16TH ANNUAL WORLD TWO-STROKE CHAMPIONSHIP: GENEROSITY NEVER GOES UNPUNISHED

There were cars, Sprinters and motor homes for as far as the eye could see. The fans lined the start line for a chance to get up close and personal with the unique sound of 40 two-stroke blasting off. 

PHOTOS BY DEBBI TAMIETTI

No one expected a giant turnout for a two-stroke-only race at Glen Helen last Saturday, but that is exactly what happened at Glen Helen when the 2025 Wiseco World Two-Stroke Championship, hosted by Fasthouse, came to town. What made the 2025 World Two-Stroke Championship such a memorable event? Let us count the ways.

It became obvious during the Thursday practice days that something big was gonna happen. And by race day, it dawned on everyone that there were close to 1000 hardcore two-stroke racers jammed into the pits—along with their families and friends. If you didn’t get their early in the morning you found yourself stuck in a very long line of traffic to squeeze into Glen Helen.

Ever ride a two-stroke-powered roller coaster? This was the corner that led into the Canyon section. This is the Open Pro class with Derek Drake (80) out front.

Steven Tokarski (710) went 2-2 in the Pasha Over-30 125 Pro class behind Ryan Morais and he had a shot at the top three in the Pasha 125 Pro class, until the electrode on his YZ125 spark plug broke off.

Glen Helen always keeps the complete track layout of the World Two-stroke Championship a secret. People ask,” Is it crossing over to the REM side of the park?” “Are you running the track into the canyon?”  “How are you running the big hills?” So, this year, Glen Helen unveiled its updated track design on Thursday, because the weatherman was predicting rain for the normal Friday Two-Stroke-Only practice. Jody Weisel, who built the track in three days told Glen Helen’s John Allen and his crew that he wanted to run the whole track on Thursday—largely because he believes in testing all the changes in the real world , so that he can alter, change or fix the sections that he doesn’t like. So, when the riders came for the regular Thursday practice they were treated to a preview of the 16th Annual Wiseco World Two-Stroke Championship layout. And that was a good thing, because when the riders showed up for the Friday’s Two-Stroke-Only practice session it was raining. Only a small handful of riders risk sinking their bikes into the swampy mud.

Although it had stop raining by Saturday morning and the sun was shining , it was possible to find what looked like a really good line, but you could soon find out why no one was going using that line. Dominic Desimone got a tow back to the pits.

Carson Brown (910) was the pre-race favorite to win the Open Pro Two-Stroke class, but Derek Drake was untouchable in the first moto. Carson did manage to finished second, but in the second moto he had to put in a long hard chase just to finish fourth. Carson’s 2-4 was only good enough for third place. 

Off-road race Dante Oliveira (356) snatched victory from the jaws of defeat when first moto winner Derek Drake’s bike ground to a halt with engine trouble while he was running away with the second moto. Derek went 1-34 for 16th, while Dante went 3-1 for first in the Open Pro Class.

Thus, when race day rolled around on Saturday morning, the track was drying quickly. there were plethora of subtle changes to corner entrances, with several high-speed sweepers mixed in with tight turns that favored the rapid acceleration of two-stroke engines. Lap times were like the good old days. Pre-race favorite Carson Brown turned in a 2:30.8 lap time in the first moto of the Open Pro class. It was assumed that lap times would improved on the drying track by the second moto, the best Carson could do was a 2:36.7.

MXA’s Josh Mosiman methodically picked off the five riders in front of him in the first moto of the 125 Pro race to take the win. He repeated the process in the second moto, but decided to let Brandon Ray by on the last lap because B-Ray had DNF’ed the first moto and Josh didn’t need to keep up the neck break speed that the 125 Pros were travelling at to win.

This was the 125 Pro class podium with Ryan Morais second, Josh Mosiman first and Kai Aiello third.

The world’s best trophy is green and foldable.

Several years ago, Hollywood actor and stuntman Pasha Afshar was upset by the small turnout of 125 Pros at the World Two-Stroke Championship. He decided to do something about it and started paying the purse money for the three 125 classes out of his own pocket. He started with a $6000 purse five years ago and upped it every year since. For 2025 he reached into his own pocket and paid $15,000 on the table to be used as bonus money in three specific classes. The three classes were the 125 Pro class, the Over-30 125 Pro class and the Over-50 125 Pro class. Glen Helen’s sponsors put up a big purse for the Open Pro class. Better yet, Pasha paid bonus money to the top three in the Open class, top five in the Over-30 125 Pro class and top five in the Over-50 125 Pro class.

Dennis Stapleton (184) makes a low pass in front of the 11,400 foot tall San Gorgonio peak. Dennis went 6-7 for sixth overall in the Pasha Over-30 125 Pro class, but only because they don’t have a Pasha Over-40 125 Pro class.

The Mt. Saint Helen downhill is 11,224 feet lower than San Gorgonio, but you aren’t doing 60 mph on the San Gorgonio trails.

Derek Drake (80) was on the verge of taking home a big bundle of loot when his Yamaha quit late in the second moto of the Open Pro class.

Pasha’s generosity paid off in that in 2025 there were five times the number of riders in the 125 Pro classes as when he first started paying cash to the riders. There were 44 riders in the Open Pro class, 30 signed-up for the Pasha Over-50 125 Pro class, 30 in the Pasha 125 Over-30 class and 27 in the Pasha 125 Pro class. The downside is that Pasha is so busy running his race team and answering questions that he doesn’t get to race the World Two-Stroke Championship.

Hawaiian Brian Mederios (934) won the Over-30 Expert class with a 1-1, but after the checkered flag he had to race straight back to the starting line to make it in time for the Open Pro class.  He luckily avoided a first turn pile-up in the Open Pros, but had to make 20 passes during his second back-to-back moto to finished with a 10-10 score for ninth overall.

One of the longest running feuds in motocross is between Kurt Nicoll (2) and Doug Dubach (15).  They always manage to find each other on the track, like this week in the Over-50 125 Pro class. Doug went 1-1 and Kurt went 2-2.

Jeff Emig (47 wasn’t interest in being in the middle of the Hatfield and Mccoy’s in the Over 50 Pasha 125 Pro class, so he raced to a safe and sane 3-3.

Two-stroke racing epitomizes the good old days, but it might not just be the bikes that were different back then—most likely it is the people who race two-strokes, then and now, who are the common denominators that make two-strokes great.