2010 Red Bull Catalina GP Saturday Results

Riders rolled their bikes out of impound in the city of Avalon for the first day of racing in the 2010 Red Bull Catalina GP. A herd of smoking vintage racers kicked off the festivities with a parade lap down Metropole Avenue that was greeted by a throng of enthusiastic race fans who cheered and waved until the last bike rolled through the Red Bull arch. Catalina Island has been devoid of off-road racing for over half a century, and the wait was all the more reason to come out and participate. Plenty of speedy old-timers from the original GPs showed up to spectate, and even a few decided to ride. There was even one who rode the same Harley-Davidson that was originally piloted around the Isle back in the ‘50s.

Racing immediately lined up on the starting grid and the Evolution A riders put down the first knobby tracks in 52 years on the pristine course. Fred Hatch made easy work of the class on his Honda CR500. Twelve different classes took off in Race 1, each wave separated by a minute. The starting procedure was live-engine with one hand on the rear fender. Since most of these old bikes are two-strokes, the racers were forced to keep their right hand on the bars in order to keep them running. After watching many of them struggle to light their bikes during staging, there’s no question that a stalled engine would spell disaster for these metallic beasts.

Racing for each class lasts an hour and the six races for the day all got off the line very close to their scheduled start – a testament to the organization of AMA District 37 which was orchestrating everything alongside promoter Vinnie Mandzak, who finished sixth in Evolution A.

Preston Petty, the man who introduced plastic fenders to the off-road motorcycle world, also put his name in the hat during the Vintage A race. He finished 17th. One of the most interesting racers, and certainly the best dressed, was Dimitri Coste. The Frenchman made the trek all the way from Europe to compete on his 1967 Triumph. Apparently something was lost in translation during the planning process and Coste mistakenly had a set of custom white leathers made up with the incorrect number. Considering the effort it took to get across the world for this event, race organizers gladly swapped numbers in order to ease the sting. The slender French rider overcame a few crashes, one that nearly took out two spectators, to win the Premier Open Twin B class. Another special rider is Homer Knapp. This grizzled motocross veteran raced a Harley-Davidson in the original Catalina GPs and he raced again today - on the same bike!

One of the most competitive races of the day was Race 5 with the 40+ LWT (250) and HWT (450) A riders. Kurt Nicoll topped the podium ahead of Tod Sciacqua and Fred Hatch. Off-road legend Paul Krause was fifth behind Greg Fountain.

The final division was 30+ HWT A riders and it featured many of the riders who will contest the Pro division tomorrow afternoon. Cycle World’s Ryan Dudek pulled off the victory there with Oakley Lehman and Daron Rahlves in pursuit. Professional freestyler Ronnie Renner was fifth.

Dana Brown was on hand to document the event with his film crew. The Catalina GP will be part of his next film, On Any Sunday III. Tomorrow will feature Race 7-12 with the GPR Stabilizer Pro Race finishing the day at 1:45 p.m. This high-stakes showdown offers a $5000 purse and is broken into three age divisions (18+, 30+, 40+). Motorcycle USA will be lining up in Race 9 to be part of history in the making and to get our own firsthand look at this epic race course.

2010 Catalina GP Saturday Results:

Race 1:
 hi Classic A
1. Cory Conner
2. Kurt Hintz
3. Wade Boyd
4. Mike Garrett
5. Rudy Abele

Classic B:
1. Garry Conner
2. Brian Butler
3. Phil Stocker
4. Ted Tweet
5. Daniel Perez

Vintage A:
1. Jim Gibson
2. Jamie Robinson
3. Dwayne Scrivnor
4. Harvey Boham
5. John Hateley

Vintage B:
1. Casey McIntosh
2. Brian Mussetter
3. Jeff Jackson
4. Michael Fontanarosa
5. Greg Watkins

Evolution A:
1. Fred Hatch
2. Jim Jackson
3. Chip Howell
4. Dustin Dailey
5. Brian Nasif

Evolution B:
1. Scott McMillian
2. James Shultz
3. Mark Slater
4. Mark Reeder
5. Andrew Reid

Premier LWT A:
1. John Stein

Premier LWT B:
1. Mitsuhiro Kiyonaga

Premier 500 A:
1. David Miller
2. Terry Pratt

Premier 500 B:
1. James Kohls

Premier Open Twin A:
1. Thad Wolff
2. Bob Bailey

Premier Open Twin B:
1. Dimitri Coste
2. Dave Terrell
3. John Langford

Race 2
Magnum 50+ LWT B:
1. Guy Travis
2. Erik Schaffer
3. Shawn McConnell
4. Kevin Kleinsmith
5. Tim Tarry

Magnum 50+ HWT B:
1. Robert Wershey
2. Garry Conner
3. Tom Schroeder
4. Bengt Luotonen
5. Fred Gill 

Race 3
Magnum 50+ LWT A:
1. Randy McIntyre
2. David Wells
3. Keevan Acevado
4. Phil Gorgone
5. Steve Lawler

Magnum 50+ HWT A:
1. Jeff Kaplan
2. Larry Gross
3. Colin MacDonald
4. Mike Garrett
5. Gil Grieve

Race 4
Senior LWT B:
1. Ed Paulsen
2. Mark Cernicky
3. Robert Burns
4. Lance Nicholls
5. Chris Bergstrom

Senior HWT B:
1. Jay Sexton
2. Robert Wershey
3. Scott Hoffman
4. Ken Reid
5. Chris Giordano

Race 5
Senior 40+ LWT A:
1. Mike Martin
2. Tracy McIntyre
3. John Rudder
4. Kent Pfeiffer
5. Craig Hunter

Senior 40+ HWT A:
1. Kurt Nicoll
2. Tod Sciacqua
3. Fred Hatch
4. Greg Fountain
5. Paul Krause

Race 6
Veteran 30+ LWT A:
1. Paul Barns
2. Cole Townsend
3. Jeff Meek
4. Mike Thompson

Veteran 30+ HWT A
1. Ryan Dudek
2. Oakley Lehman
3. Daron Rahlves
4. Graham Gustin
5. Ronnie Renner

Veteran 30+ LWT B:
1. Brett Basarich
2. Nick McCabe
3. Joseph Pearson
4. Mike Vinson
5. Christopher Deans

Veteran 30+ HWT B:
1. Robie Peterson
2. Andrew Dickson
3. David Stupin
4. Ryan Johnson
5. Dustin Hiniker