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/128004
GFI Racing: Je G
arn reenYouth World Nationals
By Gre g Roberts on
SAN BERNARDINO, CA, JULY 3-l
n what was somewhat of a repeat of
last y ea r's GFI Ra ci ng -K awasaki
Team Green's Youth World Nation. al s , Mike Alessi a n d Ja mes Stew art
proved to be a cut above the com p etition. Alessi put tog ether an astounding
16-moto win streak o ver the two d avs of
raci ng to earn ti tle s in the 60cc (9-11)
Stock and Modified and the 80cc (7-11)
Stock and Modified classes. Afte r pick ing up a pai r of class wins in Mammoth
a coup le of weeks ago, Stewart cont inued to mak e his West Co as t vacati on /
testing session / racing trip from Flori da
a fun one by clai mi ng th e 80cc 0 2-13)
Stock and Modi fied wins.
This year's seventh annual eve nt, held
at Glen Helen Raceway, drew close to 700
en tries over two days. Sa tu rday's twomot o forma t took pl ace on the Stad ium
Supe rcross track, wi th the longer National trac k bei ng used o n Sunday for the
final set of motos. As us ua l, nice trophies
and medals, along wi th great priz es such
as tires and gea r bags, were handed ou t
to th e top three in eac h di vision, with
d ivisio n winne rs tak in g home either a
BMX or a moun tain bike as the top pri ze.
Alessi wen t ei ght fo r eight in th e
holeshot d ep artment a nd then easi ly
pulled away for a perfect per forman ce
on Satu rd ay. Th e 60cc Modified runnerup, Robe rt Memoli, finished all by himself, ahead of Cole Seely and B.J. Bohrer.
KTM-mounted Seely returned to go 3-2
for second overall in the Stock class over
Kyle Behling and Mark Proscel le. Jarred
Browne and Jeff Loo p ba ttled be hi nd
Alessi in th e 80cc Modified class. Loop
slid ou t in th e second m oto, hand in g
seco nd o ve ra ll to Browne . Jeff Alessi
took ad va ntage of Loo p's miscu e to go
4-3 fo r third ov era ll. Browne ch ased
Alessi th ro u ghout bo th 80cc Modified
mo tos for seco nd o n the day over the 4-3
of Jeff Alessi and th e '3-4 of Mem oli.
Alessi star ted out Sun day with a runa wa y win in the 60cc Stock class over
Proscelle and Andy Stra igh t. Seely we n t
down hard on the start straight, but the
viso rless and goggles-less rid er charged
all the way back u p to fourth and almost
caught Straight at the checkers, Proscelle
ended up goi ng 2-2 fo r second over
Seely. Seely an d Proscelle trad ed fin ish ing position s be hind Alessi in the 60cc
Modified class lat er in the d av.
Brown e finished second ifl the opening 80cc Stock race , ahead of Loop and
Jeff Alessi, bu t Jeff Alessi ca me ou t o n
top o f a fie rce seco n d -m o to ba ttle to
earn second overall on a 4-2 rid e, edging
o ut th e 3-3 of Lo op a n d t h e 2-6 of
Browne. Browne s ta ye d a head of Jeff
Alessi a nd Mich ae l Parker for second
ove rall in the 80cc Modified class .
By late Sunday afternoon, little Mike
Alessi was more than ready to park his
Kawasakis and let the results do the
talkin g.
"I think my w eekend went go od ,"
said the Fox /Scott /Moto XXX-backed
Aless i. "I got all 16 holeshots. I tried to
stay s moo th and in control an d trie d not
to fall. I'd like to thank Donnie Hansen
Motocross Academy and Mike Black in
Las Vega s."
Paul Pear cy led the firs t 80cc 0 2-13)
Modified m oto on Saturdav before Stewart got around him and checked out wi th
the wi n. Sean Colli er ca me up through
the field for seco nd over Jimmy Nelson
and Zac Wra y. Nelson bumped Stewart
I
back to second place off the second -moto
sta rt, but Stewart qu ickly retaliated with
th e sa m e be for e d isa p pearing. Nelson
and Collier had a great battl e for second,
with Nelson prevailing .
.
A firs t-moto firs t-la p p ileup in the
BOec 0 2-13) Stock class involving Nelson,
Cas Swift and Stewart allowed Kaw asa ki-mounted Collier to run awav with the
win . Stewa rt sliced through the compe tition to take second , followed by Wray
an d And rew Petrie. Stewart retu rn ed to
go wire to wire for the second-moto win ,
.
wit h Nelson and Wra y-in tow.
Stewart was even morei m p ressive
on the faster Na tional circu it on Sunday,
turning four good star ts into conv incing
victories.
"I had a real good weekend, actually,
exce p t for those two m otos t hat I
cras hed in theS u percross, bu t 1still rode ·
good ," said the 13-yea r-ol d Tea m
Gree n /Fox-backed rider. "Mv bikes are
running real good thanks to FMF and
Kawasaki."
Collier went 2-2 for second overa ll in
the Stock class to top Nelson and Wray.
Co llier held off Nelson for the runnerup finis h in the firs t Modified mot o, but
Nelson came back with a last-la p pass
on Co llier in round two to break the
poi nts tie for seco nd overall.
Cobra pilot Nic Paluzzi had a perfect
weekend . The John Burr Cycles / AC Raeing/Curn u tt/ Race Tech/PJ1/IM5-spo nsored youngster litera lly flew to an ama zing eight-mot e swe ep of th e 50cc (4-6)
Stock an d Mod ified titles. Brett Down ey
and Da ko ta Garner w ere the on ly tw o
rid ers who were able to keep Paluzzi in
sigh t. After eight races, Downey and Garner we re tied in poi nts for second place,
wit h the nod going to Dow ney.
Eight-year-old Bruce Rut herford made
his way to the head of the pack in 12 out
of the 16 motos he entered to capture the
50cc and 60cc (7-8) Stock an d Modified
titles on his MSR/ Silko lene / R&D / Don
Vesco-backed KTMs . Ru therford 's main
competition came in the form of Tra vis
Christe nse n, w ho ace d bot h 60cc Stock
mo tos on Satu rday, and Trent Pugm ire,
who ou tran Rutherford on the Modifi ed
CIfI
bikes on Sunday.
Glen Helen Raceway Park
San Bernardino, Californ ia
Results: Ju ly 3-4 , 1999
Saturday
50 BEG (4-6): l. Trevor Yor k (KTM ); 2. Ta ylor
Ered ia (Yam).
50 BEG (7-8), I. Crystal Layton (KIM); 2. james Frigo
Jr. (Cob); 3. Leslie Colasaceo (KIM); 4. Quad Chase (Cob).
50 STK (4-6 t. 1. Nic Paluzzi (Cob) ; 2. Dakota Gamer
(Cob); 3. Brett Downey (Cob); 4. Max Ladieu (Cob); 5.
Tommy Aquino (Cob).
SO M O D (4-6) : 1. N ic Pa luzzi (Cob); 2. Brett
Downey' (Cob); 3. Ty Keenorn (Coo); 4. Dakota Gamer
(Cob); 5. David Meade (Cob).
50 STK (i ·8 ): 1. Bruce Rutherford (KTM); 2. Michael
H.ill (Co b); 3. Tylor Hemme (KIM); 4. Micha el Tre glia
(KIM); 5. Cody Tithof (Cob).
50 MOD C ): 1. Br uce Rut he r ford (KT M) ; 2.
7-8
Michael Ha ll (Cob); 3. Joh nnv Ielde rda (l. .em); 4. Sco tt
.
Noble (Cob): S. Garrick Noble(Co b).
SIPIW (6-9): 1. Michael HaU (Cob); 2. N ic Paluzzi