2023 Dubya Vet World Championship Results

| November 7, 2023

The 39th Annual Dubya Vet World Championship truly was an international affair over the November 4-5 weekend with riders from over 20 countries filling Glen Helen Raceway to capacity for two days of racing.

Ty Davis at 2023 Dubya Vet World Championship — **Ty Davis (508) leads the start of the Pasha 125cc 50+ Pro class, with Jeremy McGrath (2) running in second, where he would finish.**

Story and Photos by Ron Lawson

The big attraction for spectators is always the 30+ Pro class, but this year, there was real star power in the 50+ Pasha 125 class, which was promoted and sponsored by Hollywood stuntman Tony “Pasha” Pantera. That attracted former AMA Pro Motocross Champions Mike Brown and Jeremy McGrath, as well as Doug Dubach, GP star Kurt Nicoll, and off-road champion Ty Davis. Of those riders, it surprised no one that Mike Brown was in the best shape, but he did have to pass McGrath to get to the front. Behind them an all-out war raged in both motos between Dubach and Nicoll. This time around, it was Dubach that got the best of that showdown.

Mike Brown at 2023 Dubya Vet World Championship — **Mike Brown won the Pasha 125cc 50+ Pro and 50+ Pro classes.**

Brown, McGrath and Nicoll also met in the 50+ Pro class with much the same result, while Dubach made his debut in the 60+ Expert class. Dubach made easy work of that class over Canadian Pete DeGraff. Other riders moving up to a new age classification were KTM test rider Ryan Morais and Canadian Mitch Cooke. They traded motos in the 40+ Pro class with Morais winning the second moto.

Morais and Cooke came out again in the 30+ Pro class, but this time, they had to deal with a number of younger riders, including Austrian Güenter Schmidinger and former WORCS Champion Giacomo Redondi. Schmidinger currently works for KTM’s testing department in Austria, but he is no stranger to international competition. He’s ridden the World Vet in the past and even the U.S.GP when it was at Glen Helen in 2011. He’s also a 13-time member of the Austrian MXoN team. Schmidinger led the entire first moto, but it was the battle for second that would later become controversial. Morais slowly crept up on Redondi throughout the race and, on the final lap, made an all-out charge. The two of them were side-by-side as they reached the checkered flag, but Morais returned to the pits thinking he had the edge. The importance of that result became critical in the second moto.

Ryan Morais at 2023 Dubya Vet World Championship — **Ryan Morais topped the Pasha 125cc 30+ Pro and 40+ Pro divisions.**

Blayne Thompson got the start, with Morais taking over on the second lap. It was several laps before Schmidinger got into second place, but by that time, Morais had a secure lead, which he held all the way home. Afterward, Morais thought he had the overall, but Glen Helen’s official timing and scoring had him second overall with a 3-1 score, while Schmidinger had a 1-2. It turned out that the transponder pickup was about five feet before the flag, and that made all the difference. Redondi scored a 2-4 while Cooke posted a 5-3.

Doug Dubach at 2023 Dubya Vet World Championship — **Doug Dubach (15) won the 60+ Expert class.**

Glen Helen also hosted two motos of international warfare called the Cup of Nations. In this race, each national team must have three riders in different age groups. Canada was the big winner. It had Julian Cerney, who won the 50+ class, Shane Cuthbertson (fifth in the 40+ class) and Cooke (first in the 30+). Second place went to Italy with Simone Girolami, Marcello Disetti and Redondi.