,-
EVENTEi
PHOTO BY
LOIS DAVIS
California
Citg
Sup€ncours€ DEs€rt
Gran
Pnlx s€riGs
Round
a Californla
cltu Countg
€asGm€nts
and Trails
Griffin's
Joh
nny-on-the-Spot
qt
Coliforniq
City
GP
CALIFORNIA
CIW,
CA, APR. 29
A t the second round ol rhe
AFlA-sanctioned
ACalifornia Ciry Supercourse Desen
Gran
Prix Series, KTM
rider Aaron
Griffin was
John-
ny-on-the-spot,
ready to take over
rhe overall
lead when early
leader
Jeremy
Prit.hett. also
on a KTM,
bailed at more than
I00 mPh and
had to
pulloff.
The largest entry
so far in the series
was
described by race
promoter
Lou
Peralta as a
"fun,
very
fast and
perhaps
one of the
most
dan8erous rac€courses
BP Motorsports
has
ever
sta8ed."
Peralta said that environmental
concerns made his staff
chanSe
the racecourse
a!
the lasc minute
to eliminate several technical
sections of the course
that would
have slowed
speeds
down a bit.
lnstead, it became a
very
{asr
and dusty co,rrse.
The chanees
resuked
in
a superfast,
l2-mile
trek.
Earty leader PritcheB
proved
Peralta's
poinr
when
h€ completed
his first lap, setting the
{asrest lap of the day at
l3:46:00 minutes,
avera8ins 52.1
mph. fuitchett's
second lap was
also
the second-fastest
lap. at
l4;33:00
minutes: he had a
lead of more than three
minutes. By lap four.
he had stretched
his
ad\rantage
on the
resr of the field by almost
five
minutes and began
catchinS the backmarkers.
As he
was
getting
around a
slower
rader,
Pritche[
sufFered
his race-ending
8et-off
"l
was doang
well into the
100 mPh
[ran8e]
when
I hit this slit-rut and
just
flew,"
he
recounted.
'l landed okay, but my
leg hit
somethin8, and
I was done-"
ln fact, Pritchett badly bruiled
his
left let.
causinS
the arch
to sw€ll bq/ond the
point
where he.ould stand
with
his
boot
stillon.
TakinS
over the reins
for the overall
position
was KIM/l''1SR/Motorex
rider Griffi
n.
who had seRled
into second after
his first ttyo
laps. He
had fiM-mounted
Michael l'4aute, an
Over
,lo
Nov(e. on
hrs heels. and by
lap
five
the race was on between
these two.
However,
atter
the eight-lap, t,ro'hour
gran prix,
and
despite
the heat of
the day, Griflln managed to
hold off all comers
to capcure
the overall
victory
and the Open Expert-class
win. He was
the only
rider to
lo8
eiSht
laps.
Second ovemll
wenr to Maute.
in spite o{ a
five-minute
peflalty
levied on him
for a course
infraction.
Thrrd
overall
went to
lim
Coffey,
only
a few ticks back.
Fourth overall
was
KTM/Lost Coyotes
MC/Decal
works/lMS/
Ga€met
Don Campbell.
and roundinS out the
top five overall
riders was BMX
Hex-backed
Yamaha
pilot
Bernard Unhassobiscay.
ln the Kids' 3o-minure
GP
- ridins on their
own s-mile
rac€course, which
used
parts
of
the big course
'
it wa5
once atain round-one
winner
Andy Branham beating
Trail
lvlenace/RW
RacinS-backed
Yamaha
rider
Quinton
Russell by one
minute. Third
overall
went to Kawasaki's
Hichael Thompson.
Everyone
loved the course.
Everyone
agreed
it was fast, and everyone said
that with a
little wind
(there
was none),
the race would
have
not been as dicey.
The event
was a
success,
bua even
more importantly, after the
contracted biologist checked
the entire
course
and found no
siSnificant impact as a
result ofthe
event, BP
Motorspons
was happy
-
and ready
lor another ra
