PALMDALE, CA

Gary Ivin (149) and Darren Cortines (752) fought over the top spot in the Senior Amateur class at Los Angeles County Raceway, with Ivin eventually prevailing to earn the win, during the annual running of the California Racing Club's Golden Bear Gran Prix.

Ivin put his FMF-backed Yamaha in the early lead as the 45-minute race got under way, with Doug Ford, Cortines and Greg McConnell in tow. Ivin put a few seconds on Cortines, who'd gotten around Ford for second place on the opening lap. Ivin was inching away from Cortines and the others up until the midway point, when a bobble dropped him back to second place, behind Cortines.

Cortines suddenly had about a seven-second lead over Ivin, but within a single lap of the extended LACR layout Ivin was knocking on Cortines' back door. Ivin was hounding Cortines, but Cortines' 450 Honda seemed to have a slight advantage over the 250F of Ivin on the sandy hills. Ivin stayed glued to Cortines and was finally able to move back into the lead by keeping his Yamaha pinned while flying out of the "pit" section of the track. Cortines kept Ivin honest for a lap before the little Yamaha of Ivin once again inched away, this time for the win. Ford ended up crossing the finish all by himself in third, followed by McConnell and Lucky Feinstein.

In 85cc Open action, KTM-mounted Cameron Reitzel absconded with the early lead, over Cody Miller (725, right) and Brandon Pozas. Reitzel put in some blistering circuits during the first third of the race to put 15 seconds between himself and Miller. Pozas continued to control the third spot but was being pestered by Derek McConnell. Miller kept chipping away at Reitzel's advantage by a second or two per lap and by the penultimate go-around was finally able to put his IMS/661/FX-sponsored Honda into the point position. Miller had momentum on his side, as he distanced himself from Reitzel for the well-deserved victory. McConnell eventually found a way around Pozas to round out the top three, with Kristian Jimenez claiming fifth at the checkers.

Kristian Jimenez (196, left) returned to pick up a win of his own by topping the 85cc Beginner field aboard his O'Neal/Matrix-backed Kawasaki. Second place went to Tadd Patterson, with Tyler Studer, Anthony Catuogno and Josh Hargraves finishing third through fifth, respectively.

Results

65 (9-11): 1. Cole Tompkins (KTM); 2. James De Arman (KTM); 3. Tadd Patterson (KTM).

85 BEG: 1. Kristian Jimenez (Kawasaki); 2. Tadd Patterson (KTM); 3. Tyler Studer (Yamaha); 4. Anthony Catuogno (Honda); 5. Josh Hargraves (Yamaha).

85 (7-11): 1. Jake Hogan (Yamaha).

85 OPEN: 1. Cody Miller (Honda); 2. Cameron Reitzel (KTM): 3. Derek McConnell (Yamaha); 4. Brandon Pozas (Yamaha); 5. Kristian Jimenez (Kawasaki).

150 (14-16): 1. Mitchell Miller (Honda).

250 BEG: 1. Chris Perez (Yamaha); 2. Weston Lopez (Kawasaki).

250 NOV: 1. Austin McWaters (Kawasaki); 2. Anthony Giorgio (Yamaha); 3. Bobby Boka (Honda).

250 INT: 1. Jeremy Lasater (Kawasaki); 2. Lee Saul Jr. (Yamaha).

450 INT: 1. Tyler Granger (Kawasaki); 2. Cory Conner (Honda); 3. Jay Shaaban (Kawasaki).

SCHBY: 1. Cody Miller (Suzuki).

JR VET NOV: 1. Dino Catuogno (Honda); 2. T.J. Studer (Honda).

JR VET INT: 1. Cameron Doll (Yamaha); 2. Michael Penta (Yamaha).

VET NOV: 1. Darren Cortines (Honda); 2. Dann White (Yamaha).

VET INT: 1. Randy Moseley (Yamaha); 2. Cameron Doll (Yamaha); 3. Gary Ivin (Yamaha).

VET EX/PRO: 1. Kris Keefer (Yamaha); 2. Jon Zahrt (Kawasaki); 3. Tony Pulliam (Honda).

SR NOV: 1. John Davies (Honda).

SR AM: 1. Gary Ivin (Yamaha); 2. Darren Cortines (Honda); 3. Doug Ford (Honda); 4. Greg McConnell (Yamaha); 5. Lucky Feinstein (Honda).

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

S/SR NOV: 1. Ellis Harlin (Honda); 2. Gary Doll (Yamaha).

S/SR AM: 1. Greg Robertson (Honda); 2. Jeff Minderhout (Yamaha); 3. Roy Krull (Suzuki); 4. Bob Dunham (Yamaha); 5. Kevin Evans (Honda).

S/SR EX: 1. Keevan Acevedo (Yamaha); 2. Tom Burgess (Honda); 3. Garry Conner (Honda); 4. Randy Tittlemier (Suzuki); 5. Bob Burns (Kawasaki).

O/T 50+ AM: 1. Art Dart (Honda); 2. Dennis Tooman (Yamaha).

O/T 50+ EX: 1. Mic Rodgers (Suzuki); 2. Bob Dunham (Yamaha).

O/T 50+ MSTR: 1. Garry Conner (Honda); 2. Bob Burns (Kawasaki).

O/T 60+ AM: 1. Gary Doll (Yamaha); 2. Michael Burnett (Suzuki).

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

IRONMAN: 1. Chris Bell; 2. Garrett Norr; 3. Billy Smith; 4. Matt Westmoreland; 5. Ricky West.

Team Race

85: 1. Brandon Pozas/Derek McConnell.

250/450: 1. Brandon Kovacs/Jarrett Kovacs; 2. Cameron Doll/Austin McWaters; 3. Cody Miller/Jake Hogan.

FATHER/SON: 1. Steve Cole/Chris Cole.