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Others, JUST DO IT!
ABSOLUTELY PERFECT! MALAN WINS GRAN PRIX FINAL Lake Elsinore Shines
Lake Elsinore, CA - November 18 - On what had to be considered Chamber of Commerce weather, the final race of the eight-event BPMS Gran Prix Series took place under near-perfect racing conditions. There were some fast racers out there, Namely, David Wulf (Yamaha - Team Lobo), who took off, got a hole shot and was not to be seen. He said he was close to reaching the 80 m.p.h. mark on his Yamaha GPR1200.
(Late news. We just found out that he was clocked on his third lap at 83.7 mph on the back straight!)
By all accounts, Wulf was definitely faster than anyone out there. Because of the water conditions this weekend, it was definitely possible to have reached those speeds. So was Billy Womack (Polaris), who managed to stay behind Wulf, although fading with every lap. But fast only counts when you’re in the podium talking about it. In the above two cases, a broken throttle for Wulf after his eighth spectacular laps, sent him back to the pits; and a broken shaft by Womack after his fourth lap, made the whole speed-thing mute for them. Wulf had this same problem earlier in the year while also leading. So the throttle cable situation has to be definitely looked at if Wulf wants to make his mark at the upcoming National Team Endurance event. At the end, when it counted, Tracy Malan (Kawasaki, Victorville Kawasaki, Chaparral P.T., Wendy’s) took the Absolute Overall and Overall Master titles back to Apple Valley, CA with a 65 mph average with two fuel stops in the process. He was just steady in his performance, constant in his speed and as he has done for most of the year, he was unstoppable. Kawasaki Motors ought to look at this guy, as he has dominated his class all year long in Long Course and at several GP events. He shows up with some pretty good stuff and is performing 'magic' on his Ultra 150. He finished with 17 laps in the two-hours, on an almost 8 mile race course which is about 130-miles- plus. Not bad! Second overall and top Pro Open was Jeff Bukamier (SeaDoo - Group-K, Hollywood Honda, Coffman’s, Hydro-Turf, Beach House, Slippery, Skat-Trak, Maxima Oil), who was the only other racer to log as many laps, 17. Dennis Marshall (Yamaha - Marshall Motorsports, Aqua-Sports, R.P.M., Cycle Rider), finally put it all together, and kept charging hard throughout the race to wind up as the third overall and first in the Veteran Class. As stated, the weather really cooperated and the racers really seemed to like the race course layout, which took advantage of about one half of the entire Lake Elsinore. “This was a great course,” said Follmer. Indeed, the same course will be used for the IJSBA’s Team Endurance National Championships, December 16, 2000, unless the City allows the use of the entire lake, which could take the race course up to about a 12-mile race course. Other Class winners were: Jamie Lopez (Yamaha - Team Lobo), Expert Open, ran hard to uphold the only win from the Team Lobo stable of riders; Alex Brooke (SeaDoo XP - Overall Bone Stock) was super fast with a showroom stock ride; Cathleen Kramer (SeaDoo XPL - Novice Open) nursing a hairline sprain on her right hand and all taped up, did an absolutely magnificent job to nail the Novice Class win; Scott Ritchel (Nov 785) was tough in the 785 Class; and Paul Ellis (SeaDoo XP - Expert 785), as he had done all year long, dominated the Expert “785” Class. The results and points standings are unofficial until December 10, at which time, the Class points titles will become final. Check them out.
On behalf of BP MotorSports and the entire Peralta Family and Friends and Volunteers, we’d like to congratulate all the winners, and all the participants who supported these eight events in the Series. It has been a great year of racing, and we’re looking forward to an even better, more exciting and more powerful series in 2001. Don’t forget, there’s still the big one, the “300” which this year will be the IJSBA’s National Team Endurance Championships, December 16, 2000. We hope to see everyone there.
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BUKAMIER AND HOWARD ROCKET TO TEAM WIN LAKE ELSINORE TEAM ENDURANCE #6
Lake Elsinore, CA - The second half of the day’s program was with the running of the penultimate Team Endurance race of the season. All there’s left is the big one, December 16, the “300,” but more on that later. Right from the get-go, the team of Jeff Bukamier and Ed Howard (SeaDoo - Group-K, North Hollywood Honda, R & D, Bell, Novi, Coffman’s, IMS, Beach House, Skat Trak, Slippery, Maxima, Peralta Designs), served notice of the standard everyone else would have to maintain in order to beat them. It didn’t happen. The team put a wire-to-wire win, logging 20 laps in the 2.5 hour event, and finishing in a time of 2:31:10 hrs. to capture the Absolute Overall and Overall Pro Open titles. Only one other team was able to stay close to the leaders, also with 20 laps, and that was the team of Jamie Lopez and Greg Saugstad (Yamaha - Team Lobo, Yamaha Motors, Factory Pipe, R & D, Skat Trak, Group-K, Dragon, Novi). They finished 2nd overall and First in the Expert Open Class and completed their 20 laps in a time of 2:32:38. Vinnie Ferrara and Jim Hart (SeaDoo - R.P.M. Racing), nailed the third overall spot and placed second in the Expert Open Class with 19 laps in 2:31:45. While weather and lake conditions remained near-perfect, a bit of wind picked up late in the game, which according to some, made the Western portion of the lake and the back side of the course, a little rougher and more challenging. In fact, one of the racers said, “It looks smooth from here at the finish line, but on the back stretch, it’s a lot rougher. Just look at the wakes generated every time someone hits the water hard.” The race ran smooth, although with only 13 teams in contention, there was hardly any incident that would concern the safety of the racer. As in the GP earlier, attrition was the big problem. Especially running in smooth waters, the mechanical problems were rampant. Every time you looked over the pits, there was someone working on their PWC. The one thing racers know, that in either Team Endurance or in Gran Prix racing, there’s no quitting. You have problems, you fix them, you go back out, because you never know where some of the early leaders are ultimately going to wind up. As a result other class winners were: Alex Brooke and Randy Ross took the Open Bone Stock Class; Shawn Phan and Luyen Tran nailed the Beginner Bone Stock Class; Ken Fragen and Kurt Hoehn topped the Master Class, while Paul Ellis and Scott Ritchell won the Expert “785” Class. Top Veteran team went to Jill O’Leary and Judy Fischer, and lastly, the father and son team and first-timers to any of BPMS event, Frank and Joe Pecora, won the Novice Open Class. The gauntlet was set by the overall winners...2.5 hours, 20 laps. That’s the standard to look towards, when the IJSBA National Team Endurance Championships roll in to Lake Elsinore, December 16, 2000. It looks like the “300” mile, six-hour event should reach between 50 and 55 laps in the allotted time, as long as the race course remains basically the same and the weather is as good as was this past weekend. A big order. But we’ll have to wait until then to resolve the question. With just one event left in the BPMS calendar, that being the “300,” the racing is just about done in a year which saw some highs and lows, similar to the conditions of the sport and industry. Nonetheless, BPMS remains committed to an even better and more exciting racing season in 2001. Keep an eye in BP’s web site (http://www.bpracing.net) for the details. BPMS would like to thank the City of Lake Elsinore, it officers and agents, and the Sheriff/Police Departments for assisting in the race and also LEMSAR a volunteer aquatic group who help keep the perimeter of the race course safe and unobstructed by non-racers. Med- Event was bored to death, which is the way BP likes to keep their emergency services. Thanks to them as well. It was a great weekend all around, and we look forward to our return in December 16, for the world’s longest PWC continuous race, the “300.” Be there!
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