Lake Lamoka - Northeast Regional

Northeast Series Off-road Racing Heats Up in August and September

By: Merritt Brown

The 2020 AHRMA Northeast Region has been engaged (on the track and no doubt in the garage) with two August events and another on Labor Day weekend in September. Grab a cold one and get comfortable as we cover the racing for this issue of the AHRMA MAG.

Lake Lamoka MX, August 1st and 2nd

After one of the warmest Julys on record, the Northeast AHRMA riders returned to Lake Lamoka MX, located near Bradford, NY. On Saturday, thirty-seven cross country riders were met with sunny and warm conditions for the noon sight lap. Riders were very happy about the changes made by our hosts, Renn Shepherd, Carl Hutcheson and their crew to a tough, technical loop that was primarily woods and treeweaving with challenging off-camber switchbacks/directional changes, supplemented by a lap around the motocross track. At 1:00 PM, the Vintage Cross Country group took to the woods. Mike Ferguson, Sportsman Open Expert, led the way all race long on his Penton. There were four entries in Vintage 60+ Intermediate. Monty Barnes’ Honda caught Otto DeJager riding an Ossa Desert Phantom on lap two and held on for the win. Bob Close (Penton) was third and Jerry Doster (Husqvarna) was fourth. At 2:30, the Post Vintage group headed out to the trail. It started out to be the

Mike Ferguson show again but when the riders crossed onto the MX track on lap five, Post Vintage Open Expert, Kevin Shunk, reeled in the leader on his CR250 and hung on for the overall win with Ferguson (Honda) second and Bob Frederick (Yamaha) third.

Some overnight rain gave the grass track some needed moisture as 103 riders took to the 1.8-mile long grass track for morning practice. We noticed our rubber band was broken so we had to resort to a hand on helmet start for Sunday MX races. Post Vintage Age groups were in race number one with 24 riders on the line. When the dust settled, the pack was led by 40+ Expert Jim Kechisen on a beautiful RM465 who was first overall in both motos. Five Post Vintage Open Age Intermediates provided very close racing for both motos. Ryan Coyle (Honda) came out on top with a 2/2. Eric Miller’s Yamaha was second with a 1/3, Vinny Grasso (Yamaha) 4/1 was third with Walter Hankel (Husqvarna) 3/5 and George Chubback (Suzuki) 5/4 closing out the group. Race five brought more Post Vintage entertainment with Gran Prix and Ultima classes on the gate. GP125 expert Nick Abdo (Yamaha) got out to the early lead, but by lap two he was passed by 250 Experts Rob Clare 1/1 and Kevin Shunk 2/2 both on Hondas. There were eight GP250 Intermediates in the race. Colin Carman on a Suzuki 1/1 led the whole way. Husqvarnas ridden by Craig Curry 2/2 and Chris Forney 6/3 finished out the top three. In Vintage action, race six had Sportsman, Early Sportsman, Stock and Classic divisions. Mike Robinson’s Husqvarna led the way in both motos for a 500cc Expert win. In Sportsman 500 Intermediate, Stephan Sevensma (Husqvarna) passed Wayne Zebrowski’s BSA on the last lap to win the overall in that group. Thanks again to Renn and Robyn Shepherd and their family and all the volunteers who Kevin Shunk Post Vintage Open Expert helped make this event Photo by: Sarah Lane happen. We will definitely be back in ‘21 for another weekend in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of New York.

StateLine Riders Vintage Classic

August 15th-16th

Post Vintage cross country start. Left to right: 621 Dan Gavin, 227 Dale Sonnenschein, 819 Ryan Coyle, 82J Brett Darrow, 007 Phil Theo, 62Y Tony Yannitelli, 581 Jay Danek, 37 Mike Sciocchetti, 954 Marty Mears Photo by: Merrit Brown

StateLine Riders Vintage Classic, August 15th and 16th By: Merritt Brown

Two weeks later, it was off to North Pownal, VT, for the third annual Stateline Riders Vintage Classic. Saturday, August 15th, was cross country day. Beautiful skies and a cool breeze greeted the thirty-three entrants for the three-mile loop winding through fields and the beautiful Berkshire Mountains. The course was set up by the families of Marc Bottesi, Jamie Jelly Jr., Don Bierwirth and Jamie Elwell. Cross country riders got to burn in the entire Sunday grass track because of a great on-and-off field design.

The Vintage Cross Country was a runaway for Husqvarna-mounted Next Gen 125 Intermediate Dale Sonnenschein who completed seven laps in just over 67 minutes. rider Jana Schneider In Sportsman 200 Intermediate, Rick Ketcham broke out a nicely Photo by: Merrit Brown restored XL125 Honda, which I watched him crash on a downhill about one mile into the race. He picked it up won the class followed by Dave Salmen (Yamaha) and Bob Young (Ossa).

At 3:00, it was time for the Post Vintage riders to take to the hills, and it was some race! Post Vintage 50+ Intermediate Tony Yannitelli pulled the holeshot on a GS490 Maico and maintained an overall lead for the first lap before being overtaken by Post Vintage 50+ Experts Dale Sonnenschein third overall and Dan Gavin second overall on Husqvarnas and Next Gen 200 Expert and overall winner Marty Mears on a Honda. Pre-Modern 200 Intermediate Eric Miller (Yamaha) closed out the top five.

Sunday saw fifty-four riders and six races. Race two, Vintage 60+ Expert, Drew Smith, led the way over the winding grass track with Loren Westcott’s Husky in tow. Ron Krzaczyk (Yamaha), 50+ Intermediate, charged past Westcott on lap two and finished second overall. It was also great to see Ivan Beattie on his Hodaka 100 turning quick laps as usual. Race four looked like a repeat of race two with Drew Smith’s Husky leading the way in Moto one. Moto two was great to watch three 60+ riders go at it again, this time it was Dale Sonnenschein on an RM250 pulling the holeshot and fighting off Drew’s front wheel for four laps with another Husky, Craig Curry Post Vintage 60+ Intermediate, right behind them, finishing third overall, and first in his class. Rounding out the top five were 50+ Intermediate winner Mark Therrien (Husvarna) and Mike Sciocchetti on a Can-Am.

Thanks to our hosts, Jamie and Trudy Jelley and Jamie and Melinda Elwell, for allowing us to use their land. Thanks to Marc Bottesi, Don Bierwirth, and the rest of the track crew. Finally, thanks to the volunteers who helped with starting, flagging and scoring. None of this would be possible without their assistance, so please join us when you have some free time between races. Looking forward to Unadilla and Bear Creek to close out the month. Look us up on face book or www.ahrmane.org for event information.