GNC Flat Track Finale Online

Finally, the finale. A real fistfight in a phone booth. Make time to watch the heat races.
It's over a week since the flat track finale took place in Las Vegas and fanschoice.tv have, at last, put the footage online to watch at your leisure.
We've specifically avoided spoilers on the site. I used to do event reports, but think it's better to watch it. Leave comments if you want to discuss the racing.
Background: Jared Mees went into this round leading from Bryan Smith with Kenny Coolbeth having an outside chance if the night went badly wrong for the other two and perfectly for him.
Click www.fanschoice.tv/ama-pro to watch.

Hopefully the Superprestigio of America and Superhooligan will follow soon. G

Joe Kopp raced this striking Husqvarna with carbon-fibre BST wheels.

Photos: Courtesty of AMA Pro Racing

Oliver Brindley v The World

Sideburn flew out to Las Vegas to be at the finale of the 2015 GNC season and the inaugural Superprestigio of the Americas, indoors at the Orleans Hotel.

When we booked the flights we didn't realise the DTRA's rising star, Oliver Brindley would be competing. Chris Carr, who helped organise the Superprestigio and chose who was invited, contacted the DTRA and said the 2015 UK champion would have a place. 2015 DTRA champ Aidan Collins (who is interviewed in Sideburn 23) chose not to take up the offer, preferring a young up and comer to have the chance to grab the opportunity. After an initial no from the Superprestigio, who - it seems - wanted the champion or nothing, DTRA chief, Anthony Brown negotiated an invite for 16-year-old Ollie Brindley to be the British representative.

The event was a double-header - the GNC finale on Friday night, the Superprestigio on Saturday night.

GNC2
So, on his 17th birthday, after spending a week racing and preparing at tracks in California, Ollie lined up in his first ever AMA Pro GNC2* event. In an incredibly pressurised qualifying period made up of two short timed sessions of only FOUR x 10 second laps of the tiny, rough track, Ollie was number qualifier out of a class of 46 riders, many of whom have been riding the GNC2 class all season. So, that's a combined practice AND qualifying session of just 80 seconds of riding. You have to be on it for the get-go.

The heat race didn't go according to plan, and Ollie didn't make it through to the semis, and his GNC debut was over much earlier than he wanted, but he made his mark and knew the mistake he'd made. One of the great things about Ollie, and his dad Derek, are they don't get hung up on any failures. They shrug and move on, learning from it. Easier said than done, but the best way.

SUPERPRESTIGIO
Relatively few of the GNC stars were invited to compete in Saturday's Superprestigio, only a total of 16 from both GNC1 and GNC2, including former champions; the current GNC2 champ, Davis Fisher; the winner of the Peoria GNC2 race, Jesse Janisch; the winners of Friday's two classes - Briar Bauman and Dan Bromley.

Like the Spanish Superprestigio, there are two classes. Here it was pro flat track and All Star, but there was a very meagre bunch of 'All-Star' non-flat trackers, nowhere near as memorable as the star-studded Barcelona line-ups. It didn't affect the quality of the racing (but the crowd was much thinner for Saturday than it was for Friday's GNC Finale).

Ollie was put in the All-Stars class, avoiding the pro flat trackers - like Mees, Johnson, Halbert, Coolbeth, Smith, Bauman... He would race Franc Serra, Roger Hayden, Larry Pegram, Toni Elias, Jake Gagne, Aaron Colton... The young Brit qualified fourth in his class. Veteran road racer and flat tracker, Pegram was quickest.

The evening started badly for Ollie, he seemed to stall out of his first race. Then he totally missed his second race, but won his third and then won his 8-rider semi to put him in the 8-rider final.

By now the tiny, tight track was a rutted mess. Ollie was in podium contention for much of the 12-lap final, but eventually came fourth behind Pegram, Roger Hayden and Joe Roberts. It was enough to send him to the grand final (like he had made at the 2014 Superprestigio in Spain), and an opportunity to gain invaluable experience racing the current heroes of the sport - Mees; Baker; Coolbeth and Smith - riders with ten (right?) GNC titles and dozens of National wins between them.

The 15-lap superfinal was brutal, but Ollie stayed out of danger while staying in touch with the leaders and finished sixth, ahead of fallers Hayden and Smith.

The lad done good. And he'll be at the Spanish Superprestigio in December looking to impress again.

If any companies out there wants to sponsor Ollie, email us dirt@sideburnmagazine.com and we'll put you directly in touch. The lad is going places. G

PS I won't say who won in case you watch to watch on fanschoice.tv when they post it.

PPS Read a nice write up on Ollie's Californian warm-up races on the Poppawheelie blog

* GNC2, like Moto2, is the class below the premier class. It was formerly known as Pro Singles and is for up and coming riders looking to progress to GNC1, the class formerly known as Expert. 

M3 Racing RS750

M3 Racing are competing historic Honda RS750s in the AMA GNC. See more at M3 Racing Facebook. G

Charlotte Last Week/ Springfield Tomorrow

Last weekend, the 2015 GNC series rolled up to Charlotte Half-Mile, North Carolina for the Don Tilley Memorial. I won't give the result here, for those that might have missed it, because you can see it at your leisure at FansChoice.tv (and it's worth watching). 

Cory Texter (Shayna's brother) debuted a new framer with a Kawasaki Vulcan S (the parallel twin cruiser), supported by Cycle World magazine.

The Basic twins ran at Charlotte, this is the GNC2 class on twins. This has been the most half-baked of recent AMA innovations. The idea was to prepare the GNC2 'Juniors' by having them ride twins at mile rounds, and also not thrash their 450s to death on the big tracks. But the idea fizzled out and the GNC2 riders raced 450s at some miles in 2014. Now they're totally forgotten from 2016 onwards in the new rules...
Anyway, this is Rob McLendon III's Triumph, the only Triumph to make the main in the GNC2 class.

 Henry Wiles and Stevie Bonsey

Having broken his leg after hitting something on track at the Black Hill,s South Dakota round, Brad Baker turned up to sign posters. #5 Jake Johnson has been standing in for him on the factory Harley.

GNC1 rookie Jarod Vanderkooi and Brandon Robinson. Vanderkooi has been great this season and Robinson's making the Triumph work much better than Shayna Texter did last year.

Johnson and Sammy Halbert. Sammy is running 69, instead of his normal 7, in memory of his recently deceased brother, Jethro.

Flyin' Bryan Smith.

Photos courtesy of AMA Pro Racing.

Peoria Reflection

There are a few strands to this post.

1. The proposed AMA rule changes for 2016 and my personal thoughts on them.

2. Yesterday's thrilling race in Peoria. 

3. A comment Sideburn reader Randon left overnight. 

First the rule changes. You can read more here and here, but in the briefest terms, AMA Pro Racing (the governing body of dirt track's Grand National Championship) is stopping the GNC1 class (the Experts as they were called) from racing 450 singles, instead making them race their twin-cylinder bikes at all tracks including short tracks and TTs. There are lots of differing opinions on this, but read the comments in the links above and leave more here if you want to debate. I am loving reading the comments and opposing thoughts on this. 

Yesterday's race was the last Peoria TT contested by 450 GNC1 bikes for, as Wiles very cleverly put it, at least one year. It was a great race to end an era with. 

Now Randon's comment, cut and pasted... 

A while back you said the Peoria TT was a "shit motocross race." 
I can't disagree more. You have it absolutely backwards. Motocross is a shit Peoria TT. 
Today was evidence of that. Watching Mees chase Wiles for 25 laps was an absolute pleasure. I will always cherish knowing I was there. I love you. I have each issue on my shelf, except Sideburn #1. You have done a lot to promote flat track world wide, but I have been pissed about this since you said it.

Yesterday, I (Gary, Sideburn editor) watched six hours of Peoria coverage on a window smaller than a postcard on a computer screen. You can believe me when I say I'm a big fan of all the modern racing and I'm not looking at it through rose-coloured glasses because I wasn't watching the racing when Aldana et al were involved. However, I like to think I know a bit about the sport and the characters involved. I didn't need telling it was a big deal Coolbeth didn't make the main. I knew it was poignant that one racer who normally runs 7 chose 69 instead. I knew that when the cameras were concentrating on race at the front that it was almost equally important to the season-long battle that Bryan Smith finished 11th. I know all that, because I try and watch every race if I can. But flat track needs more than people like me. It needs people who don't know a single thing about flat track to turn up or tune in to their local race. 

I wasn't at the race yesterday but a few things stuck out. Chris Carr (who knows a bit about Peoria and the sport in general) repeatedly commented that this was the closest race Wiles had ever had in 11 straight wins at Peoria. So, it was a good one. 

Secondly, the crowd looked a bit thin and, just from the glimpses I got, mainly of an older generation. I have no problem with an older generation and their money is as good for the sport as anyone's but it's indicative a withering, ageing fanbase.

The entry for the expert class was very small. In 2010, 47 riders posted times in Expert (GNC1 qualifying). In 2015, 26 GNC riders posted a qualifying time. Are 450 DTX bikes bringing more money or riders into the sport? From that scrap of evidence, you'd have to say no. So, if that's the case perhaps you try something else. Right? If the entries aren't healthy, concentrate on something that brings more money and interest to the cream of riders (like MotoGP does), rather than trying to make it a democratic sport lots of people can enter. The grassroots will do that and the cream will rise to the top. 

Now, my comment about Peoria being a crappy MX race. This is not my take on the race, but my clumsy attempt at describing what the person on the street, the non-expert sees. It was headline-grabbing to stir thought and emotion. It worked in Randon's case.

Look back at my posts and I've never doubted the quality of DTX racing, but this ISN'T about racing. This is about marketing the sport to secure its future. This is about USPs (unique selling points) and, of course, there are are forgettable twin races sometimes. 

There are too many sports and pastimes all looking for spectator and sponsor dollars. Show a photo or clip of Henry Wiles going over the Peoria jump to anyone and it looks like MX. No one can argue that. It has NO USP. Randon, you are an expert, you can see the nuance and detail. But to survive, AMA Pro Racing has decided to stop worrying about the fans it has now and chase the fans and sponsors it doesn't currently have. Running twins at Peoria is not going to lose any current fans or spectators, but it has the chance to attract a lot more simply because it will be unique. Of course, this will only happen if it can get the message out and market itself well.

Also, I want to add that the Peoria club and the racers do a great job to put on a race and even though there were some crashes, the hold-ups and injuries were minimal, thanks to air fences etc. People who love the sport respond with emotion when they read their favourite race called a crappy MX race, but I still believe AMA Pro Racing are looking at (or at least for) the bigger picture and revolutions always put someone's nose out of joint. 

Please feel free to leave a comment on this. If, for whatever reason, you can't leave a comment and really want to, you can email us dirt @ sideburnmagazine.com and I'll cut and paste your email into the comments section. G

Peoria TT - Today

Henry Wiles

Jared Mees

Jake Johnson (who has sat out half the season, but is now standing in for Brad Baker in the factory Harley team). 

If your name isn't Henry Wiles, you're the underdog today. He's won the last ten Peoria TTs on the bounce and won a non-National short track last night, ahead of Sammy Halbert (who was running #69 in honour of his late brother) and Scott Baker.

The rider who I think could have pushed Wiles the hardest, Brad Baker, broke his leg hitting some debris (that was rumoured by be from a dirt track racecar, but I haven't heard for sure) at the recent Black Hills GNC round in Sturgis.
Jared Mees will be up for a fight, but will be happy with a podium to keep his title defence on track.

This is likely to be the last Peoria TT National the Experts will ride 450s at because of somewhat controversial proposed changes to the AMA GNC rules, that will mean Experts ride twins in ALL race, TT or short track.

Today's race is available to watch live on fanschoice.tv
Here are the timings to watch online.

Practice/qualifying: 11:30 a.m. ET (8:30 a.m. PT) Pre-race show: 1:45 p.m. ET (10:45 a.m. PT)  Opening ceremonies: 2:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. PT)  Heat races: 3 p.m. ET (noon PT) GNC2 main: 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT)  GNC1 main: 5:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. PT)

These photos, from Peoria 2014, courtesy of AMA Pro Racing. G

Lima Pea Gravel Protection

From Roger in Ohio

I took these with my phone while touring the pits at the Lima 1/2 mile national well before practice started. Many of these bikes have expensive paintwork and components that do not stand up well to the violent Lima pea gravel spray thrown off rear tires in the turns. You can see the extensive care taken by some of the teams to protect the bikes while maintaining the appearance of the machines. Almost the whole frame was done on Brandon Robinson's #44 Triumph.

Indy Mile

Another great race, showing how very different lines can work on a deep cushion mile.
But THREE red flags, so pick the bones out of this one.
AMA Pro Flat Track has been unpredictable and exciting this year, but the red flags aren't going to help those who want to get flat track on mainstream TV (the X Games put the sport in front of the masses, but I can't see it happening for the whole season).

Go to fanschoice.tv to watch the 2015 Indy Mile. G

DuQuoin Mile: Watch This Race

We can't embed the AMA Pro Racing videos here any more, you have to go to the FansChoice.tv website, but I urge you to go check out this race from Saturday night, in DuQuoin, Illinois. There's quite a lot of build up before the beginning that you can skip if you're in a hurry, but if you have time, listen to Chris Carr's expert punditry.

Of the 18 starters, there are 9 Kawasaki, 5 Harley, 2 Triumph, 1 Ducati, 1 KTM.

There's a red flag just under midway. The two sections either side of the stoppage are very different, but both hugely entertaining.

Watch the 2015 DuQuoin Mile. G

Springfield Mile: Main

Springfield Mile: This Weekend

After what seems like six months since the season opener at the Daytona double-header in March, the AMA Grand National Championship gets back under way at Springfield, Illinois this weekend. Here are some of the keys changes for 2015:

• Former #1 Jake Johnson has moved from Ramspur Lloyd Brothers to Hart Racing Kawasaki.
• Troy Bayliss and Johnny Lewis are on the Lloyd Brothers Ducati Scrambler 1000.
• Mikey Martin has moved from Triumph to Weirbach Kawasaki.
• Brandon Robinson is on the Bonneville Performance Castrol Triumph.
• 2013 Rookie of the Year Jake Shoemaker on the Bonneville Performance Triumph.
• Cory Texter is racing the new Yamaha USA 'factory' FZ-07-powered parallel twin.
• Two-time Daytona 200 winner (and winner of the 2015 race) Danny Eslick is racing an XR750 at Springfield.
• Nichole Mees (nee Cheza) has announced this will be her last full twins season.
• Sammy Halbert has teamed up with legendary tuner Johnny Goad. 
• Henry Wiles is with Zanotti (Coolbeth's teammate).
• Top contenders Mees, Coolbeth, Brad Baker and Smith all stay with the same teams.

Plus the AMA will still work with Fanschoice.tv to deliver live feeds of all the races and now they have Chris Carr giving expert analysis. The presenting team have back-up from Dani Medin, a former snowmobile racer with FHM-cover-friendly looks. At first I thought, come on, really? Then she started asking questions from a complete novice's perspective that made Chris Carr explain just why things happen the way they happen. Even if I knew some (not all) of the answers, Carr puts so much meat on the bones of what could be simple answers, it made it a great section in what could easily have been a boring wait for the racing to start. 

The Fan's Choice coverage is still not what you'd call high budget, but this year is a massive leap forward. It's stripped down and informative and the best blanket coverage the sport has ever had.

And because it's America you can hardly notice the subliminal advertising they have Chris Carr doing in some of the links (see above). But this is a buyer's market and flat track needs the coverage, so if Chris comes on dressed as Colonel Sanders and talks about a finger-lickin' move Stevie Bonsey put on Chad Cose, I'll still lap it up. G

UPDATE: Chris Carr will be selling Sideburn current and back issues in the pits at Peoria's All Star race and the All-Star race at Springfield on Sunday. Go buy a few.

Troy Bayliss's Mile Missile

This is the first shot (or computer-generated mock-up) we've seen of Troy Bayliss's Lloyd Brothers Ducati and it looks great. I wonder what all the hipster-haters* are going to think of this Scrambler-sponsored Mile weapon with a true legend on board? They won't know whether they should love it or hate it, but they'll wait for someone to tell them.

The former World Superbike champion is scheduled to race the five GNC miles this year, the first being Springfield at the end of May. And he's team mates with long-time friend of the mag, Johnny Lewis.

We featured the original Lloyd Brothers Ducati, from which this bike is a development, back in Sideburn 4, in 2009, jut saying. G

Troy Bayliss Race Calendar –AMA Pro Flat Track 2015 Series

 24 May - Springfield Mile (Round 3)
30 May - Sacramento Mile (Round 4)
4 July - Du Quoin Mile (Round 7)
11 July - Indy Mile (Round 8)
6 September - Springfield Mile II (Round 13)

* that's haters of hipsters, not hipsters who are haters

Sammy's Framer

After years of racing his own Harley XR twin, Sammy got on a Kawasaki twin and won. The Savannah, Georgia race was a non-AMA event, but with plenty of top riders all in the South-East for Daytona Speed Week.
I thought Sammy had done a deal with Yamaha, so I was surprised to see photos of him on this bike.
If he is running his own show again, it's likely he'll keep his XR750 for the half-miles, that Harleys still  do so well on.
Not tied to one manufacturer, Jake Johnson had Harley, Ducati and Kawasaki to choose from in the twin races last year. G

Daytona Short Track 2: Main Event

Perhaps you saw the result for Friday night's race and thought it would be boring to watch. I did. I was wrong.
This is a 25-lap short track national, so the race is only about ten minutes, just fast forward till you see them on the grid. Anyone who wants to see a master class in short track racing should watch Coolbeth in this race and watch how he steers into the corner. Amazing. G

Daytona ST 1 Main Event

Last night's main event.
We purposely don't put results on the blog for those who like watching these AMA Pro Racing/ Fans Choice videos we post.

Tonight's is on fanschoice.tv now, unless you're reading this tomorrow, in which case it isn't. G

AMA Season Starts Today!

The season kicks off in Daytona tonight. With the second night of the double-header tomorrow. You can watch live on fanschoice.tv

Moving in line with the MotoGP world, the Expert class is now called GNC1 and the Pro (support) class is GNC2. Here's all the info from the AMA... (ET is Eastern time (New York time) if you're trying to work it out from anywhere else in the world)

On-track action begins both days with practice sessions at 3:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. PT). The pre-race show is slated for 6:15 p.m. ET (3:15 p.m PT) to 7:15 p.m. ET (4:15 p.m. PT) and opening ceremonies are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. PT). The GNC2 main is set for a 9:40 p.m. ET (6:40 p.m. PT) start with the Bruce Rossmeyer's Daytona Harley-Davidson GNC1 main slated to see the green flag at 10:10 p.m. ET (7:10 p.m. PT).

Every session from the "World Center of Racing" will be streamed live for fans around the world at FansChoice.tv. 

Jared Mees will begin his GNC1 title defense, sporting the No. 1 plate for the third time in his career, but he'll be facing off against the likes of Bryan Smith - last year's runner-up for the GNC1 title - Brad Baker, Kenny Coolbeth, Jr., Jake Johnson and the rest of the star-studded field. 

In 2014, Briar Bauman and Coolbeth kicked their seasons off on the right note. Bauman took the first checkered flag on opening night with Coolbeth putting on a clinic in Round 2 to earn the victory. 

In the GNC2 class, Ryan Wells and Brandon Wilhelm left Daytona Beach with victories to start the season. 

Kyle Johnson, the 2014 GNC2 champion, and Jarod Vanderkooi, winner of four GNC2 races last year, highlight a rookie class moving up the elite ranks to challenge Mees, Smith, Johnson and the others. 

The GNC1 lineup is full of potential winners. Sammy Halbert, Johnny Lewis, Mikey Rush and Brandon Robinson have all won main events at DAYTONA Flat Track since the new circuit debuted in 2010, and none can be counted out in 2015. 

DAYTONA Flat Track will also play host to, for the first time in AMA Pro Flat Track in history, a brother and sister racing with National Numbers. Shayna Texter will debut her new No. 52 and join her brother, Cory Texter, owner of No. 65. 

Baker, the 2013 Grand National Champion, will be back in the saddle after suffering a shoulder injury at the Superprestigio exhibition race in Barcelona, Spain, in December. His status has been the subject of speculation recently, but the Factory Harley-Davidson rider has confirmed he'll be in the field Thursday. 

Jared Mees' wife, Nichole Mees, will not be in the field at Daytona, but plans to run other races in 2015, which she said will be her final season. 

The entry list also has plenty of international flair with Doug Lawrence and Michael LaBella representing Canada in the GNC1 ranks and Italian Vittorio Marzotto and England's [the DTRA's!] Alan Birtwistle racing in GNC2.

Troy Bayliss to Race in GNC

Road race hero Troy Bayliss, one of the proper good guys in world racing, is going to race a select number of GNC Miles on the Lloyd Brothers Ducati this season.

At the age of 45, the former car sprayer has had a second wind. He is Aussie dirt track and Supermoto champ. He raced at the Superprestigio (but didn't make the final) and hosts his own high profile, star-studded Troy Bayliss Classic flat track race in his hometown of Taree.

The announcement is getting non-FT fans very excited, which has only got to be good for the sport.

Bayliss is one of a handful of riders to win a MotoGP and WSB race (Bayliss didn't just win a WSB race, he won 52 of them and three WSB titles). Bayliss, Hayden, Biaggi, Kocinski, Checa... Who am I missing?

All Bayliss's wins were on Ducati, so the link with Lloyd Brothers make sense.

If Bayliss has a good showing (easier said than done), perhaps it will convince Nicky Hayden to pack in being an also-ran on an uncompetitive bike in MotoGP and go back to his first love.

The Lloyd Brothers Ducati won back in 2010 with Joe Kopp on board. It was Ducati's first and, so far, only GNC win. Two-time GNC champ Jake Johnson rode for Ramspur Winery-Supported Lloyd Brothers team in 2014, and had the choice of XR750, Kawasaki and Ducati (see above, our own snaps from Pomona in October).

Out of the 12 mile or half-mile races, he chose the Ducati four times; XR750 five times and the Kawasaki three times. In a very consistent season he was never lower than sixth,. He scored two seconds on the XR, one second on the Kawasaki, but 'only' three fourths and a fifth on the Italian bike. G

Bayliss in Australian dirt track action. 

On the 1098 Superbike.

And the Desmosedici. It's going to be great to see him on the Miles. He sounds confident and Jared Mees is quoted as saying he's ready (though he's hardly going to say he'll get his ass handed to him). 

AMA Rule Changes

From AMA HQ...

For the 2015 season, the winner of the Dash for Cash will be awarded one championship point, but no other finishers will earn points for their performance. Instead, the starting lineup for the GNC1 main will be based on finishing position in the Dash. 

Previously, the top five finishers in the six-rider Dash for Cash earned championship points, with five points awarded to the winner. The change in point distribution promises to keep championship battles even tighter as the season progresses.  

In 2014, three riders were alive for the title at the season finale in Pomona, Calif., but under the new point schedule, even more would have had a shot at the championship in the final round. 

"It's a good thing, for sure," 2013 Grand National Champion Brad Baker and rider of the No. 6 Factory Harley-Davidson said. "The Dash for Cash, you're not recognized for second, third, fourth or fifth. You go out there and you should want to win it."