Costa Mesa Speedway

Orange County Fairgrounds - Costa Mesa, CA

2001 Freestyle Motorcycle Jumping
Costa Mesa Speedway
June 2, 2001
From Ryan Evans

Three-time National Champion Flyin Mike Faria won his second consecutive Scratch Main and his third of the season in front of a standing room only crowd at Costa Mesa Saturday Night.

Faria drew the pole for the main event. Josh Larsen, fresh off his brilliant maximum-score victory in the North American World Championship Qualifier at Auburn the night before, lined up in gate two. The two combatants left the line together but Faria's inside position was crucial in turn one as he took the lead on the inside. Bobby Schwartz, starting in gate four, used the outside line to try to pass both riders on the first lap. Faria immediately put space between he and Larsen, who had his hands full with Schwartz. Larsen secured second as Schwartz began running out dirt on the outside and eventually faded back. Faria cruised to the victory with Larsen finishing second, Gary Hicks was third, Schwartz was fourth, and Randy DiFrancesco was fifth.

Kitt Nay started at the tapes and was the early leader of the Handicap Main. Nay was closely followed by Junior National Champion Bryan Yarrow and Jim Estes. Estes went down in turn one of the third lap and brought out the red flag. Estes was ordered to start from the penalty line on the restart, which would begin with two laps in the books, and six laps left to complete.

Nay again led Yarrow on the restart and finished lap three with the lead, but fell in turn one. 16 year old Yarrow felt the heat immediately as 17 year old Ryan Fisher was closing fast. Yarrow did an excellent job of holding Fisher back for two laps, but Fisher found on opening at the end of lap six and took the lead. Fisher ran away with the victory with Schwartz finishing second, Eddie Castro finished third, Chris Manchester was fourth, and Faria was fifth.

For Fisher, the victory capped a spectacular week for the three-time Junior National Champion. He was second overall, after being defeated in a runoff for the victory, at the Under 21 World Championship Quarterfinal Round in Pfaffenhofen, Germany the previous Sunday. He also finished third at the North American World Championship Qualifier in Auburn the night before, earning a spot at the Overseas Final in Poole, England later this month.

After three riders were eliminated, the Denim Doctor Challenge boiled down to two riders, Larsen and Faria. The two-lap race had Larsen starting in gate three with Faria in gate four. Larsen took the lead as they entered turn one, but Faria went to the outside. At the end of lap one Larsen was in front, but Faria was battling hard on the outside. Larsen cleanly took away Faria's line on the front straight and held him back to take the victory.

Gerry Duttweiler immediately grabbed the lead at the start of the Support Main Event and put some distance between himself and the field. David Lynch was running second, but wasn't gaining ground. On the fourth lap, Lynch began making up ground and putting some pressure on Duttweiler. As they took the white flag, Duttweiler had little room for error. Lynch was close enough to make it interesting, but Duttweiler held on for the victory. Sean McDougall, making his first appearance of 2001, finished third, and Randy Kreps was fourth.

The speedway riders were definitely fired up and willing to put on a great show for the huge crowd. The standing room only crowd was treated to some great racing and a spectacular show put on by the Freestyle Motocross Jumpers, who made their first of two annual appearances at Costa Mesa. The Freestyle Jumpers have been a very successful promotion over the past few seasons as they have always been very spectacular with their aerial moves and have drawn overflow crowds for every appearance at the world famous oval.

Next week is the fourth annual Jack Milne Cup which honors the 1937 World Speedway Champion who played an integral part in the founding of Costa Mesa and the success it has enjoyed for over thirty years. Defending Champion Charlie Venegas is still recuperating from an injury suffered in an ice race in the off-season and will not compete leaving the door open for a new champion to be crowned.

RESULTS

Support Main Event
200 - Gerry Duttweiler
131 - David Lynch
243 - Sean McDougall            10
165 - Randy Kreps              10
177 - Mark Hitchcock           (fell)
223 - Bobby Krips               (two minutes)

Denim Doctor Challenge
  4 - Josh Larsen
  9 - Mike Faria
166 - Andy Northrup
 36 - Ryan Fisher
  3 - Gary Hicks              (fell)

Handicap Main Event
 36 - Ryan Fisher              40
 11 - Bobby Schwartz          40
 14 - Eddie Castro             40
130 - Chris Manchester         50
  9 - Mike Faria               50
254 - Bryan Yarrow             0
 56 - Jim Estes              20  (penalty line)
216 - Kitt Nay                 0  (fell, remounted)

Scratch Main Event
  9 - Mike Faria
  4 - Josh Larsen
  3 - Gary Hicks
 11 - Bobby Schwartz
 12 - Randy DiFrancesco