Fontana City National

Round 2 of the US Cup (no longer NORBA) was held in Fontana, CA on March 28/29. With beautifully warm Southern California weather, it seemed as though the racing would just feel right. Fontana has held a national round for the past couple of years, however with the first world cup race this weekend, a lot of heavy hitter pro racers were not in town. This leaves good potential finishes to all the former semi-pro racers.

The Beginner/Sport course was separated from the much more technical Expert/Pro course. They had to launch themselves off several boulders and navigate down a series of "waterfalls" with sharp rocks and dusty powder for traction. This gnarly section of the course claimed more than a few racers...

Alex Amaral was smoking fast all day in practice, until a fortune over the bars crash left him with a wounded time.


Chris Lauber moved up to the Expert 19+ category and realized that he could hold his own speed. The older guys are fast too and Chris felt very comfortable on the technical course until an unfortunate bobble in his race run hurt his overall finish.


Jimmy Amaral moved up to the Pro class full-time and looked absolutely smooth in practice. He told me that he had all his lines pre-dialed because of the course walk and was able to accomplish them in practice. After so many runs without a mistake, it was his final run where he flatted not only his tire, but his dream of a podium finish.


Jordan Lopez also felt fast and smooth in his practice runs, but in the end, he would unfortunately succumb to the same fate as Jimmy. Check out his website here and race report.


Full results can be found here.

Photos by Christopher Wood.