CALVMX

 

 

MARCH MADNESS, CALVMX STYLE!

By Steve Caro

Photography by Kathryn Caro

Anza, CA. Mar. 20

 

 

Every so often, the proverbial pieces all fit together and an event goes off with nary a hitch. Round three of the 2016 CALVMX/100% vintage motocross season was such a case and 250 entries were the proof. A well-prepped Cahuilla Creek MX Park course, perfect weather and an excellent cross-section of machines from the “golden era” of motocross combined for a great day of classic racing.

Round Three was designated Brian Tracy Day in honor of the popular young racer who lost his life this past December in a tragic off track accident. It was only a few seasons ago when Tracy entered a CALVMX event on a thoroughly clapped-out IT Yamaha, complete with flickering head light, flopping tool pouch and a kick stand that spent most of its time bouncing off the ground. In what would become his modus operandi, he manhandled the machine to numerous wins that first season. Tracy later added Post-Vintage era (and usually “barn fresh”) Yamaha YZ’s to his stable of machines and continued to pile on wins. Tragically, his rapid ascension to Ironman and class championships ended much too soon.

 

With his mother, father, brother and sister in attendance, Brian’s life was celebrated with a lap of honor and numerous stories about his time with CALVMX including his famous blitz around a rain soaked Glen Helen R.E.M track proving racing was possible on a day when the modern bike club cancelled their races on the National Track. A special action portrait created by Angela Boland, based on a photograph by Kathryn Caro, was presented to the Tracy family with the assurance from those gathered that Brian will never be forgotten. In a final salute to Tracy, club president Frank Vrettas announced there was to be an annual salute to the memory of Brian Tracy.

CZ mounted Steve Roach showed great form in the 60 Plus Vintage Intermediate class with two impressive wins. Running near the front of the mixed pack which featured three different age classes and skill levels, Roach held off the challenges of fellow CZ pilots Dave Scourfield and Rickert Haag in both motos to clinch the overall, with Scourfield and Haag notching identical second and third place finishes in both motos to round out the top three overall finishes.

 

Decades of experience described the entry list in the 50 Plus Vintage Expert class including long time competitor Ed Tashjian who was making his return to the pre-1975 classes for the first time in at least a decade on a well-prepped CZ. The start of the first moto saw Can-Am mounted Steve Ellis powering into the lead, followed by Mark Wood (CZ) and Clark Jones (CZ). Ellis continued to lead until near the end of lap one which ended with Jones powering his way past the leaders to take over first place. Once in the lead, Jones was never challenged and took the moto win easily, followed by Ellis, with Ron Renzulli (CZ) working his way thru the pack for third.

 

once again led the field at the start of moto two, with Jones and Tim McIntyre (CZ) in close pursuit. As the pack moved to the back portion of the course, Jones took over first entering an uphill turn. Quickly building up a multi-bike length lead, Jones made quick work of the Cahuilla course to take both the moto and overall win, followed by Ellis, with third overall going to McIntyre by way of his 4-3 scores.

Rick Daniel (Yam) made a rare non-national appearance in the GP1 500 Expert class and faced off against challengers Dave Harris (Mai) and Sterlyn Rigsby (Yam). In the first moto, Daniel dueled with Harris and Rigsby for the first few laps before breaking away and establishing an insurmountable lead to take the moto win, followed by Rigsby’s white/red colored YZ-465, with Harris taking third.

The second moto led off with bar-to-bar action between Daniel and Rigsby as the two vied for the lead. The two Yamaha veterans took turns leading numerous times during the first lap alone. Unfortunately, bad luck struck Rigsby as he and Daniel began lap two, when the two tangled in a slow corner and Rigsby stalled out. While Daniel and Harris continued on, Rigsby struggled to get the big Yamaha restarted. In an act of sportsmanship, Daniel slowed to check on Rigsby the next time he came around the corner. Rigsby could be seen waving Daniel on as he finally got his bike re-fired. Daniel went on to take the moto win to clinch the overall, with Harris second, with Rigsby able to work his way back up to clinch third overall.

 

Other class winners on the day included Bultaco mounted Patrick Irvin in Open Age Vintage Intermediate, Dave Feeney (Hon) in 50 Plus GP Expert, with Eric Casas (Hon) taking the top spot in GP3-125 Pro, and Kirk Jackson (Hon) topping the GP3 125 Experts.

 Also taking home class wins were Mike Padilla in Vintage Sportsman 250 Intermediate on his Honda, with Steve Roach adding to his win tally with the overall in Vintage Sportsman 500 Intermediate, while David Gorder took his very original Hodaka Super Rat to the top spot in the Classic 100 Novice division.

 

CALVMX moves to a different venue for the April round of the 2016 season. Round four will be at 212 Land MX in Boulevard, located in the far east county of San Diego. This track proved extremely popular with the vintage racers last year, and although it’s a further drive for those coming in from areas such as Riverside and San Bernardino, the facility and course layout will not disappoint. Racing is set for April 17, with classes available for any machine, including three-wheelers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Further photos and race coverage can be found at:

Todayscyclecoverage.com