MAY 27, 2008
"The Man" of Canadian MX photography, James Lissimore
Canadian motocross photographer, James Lissimore
Washougal 1999
“One of my favorite races was the 125 class at Washougal in 1999. Local hero Jason McCormick had the race of his life and held off RC to take the second moto win. The place was going crazy. McCormick was always so fast at that track; I remember him leading the 250 class one year as well. Carmichael had gone down and was way back. He blitzed through the pack but just couldn’t quite get McCormick at the end. I think RC thought he won that moto, thinking that McCormick was a lapper.
San Fransisco SX 2007
“One of the last true showdowns between RC, Reed and Stewart. It was looking like it was going to be a total mudder earlier in the day but the rain held off and the track wasn’t too bad. All three of them were going so hard, making mistakes and passing and re-passing each other. In the end, RC made the least mistakes of the three and took the win.”
Sand Del Lee 2007
“Probably the best Canadian race I’ve ever seen. It was a five-way battle to the checkers; there were times when Homans, JSR, Facciotti, Carpenter and Gibson were wheel to wheel, no one wanting to give an inch. Originally, Facciotti looked like he had the win; then JSR looked to be a sure bet … then he got a flat tire; then Homans managed to win it by a wheel over Carpenter at the finish line. I wish there were more races like that moto.”
|
|
|
Eric Johnson has more than his fair share of racing memories. |
|
photo courtesy of Johnson |
Racer X Illustrated’s Eric Johnson
1984 Mount Morris National 125cc class
“Johnny O’Mara and Jeff Ward — all dressed in white — were never further than a few feet apart in both motos. I mean, they were using these incredible lines where they were so close to the fence that their jerseys were actually flapping into it. O’Mara led the ENTIRE first moto and on the last lap over a small jump on the straight leading to the finish line, took his hand off the handlebars to wave to the crowd, missed the grip when he went to put his hand back on and overshot the LAST corner. Jeff Ward made the turn and won. Johnny was so mad, he began slamming the exit gate with his bike and almost ran my little brother over. Hard to believe he’s now my close friend and neighbor.
The 1997 Las Vegas East/West Shootout
“I was standing down on the track and there was a lot of hype about the match up between Kevin Windham and a rookie named Ricky Carmichael. The first few laps of that race were, to this day, the most intense I’ve ever seen. Ricky was riding with so much speed and aggression it was mind blowing. He wasn’t holding anything back and was berserking it to try and pass Windham. A few laps later he hit the dirt and took a little while to get to his feet. When he did, he exited the track and rode right by me. His goggles were off and he was crying his eyes out. I could hear him crying under his helmet. Even at that young age, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anyone want to win so badly.”
The 1978 Mid-Ohio Trans-AMA round
“Mid-Ohio was the opening round that year and the sun was out and it was just a brilliant day. There had to be well over 20,000 people there. To this day, I can still remember my fingers being on the rust-colored snowfence along the hill that went by the scoring tower. Roger DeCoster was making his last Trans-Am tour through America and seeing him race was, to me, like seeing some sort of fairy tale king from a far away land. I was a huge Bob Hannah fan by this time and this was the first time I was able to watch Bob race. He had on all-yellow JT Racing gear and those red and blue Scott boots and was just glowing. Bob smoked everyone that day. In one moto he came from behind and passed DeCoster on the hill where we were standing. When he did, he turned around and gave DeCoster the peace sign. A few years ago, I told Bob about being at that race and a few weeks later a package came in the mail from Idaho. Bob sent me the Cycle News from that race and signed it for me. It’s one of my prized possessions.”
|
|
|
Guy Giroux's passion for racing has led him to some interesting experiences - on and off the track. |
|
photos courtesy of Giroux |
Suzuki Canada off-road racer, Guy Giroux
“The first one would probably be my first motocross race that I witnessed; it was a provincial back in `82. To this day, I can still remember the race gas fumes (I don’t know what they were running back then, but that thing smelled so good!). I was about the same age as the Schoolboy class, and seeing those guys ride just opened my eyes. The guy that won the Schoolboy class that day was none other than Miguel Duhamel—his KX was green and gold! The pro class was won by Ross “Rollerball” Pederson. After the race, as we were walking back to the car, Ross was loading his rig—a Ford Econoline with three bikes and a bed behind the front seat—and he had no mechanic. Ah, the good old days! That night, I dreamed that I was going to one day be a MX racer and would win races.”
“The second one is the World Championship Enduro in France in 2005. It was my last year at KTM and I had a lot of friends all over the world, mainly from the Dakar and a few meetings that Pillow and I had in Austria. Anyway, I wanted to race the GP of France, so I started to send some emails to France and Austria to see if somebody could lend me a bike. The first answer I got was from Kari Tiainen, a short email that said, "Got a bike for you, just get into France and I'll sign you up.” So I packed my Ogio bag, bought a plane ticket and off to France I went. When I got into the pits, I was trying to find that tall Finland dude. Two minutes later, a black convertible Benz pulls in beside me, and there he is. He gets out, throws me the keys and tells me to go walk the test! Here I am driving a Benz in France! Next day is a testing day so I go into the truck to find out what my bike will be, and here it is, a full-on factory bike, full-on factory suspension—that thing even had Juha's [Saleminen] name on it! 24-hours before I was in my old cube at home with my beat up bike; now I’m in France under the same tent as the factory team, riding Salminen’s bike, and driving a Benz. And don’t forget, the factory mechanic, the WP suspension technician, the Brembo technician, the motor guy, and a 10-time world champion team manager! As far as my race, I did okay, but this was by far one of my most memorable experiences!”
|
|
|
Giroux at the Dakar Rally |
“And for my third best race, The Dakar! Seeing the Austrian roll my $40,000 bike out of the truck, and that same Austrian bet that I would not last three days.... I rode out off the podium and into town in front of millions of cheering fans at one o’clock in the morning in freezing cold rain! I rode for eight-straight hours in freezing cold rain through France. Oh the memories, I tried not to barf on the ferry to Marroco, my first night in my tent, getting passed by a race semi in a flat fast rock section, getting lost in the first sand dune, also getting stuck for the first time. Of course, lasting more than three days and making the KTM guys lose money, my butt starting to miss some skin, finally, getting into the sand of Mauritania, getting a 12th the next day and doing that result for three days in a row. All of a sudden having a lot more friends at the KTM truck, having breakfast with the top guys now, crashing my brains out while doing a TV interview with a helicopter above me, getting lost, losing six hours, and probably a top ten finish and a best rookie award, stealing fuel out of Roma's bike, who DNF’d, to finish that day, making it to Dakar, taking a shower, being on the podium for the second-place award in the rookie class, having Winni (KTM Boss) confess to me that he had bet against me and that I was the first guy to ever take a bike out of the box and finish, Winni buy me more beers.... All this because a crazy dude decided he wanted to race the Dakar and bring me with him. Thanks, Rallyman!”
