Fans at last weekend’s Peterson CAT Washougal National were treated to the sights and sounds of yesteryear when a full 40 riders buzzed off the Washougal MX Park starting line in the fifth annual 125 Dream Race Invitational.
The sights, sounds and smells were a real trip back in time to when the high-strung 125cc two-stroke was a rite of passage for just about anyone who raced motocross. Very few riders ever made the jump to a larger machine without logging time on the eighth-liter screamers.
Although four-stroke motocross machines have dominated the scene for nearly two decades now, interest in two-stroke power still remains high. European manufacturers such as KTM and Husqvarna, TM still manufacture 125s, while Yamaha, the company that popularized them in the late 1960s and early 1970s is the lone Japanese holdout, producing the YZ125. Still, watch the video and you will see other obsolete brands such as Honda and Kawasaki mixing it up on the track as well. Sometimes it’s hard to let go of a good machine.
It has been 11 years since the last full-fledged AMA 125cc National rolled off the starting line at Washougal. Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider Ivan Tedesco won the event en route to carding the AMA 125cc National Motocross Championship that year.
As the video from Rockstar Energy Husqvarna-mounted James Hanson shows, good racing is good racing, and 125cc machines have always delivered that. We just wish that the 125 race was a regular part of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross circuit.
Dare to dream!
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