@mikemetzger during the Vintage GP at @dayinthedirtdownsouth 2002.

Here’s a quick excerpt of the report from Jimmy Lewis in the Cycle World issue from August, 2002:

„Saturday started out with the promise of horrible weather, and the Vintage GP. The rain was yet to come, but first we Ironmen would have to endure 45 minutes on ancient pieces of junk-although as the first race of the day, the track sure was smooth! Remember my “Dirt Cheap” 1976 Suzuki RM370 (CW, October, 2000)? Well, I pulled it out again only to find that in battling for the cause of lay-down shocks, I was cursed to race against guys on mono-shocked YZ490s and RM500s-totally sanoed-out ones, to boot! Good thing Freestyle Godfather Mike Metzger lined up right next to me on a similar-era Yamaha, a few loose bolts worse even than my rig. This race turned out to be the most fun I had all weekend. With the premium track conditions, and no shortage of power from my detonating, fin-ringing sled, I managed to snag third place in the moto, capped off’by a few impromptu freestyle moves between Metzger and myself. Never mind I had about eight spokes left in the rear wheel and my carb was falling out of the cracked intake boot!“

Photo by Frank Hoppen.