Motorcycle Races on Sunday

Press release from Lost Coast Flat Track:

This Sunday, August 7, is the second out of five races for the Lost Coast Flat Track Championship motorcycle races at Rohner Park in Fortuna, a sight not seen in Fortuna since the early ‘70s. The first race of the series was on Father’s Day, featured racers from 5 to 68 years old, and drew a crowd of racers and spectators eager to celebrate the return of the sport to a local track.

Over the last four years, local racers have been travelling to Ukiah or Lakeport to participate in the Nor-Cal Short Track series.

“It’s often over 100 degrees in Ukiah and Lakeport in the summer,” says racer Mark Topping, owner of North Coast Cycle in Eureka, and one of the organizers of the Lost Coast Flat Track series. “We thought we’d try and find somewhere to bring the sport up here, where the weather is way more tolerable and I believe we can draw an impressive crowd out to Rohner Park ”

For the first event, the majority of the racers were local—from Arcata to Fortuna and Hydesville—with quite a few racers from the Nor-Cal Short Track series making the trip north to participate. Race classes included kids as young as 5 years old, up to adults in their mid-to-late 60s racing around the eighth-mile dirt track.

Lost Coast Flat Track’s five main sponsors either race, or have raced, and know exactly what it’s like to get sideways in the dirt. The track, created and maintained by Cory Rich of IronMachine, will be completely different than the first event, though Rich is confident the dirt will be even better. Unlike typical fairground racing, there aren’t ruts and potholes and giant rocks to avoid—it’s consistent, smooth and well-maintained.

Anyone interested in flat track racing is welcome to bring their dirt bike—with class C tires—and try it out. Race gates open at 9 a.m. and spectator gates open at 11 a.m.. Practice starts at noon, heat races start at 1pm, and the main events will follow.

For more information, visit lostcoastflattrack.com or visit Lost Coast Flat Track on Facebook for updates or more information.