D-36 Lilliputian Hare Scramble 2007

Lilliputian Hare Scramble 2007 - RACE REPORT

Round 3 of the AMA District 36 Fall Cross-Country Hare Scramble Series was hosted this past weekend at the "Hangtown" National MX venue just outside Sacramento, CA. With our "Indian Summer" still in effect producing an 80 degree weekend in November and daylight saving giving everyone an extra hour of sleep, the race conditions were top notch. The race course was roughly 6 miles long with a majority of it held on tight, fast single track...we did get to race between 2 MX tracks (one being the National course groomed perfectly).



Durban Racing had racers in several of the events over the weekend. After achieving a longtime goal of racing in the coveted "A class", I lined up on Sunday morning on the A-VET row, Kelly raced in a Women's Class on Saturday, Varni raced in the C-VET class Sunday afternoon (for the last time ever!!!) With the course being so short and fast they broke up the classes into individual races to keep the crowds down and the racing exciting. A, B and C all rode in their own class races.

After spending 3 competitive years trying to get here...to say that the difference between the B Class and the A Class is a few rows closer to the front on the starting line is a major understatement. The biggest difference I noticed the hard way was... there is zero time to relax. Everyone is in it to win and rides that way the whole event. The course is wide open for the taking...no bottle necks or slow riders because 100% of the group is in shape, ride exceptionally well and all can "race" with very little warm up.

More nervous to start this race than any other... I stood there straddling my front wheel, facing the fender (yet another creative way to start a dead engine race)...waiting....All of a sudden the gun sounded and I found my self sitting on a bike that didn't start. DEAD LAST off the line. I played catch up for the next 2 hours trying to chase down the faster riders in Northern CA.

The course was fun, fast and laid out well, endurance wise i was great...it was my mental game that got the best of me. About 3o mins into it i found what seemed to be a good sustainable pace, then as soon as i let my guard down to relax for a few turns... zoom..zoom, two riders passed me out of the blue! All that work setting them up to get passed in a second. After 2 hours of good racing, 1 massive uphill "yard-sale" that left me seeing "brass gnats" for a minute or so... I finished 12 out of 17 and 50th out of 75 in the A race. Not a bad first race, not a great one, but defiantly hungry to line up in 2 week for the next one.

Kelly, my Wife, #322J raced on Saturday in an all Women's beginner class and after an incredible effort finished on the box with a 3rd place finish and a 6th overall out of 30. She hole-shotted the shotgun start, and took the first lap easy to learn the track but headed into the 2nd lap, she was way back in 7 out of 12 racers. After 2 more hard 20 minute laps, battling for every pass...she was in a solid 3rd place spot at the checkered flag. All those morning riding Stoneyford are starting to pay off... now we just need to practice some "track" style riding and she'll be unstoppable! The 1 hour effort produced a massive stand-up 3' tall trophy! Way to go!

Steve Varni was 1 point shy of advancing to the B class. Almost to the date, 1 year ago he wrecked on an MX track breaking his heel bone requiring massive surgery to install a plate and 6 screws to secure it. This was his first race back after a long 6 months off and the other half year trying to get back into riding shape.

With over 60 people on the C vet line, we figured he needed to finish no worse than 13th to get the points he needed to advance out of the dreaded C class.

The start produced a massive pile up into the 1st turn, which he avoided, the 2nd turn produced another pile up...which he was able to get through but without getting held up alittle...then somewhere on the back side of the track was another massive bottleneck... which left him running in 20th on the first lap. The gap between 8th and 24th was about 2 mins. Slowly getting by the others... he was in 18th then 16th... then after 1.5 hours of super crowed race track... he made it to the finish line at 13th place~! DONE DEAL! Malt Liquor time!!!

Our Friend Chris Bridgman raced as well for his first HS ever... did well considering a mid-race fall that destroyed a footpeg. I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of him at the races!

Thanks to all the sponsors that help make this happen:

• DH Cycles (Modesto KTM dealer)
• Durban Racing
• IMS Racing
• FMF
• Renthal
• Red-Bull
• Utopia Optics
• RXR Protect
  
• Cycra
• N-Style
• No-Toil
• Cruz Tools
• Sierra Utility Sales
• Garvey
• and My lovely wife!!!

~CHEERS~

TONY PALANDRANI #85