Zayat, Ferrerya, and Johnson clean house at USGPRU VIR event
Alton, VA: The 10th round of the USGPRU National Championship converged on the spectacular Virginia International Raceway (VIR), and joined the ASRA and CCS series for their End of Summer Cyclefest event. The weather was hit-or-miss all weekend, but fortunately it remained dry long enough for the USGPRU races to be run.
The Pilot Moto3 race was the first of the day. The grid was packed with some of the fastest young racers, along with a healthy dose of seasoned veteran racers. The powerful 4-stroke Moriwaki MD250H bikes rocketed off the line. Max Flinders led Xavier Zayat into the first set of turns, with Fernando Ferrerya on his Honda RS125, closing in quickly. By the end of the first lap, Ferrerya had made the pass for the lead, and started to walk away from the pursuing pack. While Ferrerya checked out and rode to his first USGPRU win of the season, the battle for second raged on between Flinders, Zayat, and Casey Tobolewski. The three racers put on a fantastic show as they passed each other multiple times per lap. On the 7th of 9 laps, the starter mistakenly displayed the white flag, indicating that they were on the last lap. After realizing the mistake, the starter displayed the white flag again on the 8th lap. Unfortunately, Flinders didn’t see the flag and thought that it was the checkered flag, and backed off the pace. By the time he realized that the others were still racing, it was too late and he had to watch Zayat clinch the 2nd place over Tobolewski. Flinders would finish in 4th place, which was enough to keep him in the points lead for the championship.
The Moto Liberty / RS-Taichi 250GP race was won handily by local VIR track specialist, Jeff Johnson. Jeff charged hard right from the start on his Yamaha TZ250, setting the pace early. The battle for 2nd place was between Al Campbell and Fernando Ferrerya. Campbell kept Ferrerya at bay for the entire race, despite the hard-charging Ferrerya’s best efforts.
The closest racing of the weekend was again seen in the REV’IT! Moriwaki MD250H Powered by HONDA race. Right from the start, Xavier Zayat threw down the gauntlet and led the field into turn 1. Casey Tobolewski and Max Flinders refused to let him get away, and the 3 racers were locked together for the rest of the 9-lap race. While the bikes are spec, the racers are not, and Flinders was clearly at a disadvantage due to his size over the other 2 racers. Flinders tried everything to set up the last lap pass, but the power-to-weight advantage of Zayat was too much to overcome. Zayat put on another outstanding performance, and narrowly won over Flinders by a mere .070 second margin. Tobolewski was right on Flinder’s rear wheel and almost drafted by both racers, but had to settle for 3rd.
The final round of the USGPRU National Championship Series heads to the scenic Putnam Park in 2 weeks time (Oct 7-9 weekend). With none of the championship classes decided yet, the racers will be pulling out all the stops for this run to the line. Come on out and cheer on these GP racers as well as the AMA Road Race Grand Championship racers. All are welcome to come and enjoy another great weekend of racing.
Full race results as follows:
Pilot Moto3 class: 1. Fernando Ferreyra (Hon) 2. Xavier Zayat (Hon) 3. Casey Tobolewski (Mor) 4. Max Flinders (Mor) 5. Bruce De Grilla (Mor) 6. Reet Das (Hon) 7. Javon Akashae (Mor) 8. Mike Tso (Hon) 9. Paul Hoyt Nelson (Hon) 10. Adrian Jasso (Yam) 11. Nick Kosan (Mor) 12. Chris Kosan (Mor) 13. Tristan Avery (Hon) 14. Crystal Campagna (Hon) 15. Sam DeJong (Hon) 16. Lee Hollimon (Hon) 17. Jordan Fletcher (Mor)
Moto Liberty / RS-Taichi 250GP class: 1. Jeff Johnson (Yam) 2. Al Campbell (Yam) 3. Fernando Ferreyra (Hon) 4. Max Flinders (Mor) 5. Adrian Jasso (Yam) 6. Daniel Rios (Yam) 7. Eric Moore (Yam) 8. Paul Hoyt Nelson (Hon)
REV’IT! Moriwaki MD250H Powered by HONDA class: 1. Xavier Zayat (Mor) 2. Max Flinders (Mor) 3. Casey Tobolewski (Mor) 4. Bruce De Grilla (Mor) 5. Nick Kosan (Mor) 6. Chris Kosan (Mor) 7. Alex Wisdom (Mor) 8. Javon Akashae (Mor)
About USGPRU The USGPRU is the officially recognized 125 Grand Prix National Championship® and 250 Grand Prix National Championship® series. The popular Moriwaki MD250H spec-bike youth class and the exciting new Moto3 classes round out a real GP experience. The USGPRU provides a unique opportunity for riders by providing extended length grand prix racing with timed qualifying and superb contingency and sponsor support. Race and practice format is designed to prepare riders for the experience of 2-wheel racing at the highest levels.