 |
Numerous
tight turns and plenty of dirt characterize
this year's Stateline Challenge track, designed
as always by the event organizer Marche Karger,
who is himself a racer |
Primm, NV (3/16/2007) - In most
sports the competition surface changes very little
from event to event. Rain or snow may muddy up a
football field, but it's still always 100 yards
long. They move the holes around a little on the
greens at Augusta but the Masters course is the
same every year. And give or take a few feet to
the outfield fence, the dimensions of every baseball
field are identical.
Not so in supermoto racing. In fact, one of the
beauties of the sport - and a constant challenge
for its competitors - is the ever-changing track
layouts. Wild jumps, crazy obstacles, hairy turns
... any and all things are possible at the hands
of the sometimes fiendish track designer.
Witness the course for this year's Stateline Supermoto
Challenge, April 13-15 at Buffalo Bill's Resort
& Casino in Primm, Nevada. The supermoto season's
kickoff event - and North America's largest supermoto
race with more than 500 entries - is designed "for
the racers by a racer", that being Marche Karger,
now in his third year of organizing the Challenge
www.snvsupermoto.com.
"One of the most fun and creative parts of
putting on this event is designing the track,"
says Karger. "The spectators want to see just
how skilled these riders are; how fast they can
go and still make it through all the obstacles without
crashing. Of course the riders are cool with hazards
and tough turns, but they also want to have opportunities
to pass. My job is to make everybody happy."
Here's how he's doing that this year. For starters,
a single hairpin at the holeshot isn't quite enough
for Karger's taste. Racers have to back it in twice
more in quick succession to try and establish position.
After that, there's a third-gear kicker lip to launch
the pilots into the dirt section.
Returning from the 2006 layout is "Gravity
Gulch" (see A on the map), where riders drop
down into a gaping hole seven feet below track level,
then roost off a lip 15 feet above it. A stutter-step
tabletop on the back dirt straight - no doubt inspired
by the surrounding picturesque desert plateaus -
is named "Marche Madness" after its creator
(map location B). And as passing opportunities go,
it doesn't get any better than that wide split in
the middle of the dirt (C on the map).
Speaking of dirt ... is there not a bit more than
the traditional 30% supermoto allocation on this
year's track, Mr. Karger?
"Guilty," admits the racer-turned-producer.
"There's just so much territory to work with
out there beyond the Buffalo Bill's parking lot,
I couldn't resist adding another turn or two. I
hope the guys like it."
Judging from the way the entries are pouring in
for the event's third outing, it appears that they
do.
www.snvsupermoto.com
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