The results for Gorman Ridge Rally are up now follow the link from our results page. The only competitor was Andrew Sutherland on Bike 24, who should have earned the ironman award for finishing such a tough event on a bike. Way to go Andrew!
The results for Gorman Ridge Rally are up now follow the link from our results page. The only competitor was Andrew Sutherland on Bike 24, who should have earned the ironman award for finishing such a tough event on a bike. Way to go Andrew!
The Prescott Rally organizers have lowered the entry fee to $150.00 for two days of Rallymoto(tm) racing on the great roads of Prescott Valley and surrounding areas. This is only good until Sept 12 when early entry closes. This rally includes night stages on Friday night and a full day of racing on Saturday. Several competitors have already signed up including several new names.
Prescott Rally Home Page
Black River Stages, a stage rally located in Lewis County, New York, is already the second largest stage rally in the USA and is still growing. The current entry total stands at 49 car and motorcycle teams registered and paid for the event. Black River Stages, which is sanctioned by NASA Rally Sport and will take place the weekend of September 19 and 20, is still accepting entries.
Black River Stages has surpassed last year’s entries (48) and with six weeks left is expected to keep growing. Anders Green, the event organizer, says ‘We only count and show paid entries on our web site. Until the final week, there’s usually half a dozen teams that have paperwork in but haven’t paid yet. I’m confident we’ll set new records. It’s great because each new team adds to the economic impact for the area. It also makes for a great show for the fans.’
‘An event this size is challenging.’ says Jeff Denton, Chief of Scoring for the event. ‘Each team adds another time card to be counted, another vehicle to be inspected, another car or bike to be tracked by the radio net, or another vehicle for sweep to watch for on stage. Even though it’s more work for the volunteers all around, it’s still loads of fun.’
This year has been a tough year for rally racing across the country as the declining economy has hit home for many racers. Most stage rally events have seen a decline in entries of 20 – 30%. The only other events to have grown in 2009 are Rally Tennessee, posting a modest 6% increase, and the New England Forest Rally, which had a massive 45% increase in entries. The New England Forest Rally’s jump moved it to third largest rally overall in the U.S. The largest rally, for the second year in a row, is still the Sandblast Rally, which had about 20% more teams participate than any other event in 2009.
Black River Stages is growing in more than entries. Last year the event added a new stage to the mix. This year, by moving both racing days to the weekend — a move requested by the towns that support the event — the schedule was able to expand to allow an additional running of the Saturday night stages. The total racing distance is now around 90 miles.
The race follows the traditional stage rally format. Multiple racing sections, each called a ‘stage’, are connected by ‘transit’ sections. The stages are closed gravel roads with flat-out, full speed racing. The transits are on open public roads, where the street-legal cars and motorcycles are given plenty of time to leisurely make their way to the next closed, timed racing section.
Spectators wanting to come out and see the race should get more information at blackriverstages.com. There will also be time to meet the competitors just before racing begins on Saturday at the American Maple Museum in Croghan, NY.
Tags: black river stages, rally, rally moto, rallymoto, stage rally
One of the most accomplished men in off road racing, Scot Harden, will be taking two wheels to the dirt and gravel this fall in upstate New York. September 19 and 20 will find Harden racing at the Black River Stages Rally based in Lewis County. No stranger to running in the most difficult of conditions, Harden will race well into the night against the series regulars on his Husqvarna 510.
Harden’s resume reads like a dream list of racing events. He has won the Baja 1000 overall, the Baja 500, and is a SCORE overall champion. Successful trips to the Dakar Rally, both as a racer and manager, are under his belt. A national motorcycle enduro champion and Best in the Desert champion, Harden was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2008. Currently he is the National Sales and Marketing Manager of Husqvarna Motorcycles North America.
Bobby Wooldridge, from the BMW/Ducati/Husqvarna Motorcycles of Atlanta dealership in Georgia, will be supplying the vehicles and infrastructure to support Harden during the event. Wooldridge, who competed at Black River Stages last year, reports that planning for schedules, bikes, and spares began months before the event. Last year’s second overall finish gives Wooldridge plenty of experience to start the setup and tuning of the bikes.
Defending winner Mike Gilkey is very excited for the chance to go bar-to-bar with Harden. Gilkey, a former pro racer who previously toured Europe racing flat track events, could barely get out a “Wow!” when told that Harden would be at the start line with him. “You always want to race against the best.” said Gilkey.
The format of the race, sanctioned by NASA Rally Sport, will be familiar to Harden, who has raced in a wide variety of rallies. Multiple racing sections, each called a ‘stage’, are connected by ‘transit’ sections. The stages are closed gravel roads with flat out, full speed racing. The transits are on open public roads, where the street-legal motorcycles are given plenty of time to leisurely make their way to the next closed, timed racing section.
Spectators wanting to come out and see the legend race should get more information at BlackRiverStages.com. There will also be time to meet the riders just before the racing starts on Saturday at the American Maple Museum in Croghan, NY.
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