Oktoberfest
CALVMX Style
By Steve Caro
Photography by Kathryn Caro
Anza, CA. Oct. 10
Akin to visiting a favorite relative, the CALVMX fraternity made a return visit to their vintage friendly home at Cahuilla Creek MX Park for the third round of their 2015 VMX second series. Under clear skies and a cooling breeze, which blunted the predicted triple digit temperatures, the modified vet track at Cahuilla played host to 10 motos and the latest round of the Ironman race.
The third round of the series included two special additions to the day. Continuing the CALVMX tradition of saluting past era racers, Trey Jorski, a nationally ranked AMA pro from the mid 1970’s was saluted, with an image taken during his racing days gracing the trophy cups presented to class winners. A native of Oklahoma City, OK, Jorski was a top ranked local area pro by 1972 racing 125, 250 and 500 cc machines in Oklahoma and Texas. He made his way to the national circuit by 1974 and ran consistently with legends such as Marty Smith, Brad Lackey and Jimmy Weinert. Racking up numerous top ten scores, Jorski was also the National Champion in Mexico and nine times Oklahoma state champion. Employed in the aerospace industry, Jorski still competes in both vintage and modern races.
On a more somber note, the race day included a tribute to Mike Owen, a pioneer in the sport of vintage racing who in recent years served as the director of the traveling Legends and Heroes of Motocross exhibit seen at supercross events across the country. A three time AHRMA champion, Owen passed away earlier in the year. At the pre-race ceremony, Owen’s daughter Lindsay spoke of all the weekends she spent with her dad at the races and of working with him in the Legends presentations. She commented that being his only child meant she was both daughter and son and grew to love the sport of motocross as much as her dad. For long time members of the vintage racing community, Owen will always be remembered for his immaculately prepared machines and motor home along with a photographic memory for the smallest details. The ensuing lap of honor, led by Lindsay Owen, was joined by virtually every entrant and featured a huge variety of machinery on the track at the same time.
Honoree Jorski was on the gate for moto one in the Marty Tripes 100cc Works Revenge class. Although technically the only entrant in the Factory Works Pro class, Yamaha mounted Jorski engaged in a spirited duel with series regular David MacDonald (Yam) who contested in the Factory Works Expert division. Displaying the fluid style that garnered him support from Kawasaki during his professional years, Jorski was never more than a few bike lengths behind Jorski in both motos.
CZ mounted Clark Jones is always a dominant figure in the Vintage 50+ Expert class whenever he puts in an appearance at a vintage meet. Today was no exception as Jones added to his victory tally with a two-moto sweep of the class. Making a very welcomed return to vintage racing was Mike LaPaglia (CZ) who kept Jones honest in both motos and took a well-deserved second overall, with Mark Wood (CZ) rounding out the podium in third. Jones repeated his success later in the day with a sweep of the Vintage 250 Expert Class.
While Clark Jones swept the Expert class, fellow CZ racer Tim McIntyre mirrored Jones’ success with double moto victories in the 50+ Intermediates, while Tim Vasquez and Charlie Richardson added to the CZ victory tally with overall wins in 50+ Vintage Novice and 60+ Vintage Expert respectively as the classes ran concurrently during the fourth race/moto on the schedule.
For the past several years, the pre-75 class with the most consistent number of entrants has been Vintage Sportsman 250 Intermediate. The lineup featured European brands CZ, Husqvarna, Maico and Bultaco. Japan was represented by the famous Honda Elsinore. The first moto saw Mike Padilla (Hon) nabbing a near-expert skill level holeshot as the pack powered its way onto the main portion of the Cahuilla course, followed by Pat Irvin (Bul) and Tim McIntyre (CZ). Padilla’s speed kept him in front of the pack and within striking distance of the Vintage 500 Experts who were on the track at the same time. Padilla’s lead was never challenged as he sped to the moto win, followed by Irvin and McIntyre.
Padilla repeated his blitzkrieg like start in moto two and quickly built up a lead of nearly 10 seconds ahead of his class. Behind Padilla, Irvin and McIntyre vied for second with McIntyre powering his Czech built machine into the runner-up spot by the beginning of lap three. With Padilla leading start to finish for the overall win, the race to watch was the McIntyre-Irvin duel as Irvin kept McIntyre in his sights throughout the moto. At the checkers, it was McIntyre nabbing second overall with Irvin taking a well-deserved third on his Spanish classic machine.
Other winners on the day included Nick LaPaglia who was also making a return to the vintage scene with his father Mike. The younger LaPaglia dominated Vintage Sportsman 125 Expert and Noleen 125 Vintage Works Pro classes on his immaculate CZ. His speed and style around the Cahuilla course had to be seen to be believed. Young Nick could easily be the poster boy for vintage racing as he proved once again that great racing doesn’t require a $10G investment in an ultra-high maintenance four-stroke whose life span can be measured in hours rather than years. Joining the LaPaglia’s in the winners circle included James Fryslie (CZ) in Vintage Sportsman 500 Intermediate, Marty Eisen (Yam) in Vintage Sportsman 250 Novice, Kitty Hoole (Yam) in Women’s Expert, Greg Landers (Yam) in Vintage Open Age Expert and Brad Morrison (Mai) in 50+ GP Expert.
The next event for CALVMX will see the motocross caravan removing their front brakes and turning left as they return to Camp Lockett in Campo for another weekend of flat track racing. As with their VMX events, there will be classes for any and all machines, including knobby tire classes. This is a chance to live out your Scott Parker, Mert Lawill and Bart Markel fantasies of “pitching it into the corner”. Scheduled for October 31 and November 1, the first event was an overwhelming success and the return event is expected to be equally popular.
Further photos and race coverage can be found at:
Todayscyclecoverage.com
San Diego Off Road Magazine