Page 44 - MPG4

HANNAH HODGES
Hannah Hodges has established herself as one of the most popular female and all around amateur
riders in the sport. The seventeen-year-old girl Monster Energy Kawasaki rider from Deland, Florida has been dominating the girl’s classes at nationals across the country for a handful of years now. She pulled off the three-peat in the Girls (12-16) class last year at Loretta Lynns to cap off her career aboard superminis. She enjoyed a dominant career on superminis and has jumped up to the 250s this year where she is racing the WMX National series and 250 B class. In her first big race in the B class at the Daytona RCSX she was bat- tling inside the top 5 of her heat before a nasty crash concussed her and knocked her out for the weekend. It was not a great start to the national season but in the few laps she put down, her laptimes were right there with the rest of the boys.
Hodges has also been trailblazing for other girls in the sport by mixing it up in the boys’ classes and becoming the first girl to race at the coveted Monster Energy Cup Supermini race. Last year, not only did she race in the MEC cup, she battled up near the front and grabbed an impressive seventh place finish in the second moto good enough for tenth overall. It was a huge success for Hodges and the WMX community because it proved girls can dice it up with the guys. Despite all the attention for being such a fast girl, she ultimately wants to be known as a fast racer in general. She wants to fit right in with the guys on the track and do her thing. Training down at MTF with during the week with some of the fastest young racers we have today will only help her cause. Hodges’ ultimate goal in the sport is to qualify
for a main event in the pros and I believe she is well on her way to doing just that. Watch for her to raise some eyebrows at the amateur
nationals this season in both the Women’s classes and the B class.
44 MPG • APRIL 2016
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