Triumph Motorsports' Justin
Noss wins the infamous Adelanto Grand Prix
 |
Justin Noss
Sails his Yamaha YFZ450 ATV through the
air
|
Corona, CA (3/19/2008) - The Desert
Vipers Motorcycle Club held the Adelanto Grand Prix
for the 28th consecutive time. The date was Feb.
23rd & 24th. If you didn’t already know,
this is the biggest Grand Prix in the country! It
is so big that the population in Adelanto doubles
when this race comes to town. From dirt bikes to
quads and beginners to pros, they have a class for
everyone. What was predicted to be a mud race due
to the weather forecast, turned out to be just cold
and windy. The growth of the city forced the promoters
to move the race further away from houses and businesses
this year. The downfall being, a start and finish
that was about 3 miles away from each other, which
meant a lot of walking.
Like most Grand Prix’s, the racetrack consists
of an asphalt start with many high-speed straight-aways.
After many miles through fast, smooth desert,
you encounter some very deep sandy whoops, which
for many is the most difficult part of the track.
This year’s quad pro champion, Justin Noss,
quotes, “The rougher the section was, the
more I had an advantage on the rest of the competitors,
thanks to my Noleen J6 shocks.” More on
him later. With spectators camping around the
entire track, there was always someone cheering
you on for support. They held the track portion
of this year’s race at Adelanto Motoplex.
The track had a good selection of jumps, including
the famous water jump, triple, and over-under.
This section was also where all of the vendors
and sponsors were located, along with the finish
line.
With around 200 quad entries, this was a race
everyone made sure they were able to watch. All
quads race at the same time, pros starting first
and beginners starting last. Unfortunately, there
was a very serious crash in the beginning of the
race, which forced officials to black flag all
the quads and do a restart. After everyone refueled
and made it back to the starting line, every bike
was shut off waiting for the flag to drop.
The pro class saw Justin Noss out in front through
the first corner. With a quick lead change in
the first mile, Noss sat back and rode smart waiting
for his fellow racer to fatigue and make a mistake.
It didn’t take but 30 seconds for that to
happen, and then he was back in first. When Noss
found himself around 45 seconds ahead of second
place after just one lap, he continued to leave
his competitors in the dust as he pushed his Yamaha
450 to the limit. With the race being a lap less
due to the first race incident, Noss knew his
endurance would easily keep him in the lead. With
friends and family cheering him on, the pace and
intensity was kept high. Noss quotes, “I
didn’t think I would be able to last at
that speed the entire race, but when I was in
front and not being pressured, it gave me a little
extra drive”. When he came around the last
lap to find the checkered flag, the excitement
got high as his suspension mechanic, Clark Jones,
was the first to congratulate him on his victory.
Concentrating mainly on MX racing, Noss said
he would’ve liked to prepare his bike a
little bit better for a grand prix race if he
were to do another one. “The only thing
I changed for this race was tires and wheels,
otherwise it was exactly like my MX race quad.
I mainly was just lacking top speed due to mile
long straight-aways, which could’ve been
fixed with taller gearing,” says Noss. All
in all, Noss said it was one of the most exciting
races he has ever done and looks forward to doing
more. Noss stated he would like to thank “Yamaha
Motor Corp., Noleen J6, Triumph Motorsports, Walsh,
RPM, IMS-ROLL, Yoshimura, Troy Lee Designs, Spy,
Gaerne, Total Performance, B&B Cycles, and
of course, my dad.” Like many off-road racers,
sponsors play a huge role in helping to keep the
cost of racing down and supplying good products
to out perform and outlast the competition. Justin
said in his case, the earnings for the win will
go back into the sport he loves so he can continue
to race as long as possible.
Triumph
Motorsports
1210 E. 6th St. - Suite H
Corona, CA. 92879
(866)-207-1447
|
