CSRA Moto America Heritage Cup Laguna Seca Monterey event Oct. 23rd-25th to include Pros, an International flavor, and Guzzis.
Classic Superbike Racing Association has announced additional racers for their October event. Thad Wolff, Tom Montano, Andrew Gray, and Rick Reddick will be joining the grid at Moto America’s Heritage Cup Monterey Laguna Seca event presented by CSRA. A couple of real veteran pros, an international racer, and booming Guzzis, it just gets better with each announcement.
Darrin Gauvin spokesperson for CSRA says “We are really pleased to have Thad Wolff on our grid at Laguna, Thad’s racing history, being a Trailblazer, and his immediately identifiable Suzuki Superbike are a real plus. Thad has some really great moments at Laguna over the years and his entry line into the famed Corkscrew is legendary which makes Thad a true Trailblazer”.
Gauvin continues, “Additionally, Tom Montano who raced with CSRA in Sonoma at our first ever event will again be on our grid and we are very pleased to have him join us at Laguna. Montano is the 2001 AMA Pro Thunder Champion and will be aboard Team Guzzi Nerd’s Moto Guzzi. Montano will no doubt be fast as he knows how to hustle any motorcycle around a race track and he will certainly be at home on the twin cylinder machine, we look for Tom to be near the front again.”
Thad Wolff: Former regular on the AMA Superbike grids in the early 80s during the heyday of American Superbike racing will race his Minaru “Matsu” Matsuzawa built 1979 Suzuki GS1000. Thad’s AMA Superbike top finish was at Loudon in 1982, a podium 3rd place. Thad remembers that day on the podium with Wayne Rainey winning his first Superbike race and Eddie Lawson just ahead in second. “To look back and think I finished on the podium with these two great champions that day is a point of pride in my racing career” says Wolff. Thad was inducted into the AMA Trailblazers with the 2015 class, another point of pride for Wolff. Thad raced abroad on his Superbike in the Spring of 1982 at Imola finishing 3rd against the likes of Jimmy Adamo, Roberto Pietri, Richard Chambers, and a host of international competitors.
Wolff says “It’ll be great to be back on my Suzuki Superbike after all these years and racing it again at Laguna Seca with other heritage bikes from back in the day. CSRA has really focused on getting the original bikes from this golden era back on the track. They really have a quality field of period machinery and racers planned for Laguna and it’s great to be included in this event”
Tom Montano: Was the fastest American in history around the Isle of Man TT until 2003, earning six silver replicas in the process. Montano’s international career includes racing in the FIM World Endurance Championship at famed tracks such as Spa Francorchamps, Le Mans, and Manga Cours. Montano has been a regular with the AFM since 1982 when he began racing on a GS750 at Sears Point. Tom won the AMA Pro Thunder Championship riding a Ducati 748 for Monroe Motors of San Francisco in 2001. Montano explains, “It was great to be a part of the first Moto America- CSRA Vintage Superbike national event at Sonoma and I had a really great time two years ago. The chance to show what a Team Guzzi Nerd bike can do against the Japanese multi cylinder bikes is going to be a real challenge”. The Moto Guzzi Tom will ride was originally built by an east coast racer Ron Maas who finished 2nd in the 1987 Daytona BOTT with two other 2nds at Road Atlanta and Pocono. The Guzzi will be presented as it was raced back in the day with quick release Forcella forks, 18” front Marvic wheel and a very nice 2 into1 EPA exhaust developed by the the well-known Guzzi genius Dr. John.
Andrew Gray: A Brit and known as the “international man of mystery” of CSRA, Gray has been really fast this season and continues to get quicker every round. At the last CSRA Buttonwillow round Gray was out front leading before getting hunted down by the pack. His builds are some of the fastest Guzzis racing in the states today with a real period intent and look. Andrew started as he calls it “Guzzi racing” at the age of forty in 2007. Gray explains, “I built a 1982, 1100cc, Lemans 3 based bike for Ahrma Vintage Superbike Heavyweight and campaigned regularly for three years at all the west coast events while also being a regular at OMMRA and WMRRA Vintage Days in the Northwest, even did a one off Ahrma event at Mid-Ohio in 2009”. Gray continues, “In 2011 I converted the bike into an endurance racer and shipped it to Spa Francorchamps to compete in the Bikers Classic four-hour endurance race. My riding partner and I were the first USA based team to finish the race finishing 18th out of 70 starters. My bike was built for endurance and vintage superbike racing. Being English my racing effort is naturally fueled by VP race gas and strong tea.”
Rick Reddick: Born in Houston where he started racing with WERA in the early 90s. Reddick achieved class wins and podiums with WERA, AMA, and in the Formula USA series. Interestingly, Rick’s first given WERA race number was 289 like another famous Houston resident Kevin Schwantz. Reddick is a bit of a renaissance man who’s professional career began as a therapist before moving to Los Angeles after writing and producing a successful play in Texas. Although being the next great play write didn’t pan out as yet, Reddick became a TV producer for a time and now owns his own Visual Effects company for TV and film. Like Reddick his Moto Guzzi has had many successful careers, first being built to road raced in the 80s by Mike Tiberio. Mike road raced the big Guzzi until 1997 winning several championships with a proud moment coming the 1987 by winning the AMA District 7 road race championship. Having conquered road racing wasn’t enough for Tiberio so the Guzzi was converted to a land speed motorcycle, setting multiple world records 2017. Reddick’s bike has been converted back to a road race spec which he has been campaigning with CSRA over the last couple of years. With land speed oil and championship history running through the bike and Reddick’s veins look for this Guzzi to be fast over the hill at Laguna Seca.
Stay up to date for more announcements from CSRA and the Moto America Heritage Cup Laguna Seca event at www.csra.us, join Classic Superbike Racing Association on Facebook to purchase tickets for the event go to www.motoamerica.com
