HadesOmega x WR250E VS Virginia City Grand Prix 2026 [April 26, 2026]

[HadesOmega]

Its that time of year (2026) again for the Virginia City Grand Prix. This year they eliminated the electric class unfortunately. It is a good thing and a bad thing. They have acknowledged after last year with Zero, Arctic Leopard, and Charge Cycle Works amazing performance that electrics are competitive with the gas bikes and should race against them now. It's bad because riders who can't complete more than 3 laps will need to invest more into extra batteries because they will have to race the full 3 hours on Sunday and 4 hours on Saturday. So the rules for electrics is you can enter any class you think you fit best in and there are no displacement limits. I did see a Stark Varg #7 racing on Saturday's race. They were allowed to swap bikes. So instead of charging or swapping batteries (which isn't feasible on a Varg) they just swapped the whole bike and probably charged the other bike while the other one is on the course.

My plan was to race in the Dual Sport Novice class. This class you need a "purpose built" bike which means it's plated I guess and have a minimum displacement of 650cc. So bikes like a DR650, XR650, KLR650, Husky 701, etc... compete in this class. The WR250R is a dual sport but when it was a gas bike it was a 250cc. HOWEVER since I am not limited by displacement it is legal for me to race in this class. Dual Sport Novice also races on the shorter Red Loop, which means it's the same course that I've been racing for 5 years just I have to race the full 3 hours now. I now have 5 batteries so I'm pretty confident I can race the full 3 hours provided I can complete one lap on a charge. Time to go race against some gas bikes!

Lap 1

Lap 2

 

[HadesOmega]

Lap 3

Lap 4

 

[HadesOmega]

After Action Review - Sorry it's nearly as long as the whole race, I go over the whole experience and things we can do to improve in the future. I also go over the results and do some fantasy motorcycle racing.

 

[HadesOmega]

Saturday Race Start if you watch carefully #7 is a Stark Varg. Crazy when they pit in they swapped bikes instead of swapping batteries! They were authorized to do so. They did really well too.

Saturday Race Footage Around Town

 

[mjj]

Uncle and I tried to drop by VC that Saturday for no real good reason. As we rolled into town we noticed... absolutely no parking. Lots of toy haulers. Then we turned onto Main Street (C street?) and saw.... about a billion dirt bikes jammed together, looking anxious to leave. We immediately turned around and said to ourselves "We'll come some other time." On our way back to Sparks we observed a giant plume of dust rising into the air, and we said Yep, that's them.

Kinda fun to stumble upon, but we wanted to dig into the Sutro Tunnel history. Amazing story.

Edit: Oh man I watched your Lap 1 and... I'm exhausted. Nicely done. I'd love to enter myself on my F800 but... it would take me 4 days, maybe a week, to do 1 lap. Is there camping?

 

[HadesOmega]

There is camping at the fairgrounds but it's like $80. It seems like every year it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a place to stay for the VCGP. It's really only crazy before the race, the start of the race, and the end. After like 11AM it's pretty quiet. There are some cool places to visit in VC. They have a mine you can see in one of the saloons.

There was a guy on a Kove 800X adventure bike and I'm pretty sure he was the overall fastest rider for the red loopers.

 

[gixxerjeff]

More good stuff from you, Merlin!

 

[HadesOmega]

Sunday Race Bottleneck Carnage