| Story and
Photos By: Ray Larez Doug Echiner
Repeats at
Adelanto Grand Prix
Lap two Greg Stuart now in second
place clears the mud jump |
The Adelanto Grand Prix turns a small
California desert town into a busy raceway.
With all the races and spectators clogging
all major arteries in and out of town, the
traffic reminded me of being on the freeway in
Los Angeles. The race seems to gain
popularity every year, with more entries and
more spectators. The promoters do a great
job with the wide range of activities at the
event. There was plenty of food vendors,
motorcycle/ATV parts vendors, and plenty of
other fun things like a foam rock wall to
tackle.
The race is held in the middle of a small
town with the start right on the street.
The ATVs start on the
asphalt and makes a hard left down the
street and heads off into the desert.
There were a few amateur racers that had a few
problems braking into the first turn, over
shooting the turn or ramming into other racers.
This grand prix style race was running all
classes in 10-15 second intervals. The
racers lined up by classes about 8 ATVs wide as
they blasted down the street and you could here
the tires squeal as the racers were braking into
the first turn. Another interesting twist
to the race is they throw in the side hacks with
the ATVs. For those of us that don’t know
what a side hack is, it’s a motorcycle with a
side car or a platform more or less. This
requires two riders, one to ride the motorcycle
and one to move all-around the bike or platform
to distribute their weight. They are large
just like trying to pass an ATV, but are a lot
slower basically creating an obstacle.
The Pro class was the group of racer to
watch. The classes were loaded with some
great pro racers, like the 2005 WORCS Champ Doug
Echiner of team Duncan Racing, Greg Stuart of
team Skat Track, Darrel Patton backed by Golden
West Cycles, and the new upcoming rider Logan
Holiday. Echiner and Stuart have been
battling it out for the last few years.
Last year Doug prevailed and won the race a
second time. But with a few new riders on
the line there may be a new battle emerging.
Logan Holiday has been a force to be reckoned
with, he has proven himself with some good
showings at the WORCS Series and ITP Quad Cross
last year. I would say to keep an eye on
this rider in the future; he is young and has
the potential to really grow into a great racer.
Just prior to the start of the race it had
started to sprinkle slightly and with grey
clouds looming overhead it made everyone wonder
if the skies were going to open up. Lucky
for us, the clouds passed as racing began.
As the ATVs roared down the small street, the
loud thundering exhaust grew louder as they
approached the first turn. The number one
expert rider of Jeremiah Kelley grabbed the hole
shot and lead into the first straight away until
he was over taken by Greg Stuart as he
disappeared into the long 9 mile desert section.
When the riders reappeared, Greg was charging
hard and looked to have a good lead on the pack.
Echiner would appear out of the dust in second
and worked his way around the infield motocross
section. In third place was Logan Holiday.
Hey get you quad out of the back of my
quad...how did this happen? It
took three grown men to pull these beast
apart. |
Coming around the berm Greg Stuart leads
the pack and inters the motocross
section of the course. |
The spectators would cheer as the riders came
into sight. The one thing that you can always
expect from the District 37 Desert Viper’s
(promoters of the race) is the Adelanto mud
jump. This jump is only for the brave or
the crazy! The pros would clear it with
ease, but some of the amateur class racers would
fall short, and this was what all the spectators
came to see. The crowd would actually boo
the rider that would take the alternate route
around the mud jump. This wasn't any
easier or safer, as many riders would not time
the whoop section properly and loose control,
throwing them from their ATV.
Splash down – this is the great part of
the course either make the mud jump or
go through the whoop section. |
As the laps wind down Doug would be our new
leader, he had taken control of the race and was
just ahead of Greg. Logan Holiday would be
closing in on Stuart. Logan was looking
stronger than ever and charging hard.
There was a new Suzuki LTR-450 in the crowd and
he was bringing up the fourth position.
For a bone stock machine he was fairing pretty
well to be running fourth in a class of pros and
when we say stock we mean not even an
aftermarket exhaust pipe!
When the riders appear in the finial lap and
started the motocross course, Greg Stuart wasn't
to be seen. Everyone was wondering if the
9 mile desert course did him in? Doug
would come thundering out of the dust, around a
few turns and lunched the mud jump as the crowd
cheered him on. Doug was followed by the
number 2 machine of Holiday, not to far off the
pace in third was Darrel Patton, but still no
Stuart. Later we would learn Greg had
transmission problems and would not finish the
race. As for the final standings, Doug
would repeat and win two Adelanto Grand Prix's
followed by Logan Holiday and Darrel Patton.
It seemed short because they only ran three laps
but it was a longer course than normal.
For the spectators it is still an exciting race
to watch. Looking at any rider that
finished the race, you knew they rode a rough
and tough race course. You could tell the
dusty desert course really takes its toll on the
riders and machines. If you ever get a
chance to either race or watch the Adelanto
Grand Prix, it is well worth the trip.
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