Walker Sky Ranch
03-26-2008, 09:55 AM
5x experience San Felipe 250
I am posting this for a friend, and I thought all of you would enjoy this prespective.
written by Dave Simon:
One of the oddest days in motorcycle offroad history transpired on March 15th, 2008. Not only was it the running of the San Felipe 250 but it was the last day the the true Honda factory offroad effort existed. It was also the last ride of Steve Hengeveld for Factory Honda. He was the only factory rider left and it was his last day on his contract to boot.
So what's the real story on the last day of factory Honda? Well, since I'm the guy who owns F2 racing and the guy who built the engine in Steve's bike, I was there every step of the way and I'm going to fill you in.
It started with Steve not wanting to join the JCR satellite team. Politics took over and from this time on, he was pretty much ousted. Knowing he was on his own for the 250, he asked me to get into the bike and build the engine. I did my part and with the help of his dad Gary, we were ready to roll.
Steve didn't think he could win trying to solo the event, since the first 30 miles of the track are big gnarly 4 ft tall whoops, so he asked Mike Childress if he wanted to race with him. Mike has stupid natural talent and is one of the funniest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, but there is a risk that comes with that speed, and that is crashing. It was a chance worth taking.
Pre-running went well. I had no idea what I was in for. Bent wheels due to many rocks buried under ground, envision extreme flying W's, and 5 mile stretches of beating sand whoops, kind of wear you down after 100 miles. My CRF 450R with developmental F2 racing engine ran 103mph down a sandy uphill and those two still just left me down the whoops. Their bikes aren't faster, they are. Speed met nothing here, skill meant everything. You have no idea how fast these two are if they want to be.
Anyhow, the plan for race day that was Mike would run the first 30 miles to compete with David Pearson, KTM's ringer through the whoops, and then hand her off to Steve. Robby Bell started first, followed by David, followed by two others I don't know, then us (5x). We figured Mike would come in to 30 in third if all went well. How surprised we were when he showed up 3rd, at 6 minutes down corrected time, with a dislocated wrist.
It was a Honda pit guy, who said with everyone else swapping though the big whoops, he had never seen anyone as fluid and poetic though them as Mikey, at least for the first 10 miles. That's where he compressed into a whoop and hit terra firma hard. He instantly dislocated his wrist and his goggles flew off and ejected off the bike. After coming back too, he got his goggles on and got the bike started, he was disorientated and started going the wrong way on the track. Seeing bikes coming at him, he figured it out and turned around, only to ride 20 more miles with one hand to Steve,
This is where Steve "superman" Hengeveld took over. Not taking anything away from Mike, because most would have stopped at 10. Steve was on the bike and on the gas before I even had a chance to look at it. Since the pipe bracket broke when Mike hit the ground, this was bad.
As Steve was flying down the Mutomi wash, the bike really started to lose power. He thought it was siezing up. Turns out, the rest of the pipe had broken and the muffler was hanging off the bike, bending the mid pipe almost shut. He ran down the whole wash at about 50% power. Not until the pipe fully broke off, did he get some power back.
The tire lost all knobs, leaving him with no center knobs, but steel cords and carcass instead. He never stopped to change it. Only gas at the pits. He was a man on a mission.
When he finally finished, he was second by 6-1/2 minutes. Luckily KTM broke again. It was a miracle he finished, let alone second place and only down 6-1/2.
Check out the pictures of the bike after the race and you have to agree, you have to respect these guys.
Wish us luck for the 500. There will be alot of testing info and up to dates on www.F2racing.net. There will also be some video. Thanks
Dave Simon
The sunrise before the start:
http://www.friedneckbones.com/f2sf250_08/1.JPG
I am posting this for a friend, and I thought all of you would enjoy this prespective.
written by Dave Simon:
One of the oddest days in motorcycle offroad history transpired on March 15th, 2008. Not only was it the running of the San Felipe 250 but it was the last day the the true Honda factory offroad effort existed. It was also the last ride of Steve Hengeveld for Factory Honda. He was the only factory rider left and it was his last day on his contract to boot.
So what's the real story on the last day of factory Honda? Well, since I'm the guy who owns F2 racing and the guy who built the engine in Steve's bike, I was there every step of the way and I'm going to fill you in.
It started with Steve not wanting to join the JCR satellite team. Politics took over and from this time on, he was pretty much ousted. Knowing he was on his own for the 250, he asked me to get into the bike and build the engine. I did my part and with the help of his dad Gary, we were ready to roll.
Steve didn't think he could win trying to solo the event, since the first 30 miles of the track are big gnarly 4 ft tall whoops, so he asked Mike Childress if he wanted to race with him. Mike has stupid natural talent and is one of the funniest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, but there is a risk that comes with that speed, and that is crashing. It was a chance worth taking.
Pre-running went well. I had no idea what I was in for. Bent wheels due to many rocks buried under ground, envision extreme flying W's, and 5 mile stretches of beating sand whoops, kind of wear you down after 100 miles. My CRF 450R with developmental F2 racing engine ran 103mph down a sandy uphill and those two still just left me down the whoops. Their bikes aren't faster, they are. Speed met nothing here, skill meant everything. You have no idea how fast these two are if they want to be.
Anyhow, the plan for race day that was Mike would run the first 30 miles to compete with David Pearson, KTM's ringer through the whoops, and then hand her off to Steve. Robby Bell started first, followed by David, followed by two others I don't know, then us (5x). We figured Mike would come in to 30 in third if all went well. How surprised we were when he showed up 3rd, at 6 minutes down corrected time, with a dislocated wrist.
It was a Honda pit guy, who said with everyone else swapping though the big whoops, he had never seen anyone as fluid and poetic though them as Mikey, at least for the first 10 miles. That's where he compressed into a whoop and hit terra firma hard. He instantly dislocated his wrist and his goggles flew off and ejected off the bike. After coming back too, he got his goggles on and got the bike started, he was disorientated and started going the wrong way on the track. Seeing bikes coming at him, he figured it out and turned around, only to ride 20 more miles with one hand to Steve,
This is where Steve "superman" Hengeveld took over. Not taking anything away from Mike, because most would have stopped at 10. Steve was on the bike and on the gas before I even had a chance to look at it. Since the pipe bracket broke when Mike hit the ground, this was bad.
As Steve was flying down the Mutomi wash, the bike really started to lose power. He thought it was siezing up. Turns out, the rest of the pipe had broken and the muffler was hanging off the bike, bending the mid pipe almost shut. He ran down the whole wash at about 50% power. Not until the pipe fully broke off, did he get some power back.
The tire lost all knobs, leaving him with no center knobs, but steel cords and carcass instead. He never stopped to change it. Only gas at the pits. He was a man on a mission.
When he finally finished, he was second by 6-1/2 minutes. Luckily KTM broke again. It was a miracle he finished, let alone second place and only down 6-1/2.
Check out the pictures of the bike after the race and you have to agree, you have to respect these guys.
Wish us luck for the 500. There will be alot of testing info and up to dates on www.F2racing.net. There will also be some video. Thanks
Dave Simon
The sunrise before the start:
http://www.friedneckbones.com/f2sf250_08/1.JPG