Muscle Milk MEGA Athlete, Memo Gidley, came away with a big win at the Eagle Lakes Sports Resort in Tracy, CA, this past weekend. Racing in the 850cc standup expert class, Gidley started the weekend right by laying down fast time in the one lap qualifying session. “I really like when the DJSA series runs us in a one lap qualifying run for our heat race gate position,” said Gidley. “It really then just comes down to you and the water…and how fast you can go without making a mistake.”
In the first heat race Gidley launched off the line to grab second around the first turn. “I got a great jump and thought I was going to be able to sweep into the lead around the first turn,” said Gidley. “Even though I kept it pinned entering the corner as long as possible, I had Pete Zernik on the inside of me and he took us in really deep. The next thing I knew I caught an edge which turned the ski and I missed a buoy.” Gidley would then have to take the penalty buoy and dropped to fourth place at the finish.
Heat two, Gidley flew off the line and was first rounding turn one. “There were four of us that all had a shot to take the overall win,” said Gidley. “I knew for me to get the overall, I needed to win and Zernik needed to finish second to keep either Thomas Pagen and Jeff Loder from getting the overall with points. My plan was to pull away as much as possible to try to force them to make mistakes.” Gidley rode a flawless race and eventually stretched his lead to over ten seconds by the checkered flag. “I was elated that after my not so great first heat that the points worked out! It was a great win, the Eagle Resorts track was really fast and fun to ride, and I really had an awesome time bringing the Muscle Milk ski across the line first!”
And in the junior “B” division, eight year old, Rachel Gidley had another great run in only her third junior race. Rachel capped off a great weekend by ending up fifth in her class. With the junior division now becoming one of the biggest classes, the competition is fierce once the green flag drops. “I was proud that I finished fifth,” said Rachel. “My Dad has been helping me to get full throttle coming out of the turns. I was going really fast down the straights and that’s fun!”