The highlight of this round was having three former top level factory riders joining in on the race action. 1980 Supercross champion Mike “Too Tall” Bell who looks a decade younger than what his birth certificate states, former Yamaha and Suzuki factory racer Scott Burnworth and former Honda factory racer (and 1981 MXDN member) Jim Gibson suited up once again for a day of racing fun. A painfully sore toe limited Bell to riding only the Ironman competition, but Burnworth and Gibson more than made up for Bell’s limited participation with a display of racing skills that demonstrated why they were once paid to race. Vintage Sportsman 250 Expert was to be the battle ground for Burnworth and Gibson. Burnworth was on a Keith Lynas prepared Ossa Phantom, while Gibson was astride a gorgeous Montesa VR belonging to John Adamo. The battle began with the start of moto one. The two ex-pros quickly left the combined field of novice, intermediate and experts far behind as they repeatedly swapped places back and forth over the five lap sprint. Contrasting styles were evident between the two. Burnworth railed corners at high speed, while Gibson adapted a form of “cut and thrust” with many of the corners. Both chose to stay low and travel far over the numerous jumps on the course. At the finish, it was Burnworth with a scant few bike lengths over Gibson. Moto two was a virtual carbon copy of the first moto. Gibson timed the gate perfectly to hole shot the field, with Burnworth trailing in second and rapidly closing in on Gibson. As it was in the first moto, the two ex-pros extracted the maximum from their classic Spanish built machines. Midway through the moto, Burnworth made his move on Gibson to take over first place. Once he had the lead, Burnworth maintained a merciless pace that only Gibson could match. The two were the only vintage class competitors to clear the finish line table top jump on a routine basis. At the finish, Burnworth nabbed the overall win with Gibson the runner-up finisher. Suzuki mounted Dave Peabody used two strong rides to take the overall victory in the Vintage Sportsman 250 Novice division. In the first moto, Jeff Watts (Hon) grabbed the lead exiting the first turn with Peabody trailing a few lengths behind. Peabody continued to pace Watts as the moto progressed. Just when it appeared that Watts had the moto won, hard luck struck and he forced to the side of the track with mechanical troubled. Peabody seized the opportunity and sped to the victory over the CZ’s of Phil Hungerford and Joe Knoettegen. Watts once again nailed the holeshot at the start of moto two. Behind him, Hungerford and Peabody sparred for second. Watts began to put some distance between him and the rest of the class, while Peabody and Hungerford passed and re-passed each other throughout the moto. As the white flag flew, Peabody made a final pass into second place. At the checkers, Watts grabbed the moto victory, followed by Peabody and Hungerford. With impressive 1-2 moto finishes, Peabody claimed the overall victory. CALVMX returns to Perris once again for round 6 on August 9. Members are encouraged to come out and support the club both at the races and on scheduled practice days at the exclusive private practice track in Jamul. |
| HEAT CAN’T BEAT VMX Perris, CA July 19th By Steve Caro When the temperature in the pit area at 9 A.M. is already 80+ degrees, the only diplomatic way to describe a July race day in Perris, California is HOT! By noontime, temperatures in the pits had reached 112 degrees and the slight hint of a breeze barely tempered the solar inferno raining down on competitor and spectator alike. The brutal conditions prompted several warnings from the P. A. announcer to all persons present to keep drinking water. To emphasize the point of hydration, the crowd was reminded that in the event of heat exhaustion, the victim would be stripped to expedite the cooling process. None of this adversity was enough to deter the California Vintage Moto-Cross competitors from donning their race gear and hitting the well prepared Perris Raceway course for round five of the 2009 vintage/post-vintage racing series. |
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