REM GLEN HELEN RACE REPORT: LOCAL VERSION OF THE MXDN

On Feb 21, 2016 Last updated Nov 24, 2019

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Photos by Debbi Tamietti, Dan Alamangos and Harry Leitner

Click on this image to get a wide angle shot of the stadium portion of the REM racetrack. For perspective, the Glen Helen letters on the hillside are 10-feet tall. Photo by Harry Leitner

Thanks to a mid-week downpour, REM’s streak of great weather continued unabated this Saturday. And next weekend looks like the warm weather will hang around again. Next week is the last of the 7 straight weeks of racing—as REM will not be racing on March 5, but will return on March 12. Here are photos of this week’s action — which was highlighted by more than a few visiting European riders showed up to enjoy Glen Helen’s decomposed granite soil and the warm sunny days.

Dylan Merriam (559) won the 450 Pro class with a 1-2 to beat Sweden’s Viktor Bjorklund—who went 3-1. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

250 Pro winner Takashi Okano (34) led a foreign sweep of the podium with countryman Ryota Asai second, Swede Max Erlandsson third, Japanese Yamaha rider Yusuke Watanabe fourth and Washington’s Tanner Berry (65) fifth. Photo by Dan Alamangos

Justin Jones (42) was injured in a high-speed crash at a WORCS race a month ago, but he is still willing to throw his AHM Honda into the 450 Pro first turn without reservations. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Following a Thursday rain shower, the sandy sections of REM was especially tacky on Saturday. Here, Viktor Bjorklund (294) gets down and dirty. Photo by Dan Alamangos

MXA’s Dennis Stapleton’s (92) feet fly off as his rear wheel sinks in the deep sand. Photo by Dan Alamangos

In contrast to the deep sand in the back, the front portion of the REM circuit had loose dirt by the bucketful—here Dominic Desimone (595) excavates his way around a turn. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Finland’s Jorgen Tharaldsen (94) went 9-9 for ninth in the 450 Pros. Photo by Dan Alamangos

Just in case you are wondering Yusuki Watanabe is no relation to former 125 World Champion Akira Watanabe. Photo by Dan Alamangos

Billy Mercier (501) and Terry Cook (303) met in two different classes—with Mercier winning all four motos in the Over-40 Pros and Vet Open classes. Photo by Dan Alamangos

This may look like tight racing as Josh Fout (56), Matt Pastor (819) and Douglas Reid (71) try to get an angle on each other in the 450 Novice class, but… Photo by Debbi Tamietti

…they didn’t have a patent on this type of racing. Here, Norwegian Vegard Falmaar (860), Swede Jeff Oxelmark (351) and Swede Aleksander Klock (65) duplicate the feat. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

At REM this weekend there were 10 Swedes, 7 Norwegians, 3 Brazilians, 3 Japanese, 2 Aussies, 2 Brits, 1 South African, 1 Canadian and 1 Dutch rider—but there was only one Irishman. David O’Connor (30) went 2-2 in the Vet Novice class behind Pasha Afshar and ahead of Mark Taylor. Photo by Dan Alamangos

For the third straight week Luther French (2) won the Over-50 Elite class in front of Jon Ortner (10). Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Jon Ortner (10) got a bad start in the second Over-50 Elite moto and had to pass Over-50 Experts Dan Alamangos (67), Joe Sutter (111), Val Tamietti (31) and Ron Shuler (33), just to catch up to the back of the Over-50 Elite class. Tamietti (31) would win the Over-50 Experts for the seventh time this year. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Dave Rabjohn gets a chance to line up the competition in the Over-65 Expert class. Rabjohn finished fifth behind Tom Holmes (1-1), Tom White (2-2), Jody Weisel (4-3) and Lars Larsson (3-5). There were two AMA Hall of Famers in the top five. Photo by Dan Alamangos

Colton Knight (17) went 4-5 for fourth in the 250 Novice class. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Willy Sim0ns, Jr. (246) won the 250 Intermediate class in front of a pack that included two Swedes, three Norwegians, plus Gavin Leachman and Josh Kaller. Photo by Dan Alamangos