I went to a Grand Prix race held this morning at an MX park. This was my first G.P. race ever and it was a lot of fun...I have to admit, it felt a little strange riding the TP700 on the MX tracks! I kept thinking someone was going to come ask me to get off the track! LOL Below is a write-up of my (utility class) race.


WHERE:
This race was held at North Texas MX park in Savoy, TX (about 90 minutes from Dallas, TX). It took me about 5 hours to reach the track from my house, so I drove up there Friday night and stayed the night with family in a nearby town. I'm guessing the temps were around upper 30s/low 40s when I arrived at the track at 6:45am for practice laps!!! Forget seeing your breath...It was so cold that I actually saw STEAM coming off my urine stream when I took a leak in the port-o-can! Now THAT is cold...LOL Despite getting there early, I wasn't the first one to arrive...Another guy I know (from another atv forum) was already there and anxious to start practicing on the track (despite the fact that the sun hadn't come up yet! LOL).

TRACK:
The track was very smooth & fast, but kinda short compared to the XC races that I'm used to. The track was only 4 miles long and included a short run thru woods with a few creek crossings (mostly wide stuff with the occasional sqeeze between the trees), some flat track style turns around hay bales and a run on 2 different MX tracks! It only took me about 9 minutes per lap to complete this course.

The ute and beginner (sport quad) classes raced at the same time as the Pro class...since the Pros were running 6 laps, we were allowed that many as well. Of course, everyone in the ute class (including me) got lapped by the leading Pro rider (Scott Dunn - that guy was wicked FAST on the course today!!!), the ute class only got 5 laps in during our race. Heck, I felt like I was just getting warmed up when I finished my 5th lap! LOL Seriously, my only complaint was that this race wasn't long enuf! I would have really enjoyed running this course for at least an hour plus a lap....but then again, I'm sure many of the MXers who raced in this event today were very pleased it was not longer (a few of the MXers looked pretty winded after our short race today! LOL).

UTE CLASS:
There were only 5 in the ute class, but it was a fun group of guys! Other than me, the ute class included an older guy on a Rincon 650 who normally races MX and enduros on a dirtbike, a newbie racer on his sharp lookin' Griz 660, a young kid on a Pol. 325 magnum and a local guy on an old Yam. Timberwolf. Since this was the Griz 660's first atv race, I could tell during practice that my biggest competition was the Rincon (I was right).

START:
We lined up for a live engine start...after the pro class and beginner class left, it was our turn to start. They dropped the green flag and we were off! I had a good start and won the holeshot fairly easily...I'm guessing I was about 1 or 2 quads ahead of the Griz and the Rincon (I think they were neck and neck at this point) when going into the first turn. The Rincon was soon on my bumper in the woods and stayed there until I reached the open areas of the flat track...I put some good distance on the Rincon on the LONG straight away and started to get my confidence up a little, but that was short lived when we soon hit the first MX section and the Rincon caught my bumper again by the time we exited that section...as soon as we hit the 2nd MX track, the Rincon made his move while going over the first jump...I saw his tires next to me (about 2 feet off the ground) and we landed about even...I was on the inside for the next turn and so I regained the lead for the moment...but then we both hit the second jump and he flew thru the air (I just rolled it) and he took over the lead.

LAPS 2 - 5:
The rest of the laps went as follows: the Rincon usually gained a little ground on me in the woods...but then I would usually catch his rear bumper by the time we completed the flat track and long straight portions...and then the Rincon would pull away again during the 2 MX sections that finished off each lap. It was obvious that his strength was the MX sections, whereas I could easily take him in the long straight and flat track areas. At least once, I think I could have passed him during the long straight section had it not been for the thick dust I was eating! It was a bit tricky to stay on the throttle there with so much dust b/c the straight made a slight right turn about 1/2 way and there was a telephone pole/guide wire to the left of that slight turn! I had no interest in losing control at 60mph and eating the telephone pole! LOL

FINISH:
I finished today in 2nd place (out of 5)....I was just a few seconds behind the Rincon. The griz came in 3rd place (he finished about 5 minutes behind me)...but I think he did very well today considering this was his first quad race ever.

All of the racers today seemed to agree this was a very fun and very fast track, and I hope to return one day and do it again. In the meantime, I need LOTS of practice on the MX track! That seems to be the one area where I lost a lot of time today. Unfortunately for me, there were not enuf long straights and flat track sections for me to make up for my poor skills on the MX sections.

I hope you enjoyed my little write-up and Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

really enjoyed it. you will defeat the inferior 3 speed next time!

 

Thanx for the vote of confidence and I'm glad you liked my write-up.

Below is link to a video of me winning the holeshot at the start of this GP race. Also, click on NEXT page on the right side of that webpage and you will see a few pics of me and my BLUE twin peaks.

http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...t=MOV00908.flv

Happy trails...[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Sounds like you had a blast. Congrats on the finish.

Here's a fixed link for the clip

 

Here's some PICS...

http://media.afroracing.com/images/N...20GP/index.htm