Clearlake Oaks, CA (3/9/2013)
- The Teixeira Tech off-road ATV race team of Ed Teixeira, Jason Vondracek, Pete Antognazzi, Codi Teixeira and Catie Teixeira raced hard in Round 1 of the SORRA XC / MX Race Series. The team dominated in 3 cross country classes and 2 motocross classes.
First up on Saturday was Catie Teixeira in the XC Ladies Wee class. Catie got the holeshot and kept her lead for the first 2 laps. A bobble in the whoops kicked both of her feet to the left side of the quad, causing her to stall the motor. Luckily, Catie held on. She was passed while trying to restart the quad on a hill climb, dropping her down to second. Catie continued to chase the leader for the next 10 minutes, finishing close behind in 2nd place.
Codi Teixeira raced next in the Novice XC class. Codi was fifth off the line going into the motocross part of the track. He passed 3 other quads before leaving the track into the XC part of the course. Codi was in second when he killed the motor in the woods. Codi pulled back on the track in last place, and was starting to work his way up when he got out of the trees and back on the motocross track. Entering the whoops section, Codi landed sideways and was bucked off the quad, sending him sliding about 15 feet on his back. The EMTs were quick to respond, and Codi was sent to the hospital in Clearlake Oaks. Thankfully, his injuries were not life threatening and he was able to return to the campgrounds within a few hours.
The Over 40C and Open C XC classes took the track next, which included Teixeira Tech rider Pete Antognazzi. He was dead last off the line, but quickly passed into the lead before the end of the first lap. Pete then started passing the Open C racers one by one. By the end of the 60 minute race, Antognazzi finished 1st place in his class, and first overall.
Expert XC racer, Jason Vondracek, started his 90 minute race second off the line. He chased the leader through the motocross section, and then passed him in the woods. Jason pulled away and maintained a 4 minute lead. About 45 minutes into the race, Jason got tangled up in the Manzanita and struggled to get out. He was able to get back on the track, keeping his lead to the finish line for 1st place.
The Over 40A class raced at the same time as the Expert class. Unfortunately, Ed Teixeira was not on the start line for his 90 minute race. Ed was still at the hospital with his son, Codi Teixeira, who was being treated for injuries. However, he made a quick call to his pit crew 45 minutes into the race and had them prep his quad. Ed left the hospital and raced back to the track, hopped into his gear and rode the last 2 laps of the race to salvage some points.
Day 2 of the race weekend marked the first MX races of the SORRA series. Pete Antognazzi was fourth off the line in Moto 1 of the MX Amateur class. He passed a couple of quads in the first lap, and then battled back and forth with the leader for a 2nd place finish. In the second Moto, Pete was in third place going into the first set of jumps. A mid-air collision over the tabletop knocked Pete sideways, but he held on and moved into 2nd. He continued to battle for the lead, finishing Moto 2 in 2nd place, which gave him the overall in MX for the weekend.
Ed Teixeira finally got his chance to line up at the start for the Open A MX race. He was third off the line and rode hard to move into the lead by the second lap. Ed pulled ahead and finished Moto 1 in 1st place. Domination continued in Moto 2 when Ed got the holeshot and held the lead all the way to the finish line. A 1st place win in the Open A class was a great way to finish up the race weekend.
Ed Teixeira thanks his sponsors:
Maxxis, CT Racing, Oneal, Dirt Tricks, PowerMadd, Scott USA, Tire Blocks, Wiseco, Uni, Oury Grips, Way 2 Go Powder Coating, Precision-RP, Chaos Graphics, Teixeira Tech.
