| June 22, 2016
As one of the longest running motocross events in the country, Mammoth Motocross draws thousands of entries over the course of the 10-day event. This past weekend, the first two days of racing took place with the vets hitting the mountainside track, June 18-19. The big story of the weekend was Fasthouse’s Sean Collier racing the 30+ Pro Class aboard his 1997 Kawasaki KX500.
All weekend long, Collier rode the wheels off his old bike, winning three of the four pro motos, taking home the overall victory for the second day, as well as the overall for the weekend. On the first day of racing, Soaring Eagle/Jimmy John’s/RCH/Suzuki’s Ivan Tedesco stole a moto win from Collier when the Kawasaki rider went down at the famous tree turn after just taking over the lead.
Another notable racer in the 30+ Pro class was Arik Swan, as he consistently finished second in every moto to ultimately take second overall on the weekend. Tedesco didn’t compete on Sunday.
In other vet classes, after finishing second behind David Pingree on the first day of racing, Billy Mercier took the weekend’s overall victory in the 40+ Pro class with a consistent 2-1 score on Sunday. Like Tedesco, Pingree didn’t show up for Sunday’s event. The overall win in the 50+ A class went to Doug Dubach, who dominated every moto he entered.
In addition to the vet classes, the Support class draws young racers looking for a chance to get some time on the track before the main weekend and offered some excellent battles in the short motos. Saturday’s Support class overall went to Japanese rider Nozomu Yasuhara, but Honda-mounted Braden Oneal took the victory on Sunday, rebounding from a flat tire on Saturday. After finishing consistent on both days, though, Yamaha’s Robbie Wageman was able to nab the overall weekend victory with 3-2 finishes.
More racing is slated for the rest of the week, as the mini bikes take to the track on Tuesday and Wednesday. The main weekend begins this Friday and runs through Sunday.
–BRENDAN LUTES