Bunke Racing Semi-Pro Bobby Menne IV had one of his best weekends ever at the USCC double header in Red Lake, Minn. Menne took a podium finish on Saturday at the Red Lake 75 then backed it up with two podium finishes at Sunday’s Red Lake 100. Pro rider Gabe Bunke had a good weekend as well with a Top 5 and two Top 10 finishes.
The race was run out of the host Seven Clans Red Lake Casino in Red Lake, Minn., and featured a different course for Saturday’s Red Lake 75 and Sunday’s Red Lake 100. Both courses were 20-miles in length and consisted of woods, ditch, trail and minimum maintenance roads. Bunke opened the weekend with a 5th place finish in Pro Open, posting a one-lap time of 25:19.041. Menne placed 5th in Semi-Pro Improved to start the day, posting a one-lap time of 26:41.141.
Bunke had a great run in the highly-competitive Pro 600 class where riders raced three laps and were required to perform a mandatory fuel stop. Bunke finished the three laps with a time of 1:25:38.836, good enough to snag 8th place. Menne ran two laps in the Semi-Pro 600 race and posted a time of 56:05.180 which put him in second place in the 17-rider field.
Riders lined up outside Seven Clans Casino again on Sunday to race the second day of the double-header. The Red Lake 100 featured a different course but it was roughly the same length and the same type of terrain as the day before, so machine setup was similar. The team started the day with Bunke placing 11th in Pro Open and Menne taking the win in the Semi-Pro Improved race with a one-lap time of 29:10.788.
“It feels good to get the win,” said Menne “There are some really fast Semi-Pros and the top riders are getting times that put them up with the fastest Pros so I’m really happy with it. Also, the team worked really hard to get the Polaris IQ600R snowmobiles ready for this race and make sure they were dialed in for me, so I owe a lot to them.”
Later in the day Bunke ran three laps with a fuel stop again in the Pro 600 race and finished 7th with a time of 1:34:58.285. Menne finished on the podium in second place in the Semi-Pro 600 class with a two-lap time of 1:01:52.016.
“We had another good weekend with some solid results,” said Bunke. “Our hard work is paying off and we should be sitting good in the points going into the last two races.”
“Gabe and Bobby and the rest of the team have been working non-stop the past few weeks,” said Team Coordinator Bob Menne. “But that’s what it takes to be a top team and get the kind of results we posted this weekend. Its an example of the kind of program we’re running.”
Next up for Bunke Racing is the USCC Munising 300 February 25-26 in Munising, Mich. For more info on Bunke Racing visit www.bunkeracing.com.
