PALMDALE, CA

Kawasaki-mounted Robert Ives Jr. (4V, below) needed no courier to deliver the glad tidings of an early Christmas present, as he left little doubt as to who was the fastest in the Senior Amateur class at Los Angeles County Raceway by going wire to wire for the win during the California Racing Club's Merry Christmas Bonus Gran Prix.

When starter Don Gossett threw his green flag to get the 45-minute race under way, it was Ives edging out Garry Conner (1Z, above) for the holeshot, with Lucky Feinstein (3S, above) sliding into third place, ahead of Mark Burnett and Reggie Lamson. Ives put a few seconds on Conner during the initial go-around, with Mike Licitra coming up to challenge Burnett for third place.

Ives was putting in one strong lap after another and by the midway point he had a comfortable lead over Bob Burns, who had fought his way up from a midpack start to hold down the runner-up position. Conner controlled the third spot but was starting to feel some pressure from Licitra.

When the checkers waved, it was Ives and his Motoworks/N-Style-backed KX450F a safe distance ahead of Burns for the victory. Licitra finally found a way around Conner at about the 30-minute mark to finish third. Lamson rounded out the top five, ahead of Mark Flinders and Burnett.

Bob Burns (352, left) returned to claim a win of his own on the day by dominating the Old Timers Over 50 Expert field on his Kawasaki. Burns shot out to an immediate lead and was never really challenged during the 45-minute contest. Brian Farner easily finished in second place. Ron Hamrick held down the third spot for most of the race before he encountered problems and was unable to finish, handing the position over to Mark Mangold.

It was all Jon Zahrt (86V, right) in the Senior Expert ranks, as the FMF-backed Kawasaki rider led every inch of the race. Longtime Honda rider Frank Costanzo looked right at home on his new Yamaha as he went the distance in second place. David Antillion went down in the first turn but then fought his way back up into third place, only to go down again, and he decided to call it a day. Mark Harwell ended up rounding out the top three finishers.

Results

S/P/W: 1. Jake Keiffer (KTM).

65 (4-8): 1. Joshua Schwartze (Kawasaki).

65 (9-11): 1. Deegan Vonlossberg (KTM); 2. Casey Langosh (KTM).

65 OPEN: 1. Cole Tompkins (KTM).

85 BEG: 1. Josh Hannaman (Honda); 2. Devin Hovey (KTM); 3. Justin Covarrubias (Yamaha).

85 (7-11): 1. Casey Langosh (KTM); 2. Jake Hogan (Yamaha).

85 (12-13): 1. Cody Miller (Honda); 2. Nicholas Mercier (Suzuki); 3. Ryan Pekarek (Kawasaki).

85 OPEN: 1. Nicholas Mercier (Suzuki); 2. Deegan Vonlossberg (Yamaha); 3. Cameron Reitzel (KTM); 4. Cody Miller (Honda); 5. Jeremy Mairose (Suzuki).

125 2-STRK: 1. Trevor Harvey (Suzuki).

250 4-STRK: 1. Brenden Murray (Honda); 2. Jeremy Lasater (Honda); 3. Jordan Reynolds (Yamaha).

250 BEG: 1. Jasun Spriggs (Honda); 2. Anthony Candiel (Kawasaki); 3. Taylor Farner (Honda); 4. Casey Benton (Kawasaki).

250 NOV: 1. Carlos Esteves (Yamaha).

250 INT: 1. Alejandro Karaconstantis (Yamaha); 2. Jordan Reynolds (Yamaha); 3. Taylor Lamson (Suzuki).

450 BEG: 1. Travis Shyder (Yamaha).

450 NOV: 1. Brady Fugate (Honda); 2. Dominic Parrillo (Kawasaki).

450 INT: 1. Cory Conner (Honda); 2. Chris See (Suzuki); 3. Anthony Barbacovi (Yamaha); 4. Bryson Martin (Kawasaki).

450 PRO: 1. Adam Lane (Honda); 2. Josh Greco (Honda); 3. Benny Breck (Kawasaki).

WMN: 1. Holly Breck (Honda).

JR VET INT: 1. Spencer Burns (Kawasaki).

JR VET EX: 1. Jeff Eide (Kawasaki).

VET BEG: 1. John Afshar (Yamaha); 2. Edward Scherp (Honda).

VET NOV: 1. Mark Flinders (Kawasaki); 2. Mark Burnett (Honda).

VET INT: 1. Robert Ives Jr. (Kawasaki); 2. Cameron Doll (Honda); 3. Tim Burandt (Suzuki); 4. Manuel Gasper (Honda); 5. Tim Hickerson (Kawasaki).

VET EX/PRO: 1. Jon Zahrt (Kawasaki); 2. Nick Mairose (Yamaha).

SR NOV: 1. Dan Hampson (Yamaha); 2. Ron Mortinson (Kawasaki).

SR AM: 1. Robert Ives Jr. (Kawasaki); 2. Bob Burns (Kawasaki); 3. Mike Licitra (Honda); 4. Garry Conner (Honda); 5. Reggie Lamson (Suzuki).

SR EX: 1. Jon Zahrt (Kawasaki); 2. Frank Costanzo (Yamaha); 3. Mark Harwell (Yamaha).

S/SR NOV: 1. Greg Benton (Suzuki); 2. Bruce Stewart (Yamaha).

S/SR AM: 1. Kevin Evans (Honda); 2. Greg Robertson (Honda); 3. Denny Ryan (Yamaha); 4. Bob Dunham (Yamaha); 5. Scott McDonall (Yamaha).

S/SR EX: 1. Tom Burgess (Honda); 2. Joe Root (Kawasaki); 3. Mark Raiche (Yamaha); 4. Don Bizzy (Yamaha); 5. Garry Conner (Honda).

O/T 40+ NOV: 1. Bob Woods (Yamaha); 2. Martin Firestone (Honda).

O/T 40+ EX: 1. Steve Durshlag (Yamaha); 2. Jim Eberle (Honda).

O/T 50+ NOV: 1. Manny Angulo (Yamaha); 2. Ken Busse (Honda); 3. John Fulmer (Yamaha).

O/T 50+ AM: 1. Art Dart (Honda); 2. Mark Getzfrid (KTM).

O/T 50+ EX: 1. Bob Burns (Kawasaki); 2. Brian Farner (Honda); 3. Mark Mangold (KTM).

O/T 50+ MSTR: 1. Mark Raiche (Yamaha); 2. Don Bizzy (Yamaha); 3. Garry Conner (Honda).

O/T 60+ AM: 1. Les Oldenbrook (KTM).

O/T 60+ EX: 1. Gary Doll (Yamaha).

O/T MSTR A: 1. Frank Costanzo (Yamaha); 2. Tom Burgess (Honda).

Team Race

ALL: 1. Chris See/Bryan Mullin; 2. Ryan Moscrop/Bryce Stavron; 3. Kody Koger/Anatol Kozlowski; 4. Kevin Bey/Deegan Vonlossberg; 5. Carlos Lopez/Justin Carmondy.

FATHER/SON: 1. Jim and James Sendelbach; 2. Holly and Johnny Breck.

Ironman

O/A: 1. Kevin Lane.