2006 Dirt Rider 24-Hour Torture Test!

The Annual Dirt Rider 24-Hour off road test went off this week in Hungry Valley, California. Despite the near freezing temperatures, there was a huge turnout from the off-road industry. Factory rigs, RVs, vendors, testers and riders nearly filled the I-5MX staging area, turning our 2006 event into one of the largest to date.

The Test

This year's 24 hours did not mark the test itself, but rather, a qualifier. Each bike submitted for the test had to complete the 24 hours, or at least 75% of the top qualifying bike's hours, in order to make it into the official test, which would take place after the event. The teams supplied their own riders and equipment—whatever it took to get the test done. The only requirement was that all bikes be equipped with a spark arrestor and pass sound at 96-decibels.

Riders weren't running a breakneck pace on the course, but the new event format did send the pit scene into race mode. The action in the pits was exciting from the start, with the bikes lined up in a Baja-style start surrounded by a sea of spectators and photographers. They each left one minute apart. And since this was the "24-hour test—not the 23 hours and 45-minute test," as Jimmy Lewis announced, each bike could leave for another loop right up until their minute the following morning.

Complications arose on the first lap, with more than one bike not making it back on its own, and one making it back way too early. Danny Laporte had gotten lost on the course, and arrived back in the pits on the FMF Suzuki a good 20 minutes before anyone else. "Of course it was Danny Laporte," huffed Jimmy Lewis, "Who else would it have been?!"

Though a few teams were off to a rocky start, the pit crews and riders worked hard to keep all the bikes in the test, and running throughout the night. The question will be whether or not anyone lost too much time to qualify for the test.

The Bikes

The classification of this year's off road test bikes was open. Industry was welcome to submit proposals for any off-road bike they wanted. The staff reviewed submissions, and fifteen bikes received invitations. The result was an eclectic mix of off road machines ranging from 100 to 570cc's, and from bone stock to factory race replicas.

The KTM 450 EXC was one of the stockers, and as the returning champ of last year's 24-Hour test, served as a baseline test bike. Also submitting stock bikes were Beta with a 450RR, and Husaberg with their venerable FE550E.

In the race replica entries were the Team Green KX450F (Nathan Woods WORCS replica), a Precision Concepts Honda CRF450X Johnny Campbell replica and an FMF Racing Suzuki RM-Z450 (Travis Pastrana's Baja 1000 replica).

Remaining entries were a Kawasaki KX100 (for our sister publication, Mini Rider magazine), BBR Honda CRF230, White Brothers Yamaha WR450, Dick's Racing KTM 300XC, Leo Vince Honda CRF302X, Akrapovic/Hard Parts KTM 450 XC, Team Green/Two Brothers KX250F, L.A. Sleeve Honda CRF430X (that's a de-bored 450X), Thumper Racing KTM 570 and an Enduro Engineering KTM 360 XC-W.

The Course

The Dirt Rider crew marked out a 32-mile course in the Hungry Valley OHV area. The first sections were merely clicking off miles, before reaching the "16-miles of hell." Mostly virgin trail (well, virgin at the beginning of the 24 hours anyway), the technical sections of the course were tight, rocky and root-crossed, making for a fun, challenging loop. How tight and technical was it? Lap times on the 32-mile course were averaging between 1½ to 2 hours. But everyone—pros and industry alike—had nothing but praises at the end of the day.

Damp, cold weather made for good conditions (no dust!), but the freezing temperatures and biting wind did leave a little to be desired, especially for riders in the dark morning hours out on the icy trails.

An optional "Endurocross" section of the course was built in the pit area, consisting of K-rail, tractor tires and dirt. The section became optional after moderate injury...

Also open to riders was the I-5MX track, which plenty of insanely fast riders were spinning laps on. Unfortunately it was also the scene of the only serious accident during the event. Paul Krause had a bad crash and was carted off by paramedics. He reportedly suffered several broken ribs, but will be okay.

The Event

The Dirt Rider 24-hour is a social event almost as much as it is a riding event. It is one of the largest off-road (non-race) events in the country, with riders, teams and industry coming from around the world to showcase their best for the torture test. Some of the biggest names in off-road racing are always present, and this year was no exception.

We gathered all the big names together for one big "hero shot" which included riders like Johnny Campbell, Steve Hengeveld, Mike Lafferty, Juha Salminen, Nathan Woods, Destry Abbott, Larry Roeseler, Danny LaPorte, Malcolm Smith, Shane Watts, Scot Harden, Kelly Yancey, Dick Burleson, and of course, Jimmy Lewis!

There were a lot of familiar faces in new colors this year. With the off-road season starting later than Supercross, contracts and sponsorships are still being settled. So the 24-hour is often the first event for riders with new teams.

Desert racer David Pearson, formerly with Kawasaki, is now with KTM. David, one of the several Pearson racers, is the cousin of National H&H Champion, Russ Pearson. A lot of people get the Pearsons mixed up, but me clear it up for everyone right here: Nate, Nick and Russ are brothers, Russ is the youngest, and David is their cousin. Russ calls David his "double cousin" since their moms are sisters, and their dads are brothers (I know it sounds funny, but don't worry. There are no "twisted branches" in that family tree. I checked). Nick is getting back into racing in 2006 and will be contesting the WORCS aboard a Honda, which could get confusing to fans because Nick and Russ look exactly alike. Russ is the one on the Yamaha. Then there's the oldest brother, Nate who's also a regular in the Pearson pits. But he looks nothing like Nick or Russ. He's the resident smartass with a "PBR" tattoo on his arm... which he'll tell you stands for "Pearson Brothers Racing" but I'm pretty sure it actually stands for Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Nathan Woods, former Zip-Ty Yamaha racer, is now in green. He'll be defending his WORCS championship title aboard the new KX450F and KX250 in 2006. Also under the green tent this year is Larry Roeseler who recently re-signed with Kawasaki. He'll be working with the Team Green off-road race effort (still making time for trophy truck racing with Troy Herbst).

Also making a transition is Johnny Campbell. The nine-time Baja Champion is still with American Honda, but gradually stepping into a new role. "They made me a sweet five-year deal," said Campbell of Honda. He'll be moving into a team-manager role in the next few years and backing off from racing. It's not retirement; Campbell will still be racing this year's Baja 1000 and other select events. But the majority of Honda's BITD race efforts have been handed off to Steve Hengeveld and Kendall Norman, with Robbie Bell and Mike Childress on the B team. So could this be the last year we see Johnny Campbell race the Baja 1000? He left that question open ended, stating that if he keeps winning, he'll keep on racing.

Red Bull was the title sponsor for this year's 24 hour. They spared nothing in their hospitality, supplying food, heaters, tables & chairs, bean bags, video games and music—and oh yeah, all the Red Bull you could want—for everyone out at Gorman.

Their tent made a great "hub" in the pits, and really helped keep everyone going throughout the event. A big thanks definitely goes out to everyone at Red Bull for their hospitality this year.

We have plenty of coverage from this year's event on the way. Watch Dirtrider.com in the coming weeks for a series of videos that will introduce the bikes, take you inside the event, and out on the course with some great action footage (watch for a great crash scene courtesy of Dick Burleson).

Look to the pages of Dirt Rider for the nuts and bolts of the test: which bikes qualified, how they all performed, and the question of the hour—which bike came out on top?