Congrats Team GasGas

[baker]

Congrats to Team GasGas for finishing 3rd overall in 24 Hour Challenge!!

[gasgasman]

Awesome job.

Photo credit:
Donny Alumbaugh

[ramcclure200]

Way to go!

[jostby]

Definitely Congratulations!!

But now I'm curious,, does that mean the dirt bike mags (in the USA) will actually recognize GasGas as a contender in their write-ups? Or will they decide to not print anything about the event now because their "favorite" brands didn't all make the top spots?

[ramcclure200]

Results are posted http://perrymountain.com/24results/2...assResults.htm

How about a ride report, surely there are a few good stories to share. What happened on lap 27?
Great job on 3rd overall that is something to be very proud of.

[MJC]

How do you lose and upper shock bolt? http://www.digitaloffroad.com/2011/0...ur-race-recap/

[Jeff Melik]

Hey guys, just thought id tell you how the race went on my end. This was the first time I had ever done the 24 hour and I had a blast. Going in to the race I thought the biggest challenge would be setting the bike up so that 6 different guys could be comfortable. This turned out to be a non issue. For me personally the bike was sprung quite a bit lighter than what I would normally run but when it was my turn to ride we made a few clicker adjustments and I pinned it. Even though it was soft it was totally controllable. I was very impressed with the new 48 mm fork. It took tons of testing for me to make the ttx forks on my race bike work as good as the zokes did over roots and rocks. And they were BONE STOCK. I cant wait untill I get a race model with those bad boys. This was also my first time riding with the 888 shock. (This was what we put on after the TTX was damaged by the bolt falling out.) It was way less harsh and the bike handeled much smoother than with the TTX shock. I think most of the other guys would vouch for that. Most of my riding took place at night. I have a fair ammount of night experience and knew that the race could be won or lost in the dark because mistakes are easily made especially with the amount of dust that there was. Except for a few minor things the bike kept rolling and we kept making up lost ground.

I would do this race again in a heartbead and am proud of are team. I also want to thank everyone that helped out in the pits and the whole crew at GGOR.

P. S. Lap 27 is when the shock bolt decided to wander away.

[Jeff Melik]

Sorry for any typos in my post I did it from my phone.

Jeff

[kirkpatrickracing]

The race was a blast! The team did great and like Jeff said, it is quite a challenge to setup a bike for six different riders with various riding styles, preferences, and so on.

As Jeff stated, the new closed cartridge Marzocchi forks are very impressive. I have been racing on full TTX all year and out of the box, the zoke forks felt much better. I can't wait to get my race model and dial the marzocchi suspension in more.

This race is a true test of machine and despite the shock bolt, the bike was flawless. The Factory KTM team lost a front axle bolt at one point so we weren't the only crew to have some odd issues.

To respond to the magazine comment, I noticed today that in the new bike of the Dirt Rider, Shan Moore named the Gas Gas EC models the most photogenic. I think as popularity grows with these bikes, so will the exposure in print form. Just give it time.

[edmondsons1]

The 24 hour race this past weekend was great. I am usually not a big fan of fast courses but for this type of race with the heat the more air the better. The second time I got to ride was right before dark. On my 3rd lap, I was going around the moto track and when I landed from a table top the bike just quit. When I looked down I saw the carb had popped off so I got out my tool pack to put it back on when I noticed the shock bolt was gone which had pulled the carb off. Then I pushed the bike to the parking lot for the moto track, and asked a marshal to tow me to the pits. Nobody had a strap so I hooked my foot in the rack on the four wheeler and off we went back to the pits. Everyone jumped on the bike as soon as I made it back. I got some water and my helmet lights and jumped back on the bike for another 2 laps. I felt faster those couple of laps in the dark I guess because my adrenaline was going from the freak problem. After that session I got some rest and the other guys rode great all night. I got up at four after it felt like I had just fell asleep and rode 2 more 3 lap stints. We finally got into 3rd at about 8 am and held it to the finish. It has taken a few days to recover but I would do it again. Thanks to everyone that pitched in especially my wife Ashley and little man Tucker for doing so good.