2010RACE9

Perris Raceway
CALVMX/AHRMA SoCal Regional Series, Round #9

Labgold Returns in Style!
By Steve Caro
Photography by Kathryn Caro
Perris, CA. Sept. 19

Clear skies and desert heat greeted the racers and fans at round nine of the 2010 CALVMX/AHRMA Regional Series at the venerable Perris Raceway.
Water and shade were at a premium throughout the day.
The ever changing nature of the Perris course presented a new challenge to the vintage/post vintage racers in their latest visit to the long lived course.
Gone were some of the high speed sections, being replaced by a series of jumps and mild whoops as well as multi-line turns. Several post vintage riders
called it the best track they had ever seen at Perris while some Vintage riders needed the first moto to get used to track and its challenges. Perris track
personnel did a great job of accommodating CALVMX and our diverse group of riders and promise to do even more for the 2011 season. Major changes will
be made in 2011 to make Perris one of the elite Vintage/Post Vintage tracks in the west
Long time vintage racing veteran Rick Labgold made his return to racing after a year’s hiatus a successful endeavor by sweeping both moto’s of the 50 Plus
Vintage Intermediate division. Riding a pristine Maico, Labgold showed being out of the saddle for a year did little to diminish his speed and track
mastery.

The first moto saw Craig Walker (CZ) exiting the short starting straight with a slight lead over Labgold and Scott Piddington (Hon). By the end of lap one,
Labgold and Piddington were in command of the top two positions and began to pull away from the pack. The first three laps saw Labgold tenaciously
holding onto first with Piddington parked on his rear fender. Sailing over the finish line jump at the end of lap three, Piddington moved into the lead spot
ahead of Labgold. It was not until the middle of the final lap that Labgold powered his way back into the lead for the victory. Piddington and Walker rounded
out the top three spots in the moto.
With only five laps between himself and the overall victory, Labgold thundered into an early lead at the start of the second moto. Piddington once again
controlled second followed by Walker who had been caught in a first turn collision and was briefly bumped off the course. Piddington had his throttle pinned
in an effort to keep Labgold in range. On this day, his racing luck let him down, as Labgold continued to pull away from the pack, his German machine
running flawlessly. Labgold’s perfect 1-1 score clinched his overall, with Piddington an impressive second and the consistent Walker in third.
Brian Paquette had another flawless day in the GP-2 500 Expert class. Yamaha mounted Paquette timed the start perfectly in the first moto and essentially
disappeared for the remainder of the moto. Trailing him were Kyle Winton (CZ) and Ed Tashijian (Suz). Paquette was never challenged as he made quick
work out of the difficult course and took an easy moto win, followed by Winton and Tashijian.

As he has done previously, Paquette again made a perfect start and soon established a 15 second gap over the rest of the pack at the start of the second
moto. His powerful Yamaha demonstrating the readily available power of two-strokes, Paquette blitzed to an easy moto and overall victory. Chip Howell
(Yam) took second with 4-2 scores and Tashijian rounded out the podium with 3-3 scores.

Manufacturer’s Cup point leader Norm Himaka (Mai) padded his point lead with another two moto sweep over the other cup contenders. In spite of the
suspension taxing Perris jumps, Himaka put in two consistent rides to further extend his and Team Maico’s point lead in the season long series.
Himaka added to his personal victory tally by also taking the overall victory in the Vintage Sportsman 250 Intermediate class with two more impressive rides
in route to the class victory with Wendell Clark(Hon) and Kirk Chapman (CZ) joining him in victory circle.
October 17 will see the vintage racers returning for the final time this year to the Glen Helen facility in San Bernardino for round 10 of the 12 round series.