Riverglade wrap-up
by Roddy MacLeod
02 August 2004
Well the Riveglade national is in the books and what a weekend it was! Larry Northrup and the other organizers of this year's event have much from which to take pride. A first class facility was greeted by hoards of fans and good racing all weekend.
Our local riders had some great successes this weekend and we are proud of each rider: Mitch Cooke, Ryan Lockhart, Johnny Montes, Charlie Smith, James Mosher, Boo Green and Kyle Elliot.
(Did I miss anyone?)
With the help of our trackside volunteers (Sideline_Fanatic, Mike Fraser and Benji) AMX covered the whole weekend of racing from track preparation Thursday to almost-live race reports Saturday and Sunday. We also have a huge stash of photos. You can read all our coverage from the weekend right here on our bulletin board.
Diablo Honda rider Mitch Cooke - Sideline_Fanatic photo
Here's the release by Diablo Honda, sponsor of Mitch Cooke:
August 2, 2004 -- Diablo Performance had a stellar day at the 6th round of the 2004 CMRC Nationals
in Moncton, N.B. Keith Johnson has moved into a tie for 5th overall in the series as he rode to a
3rd overall Sunday with 5-4 moto scores. Pouring rain in the first moto made for a wet, sloppy
track that caused trouble for a number of front runners, but Keith was able to battle through the
mud war pulling consistent lap times. A mid pack start in moto 2 forced him to sneak around a few
pile-ups on the first lap, and then slowly pick off riders to get into 4th position pulling within
a few seconds of 3rd late in the moto. At the start I got a little anxious and jumped forward a
little bit which I didnt mean to doCraig Decker, who was beside me, jumped too and got stuck up
in the gate. I was able to salvage a good moto after a bad start. Fellow competitor, Blair Morgan,
was initially thought to have 3rd overall wrapped up but was docked several positions for passing
under the yellow flag handing 3rd spot and some much needed championship points to Keith.
Hometown favourite Mitch Cooke was on his game at Moncton. Two excellent starts had Mitch leading
the first moto for a few laps whipping the crowd into a frenzy as he rode through each section.
Unfortunately a foot peg smashed into his water pump cover while being passed and ended his hopes
of a top 5 finish in the first moto. In the second moto, Mitch was running in second matching JSRs
pace who was leading a few seconds ahead of Cooke. Again though, bad luck struck as the back brake
on the CRF 450 was damaged when fellow Honda rider Damon Huffman and Mitch made contact.
Mike Treadwell, who has been unable to ride during the week due his wrist injury, forfeited some
points in the 250 class at Moncton to allow his efforts to focus on the 125 class. The decision
paid off as he rode his Honda CRF250 to 4th overall on the day with 6-4 moto scores. This moves
Mike up into the 7th overall in 125 East points. In the 250 class Mike was able to finish 10th in
the second moto after a DNF in the first. I should be able to ride this week, it felt a little
better today, but its hard to show up and race having just trained during the week with no riding.
Its feeling better every week and Im looking forward to Deschambault!
Diablos youngest rider, Neil Farlow, is expected to return to action this weekend in Deschambault.
