“SATURDAY AT GLEN HELEN” MOTOCROSS REPORT: 100 DEGREES? NO SWEAT! NEW TRACK? BIG HIT!

How low can you go? Josh Mosiman (171) pancakes this berm at “Saturday at the Glen.” Photo by Debbi Tamietti

PHOTOS BY DEBBI TAMIETTI

Although, the news media calls it a “heat wave,” it is not unusual for Glen Helen Raceway to hit 101 degrees in the middle of July. It’s called “Summer.”  Glen Helen Raceway it located just north of San Bernardino, California, which is located just west of the Mojave Desert—and while neither San Bernardino or Glen Helen are in the desert, you could be there in 15 minutes. The locals at Glen Helen like to claim that there are only two seasons at the track—Hot  or Windy. Although the mercury rose to 101-degrees by midday, the Glen Helen staff started practice earlier and shortened each practice session by  one lap—however they didn’t shorten the motos or make any concessions that would lessen the experience. As a rule, “Saturday at the Glen” tries to run through their race program so that the last moto of the day is done before 2:00 p.m. (so the racers can get home in time to work on their bikes so they can race or ride on Sunday) — on this Saturday, the time saving efforts saw the checkered flag fall for the last rider on the track at exactly 1:30 p.m.

Enzo Temmerman (21) took the 450 Intermediate win, but still got a workout holding his own against the 450 Pros on his Team Green Kawasaki KX450. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

“Saturday at the Glen” is the least expensive motocross race in Southern California. The gate fee to get in the track is only $10  and the entry fee is only $30 if the rider pre-enters on the internet ($40 if you wait until the morning of the race). Additionally, “Saturday at the Glen” rotates back and forth between the Arroyo track and the National track. This week Glen Helen’s John Allen did a great job of designing a new layout for the Arroyo track. He started by turning the normal 180-degree Mini-Talladega first turn into a banked, 90-degree, left hand turn that joined the track at a point that would have been near the end of a lap on the previous layout.  The rest of the Arroyo track track was just different enough to keep the riders on their toes—as some hilly sections were run in reverse directions. It was a super fun layout—with lots of sand, big hills and fast straights.

WHAT FOLLOWS ARE DEBBI TAMIETTI’S PHOTOS OF THE DAY. ENJOY!

Josh Mosiman (16) raced MXA’s stock 2024 KTM 450SXF and got two holeshots and won the 450 Pro class with a 2-1 (the only mod that he made to the 2024 model was to swap the right fork guard from the 2023-1/2 KTM 450SXF Factory Edition so he could use his Works Connection Pro Launch holeshot device). Photo by Debbi Tamietti

J.P Alavarez (192) looked like the fastest rider on the track in moto one, when he took the win in the 450 Pro class after Josh Mosiman tried to finish with a flat front tire (resulting a crash). In the second 450 Pro moto J.P. had issues and ended up third behind Mosiman and Colton Aeck. His 1-3 was good enough for second overall.  Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Colton Aeck (526) went 3-2 in the 450 Pro class for third overall. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

If Yamahas had any paint on them, it would have been worn off as Alan Jullien (70) and David Cincotta (861) cross handlebars. David Cincotta sees the writing on the wall and has all four fingers on the front brake, Alan Jullien has no intention of braking. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

The Reisingers used practice as a chance to ride with each other on the track. Later in the day, dad, Robert, won the Over-60 Expert class, while son, Nick, was fifth in the 250 Beginner class. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Nobody beats Kurt Nicoll (2) in the Over-50 Expert class. Well, there is always an exception to the rule. Kurt won the first moto, but something happened to him in the second moto and his 1-4 was bested by South African Alan Jullien’s 2-1. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

This is the newly shaped 90-degree first turn as the Over-65 Expert/Intermediate class powers through it. Dave Eropkin (811) leads with Val Tamietti (31) in his wake, but coming off the banking above them is Randel Fout (91) on MXA’s Husky FE450 enduro bike. Randel just races for fun and normally pulls off the track before the checkered flag (although in the second moto Randel and Jody collided together and both pulled in early, once they got their bikes untangled). Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Val Tamietti (31) raced the Over-60 Expert class and the Over-65 Expert class. On a normal day it wouldn’t be a big deal, but with the 101-degree temps and the two classes back-to-back, Val ironmanned it to second overall in the Over-60s and first overall in the Over 65s. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Luc DeLey (12) said he was tired of racing MXA’s 2023 KTM 300SX two-stroke and asked to race MXA’s 2023-1/2 GasGas MC250F Factory Edition four-stroke. He went 3-3 in the Over-60 Expert class, but said after the race that he wasn’t a four-stroke guy. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Kent Reed (491) was tormented by Jody Weisel (192) in the second Over-65 moto, until fellow MXA test rider Randel Fout, who was winning the Over-65 Expert class, cleaned Jody and himself out in a tight turn. Kent got to ride by them as they lay on the ground with their bikes stuck together. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Dave Eropkin (811) doesn’t leave any track for Mike Monaghan (34), but Mike, a former AMA Pro, just moved up on the banking and kept his YZ125 pinned. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Australian Dan Alamangos (91) rode MXA’s Husqvarna FE450 enduro bike in practice and asked if he could switch from the KTM 350SXF he was scheduled to race to the Husky enduro bike. Dan is recovering from a knee injury on top of his rehabbed tib/fib and loved the broad mellow off-road powerband.  Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Randy Skinner, who turned 65 last month, and is happy to get out of the Over-60 class, and he won the Over-65 Intermediate class with a 1-1.  Photo by Debbi Tamietti

“Dentist to the Stars” Marc Crosby (75) went 3-3 for third in the Over-65 Intermediate class.

Bruce Ashmore (111) and Dirt Bike Magazine’s Ron Lawson (41) in close proximity. Ashmore is an Over-65 Intermediate and Lawson is an Over-65 Expert, so we don’t need to tell you how this battle turned out. Ashmore was 7th in his class and Lawson was 6th in his. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Steve Piattoni (262g) put a 1-2 score together in the Over-60 Intermediates, but obviously the fans at the top of the drop-off were rooting to someone to catch him. And someone did, because Steve’a 1-2 was beaten by Pete Anagnos’s 2-1. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Casey Musick’s 2-1 bested Farzan Marzi’s 1-2 for the Over-40 Novice victory.  Photo by Debbi Tamietti

The newly designed first turn also meant that there was a different second turn. Here, the Over-50 Novices go three abreast in it with Cory Clark (214) first, Joe Wilson (second) and Mark Higham (148) third. Clark would go 11-9 for tenth, Wilson 2-6 for fourth and Higham 3-1 for second overall. The overall winner was Scott Murphy, who went wide in this corner and was out of frame. His 1-2 took the gold. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Maddy Weber (w402) swept both motos of the Woman’s class on Saturday. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Caitlyn Edmunds (328), “Katt” to her friends, went all out to beat the heat, but was lucky not to get black flagged — track rules require long sleeves jerseys. Katt went 4-5 in the Women’s class. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Sebastien Temmerman (84) beat out his brother Maddox Temmerman with a 2-1 to a 1-2 in the 85cc class. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Hawkins Campbell (365) was flying in the 85 class and just missed making the top five by one spot. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Garrett Kurthl (108) took his Cobra to a 2-2 finish in the Pee-Wee 7-to-8-year old class. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Augustine Canel (16) was super focused on her way to sixth in the first moto of the PW50 class, but had  DNf’ed the second moto. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

Hadlee Card’s dad met her at the track exit after the 65 Beginner moto with water and told her, “Fantastic Job, Hadlee. You were awesome out there.” That’s a great dad.. Photo by Debbi Tamietti

This was a touching moment. When William Roome (7) fell in the 65cc class, his buddy Van Golden (also #7) turned around and laid his bike down and ran back to help his smaller pal get back on his bike. When photographer Debbi Tamietti asked William if they were brothers, he said, “Nope, he’s my best friend!” You gotta love the sportsmanship! Photo by Debbi Tamietti

2023 “SATURDAY AT THE GLEN” SCHEDULE

If you are looking for a racing organization that offers long motos, low cost and very consistent race schedule—this is it. “Saturday at the Glen” motocross is now past the halfway point of their 25 race 2023 season. Pre-entry is only $30 ($25 for minis). Post entry on the day of the race is $40 ($30 for minis). The Gate fee is $10 (per person). You can sign up on the internet for the next “Saturday at the Glen” motocross as late as the Friday before the next race (or just show up in person on race day). Next Saturday, “Saturday at the Glen” moves to the National track on July 22 (before taking a two week break until the next race on August 19). For more info go to www.glenhelen.com

2023 “SATURDAY THE GLEN” SCHEDULE
Jan. 14…Winter Series #1 (Arroyo Vet track)
Jan. 21…Winter Series #2 (Arroyo Vet track)
Feb. 4…Winter Series #3 (Arroyo Vet track)
Feb. 11…Winter Series #4 (Arroyo Vet track)
Feb. 25…Winter Series #5 (National track)
Mar. 18…Spring Series #1 & Pasha 125 Open (National track)
Mar. 25…Spring Series #2 (Arroyo Vet track)
Apr. 15…Spring Series #3 (Arroyo Vet track)
Apr. 22…Spring Series #4 (Arroyo Vet track)
May 13…Spring Series #5 (National track)
June 3…Summer Series #1 (Arroyo Vet track)
June 17…Summer Series #2 (Arroyo Vet track)
June 24…Summer Series #3 (Arroyo Vet track)
July 15…Summer Series #4 (Arroyo Vet track)
July 22….Summer Series #5 (National track)
Aug. 19…Fall Series #1 (Arroyo Vet track)
Aug. 26…Fall Series #2 (Arroyo Vet track)
Sept. 16…Fall Series #3 (Arroyo Vet track)
Sept. 23…Fall Series #4 (Arroyo Vet track)
Sept. 30…Fall Series #5 (National track)
Oct. 21…Winter Series #1 (Arroyo Vet track)
Oct. 28…Winter Series #2 (National track)
Nov. 3-5…World Vet Championship (National track)
Nov. 18..Winter Series #3 (Arroyo Vet track)
Dec. 9…Winter Series #4 (Arroyo Vet track)
Dec. 16…Winter Series #5 (National track)