Road Racing

Classic Le Mans start

photo by kevin mcintosh

ON YOUR MARK GET SET GO!

After last year’s Vintage Festival cancellation and two days of racing in a downpour, we were lucky to race, full festival, under ideal conditions. There was obviously some pent-up demand for the annual gathering of vintage motorcycle enthusiasts. Barber Motorsports Park was packed. The big AHRMA family reunion cannot be overstated. The carnival atmosphere and trolling the swap meet were added bonuses. This Classic MotoFest™ featured Trials, Cross Country and Motocross just across the road. But the weekend was bittersweet for me since I was competing in my final two roadraces. Yep, hangin’ up the ol’ leathers, so I must briefly brief you on my final laps. Fate was fortunate for me in race one. I had a broken spoke-induced flat rear tire mid-race after regaining a couple positions from hard-charging Randy Knoop and Marc Purslow. A red flag popped up right after I leaned my bike against the guard rail; I had crossed the finish line in third on the previous lap, and that’s where I finished. My son, Joe Koury, won

the race followed by Bob Lewin. Joe won again on Sunday, with Lewin second and Purslow third. It was an Alex McLean, Dave Tompkins, Scott Dell podium both days in the Class C Footshift race. Tim Joyce won both Class C Handshift races over Ralph Wessell and Mike Baker. Mitch Skaggs was the victor both days over Beasley Ayers, with Winston Spencer third Saturday and Corey Golla behind Ayers on Sunday. There were 31 bikes gridded for Saturday’s SoS 3 battle in race two. Ralph Stropoli won twice over Jonathan Schendel. Adrian Jasso and Stewart Aitken-Cade had quite a battle for third Saturday though, with Jasso on top at the line and AitkenCade grabbing third on Sunday. Both Formula 250 races were close. Colton Roberts (Yamaha RD250) led every lap after Marc Brown’s (Honda CB350) early lead. Bob Demetrius (Honda CB350) hounded Roberts getting within one second on lap five. It was Roberts by three seconds at the finish over Demetrius on Saturday. Demetrius led early on Sunday, but Roberts grabbed the lead on lap five. Demetrius closed the gap late and won by just over a second. Great racing. Chris Spargo won both 250GP races easily. In race four, the lap times would drop with the BOT 1 riders. Nate Kern took the win both days over Gary Orr (both riding BMW R nineTs); Brian Larrabure third on Saturday and Jim Padron third on Sunday. Rob Hall (Honda) was the victor on Saturday and Sunday in the 200GP class (1:48, 1:49 lap times on a 1965 Honda CB160?!) with Chris Spargo (Yamaha) keeping him in sight for second; Chris Akaydin finished a distant third in both races. John Rickard took the win in Classic Sixties 650 over Greg Tomlinson and Jake Hall who swapped second and third. Tomlinson and Jake Hall had quite a tight finish (0.2-seconds) Saturday. Andy Findling won Classic Sixties over John Snead and Patrick McGraw Saturday. Alex McLean won it Sunday over Dave Tompkins and Findling. Ralph Staropoli (Honda RS250R) was on cruise control in Saturday’s Open Two-stroke race with a comfortable lead over Brian Surtees (Yamaha TZ250). Brian kept closing the gap and just nipped Ralph at the finish. Greg Glevicky (TZ250) chased the Suter 500 of Adrian Jasso, getting by in the corners but losing the HP battle on the straights. He was determined though and eventually made a pass he was proud of stick for third place. I asked Staropoli about the finish later in the day. He gave me that “it won’t happen again” look. He won on Sunday over Surtees by 11-seconds with Jasso in third. The Next Gen Superbike Middleweight class provided some close racing. Rick Patrolia and Harry Vanderlinden were tight at the finish in second and third, respectively, on Saturday. Jonathan Hollingsworth won convincingly both days. Cameron Crockett was third on Sunday. Daniel May won both Bears races over Stan Keyes. The 2021 Featured Vintage Cup race was next, and a contest many were looking forward to. The 500 Premier Championship would be decided this weekend at Barber with Andrew Mauk holding a fragile 171-point lead over Tim Joyce coming in. Tim would have to win both days to claim the title and on Saturday he did just that to pull within six points. Tim put a little gap on the pack early with Tony Read (’68 BSA 500 single) a surprise second place over Andrew Mauk (Honda CB450) and Wes Orloff (Honda CB450). The Beezer had some pull on the Honda twin out of Charlotte’s Web! Andrew eventually passed Tony on lap six, but Tony stayed in the hunt until his rear tire lost its battle with the tarmac in turn five. His off-road riding skills came in handy; he saved it. But Joyce cruised his Norton Manx to the win followed by Mauk, Orloff and the recovered Read. The ever-popular CB160 Le Mans start followed. Rob Hall took the win

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photo by steph vetterly

both days over Christopher Akaydin. Joe Koury finished third by half a second after a race-long fight with Tim Terrell and Chris Marlow. Marlow would claim the third podium step on Sunday. But the other tight scuffle on Saturday was for seventh place between Stuart Sanders, Charles Miller and Danny Habermel finishing within a second of each other, with Sanders in front. Race eight featured the sidecars. The winners both Saturday and Sunday: Brett Leveque/Brian Dobrowolski Modern USF2; Peter Essaff/Dustin Richards Modern TT2; Bill Willmeroth/Nick Hargis Modern USF1 (side-by-side finish with Essaff/Richards); Jim Jowers/ Ellen Yampolsky Super Vintage SC2 (in a squeaker over Eric Trosper/ Celia Trosper); Dave Kaechele/Jason Vaden Formula Classic SC4; Timothy J. O’Brien/Adam Cramer Lost Era SC3 (by just .4 seconds over Larry Coleman/Haral Carlin); Michael Platt/ Karna Kerr Vintage SC1; Byron P. Hannah/Adam Bower Classic Big Wheel. It was cool watching the 981 Triumph of O’Brien/Cramer exiting the final turn sideways every lap. Jesse Davis ran from the pack in the Formula Vintage race both days on his “Son of Lurch” Yamaha XV920. The competitive Sportsman 500 race resulted in six different podium finishers. Saturday, Michael Murray won with Kevin Hipp three ticks behind in second and Joseph Wright third. On Sunday, Stephen Hipp beat the champ, Eric Cook, by less than a second with Simon Brown in third. Jerry Duke won Saturday’s 350GP race over Alex McLean and Dave Roper. Sunday, it was McLean, Roper and Jim Jowers. Race 10 featured one of AHRMA’s fastest modern classes, Sound of Thunder 1. Kevin Callaway thundered his Kramer EVO2R to the win by just a half second over Ducati Panigale 1199s-mounted Steve Metz and the Ducati X80R of Patrick Lansu only two seconds back. Close racing, fast laps. On Sunday, Brian Dobrowolski would win on his Triumph 675 by just 0.2-seconds over Metz with Lansu in third. Ralph Staropoli won the SOS 2 races — over great battles between Adrian Jasso and Steve Alexander — on his Honda FTR250. Scott Billings and Rodney Menke split wins both days over Christopher Parrot on Saturday and Michael Platt on Sunday in Next Gen Superbike.

Paul Canale (553), Gary Orr (111), Kevin Callaway (9x), Brian Dobrowolski (41D), Shane Quigg (762)

photo by etechphoto.com

Could not have asked for better weather for racing!!

photo by kevin mcintosh

Race 11 was a preview of next year’s Featured Vintage Cup, the Vintage Superbike Heavyweight class. Jesse Davis (Yamaha XV920) jumped out to a lead on Saturday, but Dale Quarterly (Kawasaki GPz1000) started nibbling away and finally passed Davis for the win on the last lap. David Crussell (Kawasaki Z1R) finished third. Davis won on Sunday, by just 1.7-seconds over an impressive ride by Curtis Adams (Honda CB750F), with Dennis Parrish (Honda CB900F) in third. Adams stalked and passed Davis late in the race, but lappers foiled his plan on lap seven in Charlotte’s Web. The Saturday Formula 750 race finish was probably the closest and most exciting of the weekend. Kenny Cummings (NYC Norton Seely Commando) led Trip Nobles (Harley-Davidson XR750TT) and Mark Morrow (Yamaha RD400) for several laps including some fierce racing between Cummings and Nobles. Nobles would claim the win by 0.84-seconds, with a hard charge by Morrow at the finish to just edge Cummings by 0.04-seconds! Helluva race. Jim Eich beat Matt Joy to the finish in Saturday’s Vintage Superbike Lightweight race by a wheel with Lance Yeager in third. Matt beat Jim the following day with John Rickard third. In one of my fave classes, Sportsman 350, David Miller won on Saturday after Michael Murray took an early lead. Stephen Hipp finished second, Eric Cook third. On Sunday, Miller repeated but Eric Cook made it a race to the photo finish for second with Simon Brown third. Next Gen Superbike 2 served up some delightful dicing. Gary Orr (Suzuki GSX-R750) fought from fourth place mid-race to take the win over Jim Padron (Honda RC51) and Chris Akaydin (Honda RC51) in Saturday’s race; Akaydin just 0.02-seconds behind Padron. On Sunday, Eric Burrell (Ducati 996) and Akaydin tangled and had a great race with Burrell getting the victory by less than a second. Scott Billings (Ducati 916) finished third. Dale Quarterly (Kawasaki Ninja 400) won Saturday’s Sound of Thunder 3 race by three seconds over Chris Haesemeyer (Suzuki SV650) followed by Daniel Miller (Suzuki SV650). Sunday it was Haesemeyer, Miller and John Deuser (SV650).

The Thruxton Cup finishing order was the same both days: Clint Austin, Paul Canale, Edward Blount. But Canale gave Austin a run just barely coming up short on Saturday. AHRMA Academy of Roadracing instructor, Mark Morrow (Yamaha RD400), won both Formula 500 races. Martin Morrison (Honda CB550) took second on Saturday, Eric Lukehart (Yamaha RD400) was third in a close finish with Morrison. Sunday, Michael Wilson grabbed second on his RD350 with Kevin Dinsmoor (Honda CB550) third. Sportsman 750 is always interesting with the mix of twin-cylinder and four-cylinder machines. Matt Esterline (Honda CB750) edged Stephen Pettinger (Honda CB750) by 0.4-seconds on Saturday with AHRMA’s smilin’ tech inspector, Michael Dixon (Yamaha XS650), third after a close race and finish with Brady Ingelse (Honda CB750). Nick Hargis would ride his dad’s (Jeff Hargis) Yamaha XS650 to victory on Sunday with Esterline

top left: Tony Read (176) saves it! top right: SoS 3 start: Noel Korowin (510), Paul Nelson (781), Mark White (297), Turner Koletich (994), Mitch Barnes (820), WIlliam Doyne (137), Andrew Crouter (681V), Michael DeRoche (242), Craig Hirko (641), Chloe Peterson (456)

photo by etechphoto.com

second and Pettinger third.

“Look at all them motorcycles! 50,

count ‘em.” No less than 50 bikes gridded for race 14, SoT 2. There was some mighty fine racing to witness. Kevin Callaway beat Brian Dobrowolski to the finish by 0.6-seconds followed by Nate Kern a second back. This three-pack went through turn five side-by-side with several lead changes. Sunday, Dobrowolski won with Nate Kern second and Chris Haesemeyer third.

Next Gen Superbike Lightweight was a heavyweight fight to the end — the racing AND the championship. Randy Sullinger won on Saturday, Harry Vanderlinden second with Jonathan Hollingsworth third, all separated by less than one second. On Sunday, Sullinger would win again with the Vanderlinden/ Hollingsworth dustup continuing where it left off the day before. Hollingsworth had the title sewed up, but not by a comfortable margin. He finally shook loose from Harry with two laps to go and caught Sullinger in turn one on the last lap. He attempted an outside pass going into Charlotte’s Web but the front brakes squealed, gave up, and put Jonathan on the ground handing the championship over to Vanderlinden. Heck of a way to end the season but Jonathan is young and fast, has the DNA, so there will be more opportunities. Vintage Superbike Middleweight went down to the wire on Saturday when Paul Elledge squeaked one out over the reigning champ, Kevin Rammer by a hair. Rammer would win with a good margin the next day. Jeremy Maddrill finished third in both races. In our electric bike classes, Peter

right: Jeff Graham (222), John Beldock (660), Chris Haesemeyer (80H) below: (80H Jeffery Dixon (driver), Terri Korn (passenger)

photos by etechphoto.com

Nicolosi won the Formula Extreme race Saturday and Sunday and AHRMA Executive Director, Curtis Comer, won both Formula Lightning races. And finally, the last race of the day, Formula Thunder and BoT 2. Steve Metz jumped into the lead in the 24-bike Formula Thunder race followed by Brian Dobrowolski and Chris Haesemeyer. Kevin Callaway soon moved into second with Dobrowolski third and Patrick Lansu fourth. Callaway passed Metz on lap seven but crashed soon after. I was amazed at the ride Curtis Adams was putting down on his 40-year-old Honda CB750F. He was in the top five for part of the race! Metz stretched his lead and won by 11-seconds over Lansu and Dobrowolski. On Sunday, it was another Metz victory by nineseconds with Dobrowolski second and Lansu third both separated by a tenth of a second. Metz would set the fastest lap of the weekend in this race, a blazin’ 1:31.696. In the BoT 2 race, Tony Prust won Saturday’s race over Clint Austin and Bob Robbins. Sunday, Austin beat Prust with Matthew Estell in third. Congrats to all the 2021 National Roadrace Champions. Thank you AHRMA staff, volunteers and sponsors for all your efforts and contributions throughout the long racing season. It is your passion and dedication that makes all this possible. The off-season will be short. Enjoy the time off but get those machines ready for Daytona! Another Classic MotoFest™!