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Finishing the week without a title, Charboneau rode brilliantly to secure three top 5 finishes with 9th being his worst moto result in nine races. Although he didn’t live up to his previous year’s results, there is no doubt the Washington native has skills. In the 250 A class, the boys were going hard with Austin Forkner being untouchable. Charboneau, for most of moto one, battled hard with Ryan Surratt to ultimately come out on top with a 5th place ride. Moto two saw some improvement for Tristan who started in 7th and danced his way up to 4th by lap five, never looking back till the checkers. Despite ending the class with another 5th in moto three, TC had a tougher time in the last moto where he was holding 2nd for four laps before dropping to Forkner, Taft and Sexton in the later stages. Taking the 5th, 4th, and 5th moto finishes back to the semi, Tristan earned a 4th overall in the increasingly fast class. He seemed to struggle with the starts and late-in-the-race-fitness with lap times dropping in those later laps. For 450 A, though, Charboneau appeared to up the energy, charging in every race to rally from behind. Literally, the only position Tristan lost was on Lap eight of moto three where he dropped from 7th to 8th after starting the race in 15th. That was three motos, sixteen positions gained and only one spot lost to finish 5th overall on 4th, 8th, and 8th place finishes. Again, riddled with bad jumps off the gate.
The third and final class for the #216 saw a regrettable 9th in moto one due to a 22nd place start crossing the line on Lap 1. Justifying the hype in that moto, Charboneau put the helmet lid down and sent it, picking up thirteen total positions in order to finish just inside the top 10. The division got easier for him too, finishing in 4th for moto two, where it was again Forkner and Sexton
up front with Cameron Mcadoo in third. Even though he was battling with Mcadoo and staying near the front of the pack, no time was made on the leader near the end of the races preventing him from being a Championship threat. In a sport where winning
is everything, it’s tough to swallow your pride, especially on a track you’ve had so much success with in the past. With the Cal Classic on the horizon in California, Charboneau should only improve before making the professional transition. Expect big things for the Honda rider.
words/BRENTECKERT
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