The 2011 XiiR Series moved onto the Comcast Arena in Everett, Washington and whilst the city may be famed for its Boeing aircraft, the full programme of Speedway, Quads, Amateur Quads and demonstration rides by Youth Quads, 3-Wheelers and Go-Karts meant the city lived up to its name for SPEED.  In an extremely keenly contested Meeting, which featured no less than 15 local Quad Riders in a field of 20, it was a night of mixed fortunes for the reigning Champions, but the winners tonight were definitely the Fans who turned up in large numbers for the 4th year ryunning.

SPEEDWAY: Championship Leader, Charlie “The Edge” Venegas struggled a little in Heat 1 as whilst in 2nd place behind James “Demolition Man” Mann he was passed by the “British Bulldog”, Anthony Barlow, alas for Barlow and Mann this didn’t last and on the back straight of the last lap Venegas got the better of both Barlow and Mann entering the 3rd turn and took the chequered flag. Other than this the highlight of the Qualifying Heats was the strong challenge of the Canadian Champion, Kyle Legault, who took a 1st and 2nd place to book his place on the front row of the grid for the Main Final alongside Venegas and Barlow.  Mann meanwhile had to be content with a place on the front row of the grid for the Last Chance and although he couldn’t quite catch the Californian, Kelly Kerrigan, he did enough to get to the Main Final as did Nathan Siegel, a Quad rider going fairly well now on the ice after a spell in the UK doing second halves in 2009.  In fact it was in the Last Chance that Siegel showed his metal as he came off the back row to take 3rd position and with it a place in the Main Final.  The highlight of the 6-lap Main Final was the form of Mann, (who incidentally won the Quad Class in this Meeting against a very strong field) who came through from 5th to 3rd place just taking Legault before the chequered flag. Venegas once again dominated the Main Final and after 2 rounds of the Series has a commanding lead of 8 points.

QUADS: In the Quad Class, the reigning and current Champion, Justin Ebbing who was to struggle when it really counted by failing to gain a scoring position in the 8-man, 6-lap Main Final as he finished in a lowly 7th.place. It was Speedway Rider, James “Demolition Man” Mann, who set the pace by winning both his Heats and although he lost the ballot for pole position at the Gate in the Final made it to the front from Grid 2 on the Front Row and rode a magnificent race to claim maximum points for his night’s racing and in the process took 1st place overall in the Series. Of the many local Quad riders it was Brett McGhie who just came out on top by finishing 4th in the Main after scoring a win and a second place in the qualifiers; a feat also matched by Martin Koetje in the Qualifiers but had to be content with 5th place in the Main Final.  It was a good night for Nathan Siegel, who crashed and got injured in both his Quad and on the bike, but still managed to grab a Podium place by getting a 3rd in the Main. Once again the scores were close in the Qualifying Heats with 3 Riders finishing on maximum points and another 3 finishing on 5 points, although it was really unlucky for 3 riders lower down the order as there was a 5-way tie on 3 points for the last 2 places in the Last Chance; regular local Frank Felder being excluded along with Ian Wilson and Jason Lovegren.