Eddie Mulder's West Coast Vintage Dirt Track Series - Willow Springs

September 27 and 28, 2008.

The Australian Invasion
The historic Willow Springs facility, specifically the Walt James Stadium dirt track, was the scene of the latest Australian invasion. Luke Gough, three-time Australian Long Track Champion and American dirt track sensation, attacked with a vengeance and conquered the track and most of the opposition.

The week prior to the races, Gough spent time with Tusk Racing and Johnson Cams’ Harold MacDonald at the shop of Triumph wizard Steve Berg where preparations were made for the Willow Springs assault. Having recently stuffed his powerful Honda CRF motor into his C&J frame, Gough was polishing off the installation and getting his weaponry prepared.

The invasion plan called for Gough to ride his CRF based framer in the Open Pro class and to ride one of Berg’s immaculately prepared 750 Triumphs in the Open Amateur class. This dual assault was planned to show the competition exactly what this young Aussie was capable of. He wanted this double-header event to set the tone for next season.

The Attack Begins
Saturday dawned bright and clear. The track, in typical Mulder fashion, was a work of dirt track art. It had been prepared for days and was as smooth and moisture packed as it could be in the 90 plus degree heat the high desert was serving.

During the first Open Pro practice session, Gough proved that he would be a force to be reckoned with as he blazed his way around the cushion track. With his rear tire grooved to mimic a trials tire, the cushioned track surface and the dry heat all made him think he was back in Australia for the weekend.

Open Amateur Heat Race
The first race was his Open Amateur heat race, his first actual event on a big twin. Gough had been looking forward to this for some time, the thrill of all that power propelling him down the straight away and then tossing that big beast into the corner where he could power through it while tossing a huge rooster-tail behind.

The start was interesting to say the least. With a narrow little speedway tire on the rear, traction was at a minimum. To add to the difficulty, the transmission was sensitive, requiring Gough to let the revs drop before he was able to punch it into the next gear. Just the act of shifting took some conscious effort as it was the first right side shifter Gough had ridden.

Once he had the big bike moving, he steamrolled his way to the front. Gough stated that initially the big bike was a bit scary because it was so heavy, it was more difficult to slow down going into the corners. Since this class had a combination of different types of motorcycles, the smaller bikes were able to slow down much quicker and it felt to Gough at times as if they were almost stopping in front of him. Once he figured out how to avoid the little bikes, he was able to make the most of the momentum and use that to his advantage and steamroll his way to the front.

Digger Helm Pro Open Heat Race
Luke next turned his attention to the Digger Helm Pro Open – Heat race. Lined up on the front row with Gough were Jared Mees, Chad Cose and a host of other great racers.

The track had been watered just before the race and this was Gough’s biggest problem. He had lined up without any tear-offs and he was sorry about that as soon as they headed into turn one and his goggles become covered in spray. He fought this problem the entire race.

The track surface had also become a little deep and heavy and this left Gough with a machine whose gearing was not spot on. The looseness of the surface made it slightly slower coming out of the corners and that put him behind the eight-ball. He was able to keep his head up though and follow winner Jared Mees and second place finisher Chad Cose across the line for third and an automatic transfer to the main event.

Open Amateur Main Event
After a scoring break, the Triumph domination continued into the afternoon as Luke took to the track for the first main event for the Open Amateur class. Another slow start off the line hindered Gough for all of about one lap. Once he had the steam up on the big Berg Triumph, there was no stopping him. He rolled up towards the front dispatching other racers at a rate that startled more than one as he was passed. He got a great drive through turns three adn four and nipped Eric England at the line for second place behind winner Tony Davila. Had his start been better, there is no doubt that Gough would have won this event.

Digger Helm Pro Open Main Event
With the gearing now corrected and gridded on the inside of row two, Gough had a plan to make the best of this position in order to get to the front of this 20 lap main event. Once the green flag dropped, Gough slid up the inside and was in fourth position coming out of turn two and onto the back straight. It was a really brilliant move that kept him out of the battle in the back and put him in the elite company of those up front. Sammy Halbert was leading on his XR750 with Jared Mees following on his big (676cc) Ron Woods prepared Rotax. Behind Mees, Gough was circling in third place with absolute perfection, holding his perfect line and wringing the little 450 for all it was worth. He was being slowly stalked by another Woods creation, the most immaculate 800cc BMW known to man ridden by Brandan Bergen.

Near the mid-point of the race, Halbert made a mistake between turns three and four and slid the big XR out and hung on to it while it went up to the hay bales. With the motor still running, Sammy jumped back in the fray and only a yellow flag flew for a few moments. This moved Luke into second position, but he was still being hounded by Bergen. Lap after lap Bergen chased Gough. Occasionally Bergen would reel him in a bit, but as they came into lapped traffic, Gough used them to hold Bergen back for a bit. On the last lap, Bergen chased Gough down and made a bar-banging pass coming out of turn two, relegating Gough to third. Try as Gough might, he couldn’t get back around Bergen in the final two corners and third would be his final position.

The final finishing order was Mees taking the big bucks, Bergen in second and Gough third on the first 450cc machine. It was an awesome race and Gough rode like a contender. He held is head down, rode smooth and consistently and more than earned his podium spot. At the awards presentation Mulder told the crowd how impressed he was by the way that Gough had ridden and hung in there with the top riders. The purse was the largest single payout that Gough collected all year.

The Battle Continues on Sunday
Mulder had the grater out working on the track as soon as the Saturday races were complete. When we got to the track Sunday morning they had put an entirely new surface on the track and packed and watered it. It was even better than it was on Saturday as it was a bit smoother, though it did get dried out a couple of times during the day.

Open Amateur Heat Race
Instead of the skinny tires from yesterday, they were changed over to a set of modern Maxxis tires. This made a big difference and made the front end of the bike feel more stable in the corners.Gough had learned from the ride on Saturday that if he got off the line slower, he could shift faster and actually get up to speed faster. This helped, but he was still just about last headed coming off the line in almost dead last. But by the time the group was heading down the back straight, Gough was already eating up the distance to the front.

By the time Gough crossed the finish line completing the second lap, he was in the lead! That was all she wrote. You could say that the fat lady sang right about then. Sure, there were a couple of more laps to go, but Gough made short work of those and took the checkered for his first win of the weekend.

Digger Helm Pro Open Heat Race
Back on his ultra potent CRF, Gough lined up on the pole position for the start of this heat race. When the green flag flew, Kayl Kolkman dove from outside and took the lead. Gough gave his full effort to dispatch Kolkman but had no luck whatsoever. He tried and gave it all he could, but a solid second took him directly to the main event.

Open Amateur Main Event
Another slow start for the Amateur main event, but by the back straight, Gough began reeling riders in. He headed down the back straight like a fighter jet fired from an aircraft carrier catapult. Competitors never knew what hit them as he flew by.

Headed for another easy victory, Gough went into turn three near the end of the second lap and the power stopped. Initially thinking it had just jumped out of gear, he tried going up a gear, nothing. He went down a gear and still nothing. He threw his hand up and went around the outside of the corner and pulled off the track. It was later determined that the toothed primary drive belt (connecting the crankshaft to the clutch basket) had stripped and was no longer providing power to the transmission. Thankfully a simple failure to the Berg powered machine and no major motor damage.

Digger Helm Pro Open Main Event
Second place in the heat race garnered Gough another back row start for the main event. He again used that position to his advantage. When the green flag flew, Jared Mees and Sammy Halbert went to the front. Gough wanted to stay with them and stayed low through turns one and two while most others slid high through the corner allowing him to move up to the front. Gough hit the back straight in fourth and beat Bergen into turn three moving into third position.

Gough was able to stay with the two big bikes for a number of laps. He had no possibility of passing the much more powerful machines, but he was able to stay within site hoping for some kind of mistake by either Mees or Halbert.

This entire time a very determined Bergen was nipping away with the more powerful BMW. Going into turn three, Bergen bumped Gough to the outside, pushing him back to sixth. It took a few laps, but Gough was able to work back up to fourth, right behind Bergen again and held that for the last couple of laps. This entire time, Shaun Russell had been gaining on a big-bore, Berg built 525cc CRF framer. Coming out of turn two on the last lap, Gough spun a bit in a dry spot and that gave Russell the chance to narrowly get by and Gough had to momentarily roll off the throttle to avoid hitting him. The final finishing order was Mees winning for the second day in a row, Halbert hanging on for second, Bergen in third, Russell fourth and Gough fifth. Another excellent finish and again, first 450cc in the field.

To make the weekend a total success, Gough was given a brand new AGV full-face helmet! This will certainly be a huge help to his racing program.

Luke would like to thank Harold MacDonald from Johnson Cams for making the trip with him and giving him so much help in the pits, Steve Berg and his entire group for all his help and letting him ride his beautiful Triumph and stay with them for a few days. He would also like to thank Eddie Mulder for allowing him to race the big Triumph in the Open Amateur class. Drum Evans made the trip down as well with Jim Essman and helped out a bit when he wasn’t racing.

All we have to say is we cannot wait to 2009!!