CALIFORNIA CITY, CA

Holding a two-hour-plus-one lap event in the middle of August in the deserts of California City is tantamount to being batty, crazy, loco! Even if the start of the event was set for 8 a.m., so that most of the racers would be off the course by 10:30 a.m., the odds were that it was still going to be hot, plenty hot, incredibly suffocating!

NOT!

On this particular Saturday, Alta Vista Events took advantage of springlike weather, and AS Racing/FMF/Kal-Guard-backed Honda rider Steve Williams (44, above) also took advantage of the near-perfect weather to capture the overall victory and first place in the Over 50 Expert class after six laps and two hours, 21 minutes and 48 seconds of racing.

Finishing closest to Williams was longtime AVE SuperCourse top racer Don Campbell (43, above), on his THR Motorsports/Lost Coyotes MC KTM. Campbell also finished with six laps. His time of two hours and 28 minutes exactly included a five-minute penalty for inadvertently missing a section of the course on his first lap, yet it was fast enough for second overall and first in the Over 30 Expert class.

Finishing third overall was FMF/O'Neil/IMS/CGG/Smith-sponsored Honda rider Scott Anderson, with a time of two hours, 31 minutes and 14 seconds, which was also good for second in the Over 50 Expert class.

In the fourth-overall spot was Kawasaki jockey Brian Woleben, with a time of two hours, 32 minutes and 19 seconds. Rounding out the top five overall finishers (all of whom put in six laps) was Kawasaki rider Chris Brown (51, below), with a time of two hours, 32 minutes and 40 seconds - just 21 seconds behind fourth place. This was as a result of a five-minute penalty for missing a section of the course.

The top Q rider was Open Expert Bill Markel, who also finished six laps, with an adjusted time of two hours, 51 minutes and six seconds. His time also included a five-minute penalty for not returning to the racecourse.

The 14.4-mile course was pretty good and featured varied terrain, with almost everything you'd want in a racecourse but in short spurts so that it didn't knock anyone out. However, what did knock out a few riders was the fact that certain course arrows had fallen down due to Friday's 50-plus-mph winds. Race officials corrected several spots on the course before the 8 a.m. start, yet there were a couple of sections of the course where one really had to look hard to find the turn. Fortunately, AVE put up a lot of unique ribbons after every turn, split and trail, so almost everyone who did miss an arrow found the ribbons. A few riders, however, did not, and were levied five-minute penalties. AVE has a motto: "If you don't see any markings within an eighth of a mile, you'd better return!"

This fourth SuperCourse round paid double points, so several riders were able to make up a lot of ground in their respective classes.

The fifth round of the series is slated for October 23 and will feature two 50-mile laps.

Results

OVERALL: 1. Steve Williams (Honda); 2. Don Campbell (KTM); 3. Scott Anderson (Honda); 4. Brian Woleben (Kawasaki); 5. Chris Brown (Kawasaki); 6. Anthony Muneton (Honda); 7. Ryan Parrish (Honda); 8. Mark Crookstone (Yamaha); 9. Ron Tolman (Honda); 10. Bill Markel (Yamaha); 11. Robert Moynahan (Honda); 12. Olivia Rich (Honda); 13. Brad Wright (Suzuki); 14. Richard Parrish (Yamaha); 15. Kelly Cole (Yamaha); 16. David Knight (Yamaha); 17. Mark Ornelas (Honda).