Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127262
~ GRAND PRIX 20th Annual Virginia City GP ~ Nearly 1000 racers turned out for the 20th running of the Virginia City GP, which began on the streets of the city. Larry Roeseler had a $1500 bounty hanging over his head at th e VCGP. The money would've gone to the person who beat Roeseler, but no one could. Roeseler reigns again By Jim Bowman VIRGINIA CITY, NV, MAY 12-13 eam Green 's Larry Roeseler was, once again, the top gun at the Virginia City Grand Prix, whi ch was his fourth VCG P victory in as many years, and his sixth victory in the even t's 20-year history. Four-tim e Nat ional Hare & Hound Champion Dan Smith finish ed runner-up aboard a factory KTM , while H onda-mounted Eric McKenna, and KTM riders William Del Carlo and Danny Hamel rounded out the top five. The two -da y event hosted most C class riders and Women's B class on Saturday. The Sunday race was for A r 24 and B riders, and the 250cc C class. Both races started down pavem ent, located within the city limits, launching onto trails that wound through the hills an d valleys su rrou ndi ng th e tow n. On Saturday, 10 racers started every 15 seconds until all 550 riders had left town. After more than five hours of wide open racing, and after adj us ting each rider's finish tim e to correspond to hi s/her start tim e, Veteran C class winner Wayne Nebes claimed th e overall victory with a 15 minute margin. Screaming all th e way to ยท Honda rider Eric McKenna fin ished third overall and second Open A. KTM's Dan Smith came the closest to ending Roeseler's four-race win streak at the VCGP. The four-time hare and hound champ finished second overall. second overall was Sean Lollar , riding . h is l2 5cc C class machine. T hree minutes beh ind Loll ar, Open C class winner Duan e Polis led fellow Open class pilots T om Ro szko and Frank Masterson to the checkers. David Ni cholson broke th e top 10 overall and took th e Seni or C class honors, while Pam Montaque broke the top 20, claimi ng th e Wom en 's B class victory and 19th overa ll. Wh en th e Sa tu rday rac i n g wa s th ro ugh, the Western States Ra cing Associati on hosted a parade of all event riders. With lights and siren , one of the tow n 's sheriffs led riders at a brisk pace up Vir ginia Ci ty's main street. With motors winding out in second and third gea r, and man y bikes bal anced on rear whe els, the cont ro lled ru ckus seemed to blend in with th e ro ugh and tumble image portrayed in th e museums and exhibi ts of the vintage min ing town. About 440 riders started in to the coun tryside on Sunday. ' Up in the announcing stand, Bob Cavakis exp lained a special promotion for the even t. , . "T here is a $1000 bounty," said Ca vakis, " p u t up by the Western States Racing Associ at ion , as well as $500 put up by Kawasak i USA for any rider W hO can beat Larry Roeseler." t If no rider could beat Roeseler, then Roeseler would get the bucks in silver bars mounted on the overall trophy. It turned ou t to be a pretty safe bet for Roeseler, who star ted on the third row. "Starting with number 20 was defirlitly different than in the past," said Roeseler. " I' ve always been way in the back in the du st, wh ere you have to ride real, real hard at the.beginning." One row back in th e dust, Greg Searle was one of th e earlier challengers in th e race, but a flat tire, and later a bare rim, took him ou t of the action on lap three. The most serious cha lle ngers of the day were McKenna and Smith, who started together on 'the 12th row. "Dan Smith started with me," said McKenna, "and I passed him. I figured