125 TWO-STROKES STEAL THE SHOW AT REM GLEN HELEN—ALESSI & DUBACH WIN BIG

On Feb 24, 2021 Last updated Feb 24, 2021

Mike Alessi swept both the Pasha 125 Pro motos and the Pasha Over-30 125 Pro motos to collect $2000 in purse money.

PHOTOS BY DEBBI TAMIETTI – unless otherwise noted

The big draw at the REM motocross this past Saturday was the $6000 Pasha 125 Open two-stroke event. This was round one of what will be a three race series culminating at the 2021 World Two-Stroke Championship on April 3. This week’s race paid a $2000 purse in each of three special 125 classes—125 Pro, Over-30 125 Pro and Over-50 125 Pro. First place in each class won $1000 dollars, second place $600 and third place $400. The second race of the three-race series will be held on March 20, 2021, and is considered to be a warm-up race for the World Two-Stroke Championships two weeks later. The Pasha 125 Open series has big plans for the 125 class at the World Two-Stroke Championship, with talk of increasing the purse to pay the winner $3000.

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE PASHA 125 OPEN PRO CLASSES THIS WEEK?

Dare Demartile used a 2-2 to take second place in the 125 Pro class. Dare rose to prominence in the two-stroke world when he beat Mike Alessi in one moto at the 2020 World Two-Stroke Championship.

MXA’s Josh Mosiman (84), Dare Demartile (far right) and Luke Kalaitzian (36) fought hard for second place in the 125 Pro class.

MXA’s Dennis Stapleton (184) is an old hand at two-stroke races. He raced both the 125 Pro class and the Over-30 125 Pro class.

Hawaiian Brian Medeiros bought a basket case YZ125 for $800 and turned it into a thing of beauty in two weeks. He finished seventh overall in the 125 Pro class. Photo: Jon Ortner

Aryton Ward (797), son of Jeff Ward, just missed the top ten in the 125 Pro class.

125 PRO: Mike Alessi opened up very quick leads in both 125 Pro motos and rode to a 1-1 sweep, while Dare Demartile, Josh Mosiman and Luke Kalaitzian had tremendous battles over who would be second, third and fourth. Demartile went 2-2, Kalaitzian 4-3 and Mosiman 3-4. The top ten was filled out by Sean Collier (6-5),, Daniel Van Der Ziel (7-7), Brian Medeiros (9-6), Max Groom (8-8), Connor Eddy (12-9) and Dennis Stapleton (10-11).
The 125 Pro podium.

PASHA 125 OPEN: 125 PRO CLASS
1. Mike Alessi (Yam)…1-1
2. Dare Demartile (Yam)…2-2
3. Luke Kalaitzian (Hus)…4-3
4. Josh Mosiman (KTM)…3-4
5. Sean Collier (Yam)…5-5

There may be snow on the mountains in the distance, but at Glen Helen is was a sunny and warm 75 degrees. Photo: Jody Weisel

OVER-30 125 PRO: Mike Alessi, who will be 33 years old in May, swept both Over-30 motos, but Australian Cody Mackie made him work for it in the second moto. Alessi holeshot as usual, but Mackie passed him in the tight second turn and opened up a small gap, but Alessi seemed unperturbed and followed Mackie for a couple laps and then went by the Aussie to take an easy overall with a 1-1 to Mackie’s 2-2, Tim Beatty’s 3-4, Bob Casper’s 6-3 and Todd Gravitt’s 5-5. It was Alessi’s second overall for the day, earning him $2000 in purse money for what he considers a warm-up for his real goal, the April 3d World Championship event.

Mike Alessi (800) earned an extra $1000 in the Over-30 125 Pro race. Photo: Jon Ortner

Australian Cody Mackie (33) shocked Mike Alessi by passing him in one of the Over-30 125 Pro motos and holding him off for a couple laps. Mackie went 2-2 for second overall.

The Over-30 125 Pro podium.

PASHA 125 OPEN: OVER-30 125 PRO CLASS
1. Mike Alessi (Yam)…1-1
2. Cody Mackie (KTM)…2-2
3. Tim Beatty (Yam)…3-4
4. Bob Casper (Hon)…6-3
5. Todd Gravitt (KTM)…5-5

This was a close as anyone in the Over-50 125 Pro class got to Doug Dubach (15) all day. That is Jon Ortner (246), Kevin Barda (852) and Craig Peterson (714) giving futile chase. Second place finisher Pete Murray is in the black jersey behind Kevin Barda.

OVER-50 125 PRO: Many people question why Pasha Afshar would pay a $2000 purse to 125 riders over the age of 50, but they are underestimating the power of older riders on the motocross scene—proven by the fact that the largest of the Pasha 125 Open classes was the Over-50 Pros. And they had some formidable racers in attendance. In fact, AMA Supercross winner and 26-time World Vet Champion Doug Dubach swept both motos. Pete Murray (2-2), the current World Two-Stroke Over-50 125 Pro champion and Kevin Barda (4-3), who was second in the Over-50 125 Pro class at the 2020 World Championships finished third at this week’s Pasha race. Jon Ortner was fourth and Robert Reisinger fifth.

Pete Murray raced a YZ125 to second place in the Over-50 125 Pro class and then came back to race the same 125 in the Over-60 Expert class—which he won.

Kevin Barda was third overall in the Over-50 125 Pro race.

The Over-50 125 Pro podium (with Pasha Afshar).

PASHA 125 OPEN: OVER-50 125 PRO CLASS
1. Doug Dubach (Yam)…1-1
2. Pete Murray (Yam)…2-2
3. Kevin Barda (Yam)…4-3
4. Jon Ortner (Yam)…3-4
5. Robert Reisinger (Hus)…5-5

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE REGULAR REM CLASSES THIS WEEK?

Sean Collier (207) is an extremely talented rider, but he could be a better starter. However, Collier was able to take the overall win with a 1-1.

450 PRO CLASS: Last week’s one-two riders in the 450 Pro class were back. Justin Jones won last week with a 1-1 over Sean Collier’s 2-2 in an epic battle. This week, MXA’s Josh Mosiman decided that since he was racing the 125 Pro two-stroke class , he might as well ride a two-stroke in the 450 Pro class—so he took MXA’s test 2021 Husqvarna TC250 and joined the 450 fray. The battle between the three riders left the other competition in their wake. Each moto showed the strengths of each rider. Jones, a four-time Baja 1000 Champion and ISDE Gold Medallist, used sheer speed to stake his claim to the win, while Josh Mosiman milked the hard acceleration and light weight of the 211-pound Husky TC 250, to dive inside in every corner to pull even with the more powerful CRF450s of Jones and Collier.

But, in the end the win went to the man with the best racecraft. And that was Sean Collier. He found a line up a steep hill that turned left over a hump down an equally steep downhill in the second moto to make all of his passes. As Collier worked his way into second place behind Jones, he went up the steep uphill on the far right and as Justin Jones crested the hill and started to turn left once on top, Collier swept from his far outside line to the inside and passed Jones before he could get turned. Josh Mosiman watched Collier make the pass and a lap later used the exact same outside to inside line to close the gap on Jones and pass him in a corner or two corner for second place. Collier went 1-1, Mosiman 2-2, Jones 3-3, Sean Lipanovich 4-4, Chance Fullerton 5-5 and Daniel Van Der Ziel 6-6.

Josh Mosiman raced MXA’s 2021 Husqvarna TC250 to second overall in the 450 Pro class.

This is as far apart as Justin Jones (42), Josh Mosiman (28) and Sean Collier (207) ever got over their two motos in the 450 Pro class.

After the 450 Pro race was over the top three Pros stopped after the finish line to fist bump and congratulate each other. Nice guys!

450 PRO CLASS
1. Sean Collier (Hon)…1-1
2. Josh Mosiman (Hus)…2-2
3. Justin Jones (Hon)…3-3
4. Sean Lipanovich (KTM)…4-4
5. Chance Fullerton (Bet)…5-5

What goes up, must come down at Glen Helen. This track is even more fun than it looks like in the photos. Photo: Jody Weisel

Robert Reisinger was fifth in the Over-50 125 Pro class and came back to finish second in the Over-60 Experts.

There was no mud on the Glen Helen’s REM track, but Robert Reisinger (86) and Val Tamietti (26) managed to find a spot where a fire hose had leaked water on to the track—so they blasted through it.

OVER-60 EXPERT
1. Pete Murray (Yam)…1-1
2. Robert Reisinger (Hus)…2-2
3. Randy Skinner (Gas)…4-3
4. Ed Guajardo (Yam)…3-4
5. Dave Eropkin (KTM)…5-5

Giovanni Spinali (45) went 1-1 in the Over-50 Expert class.

Australian Dan Alamangos (24) skims his 2005 Honda CR125 over the bumps in the Over-50 125 Pro class. He also raced the Over-50 Experts, but not on his CR125.

Jon Ortner (10) won the Over-50 Elite class on his Simi Valley Cycles YZ450F and then switched to Willy Simons Jr’s YZ125 for the Over-50 125 Pro race, where he finished fourth overall with a 3-4 day. Second overall in the Over-50 Elites was Luther French (2), third was Mike Carter (50) and fourth was Ron Shuler (right behind Ortner on this downhill).

OVER-50 EXPERT
1. Giovanni Spinali (Yam)…1-1
2. Mike Davis (Hus)…2-3
3. Bryan Friday (KTM)…4-2
4. Joe Sutter (Yam)…3-5
5. Jonny Benskin (KTM)…5-4

Marc Crosby (54) pulled off a last corner Hail Mary pass to take the overall victory in the Over-60 Intermediates over his buddy Luc De Ley.

OVER-60 INTERMEDIATE
1. Marc Crosby (KTM)…2-1
2. Luc De Ley (Hus)…1-2
3. Phil Cruz (Hus)…3-4
4. Frank Emerson (Hus)…6-3
5. Angel Montoya (Hus)…4-5

Bill Reimer (71) and Russell Brown (16) lead the Over-50 Intermediate class.

OVER-50 INTERMEDIATE
1. Daniel Bush (Yam)… 1-1
2. Russell Brown (Hus)…2-2
3. Mike Phillips (KTM)…4-3
4. Jim Dorsett (Yam)…5-5
5. Bill Reimer (KTM)…3-8

Kyle Ransom (23) was second in the Vet Novice class and his brother Westly was third. Kuwaitti Barrack Aljasmi won the Vet Novices with a 1-2.

VET NOVICE
1. Barrack Aljasmi (KTM)…1-2
2. Kyle Ransom (Yam)…2-3
3. Westley Ransom (Yam)…3-4
4. Anthony Barraza (Yam)…4-5
5. Mark Taylor (Yam)…5-6

James Bertucini (101) went 3-2 for third in the 250 Novice class on a Kawasaki.

Kohl Coffey (711) and Tanner Haupert (181) had a good battle in the Novice division.

OVER-50 NOVICE
1. Clarence Henderson(Hon)…1-2
2. Don Myron (Hus)…4-3
3. Robby Mueller (Suz)…7-1
4. Rodrigo Luna (KTM)…3-5
5. Bryan Roberts (Hus)…5-6

The Dubachs, Doug and Carter, had a good day at REM. Doug won the Over-50 125 Pro race and Carter took the 250 Intermediate class with a 1-1.

(From right to left) Robert Reisinger, Val Tamietti, Joe Sutter, Pasha Afshar, Terry Varner, Tina Simons, Pam Skinner, Mike Davis and Chris Radzinski watch the action. Photo: Jon Ortner

Jody Weisel and Dan Alamangos shoot photos for the REM Race Report, but are more interested in getting their bikes ready, making it to the starting line on time and recovering after their motos than actually shooting pics—after all, they have Debbi Tamietti to cover for them. Photo: Jon Ortner

View through the trees of Sean Collier jumping out of the canyon. Photo: Jody Weisel

The left fork guard on Dan Alamango’s 2021 Kawasaki KX450 was blown to smithereens by roost. His brake cable was flapping and he had to pull off in his second moto.

REM does not race again until March 13 and there might be a second Pasha 125 Open two-stroke race on Mach 20—just two weeks before the 2021 World Two-Stroke Championship. It would be the last good chance to blow the cobwebs out of the smoker and body before the big day. For more info go to www.remsatmx.com or Click Here for REM’s Facebook page.