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/127408
eMOTOCROSS e o Veteran'sWorldMotocrossChampionship_s ... CN $-< iU ...0 S iU ;> o Z Louie Peick (36) dives into turn one ahead of jerry Feldmeier (23F), David Holland (16) and the rest of the +30 Novi~ class. Rex Staten (I) beat Larry Wosick in the first Vet Pro class moto on Sunday. Sunday to 285, and the weekend's total of 602 was down by near ly 150 riders over the previous year. Perris Racewa y ow ner/ promoter Goat Breker at tribu ted the decline to the sluggish econo my, and Dan Wh ite .of White Bros. agreed, addi ng tha t eliminating th e Vintage a nd Dual Sport classes on Sunday also contri buted to fewer entrants. White was really surprised th ere were only 19 rid ers in the Vet Pro class, considering that last year's event drew so man y entrants that qualifiers were required to thin the field. ''I' m surprised $4200 couldn' t bring more (Vet Pro class riders) out," said White. " But ifthe riders aren't riding and training, then they don't seem to want to come out and race cold turkey. It wou ld be neat to see guys like jeff Ward, Marty Moates , Mart y Smith, johnny O'Mara and Rick Johnson come out, too." Twostraightfor StatenatPerris By Tony Alessi and Nate Rauba PERRIS, CA, NOV. 2-3 he White Bros. World Veteran's MX Championship is a time for racer s over 25 years of age to get togeth er for a fun weekend of competition. For some it's a time to ren ew old friendships, or a chance to begin racing aga in without lin ing up next to a teenag er with mo re bravado th an common sense. And it's a tim e for Rex State n to sh ine. For the second year in a row, the 37-year-old form er factory tea m rider swep t both motos of Su nday's premier Vet Pro class, taking hom e $400 for each moto win an d a $200 bonus for scoring the overa ll victory . He won Saturday's Vet Pro class as well. Staten also won the inaugural T 20 event in 1988 but was un abl e to defend his title the following year du e to a back in jury. The fourth annual even t took over southern Cal ifornia 's Perris Raceway for the entire weekend , with classes broken down by age groups beginning at age 25 up to those over 60. Vintage and dual sport classes were added to Saturday's program , wh ich drew . approximately 317 entrants from II different states. Su nday's p ro gram featu red just the vets, and the featured Vet Pro class .race with a $4200 purse. Ama teurs raced for thousands of dollars in contingency p rizes posted by numerous companies. The number of entrants dropped off slightl y on It was no surprise to see 1980 Daytona Supercross winner Sta ten near the front of the pack in the first l O-lap Vet Pro class rnoto, but he was trailing leader Zoli Beren yi, Jr. of Canada. Former factory Kawasak i and H o n da ri der Larry Wosi ck soon worked up to th ird, and for a while the th ree ran nose-to-tai l. Just past the halfway point, Staten too k the lead, but was quickly rep assed by Beren yi. "Just before I passed him he roosted me real bad," said Staten, " I got dirt in my goggles and for the next half a lap I couldn' t see." Staten was soon back in front as Berenyi went off the track. By the time h e reentered trailing a string of banners, Staten and Wosick were gone. Wosick stayed close to th e new leader for a few more laps before he tired and dropped back near the end, finishing abo u t three seconds behind Staten, Berenyi claimed th ird. Moto two belonged to Staten as he grabbed the holeshot on his Honda CR500 and went relatively unchallenged to th e win. Berenyi fell in the first turn and later dropped out of the moto, while Wosick crashed hard on th e second lap and retired. " I hit the back of another rid er and sna pped my handlebars," said Wosick. Jeff Watts chased Staten th e entire distan ce, but he was always several seconds behind as Staten cru ised to the win. " I rode hard for three laps, then I didn't hear a nyone," Staten sa id. "After that I just pu tted along." With Watts finishing a lone in second, the real race was for th ird. Bob _ Hanrahan passed Brent Wallingsford for the pos ition and Mark White also displaced Wallingsford a short time later. White moved in and challenged H anra han for the rest of the race, but Hanrahan held him off to finish third. In the 25-29-year-old Expert class, Willie Musgrave was the top rider on both da ys. Saturday's first moto saw Mike Beier lead from wire-to-wire for the win while Musgrave worked his way up from a fifth-place start to finish just a few feet behind the winner. Beier quickly pulled a lead at the start o f rnoto two, but Musgrave slowly closed in to set up a last-lap battle. After they nearly collided over a jump, Musgrave pushed Beier out of a highbanked berm to grab the lead and he held it to the finish. They were battling again on Sun day, and Beier appeared to ride more conservatively early in both motos bu t was stro nger later in the races. He still couldn' t top Musgrave, who swep t both motos, Zoli Beren yi Sr. romped to doublem oto vi cto ri es during Saturday's running of the +40 Intermediate class. Idaho's Leroy Smi th and Pennsylvania n J on Varley battled for second a ll day wi th Smith getting the final nod. Berenyi Sr. also scored th e win in the first +50 Expert class moto with a wire-to-wire charge. H e looked to be on his way to repeating the feat in the second moto un til the 58-year-old hit troub le. " I put my leg down in a rut and it brok e," said Berenyi, who despite the brok en lower leg was able to continue _ ridin g and fin ished the race seventh. Oklahoman Mr. Redwin e scored the moto and overa ll victory. David Lynch was untou chab le as he swep t both motos in Saturday's +30 In termediate class. George Wallace was the runner-up in both motos followed by James George and Greg Keirn. Wallace came back on Sunday and led from start-to-finish in moto one of the first division of the +30 Intermediate class. Lynch was in ches beh ind Wallace for the entire race bu t couldn't fin d a way around him and had to settle . for second. George finished thi rd after fending off Rick James and Mark Du val. Lync h go t th e lead in mo to two and blazed away to a conv incing win. Brian .Allen trailed in second until late in the race when Duval passed him to take second and Wallace charged by on the last lap to snag th ird. Alan Olson dom in at ed Sunday's +40 Expert class with a two-mote sweep. Gary Peak made his trip from Illinois worthwhile with two consistent rides for second. " I have ridden this event for the last four years," said Peak. " I fly in, borrow a bike, race, then fly home and am back to work on Monday." Olson stormed away in Saturday's opening +35 Intermediate rnoto while Greg Perolio worked on Peak for second. Perolio eventua lly passed his rival and finished second, well behind Olson. In the second mo to, Olson again grabbed the holeshot and appeared to be on his way to victory. But on the last lap, Perolio caught Olson and dove inside to snatch the lead while sending Olson to th e ground. As Perolio rod e to victory, Olson was left to remount in seventh. George Kohler finished second ahead of Mark Gleckl. Peroli o go t a tast e of his own medicine in Sunda y's first +35 Intermediate moto, Wh ile running inside th e top five, Perolio was side-swiped by Peak an d forced to retire when his machi ne go t stuck in th ird gear. Don Wa llingsford scored the win wi th Peak finishing second.