USGPRU East Coast Round 4 results: Iso, Paris, and Gerloff victorious in New Jersey The racing action this past weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park was second to none. The USGPRU joined the ASRA/CCS racers at the new facility for what turned out to be one of the best surprises of the year. The seemingly simple layout of the track proved to be extremely entertaining for the racers and provided for some top-shelf racing action. In the Pilot 125GP race, 33 bikes made the starting grid. Six bikes broke away at the start of the race and started setting a blistering pace. Garrett Gerloff on his modified Moriwaki MD250H led Nobi Iso, Ryan Matter, Kris Turner, Ben Young, and Jake Lewis. Iso found a way past young Garrett by lap 3, and with about 2 laps left, Nobi started to pull away from Garrett. Likewise, Garrett started to stretch a little gap over the rest of the pack. As Iso sliced through the lap traffic, Gerloff tried to keep pace, but couldn’t keep the Aprilia in reach and had to settle for second place. The remaining pack battled for third with west coaster, Ryan Matter, taking the final podium spot. Jake Lewis dropped out of the race early, allowing Garrett Gerloff to move up to take a narrow 6-point lead in the national championship chase. Defending champion, Nobi Iso is still in the hunt in third place, 48 points behind Gerloff. There were 18 bikes entered in the Moto Liberty/ RS-Taichi 250GP race. Adam Roberts led the race with Melissa Paris and Mike Aboyoun in tow. Melissa passed for the lead soon after and Adam and Mike kept pace with her. With only a few laps to go, Melissa and Adam pulled a gap on Mike and the 2-rider battle went on to the end. Adam tried for a last lap pass, but couldn’t seal the deal. Melissa took the win and closed the national championship points gap down to only 6 between her and Adam. Mike’s third place finish took him from 5th up to 3rd place in the chase. Finally, one of the best races of the day (as if those other 2 weren’t enough) the Moriwaki MD250H Powered by HONDA race got underway. Nick Hansen was riding strong all weekend, and got the hole-shot award as he led the pack at the start. Garrett Gerloff, Ryan Matter, Jake Lewis, and Stefano Mesa joined Nick in an absolutely epic battle. The five guys were swapping the lead all over the place the entire race. All the while, you could have thrown a blanket over all five of them! Jake Lewis’s bad luck continued as his motor let loose on lap 6 and he had to retire early. The other four racers took it to the line in what was easily the closest photo finish of the day. Gerloff and Matter were side-by-side with Hansen and Mesa trying to draft past them at the line. The margin of victory was a mere .016 seconds, as Gerloff nipped Matter at the line. Stefano Mesa barely beat Nick Hansen for the final podium spot. It was an amazing race and testament to these kids’ riding abilities. Jake Lewis retained his championship points lead, but Gerloff closed the gap to a mere 22 points with three rounds to go. Ryan Matter is also in the hunt, only 45 points behind Lewis. Full results as follows: Pilot 125GP race: 1. Nobi Iso (Apr) 2. Garrett Gerloff (Mor) 3. Ryan Matter (Hon) 4. Ben Young (Hon) 5. Kris Turner (Hon) 6. Cameron Gish (Hon) 7. David Celento (Hon) 8. Nick Hansen (Mor) 9. Stefano Mesa (Hon) 10. Michael Lainhart (Hon) 11. Austin Medrano (Hon) 12. Xavier Zayat (Hon) 13. Jake Quick (Hon) 14. Nick McFadden (Hon) 15. Alex Guilbeault (Hon) 16. Eric Frazier (Hon) 17. Bob Rothrock (Hon) 18. John Milliron (Hon) 19. John Lemak (Hon) 20. Jeff Foley (Hon) 21. Grayson Gerloff (Hon) 22. Reet Das (Hon) 23. Joey Schmidt (Hon) 24. Crystal Campagna (Hon) 25. Bob Poetzsch (Hon) 26. Duane Hixon (Hon) 27. Yukio Hamasaki (Hon) 28. Jordan Levitt (Hon) 29. Chun Rene Eng (Hon) 30. Sharad Shanbhag (Yam) 31. Jake Lewis (Hon) 32. Rebecca Henn (Hon) Moto Liberty / RS-Taichi 250GP race: 1. Melissa Paris (Hon) 2. Adam Roberts (Yam) 3. Mike Aboyoun (Hon) 4. Al Campbell (Yam) 5. Chris Pyles (Yam) 6. Brian Surtees (Yam) 7. Angus Borland (Yam) 8. Ben Young (Apr) 9. Bob Poetzsch (Yam) 10. Michael Lainhart (Hon) 11. Bruce Lind (Yam) 12. Jim Bonner (Yam) 13. Jake Quick (Hon) 14. Eric Moore (Yam) 15. Paul Hoyt Nelson (Hon) 16. Jim Bergey (Hon) Moriwaki MD250H Powered by HONDA race: 1. Garrett Gerloff (Mor) 2. Ryan Matter (Mor) 3. Stefano Mesa (Mor) 4. Nick Hansen (Mor) 5. Grayson Gerloff (Mor) 6. Nick McFadden (Mor) 7. Max Flinders (Mor) 8. Parker Steele (Mor) 9. Jake Lewis (Mor) 10. Michael Lainhart (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 most recent addition is the exciting new F450 class where racers convert 450cc dirt bikes into roadracing weapons. 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