2018 King of the Motos Rider Details
Here is the first bit of news for the 2018 King Of The Motos
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2018 KOM will be a “Three Moto” or race format for Pro riders and most likely a “Two Moto” format for Amateur racers. There will be a night race, run on Saturday evening, February 3rd, and two separate races run on Sunday February 4th: Scoring will be moto scores combined, lowest total wins. In the event of a tie score the MOTO 3 finish position or distance made breaks the tie. If you DNF a moto you can still start the next moto. DNF scores will be based on last CP and time of arrival. Your overall score will be the combination of each individual moto score. Penalties for missing CPs will be detailed later but will be severe, just like last year. We will have HARD CUT OFF TIMES at points on our course for safety and due to our permit.
Our night race MOTO 1 will be a little longer and a little harder than last year. 100% GPS navigation with excellent spectator points. 20 +/- miles with top riders in one hour, stragglers will take 3-4 hours.
Sunday Morning MOTO 2 we will have our Extreme Race which will most likely not be scored for Amateur riders due to difficulty. We will make this decision shortly and notify riders in our next update. If it is not scored for Amateur riders, they can try the loop if they wish. It will be short and anything but sweet. Less than five miles. No GPS, just marked with arrows to show you where to go so all the GPS hating Pros who tell us that if it weren’t a navigation event, they would do so much better. Now they can have a little bit of fun. Great for spectating right from Hammertown. Nice warm up or beat down for the afternoon, you decide.
Sunday late morning MOTO 3 –I have taken cues from the King Of The Hammers race (and the original KOM) and put together a 100-mile loop. It uses everything Johnson Valley has to offer and will quiet any of the riders who think KOM is too easy. Now we’ll have endurance (both bike and body) back in the game. It will be mostly GPS navigation and include a remote pit (or pits, depending on your bike’s range) for gas only. For Amateur riders the race length will be 100+/- miles and Pros will do a second trip around a section of the course for a total of 150+/- miles. Hope you are in really good shape come February. For pros on the final go-round there will be some familiarity with the course, so navigation will be less difficult in your tired state. I guess the top Amateur will take 3-4 hours and Pros more near 5. We will have published spectator areas but also great live feed from some of the areas as well. Again die to the length of the course we will be enforcing HARD CUT OFF TIMES.
Only riders can work on bikes. The only place that you can have parts assistance in the main pit area (which pro riders will pass through one time during MOTO 3 and all Pro riders will be impounded here between MOTO 2 and MOTO 3) , no support at remote pits, we will transport fuel.
You are free to ride in any of the legal areas of Johnson Valley at any time leading up to the event. Since the course is kept secret there can’t be any pre-running but you are still free to practice anything you’d like leading up to Tech Inspection or Sign Up where we may inform you of some “stay out” areas. We may provide a test loop for the GPS a week before the race if there is demand but that would be a little late to begin practicing with the GPS.
The tentative schedule for KOM is as follows:
Friday February 2nd, 2018
o Registration Opens – Means Dry Lake Bed
Saturday February 3rd 2018
o 9 AM- 3 PM KOM Tech
o 3:00 PM Registration Closes
o 4:00 PM Mandatory King of the Motos Riders Meeting
o 6:00 PM King of the Motos Race 1
Sunday February 4th, 2018
o 9:00 AM – King of the Motos Race 2
o 11:00AM – King of the Motos Race 3
o 5:00 PM KOM Awards Ceremony
Like last year we will also be requiring a tracker on each rider. We will be using handheld sized “Yellow Bricks” that will track the rider, update the rider’s position every two minutes, utilize “geo fences” to show that riders do not deviate from the course or miss checkpoints and have a push-button emergency feature with communication in case of emergency. This is for rider safety and scoring efficiency. There will be an added cost because of it.
As always the course will be made available to riders with GPS Track logs on Saturday afternoon. There will be very minimal physical course markings so a rider will need a GPS to be able to follow and navigate the course (except for MOTO 2). We will have the course files available in .GPX and .GDB only and we will elaborate more on that as we get closer to the event. The organizers strongly suggest that you practice riding track logs and especially make sure you know how to hit a waypoint so you do not miss checkpoints during the race because the tracker will show it.
Some other important things to be noted:
All riders will start all of the races at the same time with mass land rush starts, there will be no splitting of classes on the start line. For the first race the start position (as has been the procedure in the past) will be determined by sign up order. So if you are already signed up, great. Pro riders who sign up the day of the race might not be so thrilled with where they might be lining up. Once a rider takes a spot on the start line, they cannot “give it up” to another rider. The second and third start line picks will be determined by the previous race’s finish order. 1st place gets first pick and so on. For MOTO 3 Amateur riders picks will be after pros and based on MOTO 1 scores if we eliminate MOTO 2 for Amateur. As much as I stress this every year, having a good start pick for the night race is important, so sign up early. (Now would be ideal.) Also numbers, aside from #1, are first come, first served based on when you sign up. If someone gets “your” number before you do, we will give you another available number. Another reason to sign up soon. We will provide mandatory numberplate stickers as we do every year.
The bikes will not be impounded or put in a Parc Ferme between MOTO 1 and your start on Sunday morning. You can do whatever work on them you feel necessary, but it has to be the same bike (we’ll mark engine and frame). But between the finish of MOTO 2 and MOTO 3 only the riders will be able to touch the bikes as has been the procedure in the past.
Yes, your bike will need lights, at least for the first race. Yes, you can take them off after that race if you want. We will be issuing a front and side number plate sticker for identification to aid in scoring but in reality, the tracker will be doing most of the scoring work. You may need lights to get back to Hammertown on Sunday if you are pulled from the course by a CP cut off time. You could be a long way away. We will get you back if you have a problem, your bike may have to wait.
For fuel range you bike absolutely needs go at least 40 miles on a tank. A stock 2014 KTM 200 XCW makes all the race distances without going onto reserve but the rider is old and slow and does not spin his tire like you do. It is more of a run time issue than mileage and your mileage may vary. And know what you need to survive with water and nutrition for the day. I promise this one will be a little more strenuous.
Riders will be required to carry a couple of small flashlights and have a red blinking light attached to the rear of the rider (helmet, backpack, chest protector). We will check this at TECH and at the finish of the night race.
A little explanation of our definition of Team Class. It is for Amateur riders who want to ride the event alongside a teammate. You both sign up and pay an individual entry fee. You both ride the entire course on your own bike. You will both have the same number on your bikes. You will both be required to carry a tracker. You must pass through checkpoints together (or within a very short amount of time) and both riders must pass the finish line together. The idea is that you have committed to help each other get through the course and will be racing together as a team. Teams will ride the same course as Amateur. You also get to share a trophy because teamwork is about sharing.
We are expecting the largest rider turnout in 2018. Since everyone is practicing we had to make the race even better. Soon we’ll see if you can finish the King of The Motos!
If you have any specific questions related to the course, MOTOS rules and regulations or volunteering contact: Jimmy@jimmylewisoffroad.com
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