Sean Ungvarsky: Rider of the Month September 2016!
Last Updated: February 5th, 2021
(Sean Ungvarsky getting his knee down during a MotoAmerica race)
NEVER TOO LATE TO FULFILL YOUR DREAMS
We think TEAM Arizona’s brand of rider training has more to do with fulfilling dreams than filling out and passing state exams. Sure, getting the motorcycle endorsement on your license is a nice bi-product to the process, but we’re more interested in the dreams that motivate people to come see us.
Our participants take our courses for various reasons. To learn how to ride. To get their license. To join friends and be part of the cool motorcycle scene. All real and valid reasons for coming to see us. Is there more to it though? For Sean Ungvarsky, our September 2016 Rider of the Month, there was more.
FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Sean first honed his skills in the dirt like a lot of us who now ride on the street. Sean’s father, BJ, was keen to make sure Sean’s passion for two wheels had plenty of opportunities to grow. In BJ’s words:
From the time Sean was able to ride a bicycle, he knew that he wanted to one day ride motorcycles. Growing up, Sean rode anything with two wheels that he could get his hands on. Some contraptions had more than two, like his street luge board, but that didn’t stop him from giving it a go! Every occasion that involved gifting, when asked what he would like, Sean would request a motorcycle from us.
Finally, when Sean turned 12, his mom and I got him a small motocross bike for Christmas and started making the weekly trips to various motocross tracks around the Phoenix area. Over time, Sean became a better rider and moved on to bigger dirt bikes.
That seems like a typical progression for a lot of riders. How does one make the leap to racing in the premier racing league in America; MotoAmerica?
(Sean with his Dad BJ at a recent motorcycle event in Scottsdale, AZ)
TEAM ARIZONA A GATEWAY DRUG?
The crossover from dirt to street could have been haphazard. Sean’s father, BJ, wanted to make sure Sean received proper training before mixing it up with motorists.
Again, BJ’s words:
Shortly after his 16th birthday, Sean set his sights on transitioning his motocross skills to a street bike. He saved his money to pay for the bike on his own and we took the Introduction to Motorcycling and the Basic Ridercourse with TEAM Arizona at their Gilbert location. Days after completing the TEAM Arizona courses, Sean purchased a used Kawasaki 636 and fell in love with the freedom that comes from riding a street bike.
That’s a fairly fast transition to go from a training motorcycle to a cutting-edge sport bike like the 636. It takes confidence and a level of maturity to ride a beast like that at age seventeen. Sean wanted more. He had a dream.
DESERT ROAD RACING HERE WE COME!
BJ continues telling us the story about Sean’s progression to MotoAmerica:
Always looking for a new challenge, Sean convinced us to let him participate in a Desert Road Racing track day at Wild Horse Pass in the late fall of 2014. For a young rider, that day was life changing. He spent the remainder of the year and all of the following year polishing his racing skills at the amateur level on tracks in the southwest.
In 2016, Sean took on his biggest challenge yet by racing on the AMA MotoAmerica KTM RC Cup Series. With one race to go in his rookie season, Sean currently sits in 14th place for overall championship points with several top 10 finishes under his belt.
From a Yamaha TW250 at TEAM Arizona to a cup bike on the corkscrew at Laguna Seca in just more than 3 years, it’s easy to see that Sean will stop at nothing to become a champion. We look forward to watching him as he progresses in MotoAmerica and takes additional steps to fulfill his dream.
Riders, we want to honor YOU! Do you know someone who should be TEAM Arizona’s Rider of the Month? Entering their name is SIMPLE.
- Email Bill (bill@motorcycletraining.com )
- In the subject line, type “Rider of the Month”
- In one paragraph, tell us why this rider deserves the title TEAM Arizona Rider of the Month!
Let’s have some serious FUN with this gang! There are some great stories out there and we don’t want to miss them, so tell us about yourselves!
