American Jason DiSalvo won a round of the Czech 250cc Grand Prix Championship at Brno on Sunday. DiSalvo’s Cruise America Grand Prix Racing team sent out the following press release:

“Cruise America Grand Prix Racing Team rider Jason DiSalvo brushed aside his recent run of misfortune to score a magnificent victory in the Czech 250cc Championship at the Brno circuit yesterday.

“In a very close race which saw him lead for much of the race, the 17-year-old from Batavia, New York, charged past his nearest rival–reigning Czech Champion Radomil Rous–on the final lap to score his first European victory of the season.

“But it all started off not too well for DiSalvo and in particular his crew chief, Marco ‘Brains’ Woodage who tripped in the pits on Thursday requiring hospital attention which left him on crutches all weekend with torn ankle ligaments.

“Nevertheless, the team worked on suspension settings during the weekend trying to get Jason to improve on his second-place time while learning the track, and a major change to the suspension during Sunday morning warm-up saw Jason find the 2.5 seconds a lap he needed.

“In the race, DiSalvo rocketed from his front row grid position and the results of his ‘superstart’ were a lead of four seconds at the end of lap one. DiSalvo kept the advantage until late in the race when Rous eventually reeled him in and took over the lead for a lap. DiSalvo had other ideas and quickly moved to the front on the final lap where he remained for a well-deserved victory.

“‘Jason got better as the weekend went on and worked hard for his win. We’re delighted and a lot of people came over to us and congratulated us so let’s hope this is the start of good things to come from now on’ said team owner Jim DiSalvo.

“The team hopes to carry their good fortune on in Hungary this weekend when they contest the European Championship race at the Hungaroring.”