First American to Race. First American to Win. - KLIM News Release
American Rally Ace Jonah Street dominated eight days and 3,700 kilometers of Rally Mongolia navigation racing, taking four-out-of-seven individual stage victories and maintaining more than a three-hour advantage over the nearest bike competitor at the finish.
Jonah raced a borrowed Yamaha WR450.
With his victory, Jonah Street becomes the first American to win the Rally Mongolia and adds a sixth continent to his "where-I've-raced" record.
It was on short notice that Jonah Street, America's top Motorcycle Rally Racer, even decided to enter the 2010 Rally Mongolia. But with persistent influence from his Rally Pan Am teammate and friend Mike Shirley (finishing 14th overall, 8th in the bike classification in his first rally, ever!) and the dedication of his faithful sponsors, Jonah fully committed and signed up a few weeks before the beginning of the event.
Mike Shirley and Jonah Street are the first Americans to race Rally Mongolia.
Canada was well represented in the race as well. Rounding out the North American three-pack was Newfoundland's Mike Buhler. Buhler has been documenting his Rally Dreams series on www.ridetherock.com. After falling short of getting to Mongolia last year, Buhler made it happen in 2010 and finished his first rally safely, notching 24th overall and earning 14th place in the bike class in his rookie effort.
With the race held in such a remote area of the world, stage reports and results from Mongolia were slow to trickle in during the week of competition. Machine translations of race reports from the Japanese promoting group and the lack of consistent phone and internet service made following the adventurous race as a fan into a navigational chore in itself.
With voracious posting on www.advrider.com, and by posting pictures and notes on the Rally Pan Am facebook page (www.rallypanam.com) by friends, family members and racers themselves, fans kept in direct contact with the race effort. The result was a mass of thoroughly addicted motorcycle junkies getting their daily fix in small doses.
Jonah Street, Mike Shirley and Mike Buhler all competed in KLIM Technical Riding Gear products. Jonah Street has been competing in Rally Races in KLIM's Technical Riding Gear for years. This relationship has accelerated the development of off-road motorcycle racing's most dynamic material and technological designs. Rally race-proven concepts flow directly into KLIM's complete range of consumer off-road, dual sport and Adventure motorcycle products. The Best Is In KLIM.
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Congratulations to all the Rally Mongolia participants. We're extremely proud of Jonah Street, Mike Shirley and Mike Buhler--thanks for the great effort, guys!