Lexington, OH. – September 13, 2009 – The USGPRU headed to Lexington, Ohio this past weekend to join the AMA at Mid-Ohio for the annual Roadrace Grand Championship weekend. The pits were buzzing all weekend with the unmistakable sounds of GP bikes.
The Pilot 125GP race started like many others with Garrett Gerloff charging off into the lead on his Moriwaki followed by Jake Lewis, Ryan Matter, and Nobi Iso. The lead pack started to break away from the field, and Matter tried to hang on, but fell victim to the blistering pace set by the lead trio and faded back. The crowd was on their feet as the 3 lead racers, who also happen to be the 3 contenders for the national championship, swapped paint and rubbed elbows every lap as they jockeyed for the lead spot. On the last lap, Iso on his powerful Aprilia RS125 narrowly held off the two youngsters to claim the victory. Jake Lewis made a late-lap pass on the championship leader Gerloff to claim second place.
A cool track greeted the Moriwaki MD250H Powered by Honda race first thing Sunday morning. As the young 12- to 16-year-old racers took to the grid, parents and spectators crowded the front wall to see who would lead the exceptionally competitive grid into turn one. But the biggest surprise of the weekend occurred even before the race started as Jake Lewis severely jumped the start. With championship hopes in the balance, Lewis kept a cool head, realized his mistake and kept the throttle pinned knowing that he had already incurred a stop-and-go penalty.
The rest of the grid started off after him, led by his championship rival Garrett Gerloff. This was clearly the break in the season that Gerloff was hoping for and he aimed to capitalize on Jake’s mistake and Garrett started to gap the rest of the field by almost a full second a lap. That’s not a trivial accomplishment in a spec class! He rode on to win the race in decisive fashion.
Meanwhile, Lewis served his penalty and rejoined the field in 7th place where he started to claw back positions. While Gerloff checked out, Hayden Gillim, Ryan Matter, and Stefano Mesa were having their own battle for second place. But Lewis reeled them in and passed all of them except Ryan Matter to claim a hard fought third place finish. Stefano Mesa also made a late charge to pass Red Bull Rookie Cup racer, Hayden Gillim, to claim fourth place.
In what was to be the third amazing race of the weekend, the big boys (and girls) took to the grid for the final USGPRU races of the weekend in the Moto Liberty/RS-Taichi 250GP and GPTech/Pilot F450 races. The 250GP race was lead early on by the point’s leader, Adam Roberts. He looked to be checking out, but Miles Thornton led a four-rider-posse that chased him down by the halfway point. Much to everyone’s surprise, Miles passed Roberts for the lead and was followed by Chris Pyles who also made the pass on Roberts, but was unable to challenge Miles for the win. Nobi Iso was clearly in the hunt on his Veloce Racing Aprilia RSW250, but couldn’t close the deal on Roberts and settled for fourth. Mike Aboyoun gave another solid ride to finish in fifth.
The “brass-balls” award went to Melissa Paris and she valiantly rode her Markbilt Honda RS250 to a 6th place finish despite having broken her leg only 3 weeks earlier. She couldn’t walk without crutches, but she can sure ride the wheels off of that bike! It’s exactly what she needed to keep herself in the points chase with Adam Roberts.
The F450 race was a great battle between our 2004 125GP National Champions (and some may know him as an AMA regular) Josh Herrin and young-gun Nick Hansen. The two swapped the lead every lap, while plowing mercilessly through the field of 250GP back markers. Unfortunately, on the last lap, the two riders came together on the back straight resulting in Hansen crashing out and Herrin nursing his GPTech Yamaha around to claim the win. It was truly shaping up to be a photo finish between those two warriors. We think a rematch is in order!!
The USGPRU would like to thank the AMA and CCS for another great weekend. This weekend wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the 2009 USGPRU National Series sponsors: Moto Liberty, RS-Taichi, Pilot, RoadracingWorld.com, Rising Sun Cycles, Motion Pro, Bridgestone Tires, Dunlop Tires, EBC Brakes, GP Tech, Powerstands, Chicken Hawk Tire Warmers, Hjelm Motorsports, Pirelli Tires, Michelin Tires, and Starlane by Yoyodyne.
Pilot 125GP results: 1. Nobi Iso (Apr) 2. Jake Lewis (Mor) 3. Garrett Gerloff (Mor) 4. Ryan Matter (Hon) 5. Hayden Gillim (Hon) 6. Ben Young (Hon) 7. Stefano Mesa (Hon) 8. Austin Medrano (Hon) 9. Cody Wyman (Hon) 10. Grayson Gerloff (Hon) 11. John Hjelm (Hon) 12. Jordan Reid (Hon) 13. Tim Harrington (Hon) 14. Paul Hoyt Nelson (Hon) 15. Xavier Zayat (Hon) 16. Glen Pison (Hon) 17. Crystal Campagna (Hon) 18. Charles Boyd (Hon) 19. Bob Poetzsch (Hon) 20. Duane Hixon (Hon) 21. Max Flinders (Mor) 23. Marcus Matthews (Hon) 24. Steve Massey (Hon) 25. Nick Hansen (Hon)
Moto Liberty/RS-Taichi 250GP results: 1. Miles Thornton (Yam) 2. Chris Pyles (Yam) 3. Adam Roberts (Yam) 4. Nobi Iso (Apr) 5. Mike Aboyoun (Hon) 6. Melissa Paris (Hon) 7. Jake Lewis (Apr) 8. Cassidy Heiser (Yam) 9. Robert Taylor (Yam) 10. Ryan Matter (Hon) 11. Al Campbell (Yam) 12. Angus Borland (Yam) 13. Brian Surtees (Yam) 14. Jim Bergey (Hon) 15. Jim Bonner (Yam) 16. James Freiman (Yam) 17. Bob Poetzsch (Yam) 18. Paul Hoyt Nelson (Hon) 19. Todd Urig (Yam) 20. Eric Frazier (Hon) 21. Adrian Jasso (Yam) 22. Jeff Pratt (Yam) 23. Tim Harrington (Yam)
GPTech/Pilot F450 results: 1. Josh Herrin (GPTech Yam) 2. Nick Hansen (Hon)
Moriwaki MD250H Powered by HONDA results: 1. Garrett Gerloff (Mor) 2. Ryan Matter (Mor) 3. Jake Lewis (Mor) 4. Stefano Mesa (Mor) 5. Hayden Gillim (Mor) 6. Grayson Gerloff (Mor) 7. Max Flinders (Mor) 8. Nick Hansen (Mor)
About USGPRU
The USGPRU is the officially recognized Motorcycle 125 Grand Prix National Championship ®, 250 Grand Prix National Championship TM series, and Moriwaki MD250H youth racing series. The USGPRU emulates true World MotoGP racing experience and serves to attract young riders to gain experience in a professional environment and provide a path to world-class motorcycle racing. The USGPRU structures events with extended length grand prix racing exclusive to the GP machines, timed qualifying and strong contingency and sponsor support. For additional details, visit www.USGPRU.net