Nobi Iso and Matt Cooper won the 125cc and 250cc USGPRU races, respectively, Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park.
In spite of having to start from 15th on the grid (due to a combination of slick tires and a wet qualifying session Saturday), Iso came from behind to win the 12-lap, 23-rider 125cc contest on his Veloce Racing Aprilia RS125R. 18-year-old Canadian Alex Welsh also had to come from the back of the grid on his Infinity GP Racing Honda RS125, but he could not overtake Iso and had to settle for second place. After a race-long fight, Basi Italia’s Scott Smallwood had third place under control, but he crashed his Honda on the last lap, handing third place to Hjelm Motorsports’ John Hjelm.
Pro 6 Cycles’ Cooper and Welsh fought back and forth for all 12 laps of the 21-rider 250cc Grand Prix, but it was lapped traffic on the final lap that decided the race. Cooper snuck through to take his first-ever USGPRU victory, with Championship contender Welsh second, just 0.8 second back at the checkered flag. 59-year-old Bruce Lind finished third on his self-tuned Yamaha TZ250.
USGPRU Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, Alabama August 13 Race Results:
125cc Race: 1. Nobi Iso (Apr RS125R); 2. Alex Welsh (Hon RS125); 3. John Hjelm (Hon RS125); 4. Steve Wenner (Hon RS125); 5. Mike Orien (Hon RS125); 6. Tom Swager (Hon RS125); 7. Michael Santelia (Hon RS125); 8. Kevin Murray (Yam TZ125); 9. Merle Eschman (Hon RS125); 10. Mark Dennis (Hon RS125); 11. Bruce Lind (Yam TZ125); 12. Lee Holimon (Hon RS125); 13. John Bellinger (Hon RS125); 14. Scott Smallwood (Hon RS125), -1 lap, crash; 15. Tony Wang (Hon RS125), -1 lap; 16. Brian McLaughlin (Yam TZ125), -1 lap; 17. Marcus Matthews (Hon RS125), -1 lap; 18. Alessandro Acquisti (Yam TZ125), -1 lap; 19. Scott Thompson (Hon RS125), -1 lap; 20. Allen Campbell (Hon RS125), -1 lap; 21. Marc Whitney (Hon RS125), -6 laps, DNF; 22. Andrew Surber (Hon RS125), -8 laps, DNF; 23. Adam Loeffler (Hon RS125), -10 laps, DNF.
250cc Race: 1. Matt Cooper (Hon RS250); 2. Alex Welsh (Hon RS250); 3. Bruce Lind (Yam TZ250); 4. Jeff Federici (Yam TZ250); 5. Daniele Lenarduzzi (Yam TZ250); 6. Mark Stiles (Yam TZ250); 7. Christopher Quillman (Yam TZ250); 8. Adam Loeffler (Hon RS250); 9. Pat Bartlett (Yam TZ250); 10. Mike Wright (Yam TZ250); 11. Kory Gill (Yam TZ250); 12. Jim Bergey (Hon RS250); 13. Jerry Berkey (Hon RS250); 14. Daniel Qualtire (Yam TZ25), -1 lap; 15. Joji Tokumoto (Hon RS250), -1 lap; 16. Mike Aboyoun (Hon RS250), -1 lap; 17. Thomas Nardo (Yam TZ250), -1 lap; 18. Randy Miller (Yam TZ250), -1 lap; 19. Tom Swager (Yam TZ250), -3 laps, DNF, mechanical; 20. Allen Campbell (Apr RSV250), -8 laps, DNF; 21. Nobi Iso (Apr RSV250), -9 laps, DNF; 22. Steve Wenner (Hon RS250), -11 laps, DNF, crash.