Stern draws first blood with Masters of the Mountains GTO victory in Round 1
(Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele UT) – Jeff Stern of Las Vegas, NV grabbed a convincing win in the first King of the Mountain GTO race of the season, the premier class of the Masters of the Mountains road race series at Miller Motorsports Park. Defending #1 plateholder Jerry Signorelli was absent, but competition was fierce and racers brought their A-game on the chilly season-opener weekend.
Jesse Sherstan, defending middleweight champ and new to superbikes, started on pole and got out to a solid lead with Ryan Brand in tow and Stern running in third. On lap three, Brand made a small mistake that let veteran Stern get by, then Stern put his head down and hunted Sherstan. On lap six of the 14 lap race, Stern got by Sherstan and knocked out consistently quick laps to grab a win by five seconds. “The race went well. I had a plan and pretty much stuck to it, which is the first time I’ve really been able to do that,” said Stern. “I ran down Jesse, and my plan was to be leading at the halfway-mark in case the weather got bad. I passed Jesse going into turn two. He stayed right on me for a few laps, then I could see his tires going off a little, so I gapped him and brought it home for the win. A big thanks to my mechanic Chris Boileau, Dunlop tires, Arai helmets, Motul oils, EBC pads, LP, LeBard and Underwood, Pro-Line Fasteners. I’m reopening my shop in Las Vegas after a few years away, so come by Fastline Performance.”
Stern took the victory, with Sherstan five seconds back and John Hopperstad rounding out the podium in third after battling with Brand to the line. In the premier middleweight class, King of the Mountain GTU, Chad Swain of Alberta, Canada took a solid win over Scott Decker and Dave Lewis, who fought hard to the line. Swain started on pole, but Decker got the hole-shot and lead for five laps. After Swain got by, he put his head down and left Decker to battle with Lewis. “I was having some trouble with tires, but Kory Cowan had a Pirelli SC3 that seemed to work a lot better,” said Swain. “I got a bad start and Scott got the jump on me, but once I got into the groove I forced him to make a mistake in the last turn, got by and put in some good laps. I’m definitely going to do the whole series. It’s a great track down here.” “I’d like to thank Fleet Brake, Castrol, Crush Leathers, Dave Chambers my Manager, Pirelli and my mom and dad for supporting me.”
The new racer introduction and licensing program offered by UtahSBA was a success in its first weekend, with 13 students in the RacingExperience program and eight going on to regular racing Sunday. The mentor program proved invaluable, without a single new racer or provisional novice hitting the deck all weekend and consistent riding by the new racers. “The RacingExperience is a fantastic program with a really good price, plenty of track time and a focus on education and safety. Most fun I’ve had in a long time, money well spent,” said Colt Staake, a student in Saturday’s class.
RacingExperience lets riders interested in racing test the waters with a UtahSBA membership, a new racer certification class, a mentor, track time, practice starts and a mock race all on a regular race weekend for just $200. Regular trackday-prepped bikes are OK, so full race-prep is not required. The seven-race Mountains series, developed by Miller Motorsports Park, organized by the Utah Sportbike Association (UtahSBA) and sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), was created to encourage competitive road racing at the club and regional levels. In its seventh year, the series has quickly turned into a premier event drawing top-level talent from around the nation. For more information on schedule, rulebook, purses and contingency, visit www.utahsba.com/racing
2011 Masters of the Mountains race schedule:
April 16-17 – Miller Motorsports Park West Course
May 14-15 – Miller Motorsports Park East Course
June 18-19 – Miller Motorsports Park Perimeter Course (with WERA)
July 16-17 – Miller Motorsports Park West Course (with USGPRU)
August 20-21 – Miller Motorsports Park East Course
September 3-4 – Miller Motorsports Park West Course
October 1-2 – Miller Motorsports Park Full Course
Masters of the Mountains 2011 Round 1 Results:
Endurance GTO 1 Paul Parrott (Hon CBR100RR) 2 Mark Bigelow (Yam YZF-R6)
Endurance GTU 1 Jim King (Yam YZF-R6) 2 Dana Wilson (Yam YZF-R6) 3 David Lewis (Yam YZF-R6)
Endurance Lightweight 1 Douglas Pogue (Suz SV650) 2 Michael Carr (Suz SV650)
Endurance Relay 1 Kevin Dolan (Suz GSX-R1000) 2 David Peterson (Suz GSX-R750)
SuperTwins 1 Jon Glaefke (Pierobon F042) 2 Lance Lee (Apr RSV1000R)
Formula 5 1 James McKay (Suz GSX-R750) 2 Brian Prax (Kaw ZX-10R) 3 Mark Bigelow (Yam YZF-R6) 4 Mark Snethen (Suz GSX-R1000) 5 David Peterson (Suz GSX-R750) 6 Warren Rose (Hon CBR600RR)
Middleweight Superbike 1 Scott Decker (Suz GSX-R600) 2 David Lewis (Duc 84 8) 3 Clint Gibson (Kaw ZX-6R) 4 Sam Verderico (Suz GSX-R600) 5 Chad Swain (Kaw ZX-6R) 6 Brad Moore (Suz GSX-R600)
Novice GTU 1 Harith Albadri (Yam YZF-R6) 2 Michelle Webb (Tri Daytona 675) 3 Mike Testa (Yam YZF-R6) 4 Anthony Loucks (Hon CBR600RR) 5 James Lee (Yam YZF-R6) 6 Aaron Nourbakhsh (Suz SV650)
Open Superbike 1 Jesse Sherstan (Suz GSX-R1000) 2 Ryan Brand (Suz GSX-R1000) 3 Scott Decker (Suz GSX-R1000) 4 Sam Verderico (Suz GSX-R1000) 5 Eric Jones (Hon CBR1000RR) 6 Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000)
Amateur GTU 1 Darrel Cherry (Hon CBR600RR) 2 Vaughn Pedersen (Duc 84 8) 3 Mark Bigelow (Yam YZF-R6) 4 Christopher Boileau (Suz SV650) 5 Warren Rose (Hon CBR600RR) 6 Austin Carpenter (Yam YZF-R6)
Twins GTU 1 Christopher Boileau (Suz SV650) 2 Thomas Berry (Kaw EX650) 3 Aaron Nourbakhsh (Suz SV650) 4 Tim Gallagher (Suz SV650) 5 Don Roberts (Yam TZ125)
King of the Mountain GTU 1 Chad Swain (Kaw ZX-6R) 2 Scott Decker (Suz GSX-R600) 3 David Lewis (Duc 848) 4 Jeff Stern (Kaw ZX-6R) 5 Clint Gibson (Kaw ZX-6R) 6 Brad Moore (Suz GSX-R600)
Amateur GTO 1 Paul Parrott (Hon CBR1000RR) 2 Jared Green (Hon CBR1000RR) 3 Troy Siahaan (Hon CBR1000RR) 4 Mark Snethen (Suz GSX-R1000) 5 Darrel Cherry (Hon CBR600RR) 6 Warren Rose (Hon CBR600RR)
Twins GTO 1 Jon Glaefke (Pierobon F042) 2 Thomas Berry (Kaw EX650R) 3 Lance Lee (Apr RSV1000R)
Open Superstock 1 Sam Verderico (Suz GSX-R1000) 2 Ryan Brand (Suz GSX-R1000) 3 Paul Parrott (Hon CBR1000RR) 4 Jesse Sherstan (Suz GSX-R1000) 5 Eric Jones (Hon CBR1000RR) 6 Oleg Pianykh (Suz GSX-R1000)
Heavyweight Superstock 1 Scott Decker (Suz GSX-R600) 2 Clint Gibson (Kaw ZX-6R) 3 Jerry Hicks (Yam YZF-R6) 4 Shane White (Suz GSX-R750) 5 Brad Moore (Suz GSX-R600) 6 David Peterson (Suz GSX-R750)
Sportsman 1 Mark Harper (Hon CBR1000RR) 2 Thomas Berry (Kaw EX650R) 3 Michael Carr (Tri Daytona 675) 4 Casey Newell (Yam YZF-R1) 5 Colt Staake (Yam YZF-R1) 6 Robert Newhook (Suz GSX-R600)
Novice GTO 1 Mark Harper (Hon CBR1000RR) 2 Rob Kaufman (Yam YZF-R1) 3 Jared Green (Hon CBR1000RR) 4 Gary Gerber (Yam YZF-R1) 5 Michelle Webb (Tri Daytona 675) 6 Anthony Loucks (Hon CBR600RR)
Middleweight Superstock 1 Scott Decker (Suz GSX-R600) 2 Chad Swain (Kaw ZX-6R) 3 David Lewis (Duc 84 8) 4 Clint Gibson (Kaw ZX-6R) 5 Gerald Hicks (Yam YZF-R6) 6 Brad Moore (Suz GSX-R600)
King of the Mountains GTO 1 Jeff Stern (Hon CBR1000RR) 2 Jesse Sherstan (Suz GSX-R1000) 3 John Hopperstad (Suz GSX-R1000) 4 Ryan Brand (Suz GSX-R1000) 5 Scott Decker (Suz GSX-R1000) 6 Shane White (Suz GSX-R750)
Formula 40 1 John Hopperstad (Suz GSX-R1000) 2 Paul Parrott (Hon CBR1000RR) 3 Brandal Glenn (Duc 848) 4 Mark Snethen (Suz GSX-R1000) 5 Jim King (Yam YZF-R1) 6 Kevin Dolan (Suz GSX-R1000)