After impressing in the MotoAmerica season opener at Barber Motorsports, Lucca Allen put in a repeat performance in Round Two which was held at Road Atlanta this past weekend.
Taking a hard fought fourteenth at the flag in Saturday’s opening race, which was delayed due to heavy rain, the CW Moto rider became the first British rider to achieve back-to-back points finishes in the series!
The weekend began as most will this year, with Lucca maximising track time on a Friday as he learns the circuits which are all new to him. In addition, he continues to adapt to Dunlop tyres which are also different to what he has previously raced with.
Improving his lap time with each session he qualified just outside of the top twenty and when the lights went out on Saturday afternoon immediately gained positions. Battling for twelfth throughout, he dropped to fourteenth at the flag.
A further improvement in Sunday morning’s warm up gave further optimism and confidence of another strong result in race two. Again, fighting for the points positions, Lucca unfortunately had to retire due to an arm issue which will be resolved before the series resumes at Road America in a few weeks.
Lucca Allen:
“Road Atlanta was another new circuit, but I was able to learn it pretty fast. I went faster with every session on track, and I was really looking forward to the races, especially with the changing conditions. Coming from P23 to P14 in Race One on Saturday was good. I think I could have been higher if I had got away at the start, but I got stuck in a group and we were just holding each other up. That said I am happy that for the second race in a row I was able to score championship points and show some potential in terms of being able to fight with the guys around me. I know what I can do differently next time. On Sunday I was having another solid race but unfortunately, I had to retire. I had a sketchy start as someone crashed at turn one, but I soon settled into a decent rhythm and was close to the top fifteen. I ran on at Turn 5 and again at the end of the back straight when an issue with arm caused me to lose feeling, so I pulled in. I am disappointed and frustrated not just for me but for the team too as they have been working so hard and we deserved a double points finish this weekend. I will continue to work hard back in the UK and come back confident for Road America in a few weeks.”
