George Eadie (Seattle WA) came out of retirement, and brought with him his trick YZ125
George
Eadie (Seattle WA) came out of retirement, and brought with him his trick YZ125
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Hell
Run to OZ • AHRMA SEASON OPENER AT WITTMAN
ARIZONA • Editor's Report Sunday- Vintage Classes My two good friends George Eadie and Charlie Branstetter were on the same gate- same class in fact, but Charlie got taken out by a young man who got totally out of control. Moto(#7) all Sportsman 125 (Ex, Int and Novice were on the gate at once) The Flag drops, and Charlie was a half bike behind Dave Coupe to the first corner, and gave way to some Black Stripes. He caught and passed a yellow stripe in the technical section before the rise, but was forced wide in the right hander hooked from behind and went hard over-the-bar. The young man came over saying sorry- he'd lost control of his bike. Charlie lay there for a long time. I didn't see any of this, sadly. Dave Coupe came by twice before Charlie could get under way. bent bars, dented tank, bike possibly flooded ? Of course the bike often doesn't want to start after lying sideways for a spell. George Eadie motored through, and Charlie said later he was trying to send the very REAL pain away, (cracked ribs always hurt for some reason) and told himself I CAN do this. George finished 4th, Charlie 7th, 2 laps down. Charlie later wrote No time to fret Moto9 gate2 for +50 Novice I come to the line, still a bit dazed, and ask where’s moto7? It's gone, just finishing...dejected I think I’ve missed my race then realize I WAS IN moto 7 and crashed ! OK, where’s moto 9? No problem, just staging. I'm the only 125 in a field of 400s ...slight intermission to water the track before our moto. Slick I know, I'm from the Pacific Northwest. Decent start, about mid-pack, stay tight and pass 2 or 3 thru the sweeper, before the technical. Safely pass my crash spot, over the first jump, fast on the outside thru the sweeper and stick my front tire just in front to gain 2nd as we drop down. Chasing down 1st, I push for 2~3 laps and sure enough he stutters in the corner and I'm leading a NATIONAL, on my 125 against the 400’s. Last lap, with all the up-hills, a get pulled and finish second NOT BAD, especially after the crash in moto 7 ! • And now to the Animal. The Animal, or the Beast as I call it- is my CZ400 Special. I’ll make this short. In Sportsmen 500 heat• (moto 10) I was so pumped that I forgot that there were 2 waves, and went in the wrong wave. Not realizing that I was with the experts, I was dismayed at how I seemed to go backwards! I was getting beaten to a pulp. I got 3rd- in other words two of the Intermediates caught me even though I had an unfair jump on the whole field. I later went and told the man to move me back to the back- which gave me 15th (last) The best part was a mid-race I did a huge idiotic wheelie, like some kind of extra-kool stunt rider- very impressive, or it felt as though it must have been- but really I was simply trying to control the RAW HORSEPOWER coming out of the CZ engine. Adding to the crazy nature of the race is the humorous fact that the heat race was won by a Ghost, who finished ahead of Darrell Sedig. In fact while I’m on the subject I have to say as the webmaster for Vintage Dirt Racing NW, I have always sought to list the results in this fashion; that everyone who was on the track gets mentioned. Our sport is about participation, and in fact points are awarded for moto finishes, so why is it that the results are listed in this partial way? And another thing! When I’m racing, I try to remember the number of the fellow I’m battling with- and later I can compare notes, and photographs, and piece together the story. If it were up to me, I would list the race numbers in the results as well. There is no good reason not to include this information in the results. Compare the results as they are listed to VDR style; i.e. my style, and tell me it’s not a good idea. Standard Disclaimer: this isn't about ME- it's about all of us. Among other things it also points up the ghost win, which I imagine is a simple mistake- unless... ... they decided to invoke the very obscure rule (rule 306) that when Siege runs in the wrong wave, he gets sent to the back, AND the winner gets second! (?) Cool. |
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ACTUAL RESULTS SHEET
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VDR STYLE RESULTS Sptmn
500--Int: HEAT RACE
information
not seen on
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AHRMA STYLE RESULTS Sptmn 500--Int: 1. Darrell Sedig, MAI (2,1); 2. Roger Landberg Jr., BUL (4,2); 3. Dwight Rundle, MAI (3,3); 4. Don Gibbs, MAI (5,4); 5. Rik Smits, MAI (7,8); 6. John Kovalcik, HUS (11,7); 7. Christopher James, CZ (15,5); 8. Bill Agardy, HUS (14,6); 9. Steve McLean, HUS (10,10); 10. Kelly Kerr, PEN (8,12); 11. Dan Wilson, HUS (13,11); |
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+40 Vintage heat• (moto 12) There was a terrific crash of bikes sideways and folding flipping over at the start. I steered to the outside, but a man went down right in front of me, and before I could do anything I was riding over him, and falling off the left side of my bike. I got up as fast as I could, and his arm was pushing the CZ up of him, and I dragged it off- I’d love to see a photo of this- anyone out there? (Anita where are you?)
OK- back to the battle... of course after a crash you have a bizarre sense
of loss of situation- there are bikes here and there- and I was passing
a few of them-0 they were going at half speed- I was going at less than
full speed myself - so I’m uncertain who was doing what- it was almost
like practice; random bikes out on the track. I struggle past a few hapless
victims- battle what seemed like backmarkers, (really it was me, a backmarker)
and chasing someone I finally stall it right at the flag. Oh Boy. I soldier
on for another lap. It was a whatever dude race. {That s a technical term} 3• Sportsmen 500 main• Though this was the Highlight of day, there is fairly little to write. I rode smoothly- at one point I was trying to pass the yellow bike in front of me, and as we rounded the first corner for the 3rd time or so- a long left hander- I was on the outside, and the man wasn’t giving in, and neither was I and I kept the power on, and yelled Jonathan’s famous line the answer is no as I passed. And it stuck. I wonder who it was? a yellow bike- it may have been Tony Boswell- an expert who finished 8th in the expert class- who would have been on the track with us at the same time.... At one point I saw the formidable figure of ex-Pacers Basketball Star Rik Smits ahead of me- and I went around him! We were mid-court- er- no ...mid-pack- yeah that’s it ! I dunked underneath him- er DUCKed- dribbling inside my helmet... wait- bad image. Sorry.
Towards the end of the race though I was going good- to coin a term -
the back brake began to act very strange- sometimes when I brakes there
was a weird scratching noise! Only sometimes- I soldiered on, finished
the best of the day: a 5th out of 12. OK- last race of the weekend. Moto 11 is out on track, and they are shortening the laps to 4 laps- Keaton who is there suddenly says you have a flat tire! Oh Boy. Here we go again. I ride the bike back to the pit, and then come wandering up looking for Charlie. Charlie runs up and says take my CR125! So out I go, trying to remember that a CZ400 is as different as it could be from a CR125. I rev the living hell out of it, harkening back to the days when Jonathan (my brother) was racing his CR125M. But in the struggle I find to my exasperation, and almost amusement that I can’t seem to shift it, and that I can’t seem to find the back brake at all! So I finish way way last, the guy holding up the next gate. By lap four I was almost gettin’ the hang of it, but it was over, and thanks to my good friend Charlie Branstetter for being there... |
