Steward opted to ride a KTM 450 XC-F for the AAGP since that’s what he rode all throughout the 2023 season. KTM Japan was able to provide direct support to Steward and they really rolled out the red carpet with tents, a van full of extra parts and plenty of support. For me, given that the FC is the motocross model, the folks from KTM Japan also brought a set of forks to swap out. They had a lot of faith in my skill because even these were a good bit stiffer than what I’m used to! They seemed to be something I could manage during Friday’s test ride, so I foolishly didn’t mess with them any further… Which turned out to be a little bit of a mistake on my part!

JNCC rolled out the red carpet for me as well, introducing me during their starting lineup for the Morning “Fun-GP” race and really made me feel like a superstar. I opted to ride their premier “Fun A” class on the front row with about 18 other top amateur racers. Masami Hoshino, JNCC president, plays the Ricky Towery roll at the JNCC starts. But, instead of starting with a green flag, they start the races with the Japanese national flag. When Masami threw the flag, the Husky took a couple more seconds to start, so I was somewhere around sixth place in the first turn. 

As we made our way up the first ski slope and into the choppy terrain I quickly realized the folly of my ways with the suspension and boy was it pogo-ing off the rocks and chop almost instantly. I lost a few spots on those first ski slopes but started reeled in a few guys and made a couple passes in the first woods sections. When we would get back on the ski slopes, these guys were hard to battle with as they ride that fast terrain really, really well. About halfway through that first lap I had worked up to about third place coming through one of the woods sections, but on the exit the bike stalled. 

This sort of blew my mind as it actually had a Rekluse in it, and it took a few seconds to start. Once I was rolling again, I think I came around fifth place on the first lap. The next few laps I feel like I rode pretty terribly as I just couldn’t quite mesh right with the suspension. At one point I had dropped all the way down to tenth place, and this was before the “world’s longest pit stop” that I now hold the record for. We needed to refill the small tank on the Husky, and I came in talking smack with Stu and then when it came time to go again the bike just didn’t want to start. It was probably only 30-45 seconds or so, but it felt like five minutes. 

By this point I had dropped to somewhere around 12^th place but managed to find my way back around a couple of guys as I finished out that pit stop lap. With really dry conditions, the course was getting pretty choppy at the race wore on and with the stiff suspension I wasn’t sure how much more time I could make up. But, then I remembered something… Ever since I began racing many years ago, I’ve always rode the closing laps of races better than the beginning. By the time it was over I had managed to find my way into eighth place. All things considered; I was pretty happy with that! 

There’s a pretty good gap in time from the end of the Morning “Fun-GP” to the Afternoon “Comp-GP” so I was able to come back, down a really good ice cream cone courtesy of the owner of Basist Auto KTM and take my time changing clothes. Stu would make his way over to the start and was introduced on the start line to some seriously pumped up JNCC fans. They love seeing the GNCC racers come over and do their thing, and they really enjoyed seeing Stu. When Masami threw the flag, Stu would be one of the last ones into the first turn, forced to work his way through the pack of AA1 and AA2 racers. 

However, this was no issue as about 3.5 miles into the first lap, Stu had already found his way into the lead! Much like my experience, the Japanese racers are incredibly fast on the open ski slopes but us GNCC racers are able to reel them in through the woods sections. The woods sections on a JNCC course are actually a lot different than a GNCC course. Instead of turning, twisty trail marked a specific way, the JNCC staff goes into a section of woods and puts track tape on both sides of the trail, almost all the way through these sections. 

They banner these woods 50+ feet wide, then cut all the small undergrowth and let you choose how to pick your way through these woods sections. It really makes it even more of a mental game as you try to search for the best way through the woods and there’s all sorts of different ways to do it. This really plays into the hands of guys like Stu, so he was able to make up a ton of time and then pull out a bit of a lead pretty quickly. 

Multi-time JNCC champ, Manabu Watanabe stayed close to Stu for the opening stages of the race but ran into a few small issues that dropped him out of podium contention. By the mid-portions of the race, Stu had been able to pull out a pretty good lead even with a little bit of a challenge from second place rider, Kazuto Yano. Kazuto is actually a hard enduro racer who typically doesn’t compete in the whole JNCC series but wanted to come try his hand against Stu. 

In the end, Stu would take the win ahead of Kazuto by 5 minutes. Masahiro Kobayashi claimed the AA2 class win and a solid third place overall while Manabu Watanabe would end the day fourth overall and wrap up the 2023 JNCC championship. Fifth would go to Yutaro Saito while our buddy Akira Narita would end the day in sixth. Defending series champ, Daiki Baba, who came over and raced Big Buck with us, would sort through several issues throughout the race but manage to end the day in ninth place.