Cycle News Staff | April 19, 2022
The motorcycle nostalgia got turned up a notch this weekend as the smells and sounds of two-strokes filled the air at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California, April 16-17.
Photos: Ron Lawson
The annual Wiseco 2-Stroke World Championship, presented by Fasthouse, went up in smoke as riders brought their best premix burners to one of the most fun races on the calendar. The event turns into a bike show in the pits, while racing on track sees former and current pros battle it out for a title. This year Trevor Stewart, Justin Hoeft, Mike Alessi and Kurt Nicoll walked away with the headline wins.
Yamaha rider Stewart swapped moto wins with Justin Hoeft in the feature Open Pro division, dueling for the overall against the 36-rider field. Stewart’s 2-1 finishes ultimately earned him the overall victory. Hoeft struck first and took the win in moto one. He also led the majority of the second moto but ended up second, just 1.5 seconds behind Stewart. Hoeft, who raced a Bonanza Plumbing-backed Husqvarna, finished second overall with 1-2 scores. Ryan Surratt, racing a Team Solitaire YZ250, rounded out the box with 4-3 scores.
Other notable names in Open Pro included Zach Osborne who raced a retro-themed Husqvarna to 9-9 scores. Mike Alessi grabbed a podium with a third in the first moto but crashed out spectacularly two turns into the second race.
Hoeft got his redemption in the Pasha 125 Open Pro race, going 2-1 to take the day’s overall win. He traded wins with Motocross Action’s Josh Mosiman, who went untouched in the first moto but went on to finish third in moto two. Mosiman’s 1-3 results proved good enough for second overall.
Ryan Surratt grabbed another overall podium, claiming third with 3-2 moto finishes. Surratt and Hoeft stayed close in moto two, finishing only 1.4 seconds apart at the checkers.
The Pasha 30-Plus 125 Pro races were dominated by Alessi. Alessi showed his patented holeshots are still as good as ever as he went on to win both motos, despite his earlier crash in the Open race. The former Supercross and motocross pro went untouched, finishing nearly 30 seconds ahead in the second moto. Cody Mackie came home second with consistent 2-2 finishes while Dominic Desimone rounded off the podium with 3-3 results.
Kurt Nicoll showed the vets how it’s done in the Pasha 50-Plus 125 Pro class, taking both moto wins en route to the overall.
Pete Murray rode it in with two second-place finishes, good enough for second on the day.
Ed Foedish’s 3-4 earned him the final spot on the podium.
Murray, however, didn’t go home empty handed. The Yamaha rider out-dueled Husqvarna’s Andy Jefferson to win the 60-Plus Expert class, winning both motos. Jefferson went 2-2.
KTM rider Sophia Phelps and Honda-mounted Vicki Golden battled it out for the win in the Women’s class. Golden led all but the first lap in the first moto, while Phelps battled back from 16th place. Phelps caught Golden with a few laps left and ended up taking second, less than a second behind Golden.
Phelps passed Golden for the lead on the second lap of the second moto, and held off the Honda rider for the moto win by less than two seconds, helping herself to the overall victory in the process.
Golden, however, won the 30-Plus Expert class after going 2-2. Both moto winners, Ben Wilward and Doug Dubach, DNF’d their other motos. CN
2022 2-Stroke World Championships Results
OPEN PRO
- Trevor Stewart (Yam) 2-1
- Justin Hoeft (Hus) 1-2
- Ryan Surratt (Yam) 4-3
- Dare Demartile (Bet) 5-4
- Josh Mosiman (GG) 6-5
- Carlen Gardner (Bet) 7-7
- Bryson Gardner (Bet) 10-6
- Sean Collier (Yam) 8-8
- Zach Osborne (Hus) 9-9
- Ezra Lewis (KTM) 11-10
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