REM GLEN HELEN RACE REPORT: MANO Y MANO DOES NOT MEAN MAN TO MAN
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Justin jones had a big lead in the first 450 Pro race when he threw his bike away. He got up and finished second. Justin won the second moto for the overall and the money. Photo: Dan Alamangos
After an on-and-off schedule for the first three months of 2017, REM is back on track. They will race 7 time sin the next 9 weeks—before taking two weeks off for the Glen Helen 250/450 National. With the winter rain storms a thing of the past, and the temperatures back in the 80s, every REM racer is happy to get back behind the bars. Glen Helen was a busy place this weekend as there were Loretta Lynn Qualifiers on the National track on Saturday an Sunday, plus an REM race on Saturday and Old Timer races on Sunday on the REM track. If that wasn’t enough, there was a Rally car race over by Glen Helen truck track.
Dennis Stapleton was racing an MXA project KTM 450SXF that was built for the June issue. It is equipped with next year’s WP AER air Cone Valve forks and the latest Trax drop-out shock. Photo: Dan Alamangos
This week’s brand breakdown saw the first change in the top spot in months. In a shocker, KTM was not the dominate brand at REM Glen Helen. Instead, Yamaha held the top spot with 33% of the bikes at this week’s motocross race being blue. KTM was a close second with 31% and Honda fourth at 19%. Husqvarna (9%) beat out both Kawasaki (4%) and Suzuki (3%). TM had 1%.
Here is a look at the air-sprung Cone Valve forks. They have air in one leg and Cone Valve damping in the other. Unlike production WP AER forks, they have two Shrader valves — one for compression and one for rebound. Photo: Dan Alamangos
There were lots of battles taking place throughout the fields — with each class having its own special brand of hand-to-hand combat at speed. Take the time to check out the Dan’s, Jody’s and Debbi’s photos of Saturday’s motocross race. We wish you were here too.
Justin Muscutt (116) had a 4-3 day in the 450 Pro class behind Justin Jones and Brent Rousse. Photo: Jody Weisel
Former MXA test rider George Kohler (84) came down from Carson City, Nevada, to race at REM again. It’s a 7-hour drive (one way). Here, George and Jody Weisel (54) duel in the Over-60 Intermediate class. George went 2-1 (Jody went 6-4 for fifth). Photo: Dan Alamangos
Todd Gravitt (4) plows a trench on his way to second in the Over-40 Expert class. Photo: Jody Wesiel
Dutchman Ralf Schmidt (73) is chased by Robert Reisinger (96) in the Over-40 Expert class. Ralf took the overall win with a 3-2 score. Moto winners Todd Gravitt and South African Alan Jullien backed up their moto wins with finishes out of the top 5. Photo: Dan Alamangos
AMA Hall of Fame racer Lars Larsson spends the winter in SoCal and returns to Sweden when the snow thaws. He will race one more REM race, next Saturday, before heading to Stockholm. When Lars is in California, Jody gives Lars his Cone Valve-equipped KTM 450SXF to race — Jody doesn’t want to see his old friend leave, but he does want to race his own bike for a change. Photo: Dan Alamangos
Dan Alamangos (24) was one of three MXA test riders assigned to test mods to MXA’s 2017 Honda CRF450—the other two were Randel Fout and Jeremy Lasater. When Jeremy crashed in the first turn of the 450 Pro race and hurt his knee, Randel picked up the slack. As for Dan, he split his time between MXA’s KTM 350SXF and the CRF450. Photo: Debbi Tamietti
You had to look closely to spot the shock on MXA’s CRF450. This is a WP Trax drop-out shock (designed for the 2017 CRF450). MXA had great luck with WP suspension on our 2016 CRF450, so we are confident that it would solve a lot of the CRF shock issues. Photo: Debbi Tamietti
The front forks on our CRF450 were changed to coil-spring-equipped WP Cone Valve forks. Every hardcore KTM owner wishes they had Cone Valves forks — now Honda owners can join the parade. Great forks on a KTM and on a Honda also. We didn’t have to make any mods, they bolted right on. Photo: Debbi Tamietti
Pete Vetrano (37) won the Over-Novices and finished 11th in the Over-50 Intermediates. That should tell you how tough the Over-50 class is at REM. How can Pete race both the Novice class and the Intermediate class on the same day. Under Veteran motocross rules, an Over-50 Intermediate can drop one skill level when he drops 10 years (like to the Over-40 Novices). The Over-40 riders can’t complain if a guy 15 years older than them wins. Photo: Jody Weisel
Jon Rice (51) is the grandson of 1960’s icon John Rice and the son of former WMX Women’s racer Tami Rice. Jon was making a comeback to motocross after a freak accident where he overcooked a paved road on his dirt bike and flew off a cliff — breaking more than a few bones. Photo: Dan Alamangos
Luther French (2) faced the toughest competition he has seen since finishing 8th in the Over-50 Expert class at the 2016 World Vet Championship. Luther had to face-down Eddie Davis (155), Pete Murray (second at the World Vet Championships), Jon Ortner (5th at the World Vet Championships) and Bob Weber (sixth at the World Vet Championship). Luther went 1-1, Ortner 2-2, Davis 4-3, Murray 3-4, Weber 6-5 and Phil Dowell rounded out the top five with a 5-6. Photo: Debbi Tamietti
This is the Over-50 Intermediate class in the first turn. The leaders from left to right are Bill Reimer (71), Robert Pocius (153) and Robbie Carpenter (132). But, if you’re looking for the winner, don’t look at the front of the pack. Glen Tantum (9) is in theupper left corner of the photo. Glen went 1-2 for the overall. Photo Debbi Tamietti
Pasha Afshar (L7) comes out of the canyon section of the REM track under pressure from Todd Gravitt (4). Photo: Debbi Tamietti
Josh Fout (39) swept both motos of the 450 Novice class. Bradley Cole (14) went 2-6 for fourth. Photo: Debbi Tamietti
Mechanix Wear’s John Caper (44) torn his bicep muscle six months ago. After surgery to reattached it, he was back in action this weekend at REM. His arm held up fine and he’s getting ready for Mammoth. Photo: Debbi Tamietti
Is Doug Reid (71) leaning in or is Zack Randolph (214) elbowing Brandon out? Even they don’t know, but they both have a different version to tel. Zack went 3-2 for second in the 450 Novice class, while Brandon Reid was third with a 4-3. Photo: Debbi Tamietti
REM Motocross races again next Saturday, April 8, and with the World Two-Stroek Championship the weekend after that there should be a lot of two-stroke riders getting in shakedown races before the big showdown on April 15. For more info go to www.remsatmx.com
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