MotoAmerica came to the Pacific Northwest this year, bringing professional motorcycle racing to the Ridge Motorsports Park. The backyard of Asphalt & Rubber, I made the short drive to the forested race track in order to see how the pros do it.

Both of the PNW’s local amateur racing clubs had just competed two weeks before at The Ridge, holding a joint-round on the recently revised course, which meant an obvious reference point on what to expect from the track’s new layout (a chicane having just been added to the track’s front straight this year).

Unsurprisingly, the chicane was the talk for much of the paddock, and rightfully so. As we found out weeks before the MotoAmerica round, the position of the chicane on the front straight is an issue for motorcycle racers.