VIRGINIA CITY, NEVADA (May 1) — This year the Virginia City Grand Prix celebrated it’s 51st year. As usually the unique event drew riders from as far away as New York and Boston.
Before everything got going there was a short memorial to Daniel Heller as his number has been retired. Sadly he passed away last year during Sunday’s race and his wife read a memorial to him.
Then there was a toast to the long time announcer Moto Mouth Bob Cavakis, who passed a few years ago. Shots were poured into cups and people toasted his memory.
Unlike last fall the event was blessed by good weather and a record number of riders were on hand. At the race two “head start” positions are auctioned off before the race starts and the proceeds to go a local charity.
Making the winning bids for the 2-minute head start was the Offroad Motorcycle Commissioner. He also explained the off-road stamp one buys for their motorcycle or side-by-side helps fund trail improvement and other things.
The one-minute one went to Steve Dore, who ended up 178th overall. However the two-minute head start went to Willy Heiss, who intended to make a race out of it.
After the head start positions take off riders are launched in rows of 10 about every 30 seconds. It took a while to get everyone going as there were just over 500 riders set to go.
Up front Heiss was on the move but last year’s winner J.T. Baker was on fire. They and four others were the only ones that completed six laps. Unfortunately Baker made rules infraction early in the event.
So even though no one could catch him he got a time penalty that dropped him back to fourth in the final results. As a result Heiss won with an elapsed time of 4:43:50 and his time was less than a minute ahead of runner up Trenton Hall.
Finishing third was Irving Powers with Baker was fourth ahead of fifth place Calum Campbell.
Asked about what a happened on Saturday, Heiss said, “I saw him blow the cones. Racing is racing but we have got to follow the rules. I don’t do anymore MRANN but District 36 and Best in the Desert. I’m too old to chase the 20 year olds any more.”
There were several women in the race and a group of them traveled down from Washington to compete in the race. Dominique Fort had the best finish ending up 78th overall at the end and was the highest placed Women Expert.
Artichoke Joe Divecchio is an living institution at the VCGP. He has competed in all 51 events but now races on both days so his combined total of races now stands at 80. On Saturday he finished 276th overall in 50+ Expert and on Sunday he was 148th overall.
Another senior rider was Morgan Peckenham, whose 73rd place finish put him at the top of the 50+ Amateur class. The highest placed 50+ Expert was Andy Webber, who ended up in 47th place.
Saturday saw some huge bottlenecks and with only 285 finishers there apparently were a lot of broken bikes in certain places. One thing the VCGP is known for is being one of the most challenging races.
• Later that afternoon the kids got a race of their own, the Moto Mouth Mini Grand Prix. There was a special course set up for them at the fairgrounds.
Walker Vandover was the Mini Winner while Ducati Fayet won the Pee Wee race. Both boys would have something special to show their classmates when they got back to school.
• While Saturday’s race was a 4-hour timed event Sunday’s is a 3-hour timed event. That means the checkered is thrown after the time is past. If a rider arrives at the finish too early they are sent back for another lap.
On Sunday the Novice riders rode the longer course although some of the areas having the worst bottlenecks were omitted. Then there are the Women, Bombers and other classes that raced a slightly shorter course.
Like on Saturday there was a toast to Moto Mouth Bog Cavakis and the wife of Daniel Heller read a memorial to him.
Once again two head start positions were auctioned off. Brian Spiersch got the one-minute one and he ended up 24th at the end. Getting the 2-minute head start was veteran Gil Grieve, who races in the Master 60-69 class. And he intended to make the best of it.
A rider’s finish is determined by their adjusted time as they leave the starting line at different intervals. Most are so fast on Saturday this isn’t a problem but on Sunday, with different skill levels this many times determines a rider’s finish.
On the green Grieve took off and it appeared that no one was going to be able to catch him. However Andy Jenny, who left in the 10th line was also giving it his best.
On this day the first 44 riders would complete three laps and 227 would finish while 73 didn’t. It was also just a bit cooler on Sunday.
At the finish it appeared Grieve won the day but on adjusted time Jenny took the victory with a time of 3:19:09. Grieve ended up second with an adjusted time of 3:22:14 and it was close as third place Austin Wolfe had an adjusted time of 3:22:23.
After the race and his time on the podium, Grieve said, “ The race was very fun. Course was very fun, had a little bit of everything, was very flowey but had enough challenge to keep it interesting. We need the 60 Expert guys to race on Saturday as the Novices can’t get up the hills.”
He also thanked those that helped his training and motivation as well as sponsors.
“ I thank TDC Racing, TBT Racing, all my friends out of Washington, Willy Heiss and my daughter. They really motivated me with training,” he said.
So the top three were a 40+ Novice, a Master 60-69 and an Open Novice rider. Fifth place was Stewart Cook who rides in the 50+ Novice Class. Seems the Senior riders pretty much ruled the day.
A bit further back in 7th place was Tylee Thompson, who topped the Bomber Am/Nov class. Once again Artichoke Joe Divecchio rode and ended up 148th for the day.
Coming home 31st was the Women’s winner Christina Courtney.
There was also an E Motorcycle group. These riders must be in a test class as they weren’t listed in the overall results. However Ted Elswick won that group and their pit stop apparently consisted of changing the battery for a fresh one.
Now the Comstock is quiet once again. But at the end of next April motorcycle racers will answer the siren call of the Virginia Grand Prix and the hills will echo with the sounds of racing motorcycles. OTHER RACING NEWS:
• Teresa’s Garage Radio Show is on the air from 2 until 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. In northwest Nevada, it can be heard over the air at 1060 AM.
There is also a Podcast at amm.streamon.fm or it can be seen live on Face Book. The show is focused on all things automotive, trends, new developments and trivia.
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RESULTS:Virginia City Grand Prix:
* Full results can be found by following the link on the Virginia City Grand Prix Face Book page.
• Saturday, April 30:
+ Adult Overall:- 1. Willy Heiss, Vet Pro, 2. Trenton Hall, Open Pro, 3. Irving Powers, 4. J.T. Baker, 5. Calum Campbell, 6. Josh Cook, 7. Tanner Jacobson, 8. Reece Honea, 9. Mason Stone, 10. Cole Burdick, 11. Grayson Pringle, 12. Sutter Allio, 250 Exp., 13. Ross Mulrroney, 14. Ryan McElfish, 15. Austin Sanguinetti, 30+ Pro, 16. Conner Burns, 17. Jason Snetsinger, 18. Eric Gillen, 19. James McMurray, 20. Steve Garnett, 21. Brian Butler, 40+ Exp, 22. Stephen Helms, 23. Red Herrera, 24. Corbin Sheard, 25. Dylan Evans, 26. Arien Williams III, 27. Cody Burke, 28. Kai Kapahee, 29. Jesse Richadrdson, 30. Preston Joy, 30+ Exp, 31. Logan Lammer, 32. Jordan Drawver, Open Ama, 33. Weston Furia, 34. Michael Bochenek, 35. Adam Dembowski, 36. Casey Segale, 37. Garrett Morrow, 30+ Ama, 38. Ethan Pacak, 39. Colton Ascariz, 40. Kyle Prescott, 41. Joshua Hoyt, 40+ Ama, 42. Cory Gonzalez, Warr Am/Exp, 43. Jason Andrews, 44. Wiles Stapp, 45. Brad Rosbach, 46.Dan Thompson, 47. Andy Webber, 50+ Exp, 48. Jordan Brown 49. Carson Burns, 50. Jeremy Kough, 73. Morgan Peckenham, 50+ Ama, 78. Dominique Fort, Wom Exp, 276. Artichock Joe Divecchio.
+ Mini Bike Overall:
– 1. Walker Vandover, Mini Exp., 2. Weston Starr, Mini Nov., 3. Vaughn Brannan, 4. Cash Austin, Mini Nov., 5. Maverick Parke, 6. Zac David, 7. Maxwell Wickware, 8. Benny Monroe, 9. Payeton Seqale, 10. Justin Spencer, 11. Clive Claflin, 12. Elijah Cox, 13. Teigen Biddle, 14. Tucker Jones, 15. Hunter Welton, 16. Jax Freeman, 17. James McKee, 18. Zachary Greenberg, 19. Jake O’Connell, 20. Hunter Ramsey, 21. Emma Bohan, 22. Derek Naasz.
– DNF: Levi Wasson.
+ Pee Wee Overall:
– 1. Ducati Fayet, PW 4-6, 2. Duke Arbogast, PW 7-9, 3. Caleb Salaices, 4. Suzuki Fayet, 5. Otto Clark, 6. Parker Harfield, 7. Stetson Starr, 8. Tanner Harfield, 9. Kasey Miller, 10. Wyatt Pickens, 11. Giovanni Eshe, 12. Skylar England, 13. Cameron Benitez, 14. Cole Miller, 15. James Bryant, 16. Cameron Coons, 17. Blaine Zeedies, 18. Slayde Wasson, 19. Maddox Aguilera, 20. Lainey Jones, 21. Cooper Moore-Vace.
– DNF: Parker Coons, Austin England, Hank Dotson, Cayden Taylor
• Sunday, May1:- Overall: 1. Andy Jenny, 40+ Nov, 2. Gil Grieve, Mstr 60-69, 3. Austin Wolfe, Open Nov, 4. Erik Arnold, 250 Nov, 5. Steward Cook, 50+ Nov, 6. Adam DeVargas, 7. Tyler Thompson, Bom Am/Nov, 8. Grian Tanko, 30+ Nov, 9. Colten Leavitt, 125 Nov, 10. Matt Ryan, 11. David Madrtinez, 12. Brian Bottin, 13. Corey Mathisen, 14. Tim Paul, 15. Jeremy Rosenbach, 16. Mike Waters, 17. Matthew Jones, 18. Brandon Reed, 19. Steve Walkieicz, 20. Ryan Jackson, 21. Alan Myler, Evo Am/Nov, 22. Zach Lawson, 23. Troy Burk, 24. Brian Spiersch, 25. Darren Charles, 26. John Sobey, 27. Trevor Kaiser, 28. Chris Kozlik, 29. John Schneck, 30. Joseph Smith, 31. Christina Courtney, Wom Am/Nov, 32. James Baffrey, 33. Doug McKellar, 34. Bob Baron, 35. Nick Csik, 36. Dawson Fettic, 37. Lance Smith, 38. Owen Schenk, 39. Cain Fisher, 40. Shawn Gable, 41. Rich Vacherot, 42. Dustin Danen, 43. Morgan Stier, 44. Connor Ghione,45. Dram Demartile, 46. David Smith, 47. Titan Allen, 48. Morgan Burton, 49. C.J. Lacdruze, 50. Eric Rogers, 83. Gary Jones, Ultra Mstr 70+.
