As with any RSD event, the main focus is on the racing. This year, Moto Beach served as the season finale for AMA national Super Hooligan class. But with so many other riders attending, we wanted to make sure that everyone who wanted to had a chance to race. Run What Ya Brung, Desert MX Open, Vintage Air Cooled, and the Mad Dog Mini classes were all just for fun, but man were they a ton of fun, regardless of which side of the handlebars you were.
For the first time this year, a new Lady Hooligan class was established. The class featured mostly riders from Royal Enfield’s Build Train Race program, with Enfield riders Jaycee Jones and Melissa Paris taking second and third place, and Tiani Falls beating them out for first. It’s exciting and encouraging to see this class growing–it’s not just Stephanie Pietz and Jolene Van Vugt out there anymore.
The sun lowered in the sky as a nervous energy grew in the pits. This track is short, the asphalt is hard, and there are a lot of riders in both the Hooligan and Super classes. Riders lined up with determined faces, focusing on what they’d learned through qualifiers and practice.
The Hooligan main event consisted of 15 riders on the blacktop, four of which also took part in the Lady Hooligan, and went off surprisingly smooth. After eight heated laps, it was the gold chained godfather himself, Nathon Verdugo, that took first place prize, despite not having raced in two years since breaking his leg. Way to go, you big-hatted legend.
As the fourth round of the 2021 Superhooligan QuaTTro Championship, everything was building to the main event. More than 17 riders were on the track and each of them wanted the win. If you’ve ever seen a Super Hooligan race, you know what happened. 17 wildly aggressive riders charged into the first corner, some of ‘em hit some of ‘em. We started over five or so times, but once they got going, the blood was pumping and the race was on. Having won the last two rounds, it was no big upset to see Scooter Vernon finish almost 1.5-seconds before Tony Alves in and over 2.7 seconds ahead of Andy DiBrino in third. In total standings, it was Scooter that took the Championship with Andy DiBrino in second and AJ Kirkpatrick in third.