REM GLEN HELEN RACE REPORT: YOU DON’T NEED A WEATHERMAN TO TELL…

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Photos by Debbi Tamietti, Kyoshi Becker, Dan Alamangos, Rich Stuelke and Mark Chilson

Japanese star Toshiki Tomita (317) might start calling Glen Helen his home track. Photo: Dan Alamangos

Glen Helen has been playing hopscotch with the weather ever since New Year’s Day, but so far it has worked out for REM’s motocross racers—as the El Nino rain storms have been delayed enough that it rains right after the weekly motocross race or the storm weakens and fails to appear. Of course, every REM motocrosser’s dream scenario is to have it rain on Thursday, so that the ground will be soaked on Friday and in perfect condition on Saturday morning for the race. This week was another lucky miss. The big storm that had been predicted to come early Saturday was stalled—just long enough for REM Motocross to get in all of their races before light sprinkles fell. Then, on Sunday, the skies opened up and Glen Helen was closed. That was the good news for REM.

Chihiro Notsuka (28) checks over his shoulder to see if they are still chasing him. Photo: Mark Chilson

“Yes, Chihiro, they are still coming.” Looking back is a Novice move—especially if every photographer at the track has photos of the 250 Pro winner constantly checking his six. Photo: Debbi Tamietti

The bad news is that another REM regular went down hard. When Randy Skinner got hurt two weeks ago (concussion, punctured lung, broken collarbone and a bunch of ribs) it was the first major injury in a long time. Then, this week, Marc Crosby got bit. As he came over a giant hump jump the rider in front of him fell at the very top of the 80-foot backside. Marc hit the fallen bike and plummeted all the way to the bottom. The outcome? Concussion, broken collarbone, broken shoulder blade and a bunch of ribs. In what may have saved the day, the rider who fell at the top of the hump, got to his feet and ran at full speed back to the take-off to wave off the following riders—it could have been worse because his bike was out of sight on the left-hand side of the jump and Marc Crosby was laying at the bottom on the right side. Disaster was avoided and Marc will be back. On a strange note, a beat-up Randy Skinner, came to REM to watch the races…and see his friend crash.

Japanese Honda rider Eiki Sazumukra (02) is pursued by ageless Gordon Ward (444). Photo: Dan Alamangos

The Japanese test riders continue to show up at REM every week to get in some serious race time—since it is winter in Japan. This week’s riders were Toshiki Tomita, Chihiro Notsuka, Gota Ohtsaka, Eiki Sazumukra and Kenichi Nagato. While Tomita was second in the 450 Pro class, Notsuka, Sazumukra and Ohtsaka swept the top three places in the 250 Pro class.

Jake Hogan (65) won the 450 Intermediate class. Photo: Dan Alamangos

The three biggest classes of the day were the Over-50 Intermediates, Over60 Experts and Over-50 Experts. And if you added the Over-65 Experts in with the Over-60 Experts they would have been the biggest class by a large margin. In what has become a sickening endorsement of the KTM 350SXF, Val Tamietti continues to win the Over-50 Expert class on his new orange bike. Whether it is the placebo effect of a new bike or just the honeymoon period, Val Tamietti went from a contender to a dominator the moment he walked out of the KTM dealership. Val’s 1-1 was followed home by the top five of Jerry Black’s 2-2, Steve Williams’ 3-3, Cary Brown’s 5-4 and Joe Sutter’s 6-6.

Richard Taylor (44) got one of the Suzuki amateur rides for the 2016 season. He went 2-4 for third at REM in the 250 Intermediate class. Photo: Debbi Tamietti

The Over-50 Intermediates fell to the 1-2 of Todd Flickinger. Todd bested Pasha Afshar’s 4-1, Robert Pocius’ 3-4, Scott Williams’ 5-3 and Jeff Scott’s 6-8. On a side note, last week’s “Greg Groom Creative Line Award,” Robert Pocius was pardoned for the track cutting photo of last week’s race when it was revealed by his competitors that after he cut the corner, he raised his hand and allowed the riders he passed to go back past him—and a few that he didn’t pass also went by. Good sportsmanship often has a price.

Derek Drake was 4th in the 250 Intermediates and came back to win the 125 Intermediates. Photo: Dan Alamangos

The Over-60 Expert class was broken into two division at the first race of the year—Over-60 Expert and Over-65 Expert. Although most of the Over-60 riders think that it would have been smarter to expand the Over-60 Intermediate class by moving the slower older riders down to Intermediate and the faster riders up to Expert.Why? Because the addition of the the Over-65 Expert class didn’t really separate  the field as much as necessary. Either way, Jim Latendresse swept both Over-60 Expert motos, helped when the finish line flagger waved the white flag twice and Bob Rutten pulled off the track. He was able to get turned around in time to stay in second place, but his 2-2 was no match for Latrendesse’s 1-1. Ken Ehlers was third, Joe Pena fourth and Marshall Marion fifth. The top five in the Over-65 Experts were  T.V.Holmes, Lyle Sweeter, Philip Cruz, Jody Weisel and Lars Larsson. The front of the Over-65 Expert pack would have been inside the top ten in the Over-60 Experts.

Brazilian Enzo Lopes (16) looked stylish in the 250 Intermediate class. Photo: Dan Alamangos

Minicycles were big at REM this week because the predicted rain had forced all of the Sunday races to cancel. In the 65 Advanced class Drayton Cook’s 1-1 bested Enzo Temmerman’s 2-3, Joshua Correll’s 4-2, Maddix Laughton’s 3-4 and Ryan Stephens’ 5-6. The 85 Experts were swept by Jo Shimoda with Jeremy Ryan second and Jett Reynolds third. In the 85 Intermediates Eric Acevedo’s 1-1 took the gold in front of Akune Yoshito, R.J. Warda, Garrett Briggs and Caleb Adams.

Michael Mosiman (342) heads down to the rollercoaster section of the REM track trailing a debris field of roost behind him. Mosiman was fifth in the 250 Intermediates. Photo: Dan Alamangos

REM keeps right on racing through February with races next Saturday (Feb. 6) and again on the Feb. 13, 20 and 27. Although there is an REM license, it is not required (as non-members pay a small additional fee. Scoring is by transponders. REM doesn’t charge riders for the transponders—but does track you down to the ends of the Earth if you don’t return it after the race is over.

Cole Tompkins gets serious as he powers out of the sand. Photo: Debbi Tamietti

No matter how wide a track is, there is always a rider who wishes that it was three feet wider. Plus, this guy suckered a buddy into following him off the track. Photo: Rich Stuelke

Jeremy Ryan (10), the son of Daytona Supercross winner Ricky Ryan, was second in the 85 Experts and fourth in the 125 Intermediates.. Photo: Kyoshi Becker

After the red flag restart for the Marc Crosby crash Australian Dan Alamangos (67) holeshot and led for three laps. Behind Dan are Over-50 Elite riders Jon Ortner (10) and Luther French (2), but Dan was only worried about number 31, Val Tamietti—who would pass Dan for the Over-50 Expert win. Photo: Mark Chilson

Dirt Bike Magazine’s Ron Lawson (45) two-smoked it to 9th in the Over-50 Expert class and 1st in the Vets. Yes, the competition is that much tougher in the older age group. Photo: Debbi Tamietti

Brit Tony Parsons went 8-10 in the Over-60 Experts, but spend most of the motos dueling with the guys in the Over-65 Expert class—many of whom who are only a year or two older than him. Photo: Debbi Tamietti

A new race weekend always means a different race bike for MXA’s Jody Weisel—but the same old boots. Last week he was testing WP Cone Valve forks on a KTM 350SXF, this week he was testing WP AER air forks on a 2016 450SXF Factory Edition. The Factory Editions will hit the showrooms in a month. Photo: Kyoshi Becker

For more info about REM motocross, go to www.remsatmx.com

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