REM GLEN HELEN MOTOCROSS: THE YEAR IN CRASHES
Click here to subscribe to MXA: https://hi-torque.com/motocrossaction
Photos by Dan Alamangos, Debbi Tamietti, Ernie Becker and Rich Stuelke
AMA Hall of Famer Tom White kicked off the beginning of 2014 with a high-speed crash when Lyle Sweeter (55) fell in front of him. Fellow Hall of Famer Gary Jones (88) goes by on the inside, while British rider Tony Parsons locks it up to avoid the crash.
Sean Cantrell (37) tucked the front end in a humped right-hand turn and got catapaulted.
Luckily, Cantrell’s bike, which flipped 180 degrees, landed one foot to the side of his head.
As bad as it is to be Thomas Poole, it’s not that safe for the the guy next to him as Poole crashes on a steep downhill. But…
…as Nathan Pietronico (36) clears Poole and his airborne bike, he thinks he can take a deep breath and relax.
What Nathan doesn’t know is that Thomas Poole may have hit the ground, but his bike is gaining on Nathan fast. Note the flying side panel.
Thankfully, at the very last second Nathan turns down the next part of the hill and the flying bike misses him by three feet.
Darryn Durham (45) came to REM to make friends.
And left with one enemy — Jeremy Byrne (551).
There is only one thing that can ruin a holeshot and that is falling in front of the pack. Harley Hall demonstrates.
This turn was going well for Tony Amaradio (130) when he felt a little tap to his left elbow.
You couldn’t tell it from this photo, but this man (31) is a nine-time World Vet Champion, AMA Supercross Mechanic of the Year and high handicap duffer. Alan Olson is still racing at 70 years old, but occasionally he has to take a cat nap.
Ignore Phil Dowell (23) in the foreground. Do you see the rider in the blue jersey in the background? That’s Bryan Friday. What you probably don’t notice is the roost in front of his airborne bike being thrown up by the crashing Yamaha YZ250 of Mike Monaghan.
As Friday lands on Mongahan’s bike he endos violently and is thrown over the bars. Bryan Friday broke his femur and Mike Monaghan broke his wrist. This was the worst crash at REM in 2014, but both riders were back racing before the year ended.
The yellow bike is under the white one. Additionally, it is only up to the left rear quarter panel. The CHP would instantly know who was to blame. These two racers discuss trading insurance information.
T.V. Holmes (510) goes off the side of the track as Jody Weisel (192) and Lee Amaradio (3) go by. But…
…the worst part of the crash is when T.V. goes down a second time while trying to get his bike out of the ditch.
To make the best of a bad situation, sometimes you have to look for the softest thing to fall on. Phil Dowell (23) think he knows where, or who, that is.
REM promoter Frank Thomason (551) has a fiduciary responsibility to stop and help this fallen rider. On the other hand, that’s one less guy he’ll have to pass later in the moto.
You have to wonder how this guy got his head under his bike and his feet above it, but you have to admire that he never let go to the bars.
Luther French falls in front of Phil Dowell (23), who immediately starts looking for the softest thing to fall on.
Thankfully, it never rains in Southern California or we would see lots of scenes like this. If he waits until Summer it might sprout a KTM 65SX.
If the bike comes back in a bucket, you hope there isn’t a second skip loader with the rider in it.
Dave Eropkin (811) was a hotshot 125 Pro back in the 1970s. He knows a thing or two about running for his life.
Willy Simons (46) obviously went to the T.V. Holmes School of Motocross Crashing because after plowing into this fallen rider…
…he picks his bike up and ghost rides it into orbit.
In your heart of hearts you’d like to think that Husky TC125 two-stroke rider Chris Alamangos rode this out and went on to win. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Rollie Rodriquez raced his 1982 Maico against the modern bikes and made this awesome cut behind Mike Marion (3). In truth, it just looks awesome, it is the beginning of a crash.
If you aren’t wearing a 6D helmet, then 6D founder Bob Weber (6) isn’t even going to give you a second look. If you end up in this situation wearing an orange MXA helmet, we will keep your name a secret. It’s John Perry.
They don’t all make it through every season, but MXA’s Dan Alamangos made it through 39 races in 2014. Unfortunately, there were 40 races. Don’t worry. He’s an Aussie. He can take it.
But, can he take the ribbing of his friends, who immediately photoshopped his hospital photo.
Crashing is never a good thing, but sometimes it brings out the best in people. When Jon Ortner raced past this fallen rider he realized that the rider was trapped under his bike’s hot exhaust pipe. Jon threw his bike down and went back to pull the bike off of the other rider. Let’s all aspire to that level of sportsmanship in 2015.
Photos by Dan Alamangos, Debbi Tamietti, Ernie Becker and Rich Stuelke
Click here to subscribe to MXA: https://hi-torque.com/motocrossaction
Comments are closed.