Spoken Wheel: The Catalina GP Returns

Catalina Island, the jewel off the California coast and back in the day some 50 years ago, the Monaco of the Hollywood set, was the site of one of the classic off-road motorcycle races, the Catalina Grand Prix. The Hollywood set left, the Casino fell into disrepair and the annual cross country bike race was banned, not because of the races, but rowdy Hells Angels creating havoc on the Ferries crossing over from the mainland. Fast forward to 2010, the Island conservancy has been reclaimed by the Wrigley family who own the Island, the Casino has been rebuilt and, yes, the bike race is on December 4th and 5th.
 
After an unlikely character called ‘My Cousin Vinnie’, who runs a Mercedes dealership in LA, stuck his neck out to resurrect the races, the City fathers blessed the deal and the Catalina Grand Prix is on for sure. It will feature a 10-mile lap winding through the city streets of Avalon, over the Golf Course and through the hills. There will be classes for everyone from experts to even some veterans who raced there some 50 years ago, hammering around the Island in an old school event that cannot be duplicated anywhere in the two-wheeled world! So if you want to attend the event or enter into it, check out www.catalinagrandprix.com for awesome pictures and to get a feel for the area. Also, check out some wild black and white YouTube videos.
 
Could it be that winner of the 1956 race on a 650 BSA twin, Chuck ‘Feets’ Minert, will return to the race he won some 54 years ago? Believe it or not, the grizzly retired fireman still races in his 70s at the weekly Saturday Glen Helen motocross on his 450 Yamaha. When I last saw him, he was still clad in an old flak jacket with his Levis tucked into his boots, against the young pups in their forties, attired in trendy motocross gear and matching helmets. “As long as I can throw my leg over a bike and race, I am alive and love it,” Chuck said.

Talking to Chuck the other day, took me back down memory lane with a vengeance. He was the first American star to come to England and raced with the BSA factory rider and 1965 World Champion Jeff Smith and on a barrowed factory Gold Star, opened a few eyes in the eight races he did in the UK and Belgium. His recollection of his 1956 Catalina win is nothing more than “It was great fun, but no big deal back then. I rode a 650 BSA Twin and got a big Trophy. I just loved going fast in the dirt, just as I do now riding the regular REM races at Glen Helen on Saturdays,” modest to a tee.
 
Think about one winning races some 54 years ago and at the grand old age of 79, still going strong, the mind boggles at the thought? So I asked him if he had any desire to return for the upcoming race. His reply was simply, “You know I never gave it a thought and don’t really think about the past, so I don’t think I have an interest. I just like racing round anonymously every Saturday with the boys and my Grand Kids”.

With that he was off to go fly his Decathlon vintage aerobatic plane that is parked on a runway right by the house. I asked him about his flying. “It’s just like racing motorcycles, one on one against gravity,” he said.

“Why don’t you come out and come flying”, as I had told him I passed my pilot’s test in a little Piper Arrow like the one he also owns. You know, I think I may just take him up on that, as I gave it up flying some time ago. I would put my life in the hands of such an Octogenarian – I’m not that far behind him, two old farts off into the blue ether! That was until he mentioned that he still likes to “Throw them around a bit.” Even so anyone who has lived on his reflexes for over sixty years, I think I’m safe, as long as I’m not at the rudder!

Carlsbad USGP the Movie
 
Another back to the future moment is the release of Todd Huffman’s movie capturing Marty Moate’s unlikely win over the Europeans at the 1980 US Grand Prix at Carlsbad. He became the first American to do it and at the time was a privateer racing an LOP sponsored Yamaha against the likes of factory Suzuki teammates, Roger DeCoster and Gerrit Wolsink, and Kawasaki’s Brad Lackey. I was there promoting the event, but seeing all the old ABC Wide World of Sport footage combined with some great background interviews and retrospective video made me realize just what an amazing ‘Woodstock’ moment it was. Check out the website www.carlsbadUSGPmovie.com and get a copy. More importantly, look hard at the gnarly terrain those guys raced over for two 45-minute motos, and realize just how tough it was. We didn’t groom tracks in those days and - bear in mind - the two-strokes of the day had as much horsepower as the modern day 450s with half the suspension. Talk about men of steel! Some other time I will circle back and pen my own retrospective of this annual event taking place on hallowed ground that is now an Industrial Center; at least its nomenclature is officially ‘Carlsbad Raceway Industrial Park.’

Gavin Trippe