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close pursu it. By the third lap, the rain
had stopped and the ground fog began
to set tle in.
"The fog on the ground made it hard
to see the rocks," said Davis. 'The ruts
we re getti ng really deep and dodging
downed riders became really tricky."
Hamel continued to stretch his lead
and , at the halfway point, had put a little over five minutes on teammate
Davis .
"I wa s concerned about sta rting in
front of Larry and Ty," explained
Hamel. " When you race against the
clock, so me times it's an advan tage to
sta r t beh ind . Th a t wa y you a lways
know where your competi tion is. I kn ew
Ty was goi ng to be toug h to stay in fron t
of bu t you ca n never co u nt L.R. out
either, he still is capable of winni ng this
race." In th e mean tim e, Roeseler had
put a lock on third and , by the sixth lap,
Mars ha ll passed Sykes to take over
fourth.
In the Ama teur class, Craig Hoyt,
aboard a 250cc Kawasaki, had worked
his way into the top 10. "I really felt
good the first few laps ," exp lained Hoyt.
"I was going st rong, but there was so
much mud I took my goggles off and
then lost my glasses. I was tired but got
my second wind about the sixth lap and
went for it." Hoyt ended up top amateur
for the day with Jeff Wilson finishing
second and Erick Elgauen taking the
third spot.
Hamel crossed the finish line first
afte r three hours and 43 minutes of racing . "In places, the course was the consistency of drywall ta ping mud," sai d
H am el, now a two-tim e VCGP wi nner.
"I had a grea t rid e, th ough . I just kept
tryin g to pick u p th e pace eac h lap. I
kn ew Ty a nd Larry were runni ng second and third, but you can never count
those gu ys out. I had to change rear tires
on lap six; my pit crew had me ou t of
ther e in a little over a mi nute. Other
than tha t, I just had a smooth ride ."
Hamel end ed up winning the even t
with close to a six-min ute margin. Davis
and Roes e ler we re secon d a nd third
with Kerling in fourth, Mar shall fifth,
(Right) Twelve-year-old
Todd Haney got a
valuable lesson on how
not to cross mud
puddles .
(Below) On Saturda y,
Jake Hlmphlll was at the
front of the pack most of
the race and eventually
finished top Novice .
(Left) Gary Vanderpool showed
his competition how to win the
Senior class wh ile carrying an
extra 30 pounds of mud.
(Above) Craig Hoyt fin ished
first Amateur rider on the day
despite losi ng his goggles and
glasses halfway through the
race.
partner so I'll probably end up soloing
the race ."
Gil Grieve fin ish ed nin th overall to
win the Vet Expert class with Eric Von
Urff finishing second . Gary Vanderpool
wo n the Senior class with Tom Webb
finishi ng second. Bill "Biscuits" Verbiscio also raced and is the only person to
have raced all 25 Virginia City Gra nds
Prix. "I've not missed one yet. I hope I
can say the same when I'm a hu ndred !"
The FMF box van an d Hylton Beattie,
with his friend Kevin (who was visiting
from South Africa), were on hand to
support the racers and pit a few riders .
They also awarded a free pipe to the
racer who finished with the most beatu p pi pe. Scott Lovelace, on a Ho nda
CR250, was th e lucky reci pie nt. O the r
vendors were also there to provid e parts
and rid ing gear, while food and drink
concessions helped crea te a fun atmosphere for all who atte nd ed.
WSRA had their hands full maintaining the course and trackin g the rid ers.
Th ey pu t on a we ll-orga nized ev e n t
a nd , eve n th o u gh it w as wet and
mu dd y, the riders had a great time and
a lot of new stories to tell their friends
back ho me. WSRA plans to retu rn to
Virginia City in 1996, but there are a
few "local folk" who aren't too excited
to see the event come back . If you are a
past entra nt or have never ridden the
VCGP and would like to in the future,
the WSRA urges you to drop a line to
the Virginia City Chamber of Commerce, thanking them for being able to
use their town for the couple of days
and telling them how much you would
like to see it continue.
t.·
25th An nua l Virginia City Grand Prix
Virgin ia City, Nevada
.Results: May 14, 1995
OIA:. 1. Danny Ha mel (}(aw); 2.
Larry Roeseler
Ty
D.1Vi.~ (Kaw);
3.
4. Mark Kerling (Yam); S. Cole
Mar sh all (Hen): 6. Bria n Ga rra ha n (Kaw); 7. Aaron
Sykes (Kaw); 8. Mark Vanderpool (Ka w) ; 9. Gil Grieve
(He n): 10. Erik Ko hler (Suz ); 11. Rod ney Goe hring
(Hon) : 12. Eric von Urff (Han) ; 13. David Fr oman
Bria n Ga rra ha n in sixth and Sykes finishing seve n th.
"It was defi nitely muddy out there,"
said Roeseler, a seve n-time VCGP w inner . "I'm glad I was on my 500, the extra
horsep ower cam e in handy in the dee p
mud an d on the u phills. I was having to
change goggles al most every la p . My
wife Liz wa s busy clea ni ng th em an d
pu tting in ne w Roll-Offs each time I
came around. There su re we re a lot of
gu ys stu ck out there."
Aaron Sykes, the young rid er ou t of
District 36, was d efin it ely the crowd
favorite and di d n' t d isa ppoint them.
"T his was only m y th ird rid e as an
Expe rt," sa id Sykes. "My arm s sta rted
pumping on t he fir st la p and I baile d
once passing a lapper. Other than that I
thoug ht it was a really fun course and I
had a good time."
Whe n as ked w hat was ne xt o n the
you ng rider's race age nda, Sykes wen t
on to say that he was heading to Baja for
th e firs t tim e, to race the 500. "I'm all
signed up but , as of now, I don 't have a
(Kaw):
(K.,w); 14. Craig Hoyt (Kawl; 15. Jay Keyin g (KTM).
O PEN EX: 1. Dann y H am el (Kaw ): 2. l arr y
Roeseler IKaw): 3. Jed Green (Hon ).
2SO EJ(, I. Ty Davis (K.,wl; 2. Mark Kerling (Yam);
3. Cole Marshalt (Han).
VET EX: t. Gil Grieve (Hon ); 2. Eric Vo n Urff (Han);
3. David Froman (Kaw).
•
125 EX: 1. Craig Wesn er ( Ka w): 2. Jason Raines
(Ka w).
4 ST K EX: 1. Michae l Callag han (He n): 2. Mike
Korenwinder (Ha n) ; 3. DaITOl Brown (Hen).
SR EX: 1. Gary Vanderpool IKaw) : 2. Tom Webb
(Ha n); 3. Dann y Bawdon (Ha n).
S/SR EX: 1. Doug Fieldin g (Yam); 2. Edd Haymond
(KTM); 3. Ernest Stair (Hus) .
OP EN AM : 1. St e ve Haymond (Kaw): 2. Pau l
Reimel (KlM); 3. Bill Jarvis (H on) .
2SO ~ 1. Craig Hoyt (Kawl; 2. Jeff Wilso n (!