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Melaragno Achieves 200 MPH Status at Loring Land Speed Races
By: David Deschesne Fort Fairfield Journal, July 24, 2013 LIMESTONE, Maine - Belinda Melaragno joined about a dozen other racers as new inductees into the Loring Timing Association’s (LTA) 200 mile-per-hour club during their July 11-14 weekend timing event held at the former Loring Air Force Base airstrip. She hit 201 mph at a mile and a half on her 2012 Suzuki Hayabusa on Saturday, July 13, a day before the tragic crash and death of racer, Bill Warner.Melaragno, a certified public accountant from Plymouth, Connecticut, had been attempting to reach 200 mph, at past LTA races but kept falling short of success. Last year, in what seemed like hundreds of attempts down the track, she could only get her bike to go up to 196 mph. “Last summer I had a Suzuki 600 and 1000, but the 1000 had some problems that we were still trying to work out prior to the Fall event,” said Melaragno. “In the Fall, I used my boyfriend’s Hayabusa and only reached 196 mph, which was very frustrating. After we got back home, I traded up to this white Hayabusa.” Melaragno says this is the first time using this new bike in a timed event but it was not without difficulties. “I dropped it on the starting line and scuffed some of the paint on the right side, but I picked it back up and made my first -ever 200 mile per hour run with it. I guess if you’re going to drop a bike, the start line is the best place to do it.”Belinda credits hollowing out the exhaust and upgrading to MR12 racing fuel as the tweaks that finally got the bike to crest the 200 mph barrier. “This helped reduce some weight and gave us a few more horsepower. As an inductee to the LTA’s 200 mph club, she earned the much coveted 200 mph hat but chose to forego receiving it until she achieves her own personal goal of breaking the record for her class. Melaragno says the Loring events are the only timed trials she has participated in.
above photo: Belinda Melaragno with her 2012 Suzuki Hayabusa on the track at the Loring Timing Association’s July 13 Land Speed Races at the former Loring Air Force Base airstrip. photo/David Deschesne |
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