Gatorback MX, Gainesville, FL 2006
- Updated: March 12, 2006
GNC MX Round 3
Gatorback MX Park
Gainesville, FL
March 12, 2006
Zak Griffin lost his life at the Gaterback GNC. This photo of Zak is from the 2005 6 Hours of GA, where he teamed up with ATV racing legend, Donny Banks. Taking after his favorite pro rider “Ironman” Natalie, Zak completed more laps than anyone at that event. .
ATV racing is thriving. Round three of this year’s ATVA ITP Grand National Motocross Series attracted some 860 entries to the Sunshine state. While beautiful sunny Florida weather graced many riders in attendance throughout the weekend, yet another ominous black cloud approached the Gatorback facility on Saturday during the Youth Production 200/300 class when Palmetto, GA’s Zak Griffin lost his life. Zak got on his brakes hard in order to miss a downed rider in front of him. The rider behind Zak was already committed to making the double and landed on him.
“I’ll remember Zak similar to the way I think of John “Ironman” Natalie (who happened to be Zak’s role model), says our own John Pellan. “He and Donny Banks teamed up for our 6 Hours of America event held at Paradise Park in Macon, GA. With all the duties Donny and I were responsible for in promoting the event, 15 year old Zak pretty much carried the team and in the process he ended up putting more laps in than anyone that day, which is something Natalie would do. In fact that’s how he John got his “Ironman” nickname. Anyway, when it was over, thanks to Zak’s relentless determination, the bone stock 400EX of Team Bulldog finished 7th of 17 on the day. I was certainly impressed with Zak’s dedication and his attitude. He was a good kid and I feel so sorry for his parents’ loss.”
Another fatal tragedy struck at the same facility three years ago when another tough rider by the name of Matt Bartosek lost his life while competing at the Winter ATV Olympics held at the same venue.
It’s unfortunate that such horrifying things as this happen to such good people and to such an excellent sport. Our heartfelt condolences go out to Griffin family. God Speed Zak Griffin!
Doug Gust is about to pass Joe Byrd for the moto two lead while team mechanics communicate below.
Gust sets new records
“Digger” Doug Gust put together an impressive 2-1 score to take the overall. The win marked his first since the Southwick GNC two years ago. It also represented the first win for Suzuki’s new QuadRacer LT-R450. “I screwed up both starts, but still managed to get the job done”, said Gust.
In the first moto Joe “Big” Byrd pulled yet another masterful holeshot with his factory backed Dasa powered Honda TRX. Another moto victory looked very realistic for Byrd, but that wasn’t in the cards this time out. A blown rear shock put him out of contention. Natalie took over the lead. Meanwhile, Gust was on the move from a sixth place start. Eventually he got within site of Natalie but never close enough to put a pass on the champ.
It appeared that another black cloud moved into position when New Jersey’s Donald Lysinger crashed hard after a broken tie rod sent him dramatically over the bars. Lysinger’s crash was horrifying, as you’ll see in our moto two video below. After twenty minutes of trackside paramedic help and much prayer, he was air lifted to the hospital. Later we found out that Lysinger might not be human – as X-rays showed no fractures. He did however bruise his spinal cord. We’re happy to report that he is moving everything and has been released from the hospital.
“Super” Joe Haavisto rode extremely well on the high-speed Gatorback track. Joe finished up on the podium with a 3-7 score. Haavisto proved to have Farr-like smarts as he followed Farr’s precise ride to the checkers, but never attempted a low percentage take over on Farr’s position since it didn’t make a difference in his overall score.
Shane Hitt made his return to GNC motocross racing on this shiny new 450R. Hitt is officially Honda factory sponsored for the Dirt Track Nationals, and not obligated to race anything other than that series, however since he and his family were in Florida he decided to suit up for Gatorback He finished 5th and 10th respectfully in the Pro Am classes.
This shot was taken at the end of lap one: Byrd, Natalie, Farr, Haavisto, Gust, Jones, Spader, Brown and Little are all visible.
Byrd, the same guy that throughout his career couldn’t pull a holeshot if his life depended on it, took the lead again in moto two. Eventual winner, Gust, and his teammate Jeremiah Jones, who suffered a moto one DNF when a rock smashed the back side of his keyed ignition, charged from 6th and 7th place. “I wanted to help push Doug forward but at the same time he was going for the overall win. I didn’t want to do something stupid and screw up our chance for the overall,” said Jones after the race. He added, “The pace was pretty quick and the two of us sort of worked together out there and really pushed each other to the front.”
Meanwhile Natalie started to fade with a bad case of arm-pump. First Byrd slipped past then Gust and Jones. As laps progressed Byrd kept close tabs on Gust. Even though Gust didn’t need the moto two win to take the overall he sure didn’t ride like it. Gust negotiated the hard-fast-mental track perfectly and delivered a monumental victory for Suzuki and the sport in general. Gust’s victory marked the first fuel-injected pro national overall. Perhaps this is the start of fuel-injection as the norm in ATV racing.
“It was just like running my first race today”, says Jeremiah after racing his first complete moto of the year. A rock hit and destroyed his keyed ignition, the third fluke in as many rounds. Jones finished a respectful third in moto two to take home 13th overall on the day.
Baldwin/Honda’s Tim Farr rode with back pain again, but still managed to hold down a sixth in moto two to take 10th overall. Farr had back surgery not too long ago. The early start to the season hasn’t allowed his back to fully heal.
Gust’s Gatorback victory also marked the first time a pro rider won a GNC with stock tires. Gust ran the Dunlop front and rear stockers. At 39 Gust is also now the oldest rider to win a GNC MX. “This is the first win for the LTR and capped off a near perfect Suzuki sweep for the Daytona Bike week. Suzuki/Yoshimura riders Mat Mladin and Ben Spies went 1- 2 in the Daytona Superbike race, Ricky won Supercross, Team Suzuki won the Flat Track (1 -2), Yokley podiumed at the GNCC and now we capped it off with Gatorback today! A lot of my friends from Japan are here today and I’m really happy to win this for them”, concluded Gust after the race.
| Top Ten Points after Three Rounds: | |
|---|---|
|
1 Joe Byrd
|
76
|
|
2. John Natalie
|
-1
|
|
3. Doug Gust
|
-9
|
|
4. Joe Haavisto
|
-26
|
|
5. Keith Little
|
-26
|
|
6. Jason Dunkelberger
|
-37
|
|
7. Tavis Cain
|
-37
|
|
8. Jason Luburgh
|
-38
|
|
9. Matt White
|
-40
|
|
10. Kory Ellis
|
-43
|
