Mauk, Elings Split Vintage Cup Wins at Willow Springs

(April 28, 2021, Elora, Tennessee) Andrew Mauk and Jeff Elings took on each other and gale-force Mojave Desert winds to split wins during the latest round of the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA) 2021 Vintage Cup.

The 500 Premier class, sponsored by Roadracing World (roadracingworld.com) and NYC Norton (nycnorton.com), was featured on both days of the 2021 Bridgestone Tires AHRMA National Historic Cup Road Race Series at Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, California on April 24 and 25.

Andrew Mauk from Milwaukee Wisconsin, who dominated the AHRMA event at Streets of Willow the previous weekend, repeated the feat on Saturday.  His victory was partially due to Sunday’s race winner, Jeff Elings from Santa Barbara, CA, showing him around the track.

Reflecting on his first visit to Willow Springs “big” track, Mauk said, “This is one of my favorite tracks.  I love going fast and going technical at the same time and this track has both of those.”

While 500 Premier is the featured class, it does share the track with other classes.  This was a factor during Saturday’s race. Mauk explained, “The start went well, we did get stuck behind some bigger bikes that kind of tricked us up a little bit and we had to sort out things between me and Jeff, but we got through them and then just had one heck of a race.”

“Jeff is very fast and knows this track very, very well, so he got out in front and I just kind of followed him.  He gapped me a little bit when we came across a yellow-flag situation where we weren’t allowed to pass the slower guys.  Other than that, I stayed tucked behind the bubble and kept out of the wind so we could get down the straight as fast as we could,” Mauk said.

“The start was better than the finish,” said Jeff Elings, from Santa Barbara, CA, who took second on Saturday aboard a 1958 Matchless G50. “I seemed to be having some spark plug issues or something near the end but it was some good competition.”

Elings has decades of experience racing at Willow Springs that he didn’t keep to himself. “I was trying to show Andrew the line because he’s here for the points and he’s a super-nice guy so I took him around the Omega and we came around the back and I was showing him how you can hang onto the gas until the last turn and that’s where we had problems with the other guys.”

During Saturday’s race, Elings said, “We were in traffic with two other bikes that were trying to get into the Omega and it was pretty dicey.”

Elings said his Matchless ran well until near the end of Saturday’s race.  In the paddock, he displayed a spark plug missing most of its threads. “It’s a dual-plug head and the top of one came off.”

Sunday morning, Elings said, “I told Andrew today that we either stay behind them and have our own race or we get away.”

Prior to Sunday’s race, Elings shared his thoughts about Mauk, “He said he actually wins Barber so I have mad respect because I can’t even get tenth at Barber. (Today) I’m going to try to beat him and maybe just show him around.  He’s excited about the track.”

Mauk led Sunday’s race until Elings pounced at half-distance and then led until the checkers.

Alan Siekman from Ben Lomond, CA, raced his Honda 450 Jimmy Odom replica, to third place on Saturday and Sunday. Reflecting on Saturday’s race, Seikman said, “The bike is handling really well, it feels good and has lots of smooth power. It dealt with the wind pretty well. It was pushing me sideways a little bit coming around turn eight.  I think that might be because it has a full fairing.”

“Andrew Mauk is a monster on that Honda, again, and kudos to Jeff Elings for showing him some lines on the ‘big’ Willow track that led to a great racing all weekend,” said class sponsor Kenny Cummings from NYC Norton.

Roadracing World & Motorcycle Technology publisher John Ulrich participated in the event on a 250cc two-stroke GP bike.  AHRMA’s road racing program offers several classes for both vintage racing motorcycles and newer machines no longer competitive at the top levels of racing, but still capable in a racing environment.

The 2021 Vintage Cup Trophy will be awarded to the 500 Premier class winner at select events including Roebling Road, Heartland Motorsports Park, New Jersey Motorsports Park, Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca and Barber Motorsports Park.  Race dates and event registration links are available at: ahrma.org/schedules-results.

Race Results (Saturday, April 24, 2021):

1.     Andrew Mauk, 1969 Honda CB450, Milwaukee, WI

2.     Jeff Elings, 1965 Matchless G50, Santa Barbara, CA

3.     Alan Siekman, 1966 Honda C450, Ben Lomond, CA

Race Results (Sunday, April 25, 2021):

1.     Jeff Elings, 1965 Matchless G50, Santa Barbara, CA

2.     Andrew Mauk, 1969 Honda CB450, Milwaukee, WI

3.     Alan Siekman, 1966 Honda C450, Ben Lomond, CA