Two wheel racing will hit the road course track at Pacific Raceways this weekend when the Washington Motorcycle Road Racing Association brings its 16th Annual Sounds of the Past event to town.

Tom Ahearne, a racer who is handling promotion of the event, explained there will be a dozen races both Saturday and Sunday.

Spectators will get a chance, Ahearne said, to get a sense of what motorcycle racing is about.

“There are a couple kinds of people who would want to go,” he said. “One is someone who would like to see motorcycles really, really race. Two would be people that enjoy watching racing. Or people who may be interested in racing themselves.”

On the first day the mornings are spent with warm up rounds for the dozen different classes of bikes with racing set to start around noon.

Racing begins around 10:30 a.m. on Sunday with races ranging from six to 10 laps depending on the speed of the car.

There are several different classes, Ahearne noted, ranging from vintage motorcycles — which will be featured this weekend — to bikes with 600cc and 1,000cc engines as well as formula ultra among others.

“This weekend is called ‘Sounds of the Past’,” Ahearne said. “It’s where the vintage bike guys come out. There are more of the vintage bike races this weekend than on other weekends.”

The WMRRA was formed in 1974 and runs eight to 12 events every year.

“We’re the Washington club (for motorcycle racing),” Ahearne said. “States that have a good motorcycle track will have a good motorcycle racing club. Pacific Raceways is one of the two tracks, Spokane is the other one, in the state that has a good motorcycle track.”

In addition to seeing all the racing action, those who attend will get the opportunity to have an interactive experience, not just watch the bikes fly around the winding road course.

“The pits are open,” Ahearne said. “The far half of that open space is filled with everyone and their pits and their bikes and their tents set up. Since most guys only race one or two categories during the day, they’re very talkative and interested in chatting.”

There are two more events scheduled this year at Pacific Raceways, with one set for Sept. 10-11 and the last one slated for Oct. 1-2, but Ahearne said the weather is usually the best for the race scheduled for this weekend.

If you go:

Sounds of the Past

WMMRA Race

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday

9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday

Tickets available at the gate at Pacific Raceways with general admission $10, active military with ID and motorcycle riders $8 while a car with passengers is $25.

For more information log on to http://www.wmrra.com/event6.html.