Two weeks ago during the MTA Two Stroke World Championship at Glen Helen Raceway most “dead” bike fanatics-that’s two-stroke dirt bike fanatics-were dusting off their oil-measuring devices (or guessing), borrowing bikes from their friends (who had to work, maybe) and trying to learn how to shift again.Well, it turns out two strokes aren’t dead, in fact, and nearly 200 entries at the inaugural Glen Helen Raceway-hosted event prove it.I know this because I was there. I learned how to shift again, I found a Maxima Quick Mix bottle and I borrowed bikes from the Dirt Rider Testing fleet as everyone else was working (more on my weekend below). But this isn’t about me. This is about the Pros battling it out in one of the most entertaining races I’ve seen and another championship going to the Dubach household. And this time, it was in the Dubach’s first race!Little ChampDoug Dubach isn’t new to winning. He’s won exactly a bajillion championships and races. That bajillion breaks down, accurately, to four Four- Stroke Word Championships, 15 World Vet Championships (!), Five Loretta Lynn’s Championships and he even won a Supercross main event in San Jose, CA before the internet was invented.But Carter Dubach, the PW pilot and youngest offspring of The Doctor with a spooky on-the-bike resemblance to papa Doug, hadn’t won any races, any championships or even gotten any holeshots leading into this race. Because this was his first race.It turned out winning wasn’t too difficult for Carter. This is likely because he has the unmatched combination of trophy-attracting genetic code, a posse of Yamaha Factory friends (cough-parts-cough) and he might have been the only one who signed up in his class. But who’s counting?Still, calling your championship with a number one salute before practice is gutsy! Follow along in the photos and captions for an entertaining look at a rather famous first race.Pro Action
Bobby Garrison showed winning form and used late-race strength to pull out the victory.
In the LA Sleeve cash-supported Pro class, Zip-Ty Husqvarna’s Bobby Garrison took the overall win after a wild two motos of high-revving action. His combined 4-2 moto scores beat out Rockstar Suzuki youngster Austin Howell (1-5) who checked out of moto one after working his way through KTM’s Michael Sleeter and the hard-fighting, ever-fast Doug Dubach on his Yamaha YZ. Tye Hames (Dirt Rider 250F Shootout Test Rider) was flying after a poor start in moto one but lost his clutch lever and had to fight for a 9th in moto 1.Dubach had the championship wrapped up, in the bag and packed in the van halfway home after Howell dropped his bike in a flat turn in moto 2. But KTM’s Kurt Caselli came inside in a bottom turn and took the win out of his grip-and his grip off of his bike. That contact helped Garrison charge in front of Caselli in the closing laps and into the mathematical win. Sleeter ended up in third (even though Tom White tried to give it to Caselli-who can blame him? That’s a lot of math).Meanwhile, Tye Hames was way out front in moto 2. He put the smack down for sure. Bummer about your moto 1 result, Hames.During both Pro class motos the pack was tight and the racing was intense. In fact, I haven’t seen this much passing since DR Associate Editor Pete Peterson asked me to watch him speed date.Check out these photos from the Pro Class.Magazine Guys Everywhere!
A prepped Glen Helen Hill and a 250 two-stroke are a powerful combination.
Dirt Rider Magazine was also racing the Two Stroke World Championship aboard our staff-favorite KTM 250 SX and our brand-spanking new Yamaha YZ 125. Here’s a quick race report as test-rider-for-the-weekend Captain Joe Melton and myself took to the track.I’d like to start by saying, very loudly, that I beat Joe Melton in the 30+ Intermediate class with a 1-3 for second overall. Joe went 3-2 on the Dirt Rider Yamaha YZ125. I sort of cheated by riding a 250 against Joe on a 125 but he’s pretty fast on a 125 so I’m calling it a fair fight. Keith Loonsfoot took the overall class win with a 2-1 score on his Suzuki RM250. Good racing, Keith!The 125 Intermediate Class was basically a media class with Transworld MX, Dirt Bike Magazine, Motocross Action and Dirt Rider represented by editors. Also, the Big Cat himself, Brian Catterson, from Motorcyclist showed up to play in the dirt. Those silly street guys just can’t stay away.There were some fast guys in that class that beat us all pretty easily. Four of them to be exact: Cody Woodsworth, Steven Gibson, Starr Savage and Billy Musgrave finished 1-4 respectively. But from fifth-ninth it was a bunch of guys that shoot photos and write words battling it out.
From left-to-right: Bayo/Transworld, Ziegler/Dirt Rider, Minert/MXA, Booth/Dirt Bike. Catterson not shown because we don’t let street bike guys start next to us. Apparently.
John Minert from MXA took the non-official Magazine-guy-class win with a 5-6 on his YZ125 for 5th overall. Bayo Olukotun from Transworld gets the most-improved gold star for going 7-5 for 6th overall on his KTM 150. He was the only one of us that actually improved his position in the second moto! Must have been those 10ccs…ha. Ziegler from Dirt Rider (that’s me) went 6-7 for 7th overall and would like to blame Joe Melton for putting bad luck on my bike. Adam Booth from Dirt Bike was consistent at 8-8 for 8th overall. However, it’s important to note that Boothy was as high as second (among magazine guys) each moto. He had a severe case of deskitis (too much desk time, not enough moto time) and his arms locked up in both motos. They were moving enough to wave me by after a few fun-as-hell laps though, thanks Booth. And Catterson was a happy 9th. He’s used to riding 100+ HP sport bikes so I have to give him credit for coming out and motoing on a 1-2-5-er. Next year, he’s bringing a 250 at least, I’d bet.The Yamaha YZ Crew
Kevin Foley (#7), Joe Melton (#25) and Steve Butler (#6) made up the YZ crew mini class inside a class.
There is a group of moto maniacs behind Yamaha’s testing and press relations department. And nearly all of them showed up for the two-stroke race. Many competed in the 40+ Expert class on 2010 Yamaha YZ 125′s. It was another class inside a class that made the weekend almost too much fun.That’s it from my perspective. Check out Ricky Yorks’ story about racing the pro class on the Dirt Rider YZ250 here.
