53RD VIRGINIA CITY GRAND PRIX THUNDER ON THE COMSTOCK

RENO, NV (May 1) — The 53^rd running of the Virginia Grand Prix was greeted with great spring time weather As usual the event brings not only riders from across the west but also from overseas.

Saturday was a classic case of one rider dominating the race and field. Not an easy task on the rocky course that also had some muddy areas.

Right from the start Open Pro Zane Roberts served notice he was the man to beat as he left everyone in his dust soon after the start.

He was one of five riders that did six laps. His elapsed time was 4:13:14.

Asked about the race Roberts said, “The course was good, I knew it was going to be a bit rockier on the first lap before there was a line burned in so played it a little cautious but I also had to sprint away as I got to start on the front row. The one mud hole I thought was going to be hard was fine.”

Then he thanked his entire family and Beta USA.

Austin Serpa did his best but finished second with an elapsed time of 4:30:49 or over 16 minutes behind the flying Zane.

The first Vet Pro was Red Herrera, who ended up doing only five laps with a total time of 4:04:58 and finished 7^th overall. The first expert to finishwas 10^th place Bronson Lee with an elapsed time of 4:04:39 for his five laps. The first Amateur was 30^th place Harrison Shannon with a time of 4:28:28 for his five laps.

Before the race began two head start positions were auctioned off. Been a long tradition and all the money raised goes to a local charity.

Mark Fitzsimmons, who rides in the 50+ Expert Class, for the 2-minute head start and he finished 55^th overall.

The 1-minute head start went to Bradley Hall, who finished 27^th overall.

There was one rider from Scotland but another rider competing in his first ever VCGP was Jordan Corkill, who rode in the Open Pro Class.. He hails from the Isle of Mann, site of the famous TT race.

However the while he’s wanted to race here the VCGP it’s nothing like he’s faced before. In his post race comments he said it’s was the hardest thing he’s ever done and he finished 37^th overall.

After getting some water and catching his breath he said, “I ran out of water after three laps and didn’t have any. Have to see what Bob over here says. I wasn’t ready as I live at sea level so it’s a different world to come up here to ride bikes honestly.”

Reno resident Jim O’Conner was instrumental in getting Corkill to come over and experience this brand of motorcycle torture.

Asked about that Reno resident O’Conner said, “We’ve been going to Isle of Mann and riding motorcycles for 10 years and we keep motorcycles at his grandpa’s house and we help him. He does his Enduro stuff in the UK and Wales.”

Last year Corkill was here and indicated he wanted to ride the VCGP. So O’Connor and Bruce Baxter, was well as supporter Cupertino Electric, put a bike together for him to race.

As far as preparation goes O’Conner said that Corkill has been You Tubing the race so he knew what it was going to be like. Of course the real thing was much different especially after he ran out of water. But he did finish.

One thing about the VCGP is that any rider has to be determined. Considering what they face that’s probably a gross understatement.

On Saturday around 466 riders started the race but only 268 finished the four hours. After the first line is launched the checkered is flown four hours later and a rider’s finish is determined on their corrected time or if they did another lap more than their competitors.

One great example of the determination required is Nicole Collins. She and her fiancé both raced on Saturday. However the wheels kind of came off when she was doing her fourth lap, first time she’s done that many.

She would finish 86^th overall and win the Women’s Expert Class but it wasn’t easy at all.

“That was torture,” she said. “My body just shut down on the last lap but I didn’t throw up.”

The final sweep rider and a Medicx rider found her and escorted Collins back to the finish. Once they got her stable she rode the entire way back and ended up the final rider to finish with an elapsed time of 6:13;31 for five laps .

At the finish the timing crew waved an American Flag and welcomed her. Then she thanked everyone but decided not to do an IV but she needed to be hydrated. 

If there was an Iron Woman award she would have won it hands down. Thankfully by Sunday she appeared to be fully recovered.

•Later on Saturday there is the Mini Moto Mouth Grand Prix for the youngsters. It’s named after the former long time announcer Bob “Moto Mouth” Cavakis.

The race is on a separate course located just below the fair grounds. In the Mini race Wade Clark, a Mini Amateur was first overall.

The Mini Expert winner was Vaughn Brannanand Mason Heiner was the Novice winner. Ducati Fayer, races in the Pee Wee 7-9 Class won his race while Tanner Hatfield was the Pee Wee 4-6 winner.

• Sunday is a mix of various classes including the Novice riders, Electric and Bomber bikes as well as others. So some riders race the full course while others ride a shortened course. No matter it’s still a test of man, woman and machine although the weather was a bit cooler.

Once again a two-minute head start as well as a one-minute head start were auctioned off.

Kranthi Maddineni, who races in 40+ Novice took off first and he would finish 262 overall.

The one-minute head start went to Shane Smith, a 50+ Novice racer. He ended up 39^th overall for the day.

Like before rider’s finishing position is based on their corrected time as well as how many laps the completed. Coming from the 28^th row Robert Dawson, with a time of 3:48:45 after four laps claimed first overall.

After coming off the podium he said. “The race was good, it was brutal really rocky, dusty, it was a challenge. There was a really loose, rocky section where everyone was getting stuck on and a bottleneck that was hard to get around.”

Then he thanked his family, girl friend, all his friends that came out to support. And he expressed his appreciation to Virginia City for putting on the race.

Only seven riders completed four laps. On Sunday, three hours after the first row is launched the checkered is waved.

Coming home in second was 16-year old Titan Allen, who is a student at Douglas High School. His elapsed time was 3:49:12 so a bit over a minute behind first overall.

“It was a little muddy, a couple of bottlenecks but overall pretty good. Got stuck a couple of times but just worked my way through them,” he said.

Then he thanked his parents, brother and his entire pit crew.

Rachel Roen won the Women Amateur/Novice Class. She completed three laps with an elapsed time of 3:38:17.

Later she said, “The race was awesome, super rocky, lot of bottlenecks so just keep going and pushing. I love rocks so it was great. It’s Virginia City, you’ve got to expect this every year, it’s rocky, it’s muddy, it’s crowded.”

Then she tanked her mother and mechanic.

The “long distance,” award, if there is one, would go to Dominick Johnson. He came all the way from North Carolina to run this race, something he’s wanted to compete in for the past six years and he did have some help.

“Terry Biles let me borrow his bike and Derrick Rogers has been helping get it set up for the race. It was amazing and it ran good,” he said. “The race was all I expected and then some, it was awesome. Two laps, I was pushing for three but got stuck on a downhill bottleneck trying to help someone. So I just said two laps and carried on.

 “I want to thank my mom, she couldn’t be here today but I’m going to thank her, the RAD riders have been a huge inspiration got to thank everyone out here. I’ve been trying to do this race for six years, COVID hit and I was never able to do it so. It’s awesome out here and I’ll be out next year.”

One living institution of the VCGP is Artichoke Joe Divecchio. He’s raced in every VCGP and several years ago began to do double duty as he races Saturday and Sunday. Not bad for a 69 year old.

At the top of the age ladder is the Ultra Masters 70+ Class. These vintage racers keep going and usually finish ahead of many of the younger competitors.

Last year Daniel Stipkovich was second but this year he won the class with an elapsed time of 4:31:38 and was the only one to complete three laps, which put him 120th overall.

“This was brutal in comparison to last year. There were a couple of mud holes but they weren’t so bad but there was one long, gnarly up hill and every single lap I had to pass about 20 people on it,” he said. “And I have to thank my wife.”

Sunday is chock full of different classes including Vintage, Dual Sports as well as an Electric Class. Those winners are listed in the result section at the end of this article.

Now the race organizers have cleaned the course of markers, taken up the fencing and cleared the site. The Comstock tourist season is winding up for the summer.

But come the last weekend in April next year the quiet will be broken by the howl of motorcycles racing through the Comstock area. Then riders will return to compete in the 54^th annual Virginia Grand Prix, an iconic off-road motorcycle test of men, women and their machines.

OTHER RACING NEWS:

• This week the Sparks A&W is starting it’s Wednesday cruise in. Things get going at 5 p.m. and the A&W is located across the street from Reed High School.

• Daveys American Racing is usually on at 6 p.m. Wednesday evenings. One can see the show on Face Book and get into the chat was well.

Davey covers national series as well as racing in the western United States. His focus is on oval tracks.

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RESULTS:

2023 Virginia City Grand Prix:

• Saturday, April 29:

• Overall*: 1. Zane Roberts, Open Pro, 2. Austin Serpa, 3. Ross Neely, 4. J.T. Baker, 5. Corey Fletcher, 6. Russell Tonjum, 7. Red Herrera, Vet Pro., 8. Josh Cook, 9. Grayson Pringle, 10. Bronson Lee, 250 Exp., 11. Sean Berryman, 12. Calum Campbell, 13. Sutter Allio, 14. Ethan Pacak, 15. Sean Jones, 16. Koleton Reguli-Jones, 17. James McMurray, 18. Austin Sanguinetti, 30+ Exp., 19. Jared Snetsinger, 20. Jason Snetsinger, 21. Garret Baxter, 22. Garret Baxter, 23. Riley Wood, 24. Corin Fator, 25. Stephen Helmes, 26. James Yarnell, 27. Bradley Hall, 28. Colton Ascartz, 29. Brian Marok, 30. Harrison Shannon.
• * – Full results at www.moto-tally.com/vcgp/results.

• Class Winners:

• Open Pro – Zane Roberts, Vet Pro – Red Herreara, 250 Exp – Bronson Lee, 30+ Exp – Austin Sanguinetti, 250 Ama – Blair Rankin, Open Ama – Antony Vandover, 30+ Exp – Mike Fermoile, 40+ Ama – Joshua Hoyt, 50+ Exp – Paul Working, Warrior Am/Exp – Weston Rogers, 50+ Ama – Michael Steyer, Wom Exp – Nichole Collins, 125 Ama – Benjamin Malone, 60+ Exp – Alan Myler.
•  
• • Moto Mouth Mini Grand Prix;

• Moto Mouth Mini Grand Prix:

• Overall Mini: 1. Wade Clark, Mini Ama, 2. Maverick Parke, 3. Vanghn Brannan, Mini Exp., 4. Wyatt Mirell, 5. Cash Austin, 6. Duke Arbogast, 7. Parker Hatfield, 8. Mason Heiner, Mini Nov., 9. Weston Starr, 10. Ducati Fayter, 11. Tucker Jones, 12. Hunter Welton, 13. Jayden Pheasant, 14. Payslee Starr, 15. James McKee, 16. Benjamin Bohan, 17.Suzuki Fayet, 18. Zac Brock, 19. Rylie McGarr, 20. Keygan Pheasant, 21 Emma Bohan, 22. Dillon Gaines, 23. Hunter Ramsey, 24. Derek Naasz, 25. Rylee Roberts:
• DNF: Clive Claflin, Cayden Taylor, Kaiden Florica, Keegan Kirce.

• Overall Pee Wee: 1. Ducati Fayet, PW 7-9, 2. Mason Neiner, 3. Emmett Clark, 4. Caleb Salaices, 5. Wade Lavezzo, PW 4-6, 6. Levi Loer, 7. Stetson Starr, 8. Tanner Hatfield, 9. Taytum Main, 10. Austin Van Gorder, 11. Matthew Buxton, 12. Blaine Zeddies, 13. Otto Clark, 14. Bria Lasiter, 15. Cameron Coons, 16. Maddox Aguilera, 17. Lane Rodriquez, 18. Baylor Reynolds, 19. Waylon Dempsey, 20. Cooper Moore-Vace, 21. Timothy Banford, 22. Maddox Klipfel, 23. Wyatt O’Neill, 24. Granite Gabiel.
• DNF: Suzuki Fayet, Jameson Arnaud.

• Sunday, April 30:

• Overall: 1. Robert Dawson, Open Nov., 2.  Titan Allen, 125 Nov., 3. Joshua Hoyt, 4. Colten Leavitt, 5. Mikael Millan, 30+ Nov., 6. Wyatt Rankin , 250 Nov., 7. Tim Paul, 40+ Nov., 8. Mike Selkow, 9. Aiden Diaz, 10. Doug McKellar, 11. Michael Venezia, 12. Ryan Jackson, Bomb Am/Nov, 13. Quinn Holzer, 14. Jason Behm, 15. Chance Digiulio, 16.  Bob Baron, 60-69, 17. Blake Hoffman, 18. Jake Sternad, 19. Troy Burk, 20. Andy Stegall, 21. Taylor Tobler, 22. Shane Thompson, 23. Jeremy Rosenback, 24. Jonathan Ayers, 25. Cain Fisher, 26. Steve Walkiewicz, 27. Matt Mrizek, 28. Bet Strong, 29. Cameron Stedronsky, 30. Byren Folden.

– Class winner: 125 Novice – Titan Allen, 250 Novice – Wyatt Rankin, Open Novice – Robert Dawson, 30+ Novice – Mikael Millan, 40+ Novice – Tim Paul, 50+ Novice – Shane Smith, Warrior Nov. – Jacob Roseberry, Bomber Am/Nov – Ryan Jackson, Womens Am/Nov – Rachel Roen, Masters 60-69, Ultrs Masters 70+ – Daniel Stipkovich,  Vintage – Donn Williams, Adventure – Nicholas Breshears, Diva – Alexus Vaughn, Dual Sport Nov. – Daniel Hall, Electric – Merlin Valencia.