GNC-MX: Tim Farr Top Dog at Glen Helen
Photo by Stephani McIntyre
February 9, 2005 – Honda's Tim Farr (#4) exploded off the starting line, taking both holeshots and the win at Round No. 1 of the ATVA/ITP/Moose Grand National Championship Motocross Series February 5-6 at the Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California.
Mark Baldwin, Farr’s engine builder and mechanic, finessed the powerful Honda TRX450R over the winter break to find that little extra horsepower Farr needed to lead the entire pack of Pro riders in both motos and start the season with a win. And he did it with a pipe that measured a relatively quiet 99 decibels.
Doug Gust (#55), the 2004 GNC-MX champion on the Suzuki/Yoshimura team, gave it everything he could to challenge Farr. In the first moto, Gust had to get past Keith Little (#12), and in the second moto Kory Ellis (#53) and Harold Goodman (#708) slowed his charge to second place. But Farr was untouchable.
Jeremiah Jones (#2), also on the Suzuki/Yoshimura team, came from a sixth-place start in both motos to finish third behind Gust for the day.
Joe Byrd (#7), riding a Honda and winner of the last round in 2004 at Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, finished fourth to giving him a good start in the points race for the year.
Travis Spader (#30), riding a Yamaha and the 2000 Grand National Champion, came out of retirement to finish fifth in his first national race in four years.
There were a number of very fast riders including Little, Goodman, Ellis and John Natalie who had a shot at Farr. But they made a costly mistake on the track or had mechanical problems that took them out of the challenge.
Track conditions were totally different at Glen Helen compared to last year. Last year, high winds constantly challenged the track crew to keep enough water on the track. This year, light rain fell on 517 racers all day Sunday, making the very challenging Glen Helen all that more difficult to figure out.
New for the 2005 GNC-MX series, the ATVA has mandated sound testing for the Pro class. It took multiple tries for several Pros to pass the sound test, but they all had to meet the 102-decibel sound limit or they couldn't race.
To show the world that it’s not only "Cool to be Quiet" but "quiet" can be fast too, Farrs' TRX450R is equipped with a White Brothers pipe that tested in at a quiet 99 decibels, well below the limit.
For years everyone thought that you had to be loud to be fast. Looks like the Farr, Baldwin, Honda and White Brothers combination has broken that myth.
This is a very good sign for the future of ATV racing.