VOL. 50 ISSUE 44 NOVEMBER 5, 2013
Michael Sleeter (left) and Preston
talk about their close battles in the
30+ Pro division.
Foreigners peppered the pits
perfectly and kept the event
worldly, and with the help of organizations that enable riders
from all around the world to come
and race, more global riders can
enjoy such races at the World Vet
Championship.
A foreign outpost from Montreal in Quebec, Canada, was KTM
parts dealer Duroy Racing. Alain
Bourdeau was running the post
and brought friends with him,
"It's one of the better races you
can have in North America; it's
the nicest track. Last year I came
alone and it was nice, so that's
why we're here this year."
In recent years, the rise of motocross rentals and get-aways
have been a huge help for giving
people out of state and even out
of country an opportunity to experience the premiere Vet event
in America. A popular hit for riders looking for a place in SoCal
is Motocross Vacations, which
serves outsiders to ride in the
Southern California area, giving them a taste of riding in the
American motocross Mecca.
"It's my passion to help international riders come over and enjoy
motocross tracks in Southern
California," said David Fontes,
founder of MX Vacations. "We do
hotel accommodations at a major
discount rate, BBQs throughout
a day of riding and ride several
different tracks. We have the funnest time with packages, when
groups come in and they get
accommodated with breakfast,
lunch and BBQ to end each day."
Aaron Athanas was one of the
out-of-staters from Alaska having
a go at the tracks in California
through MX Vacations.
"I grew up in Northern California so our family is up there,"
Athanas said. "We hooked up
with them, and then my friend
from Washington was driving
down so we piled in with my
cousin and my friend from Seattle.
Tim Wenden of Guam was
also pleased with the service
provided, "I was just looking for
somewhere different to ride and
California's the place, right? In
Guam, there isn't much competition, but here, there're so many
people - there're 30 guys on the
track at once riding and that's
pretty cool."
Alongside the racing was
the Edison Dye Award that was
P81
awarded to the Flyin' Hawaiian,
John DeSoto. The early pioneer
for moto was accompanied by
some legendary friends, like seven-time National and Supercross
Champion Rick Johnson, America's first 500cc World Champion Brad Lackey and five time
500cc World Champion Roger
DeCoster.
"I never heard of a racer from
Hawaii," DeCoster told the crowd
during DeSoto's ceremony. "He
was a tough guy. You couldn't
even think of bumping him; it
wouldn't have been a smart thing
to do. He was a real racer." CN
40+ PRO
1. Doug Dubach (Yam) 1-1
2.Gordon Ward (Yam) 2-2
3. Billy Mericer (Kaw) 3-4
4. Julian Cerny (Kaw) 4-5
5. Terry Bostard (Hon) 5-6
6. Shawn Wynne (Yam) 6-7
7. Kim Olsen (Suz) 10-8
8. Jordan Huvell (Hon) 9-9
9. Todd Mitchell (Suz) 7-13
10. Kevin Barda (Suz) 11-11
30+ PRO
1. Travis Preston (Yam) 1-1
2. Mike Sleeter (KTM) 2-2
3. Roaman Jelen (Yam) 5-3
4. Tony Amaradio (Yam) 3-6
5. Tonni Andersen (KTM) 6-5
6. Jesse Bath (Yam) 4-10
7. Kris Keefer (Kaw) 7-8
8. Jorgen Huvell (Hon) 10-9
9. Shawn Wynne (Yam) 8-12
10. Tyson Taylow (Kaw) 18-4
