20th Race Across America (RAAM)

Portland, Oregon to Pensacola, Florida. June 16 - ?

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Results

RAF Rises Above

By David Jacobson

Early this morning Team RAF/BAE Systems/Cap Gemini Ernst & Young passed solo frontrunner Wolfgang Fasching. However, the occasion was not quite as momentous as RAF had hoped.

When the team phoned in from Time Station 38, RAAM HQ informed him the team had passed Fasching, said Stephen Masters, RAF's crew chief. "We did not even see his motorhome. We would have liked to have seen him on the road. It would have been nice to discuss matters of a European nature."

RAF expects to reach Pensacola Tuesday afternoon and may cross the line accompanied by their fallen comrade, David Green. "The team wants him to, and it will be David's decision," Masters said.

Fasching continues to dominate the solo race, stretching his lead over Rob Kish to nearly 180 miles. Although Fasching admitted in his pre-race interview that heat and humidity are his biggest obstacles, he seems unfazed through Arkansas. It will take something highly unusual to prevent him from tying Kish's record of three solo male RAAM victories.

Allen Larsen trails Kish by about 82 miles, and Stefan Lau is just 37 miles shy of Larsen. Fredi Virag has stormed past Arend-Jan Koning into fifth place by nearly 90 minutes, and there promises to be some jockeying for third through sixth places all the way to Florida.

Today also marked the start of the last prime from the Mississippi River to Kosciusko. RAF was first to start. The "lads" hit Big Muddy at around 15:00 as off-duty crew were posing for photos with the Southern Riders motorcycle club outside of Shug's Cook'ry and Social Club. RAF rode under variably cloudy skies and 90-degree temperatures, while Team SAS may have the advantage of riding the stretch in cooler temperatures.

In other prime news, Fasching swept the first two solo primes from Portland-to-Maupin and Steamboat-to-Leadville, as did RAF in the four-person division. Team Clif Bar won the first prime in two-person, while Leader Bike took the second.

With just an hour of daylight left, Johnny Boswell, owner of radio station Breezy 101.1, is repeating last year's effort to make Kosciusko the most welcoming stop on the RAAM route. His green tent is set up, and his van speakers are blaring Lou Rawls and other R&B classics. Soon he will mount his bike, roll over the orange spray-painted welcome signs on the street and start recruiting friends and neighbors to make the RAAM racers feel at home on the road.

Results - as at day 7

Men's Solo
                   Time Section    Time   Distance covered To go     Average speed
1 Wolfgang Fasching           41     13:20     2424.8      567.1     14.07 miles per hour
2 Rob Kish                    37     11:39     2225.0      766.9     13.04
3 Allen Larsen                36     11:09     2168.6      823.3     12.75
4 Stefan Lau                  35      9:52     2088.9      903.0     12.37
5 Fredi Virag                 34     10:30     2031.9      960.0     11.99
6 Arend-Jan Koning            34     11:35     2031.9      960.0     11.91
7 Franz Venier                33      9:58     1956.4     1035.5     11.58
8 Sam Beal                    33     11:09     1956.4     1035.5     11.50
9 Guus Moonen                 32     12:25     1891.4     1100.5     11.03
1 Michael Lau                 30     11:23     1836.2     1155.7     10.78
1 Wolfgang Kulow              12     10:05     1648.4     1343.5      9.75
1 Ricardo Arap                22     13:35     1598.8     1393.1      9.26
13 Ish Makk DNF               24     21:34     1434.0     1557.9     10.82
14 Mark Patten DNF            21     16:45     1281.3     1710.6     12.35
15 Byron Rieper DNF           21     21:18     1281.3     1710.6      9.68
16 Fabio Biasiolo DNF         18     12:52     1082.2     1909.7     14.26
17 Jack Vincent DNF            9     18:20      571.1     2420.8      9.96
 
Women's Solo
 
1 Sandy Earl DNF              16     13:47      986.6     2005.3      9.79
 
Tandem Mixed
 
1 George Thomas & Terri Gooch 31     10:00     1836.2     1155.7     10.87
 
Two Person Men's Team
 
1 Team Clif Bar               32     12:43     1891.4     1100.5     15.93
2 Team Millennium/IRSA        31     14:06     1836.2     1155.7     15.29
3 Leader Bike USA             27     13:27     1598.8     1393.1     13.38
 
Two Person Mixed Team
 
1 Team Two Roads DNF          20     13:58       1211     1780.9     12.62
 
Four Person Men's Team
 
1 Team RAF/BAE SYSTEMS/CG     42     12:25     2473.4      518.5     20.89
2 Team Swiss Academic Skiclub 38     13:07     2292.8      699.1     19.25
3 Team San Diego              36     13:33     2168.6      823.3     18.14
 
Four Person Women's Team
 
1 Team ZISVAW                 32     11:28     1891.4     1100.5     16.10
 
Four Person Mixed Team
 
1 Team No Limits              33     10:10     1956.4     1035.5     16.84
2 The Twin PAC                30     12:23     1758.2     1233.7     14.85