Anthony Mazziotto Doubles Down at KTM RC Cup Round 3 in Virginia

ALTON, Va. – Round 3 of the KTM RC Cup Series took place over the weekend at Virginia International Raceway for Round 4 of the 2016 Moto America Road Racing Series. Anthony Mazziotto III had a stand-out performance as he went 1-1 to overtake the championship points lead over fellow New Jersey native Brandon Paasch.

Mazziotto began the weekend in a favorable spot as the 15-year-old earned pole position heading into the two-race format. In race one, Mazziotto jumped out front on the opening lap but he had plenty of company from established front-runners Ashton Yates and Brandon Paasch. Yates, Paasch and Mazziotto passed the lead position back-and-forth several times throughout the 13-lap race, with each rider taking his turn at the front.

Meanwhile, an intense battle was forming just behind the lead pack, as Alejandro Gutierrez, Brandon Altmeyer and Jody Barry vied for the 4th place position. On the final lap, Gutierrez moved past Paasch to secure the 3rd place position just before the checkered flag, claiming his first-career RC Cup podium finish.

“At the beginning of the race I felt good,” Gutierrez said. “The top three riders created a big gap and it was hard to catch them because it’s a new track for me, so I just tried to keep focused on the last lap to catch them.”

Although Yates led the most laps of the race, it was Mazziotto who made them count at the end as he went on to secure the race one victory. Yates finished close behind with a career-best 2nd place finish ahead of Gutierrez.

Paasch ultimately finished 4th in race one, followed by a hard-charging Jody Barry to round out the top five.

In race two, it was Altmeyer who assumed the lead position off the start but Mazziotto quickly made his way to the front on the opening lap. Unfortunately Altmeyer crashed out of the lead on lap one but was able to bounce back and continue the race.

Mazziotto established himself as the leader once again, with Yates, Paasch and Jody Barry close in tow. Paasch continued to work his angles and just before the halfway point he had closed the gap on Mazziotto.

The battle for third was just as intense, as Barry and Yates went back-and-forth just behind the leaders. The duo remained within striking distance of the battle between Mazziotto and Paasch, creating an exciting race to the podium.

On lap 11, a downed rider on the course caused a red flag to be thrown, thus ending the race two laps early. With that, Mazziotto claimed the victory, followed by Paasch in 2nd and Yates in 3rd.

Mazziotto’s third win of the season allowed him to take over the championship points lead after three rounds of racing.

“I just put down some really hard laps and hoped that the other guys wouldn’t catch up to me but I knew in the back of my head that they would,” Mazziotto said. “It was a good weekend, I like this track, it’s really physical and I like tracks with a lot more turns.”

With two wins behind him, Paasch now sits five points back in 2nd. With his third podium in the last two rounds, Yates makes a jump up to 4th overall in the standings.

“This weekend went pretty awesome for me,” Yates said. “It’s too bad the race had to end early but that’s just how it is sometimes. I’ll take the points and look forward to Road America in a few weeks.”

Another exciting battle took place inside the top five as Josh Serne, Gutierrez and Jackson Blackmon diced back-and-forth for the 5th place position. Blackmon held strong in the end, though, maintaining his position ahead of the rest of the pack.

Gutierrez finished 6th, just ahead of Josh Serne in 7th, Benjamin Smith in 8th, Sean Ungvarsky in 9th and Draik Beauchamp in 10th.

Next Event: Road America / June 3 – 5, 2016  

Race 1 Results –

1. Anthony Mazziotto III
2. Ashton Yates
3. Alejandro Gutierrez
4. Brandon Paasch
5. Jody Barry
6. Brandon Altmeyer
7. Josh Serne
8. Draik Beauchamp
9. Benjamin Smith
10. Jackson Blackmon

Race 2 Results –

1. Anthony Mazziotto III
2. Brandon Paasch
3. Ashton Yates
4. Jody Barry
5. Jackson Blackmon
6. Alejandro Gutierrez
7. Josh Serne
8. Benjamin Smith
9. Sean Ungvarsky
10. Draik Beauchamp

Championship Point Standings –

1. Anthony Mazziotto – 128
2. Brandon Paasch – 123
3. Jody Barry – 84
4. Ashton Yates – 70
5. Brandon Altmeyer –  60

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