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PONC A C I T Y O K L A H O M A
DILAN SCHWARTZ
After one final hurrah on the supermini at the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National Championship, Dilan Schwartz decided to make the jump to the 250 at The Motoplayground Race at Ponca City. The Team Green Kawasaki rider wasted no time getting comfortable on the bigger bike, immediately setting speedy times in practice that put him in a good position heading into the weekend of racing. The California native contested 250 B, 250 All-Star A/B, and the Schoolboy 2 class, and he found success in all three -- but it was the Schoolboy 2 class where he rose to the occasion and took the championship. Nonetheless, Schwartz put together five podium finishes including a victory between the three classes that he raced, immediately establishing himself as a top tier talent in the B class and a serious threat heading into Mini-O’s. In the first Schoolboy 2 moto, Schwartz rocketed out of the gate to an exceptional start, securing the lead through the first corner in order to snag the holeshot. The Kawasaki rider immediately fell under pressure from Jesse Flock on the second lap and lost the lead, but he fought back on the very next lap to regain the advantage at the front of the field. He clocked his personal best lap of the race on the very next circulation of the track, trying his hardest to hold onto the lead, and he began to pull a slight advantage over his competitors. Schwartz had accumulated a gap of more than five seconds just past the halfway point of
the race, prompting him to kick it into cruise control for the remaining laps until he met the checkered flag. In the second race, the #74 Kawasaki wasn’t able to replicate his exceptional start from the first moto, wavering back in fifth position at the end of the opening lap. Nonetheless, the Californian put his head down and charged through the field with determination, making his way to second place in just one lap. His Team Green Kawasaki teammate, Stilez Robertson, had built a comfortable lead at the front of the field, but that didn’t stop Schwartz from pressing forward. He set the fastest lap of the race by more than a second at the halfway point, but the gap was too much to close and he was forced to settle for second position in the moto. Although he didn’t win the race, his second place score was more than enough to clinch the overall victory and Schwartz earned some new shiny hardware to take back to his home state of California after tasting his first bit of success in the B class.
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