did just that, cracking the top ten on the
first lap (9th) and racing up to 7th again before AMA officials called the race early due to
lightning.
“The
conditions were insane, but that’s motocross,” said Hamblin. “We get at least
one of those a season in both MX and supercross. Glad I was able to come away
with a good finish.”
With
the 6th place effort Hamblin moved into the top ten in the overall MX
class standings with 141 points (10th).
Next
up for Hamblin is this weekend’s Washougal National in Washington (July 27).
