Lol…welcome to FCS racings new page! This is officially our first entry in the diary that is 2 wheel racing. A friend of mine asked me, “So you started a race team, how was the first season?” It truly left me thinking I have not even myself summarized and put into words how the first season of Florida Trail Riders (FTR) went.
I started FCS Racing back in December officially and we picked up a young man named Travis Dorff. I met Travis’s dad riding to the Pee Wee race at HS #3 and as I drove past him I saw how far away the Pee Wee track was and just asked him if he needed a ride in the Polaris. He kindly said yes and we briefly spoke on the way. I had no idea who he was nor did he know anything about me. He later sent me a picture of me cheering for his son in the race. Again at the time I didn’t know who Travis was either. I was just trying to get more involved in the races and also learn what I could about Pee Wee considering my son would be in that class in a few short years. Well after seeing Travis on the track and meeting him off the track I knew he was the type of rider who I wanted wearing the red white and blue of FCS Racing.
I have far too much to cover for the whole race season in one entry but will just touch on Travis for this first entry. We had the opportunity to see Travis race hard on a great bike this season, though not without headaches. In the opening race and the following 3 of Travis officially riding on the FCS Racing team we saw mechanical after mechanical issue on the KTM 50. This led to the team rebuilding his bike and turning it over to Central Florida Powersports for a much needed deeper dive in.
Fernando Cassagrande has been my personal race mechanic and friend throughout the 2 wheel start and I knew he would be the one to go to for a step in the right direction. After the bike left we had a few more issues with brakes continuing to lock up on the bike but worked through that for some solid finishes. We finished off the season with Travis in the final 2 races with rough starts but fighting his way to top 3 finishes in both races.
I learned a lot about rider choice in the first 2 months of the team. It truly takes a team to support a rider to reach his or her highest potential. It’s a challenge to get there. I firmly believe Travis at just 7 years old always had what it took but this is a sport of many moving pieces. A great rider is one. Health, hydration, attitude, finances, skillset, parts, bike and pit stops are just a few others. Any one of these, if they go wrong, can ruin a riders chances for a win. I learned a lot about the patience it takes to win a championship. The consistency and meticulous attention to detail race in and race out. There are 14 races and every one of them means as much as the last. As they say in golf….a 3 inch putt is just as valuable as a 300 yard drive!
-Austin Lasure
FCS Racing Team Owner