Racing

Lightning wins at IHPSC 1998

Beats the original Gold Rush in 2 events.

The 24th IHPVA (International Human Powered Vehicle Association) Championships were in Northern California at two venues: Helyer Park Velodrome in San Jose, and Fort Ord, which is near Monterey.

Our factory entry was the same production Lightning F-90, which Bob Fourney rode in RAAM. However, for the Championships, it was ridden by Andreas Weigel, who is from Switzerland. Andreas is a 33-year-old physicist who is currently doing research at the Scripps institute in San Diego. Andreas purchased a Lightning P-38 over five years ago in Switzerland, and mainly used it for commuting. He also has been quite successful in European races, competing with both a Lightning F-40, and an X-2, which are owned by our previous Swiss importer, Christoph Ritzler.

Andreas did excellently in the event, with the following placing:

Overall winner:

64 mile road race*
25 mile criterium*
* Beat both the original Gold Rush (with full Kevlar fairing), and Varna

1st place GT class:

200 meter sprints (track)
4K pursuit

2nd place GT class:

200 meter sprints (road), 50 mph

There were also some customer Lightnings entered, which did place fairly well. Gerry Pease from Los Angeles, California, was the overall winner of the 24 mile road race on his Lightning F-40, named Chiquita.

A Lightning M-5, ridden by Zach Kaplan, placed 1st in the unfaired class 200 meter road sprints at 33 mph. We also had an R-84, ridden by Barclay Brown, which was leading the unfaired class in the 24 mile road race, but crashed out on the last lap.