Diamondback
Motocross
"RP" Report: by Rich Price
|
Diamondback
Motocross |
ACE Motocross Club
Modena, NY
October 22, 2000
Story and Photos by: Rich Price
It was a beautiful fall weekend in the southern part of New York state, perfect
conditions for a District 34 race. With the season coming to a close within the next few
weeks, riders are showing up to get in their last few rides of the season. The crowd on
hand would not be disappointed with the racing action that was about to take place.
Paul Veracka made the trek down to ACE all the way from Massachusetts and was
poised to make his mark in the Expert class results. Paul brought his #25 Brockton Cycle
Center-backed Kawasaki 250 to tangle heads with the best in the tri-state area. He
would soon learn that there are some lightning quick riders in the area, and it was not
going to be a cake-walk.
In the 65cc 6-9 year old class, and epic battle was staged between Mike Stryker and
Charles Fox III. The two KTM pilots battled throughout both motos, and traded moto
wins. The lead changed hand several times over the course of the 4 lap race. In the end
it was Stryker taking the overall win with his 2-1 moto scores. Fox took home second
with his 1-2 finishes.
In the Junior Mini ranks, Phil Nicoletti put on a clinic for the rest of the field, taking
both
motos with ease. He was smooth all race aboard his Action Photos/O’Tooles Harley
Davidson-backed CR 80. Phil could only muster a 2nd overall in the Super Mini class,
getting beat in both motos by his rival, Jay Weller.
The 125 A class was won by “Flyin” Ryan Mills. Ryan took the easy route to the
overall,
scoring 1-1 moto finishes. Ryan had a great battle in moto 2 with Ivo Camacho, but the
kid kept his cool, and pulled it off. He also carded a 2nd overall finish in the 250 A
class,
riding his friend Bryan Warren’s CR 250.
Carlo Coen had an off week the week prior to ACE. He was sick for the most part of
the week coming into ACE, but he was determined to get back on track. The
Honda-mounted Coen opened his morning with a win in the highly-competitive 250 A
class, and went on to win all of his 6 motos throughout the day.
Elder statesman, Mark Costa, pushed his consecutive moto win streak to 12 by the end
of the day at ACE. Costa went 1-1 in both the +35 and +40 Expert classes. The unusual
thing is that Costa had to borrow a friend’s YZF machine to compete, after losing 3rd
gear in his own bike.
COLLEGEBOY MOTO# 1
By the time they got to turn one, it was Ivo Camacho with the holeshot. Following closely
were Carmelo Santos, Peter Katsoules, Gregg Myers, Joe Beatty, and Ted Hendrickson.
It wouldn’t take long for the Amateur Hendrickson to fall victim to the #729 of Mark
“Wonderboy” Wundrack who had a bad start and was trying to get to the front
quickly.
Beatty was the next to get smoked by Wundrack who was holding his YZ 125 wide open
around the ACE track. He was already into fifth and was looking for more.
Camacho was starting to pull ground on Santos, and they were less than a lap into the
race. Camacho was on his 250, while Santos was aboard a 125 machine. Myers had
some pressure from behind, and is was none other than Wundrack. Wundrack dogged
him as they dropped into the valley section and as they came back into view, Wundrack
was around and into fourth.
By the time the green flag waived, Camacho had a 4-second lead over Santos. Katsoules
was steady in third, but was unaware that Wundrack was charging. Myers still held fifth,
with Beatty in sixth. The hardest charging rider in this race was the Yamaha of Josh
Sterritt, who had a terrible start. He was in ninth, but picking off riders in almost
every
turn. He picked off two riders in a tight right-hander, and was into seventh. Wundrack
now wanted a piece of Katsoules, and as they headed towards Murphy’s Law,
Wundrack got the power to the ground first and took over third.
Camacho took the white flag with 7 seconds over Santos. He was already on cruise
control, just putting around the course. Wundrack still had Santos in his sights, but
Santos
is no slouch despite just entering the Expert ranks a few weeks ago.
Sterritt was pressuring Beatty for sixth. Beatty tried his best, but couldn’t hold
off Sterritt
as he blitzed by him and took and inside line into the tight right-hander. Sterritt was
now
all over Myers for fifth, and it only took him 2 corners to get around. Katsoules was next
in Sterritt cross-hairs, and there was nothing that he could do but ride his own race. As
they headed up out of the valley, Sterritt passed Katsoules and took over fourth position.
This would be the end of the comeback as Wundrack had checked-out and was not in
sight.
Camacho took the win handily, just rolling across the finish line. The battle for second
was on, as Wundrack finally got close enough to make a pass on Santos. The two
entered the whoops hard on the gas, but Santos twisted the throttle and took second by a
half-bike length. Wundrack took third, with the persistent Sterritt in fourth. Katsoules
shook his head as he came across in fifth, disappointed that he could not hold on to third
spot earlier in the race. Myers took a hard fought sixth, with Honda-mounted Bryan
“Conman” Vroman passing Beatty on the last lap to take seventh.
COLLEGEBOY MOTO# 2
Ivo Camacho hooked up and grabbed yet another holeshot on his #88 Honda. Following
him through turn one were Bryan “Conman” Vroman, Joe Beatty, Dylan VanOrden,
James DePatto, and Elio Periera. Vroman had some trouble getting through turn two and
fell back to fifth. Beatty was now second, with VanOrden in third. Carmelo Santos also
moved past Vroman and into fourth, as the action was fast and furious out front. DePatto
and Periera faded out of the top eight. With yet another horrible start, Josh Sterritt was
working his way to the front. Santos and Sterritt both disposed of VanOrden, and moved
up a notch. Sterritt would not wait long to make another move, as he got by Santos and
moved into the third spot. Beatty was next in the sights of Sterritt, and when they came
back into view after the woods section, Sterritt was into second. There was only one
rider left in his quest for the moto win, but Camacho had already pulled 3 seconds on the
field.
As the riders took the green flag, Beatty was under more pressure, this time from
Santos. Although Santos only had a 125 machine, he motored past Beatty as they came
through the whoops section, moving into third. Vroman was holding onto fifth, for the
time being. The Amateur VanOrden was still in sixth, trying to hold off the hard-charging
Expert, Mark Wundrack. It wouldn’t take Wundrack long to smoke past VanOrden, and
start to chase down Vroman.
Camacho appeared to be en route to another moto victory, when disaster struck. He slid
out as he entered the valley section, and let Sterritt get by. He got to his feet quickly,
and
maintained second. Further back in the pack, Vroman was looking for a way to get
around Beatty. As they headed for the tight tree turn, Vroman slipped to the inside of
Beatty. Beatty knew that there was no way he could come back and he let Vroman by
without contact. Vroman was now holding fourth, but Santos was checking out in third. It
would take a miracle for him to catch the Honda pilot. There was more trouble for
Beatty, as Wundrack was also looking to pick up another spot. Wundrack blitzed by him
as they entered the double-double section. Wundrack now held fifth, with Beatty sixth.
Beatty was fading after running second in the early part of the moto.
Sterritt took the white flag with a 4-second lead over Camacho. Camacho’s crash
proved
to be costly, and he was not gaining on Sterritt. Santos was starting to come under attack
from Vroman, but time was running out. Santos made a few bobbles and Vroman was
now on his back rubber. The miracle was now a good possibility. Wundrack was alone in
fifth, and did not have anyone to challenge for position.
As they came through the whoops for the last time, Sterritt still had 4 seconds over
Camacho, and he took the checkered flag. Camacho took second, and the battle for third
was on with Santos and Vroman. Vroman inched past him after the last whoop, put the
power of his 250 to the soil, and took the third spot by a couple feet. Santos took
fourth,
with Wundrack in fifth after a disaster of a start. Behind Wundrack, 6 seconds behind,
Beatty would take home sixth after battling with many fast riders all race long.
VanOrden would hold onto seventh, despite some last-lap pressure from Periera.
RESULTS
P/W 50: 1. Dominick Guastella (Yam)
50cc (7-8): 1. Tom Sharkey (Cob) 2. Jesse Kuzbyt (Cob) 3. Justin Barcia (KTM)
65cc (6-9): 1. Mike Stryker (KTM) 2. Charles Fox III (KTM) 3. Henry Rojas (Kaw)
65cc (10-11): 1. Johnny Murphy (Kaw) 2. Anthony Dombrowski (KTM) 3. Joe Sharkey
(Kaw)
Junior Mini (7-11): 1. Phil Nicoletti (Hon) 2. Shawn Clawson (Kaw) 3. Jamie Lawrence
(Kaw)
Senior Mini (12-15): 1. Kyle Hutson (Suz) 2. Ron Rothkranz III (Hon) 3. Robert Beyer
(Yam)
Super Mini (12-15): 1. Jay Weller (Kaw) 2. Phil Nicoletti (Hon) 3. Shawn Clawson
(Kaw)
Schoolboy (12-15): 1. James McNeill (Yam) 2. Robert Johnson (Kaw) 3. Felix Delmoral
(Yam)
Collegeboy: 1. Ivo Camacho (Hon) 2. Josh Sterritt (Yam) 3. Carmelo Santos (Hon)
125 A: 1. Ryan Mills (Hon) 2. Josh Sterritt (Yam) 3. Ivo Camacho (Hon) 4. James
McNeill (Yam) 5. Mark Wundrack (Yam)
125 B: 1. John Lawrence (Yam) 2. Ted Hendrickson (Kaw) 3. Orlando Valdez-Luna
(Yam)
125 C: 1. Chris Meier (Yam) 2. Sean McLaughlin (Hon) 3. Kenny Barton (Yam)
250 A: 1. Carlo Coen (Hon) 2. Ryan Mills (Hon) 3. Ivo Camacho (Hon) 4. Paul Veracka
(Kaw) 5. Andrew Pingotti (Suz)
250 B: 1. Dylan VanOrden (Yam) 2. William Aubertin (Hon) 3. Mike Carey (Suz)
250 C: SOMEONE STOLE THE RESULTS PAGE BEFORE I SAW IT!!
+25 A: 1. Carlo Coen (Hon) 2. Ken Blackwell (Hon) 3. Chris Clark (Kaw)
+25 B: 1. James Perrone (Hon) 2. Garofalo Antonio (Yam) 3. Emerson Guzman (Kaw)
+25 C: 1. James Mazza (Kaw) 2. Anthony Gross (Hon) 3. Michael Brady (Hon)
+30 A: 1. Carlo Coen (Hon) 2. Ken Blackwell (Hon) 3. Tom Bruno (Yam)
+30 B: 1. Rick Fenical (Hon) 2. Pat O’Reilly (Hon) 3. Jason Wallace (Hon)
+30 C: 1. Sam Austin (Hon) 2. Anthony Franco Jr. (Yam) 3. Tierney Santiago (Kaw)
+35: 1. Mark Costa (Yam) 2. Dave Masi (Hon) 3. John Barton (Hon)
+40 A: 1. Mark Costa (Yam) 2. Tom Hall (Yam) 3. Dave Masi (Hon)
+40 B: 1. Frank Pokorny (Suz) 2. Rick Pence Sr. (Yam) 3. Ron Rothkranz (Hon)
RP