Great Lakes Grand Prix Report

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Worlds collided this weekend as hundreds of motocross racers gathered in northern Michigan for the rare chance to race a dirt bike up, down and around the natural mountain terrain of the Otsego Club and Resort. The brainchild of Osprey Investment Company’s Chief Operating Officer Jason Biber and Baja Motocrossowner Patrick Grzebinski, the Great Lakes Grand Prix was an event built around the fun factor of racing.

Otsego laid a lot on the line in hosting this two-day event. The elegant country club has been a members-only ski and golf resort since 1933, and they were opening their doors and hillsides to a crowd not exactly known for land or hotel room preservation. Much to their appreciation, though, racers stayed off their golf course greens and the only vandalism was by some young kids in the daycare who reportedly tagged walls with crayon graffiti.

A massive three and a half mile long course was laid out on the Otsego ski slopes that featured every obstacle imaginable. There were big jumps, small jumps, rhythm sections, beach-sand corners, high speed hills, and low-speed trails. One split section even gave racers the option of hitting an EnduroCross-style log section, or taking a longer way around and bypassing the logs. One hill climb allowed riders with big enough cajones and strong enough forearms to completely max out a 450cc dirt bike.

Spectating was exceptional as well, as the main resort lodge overlooked the first section of the track and a smaller cabin with a nice porch sat in the middle of an area that the course zigzagged past. A shuttle ran between the two locations all weekend long, and the mountain’s chairlift was even running to offer an aerial view.

The course was intense. Everything was off camber, and the natural sandy soil gave the track a roughness comparable to Southwick. Lap times were in the seven- to eight-minute range for most people, and all classes ran forty-minute motos. Riders in the early races on Saturday had a smoother course, but at the same time had fewer lines to follow. By day two however, all the grass was gone and the place looked like a real motocross track. I personally had much more fun on Sunday because sandy berms had built up everywhere and the track had a much better flow to it.

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Because there was no gate at the starting line, the starting procedure was another oddity that motocross racers had to adapt to. With the bike running in neutral, riders had to put their left hand on their head as the first of two flags was raised. This flag was the equivalent of a 30-second board. When the second flag was raised, it was like the board being turned sideways, and when both flags dropped, it was go time. At that point the left hand came off the helmet, the rider grabbed the clutch, shifted into gear, and rocketed towards the first turn.

The star of the weekend was 21-year-old Jerry Lorenz. Jerry won all four A-class motos and took home the biggest chunk of the $5,000 pro purse. Corey and Ben Bixby of Big Multimedia mounted a helmet cam on Jerry before his second 250A moto, and in the best thing that could have ever happened, Jerry stalled on the line after accidentally shifting with his hand still on his helmet. I say it’s the best thing that could have happened, because now we have this incredible video or Jerry tearing through the pack, going from last place to first place on the very first lap. I mentioned earlier that most laps were near the eight-minute range; Lorenz did it in about five and a half. Watch this video to feel what it was like to ride this wild track, and what it looked like from the viewpoint of the fastest guy there.