Long, Iso, and Young victorious at East Coast USGPRU final NJMP Millville, NJ – The penultimate round of the 2010 USGPRU National Championship series (and final in the East Coast region) was held this past weekend at the tight and technical New Jersey Motorsports Park, Lightning course. The near perfect weather during Saturday’s qualifying sessions gave way to rain and overcast skies for the Sunday main event. Luckily the lightning stayed away and the racing went on as planned. The rain Sunday morning gave the racers an opportunity to try out their wet-weather skills. Unfortunately for many, they learned the hard way how not to run in the rain. Consequently, the crash trucks were kept busy all morning picking up mud and grass packed bikes. But besides a bunch of bodywork and control levers, Jake Lewis was the only casualty of the morning with a cracked wrist that ended his event. The racing started out with a still damp track for the Pilot 125GP main event. On the warm-up lap, race favorite Nobi Iso crashed his Veloce Racing Aprilia. Fortunately, minimal damage was done and he was able to remount and make the start. Barrett Long on his Yamaha TZ125, shot out into the lead, with Leon Cortes and Jeff Federici in tow. After 3 laps, Long was able to shake their draft and he began to check out from the pack. Leon Cortes desperately tried to keep up, but Long proved too fast and won with a comfortable 3.6 second margin. Federici faded mid way through the race as his rain tires started to lose grip. Max Flinders and Andrew Decosta, both on Moriwaki MD250Hs, made a late race charge, catching Cortes, but were unable to get by the 2-stroke GP bike. The Moto Liberty/RS-Taichi race was up next, and the track was just dry enough to change over to slicks. Barrett Long again showed that his Yamaha had the power to pull away from the pack as he went on to win his 5th race of the season. Leon Cortes rode to another second place finish, followed by Adrian Jasso on his immaculately prepared Yamaha TZ250. After his earlier crash in the 125GP race, Iso scrambled and rebuilt his Aprilia just in time to make the Rising Sun Cycle / GPTech Moto3 race. The only problem was that he didn’t have time change out his rain tires, and the track was bone dry. Spectators were betting on how long he’d be able to keep up with the hot-rod Moriwaki’s and other GP bikes. A 5-rider battle between Iso, Nick McFadden, Andrew Decosta, Gerry Signorelli, and Crystal Campagna ensued. By lap 3, McFadden and Iso started to break away with McFadden in the lead. It looked to be a 2-rider battle to the flag, but Andrew Decosta put his head down and by lap 10 had closed back up to Iso. With one lap to go, Iso could hear Decosta and decided it was time to get out front. He motored by McFadden, only to get re-passed on the brakes, as his rain tires were questionable at best. But he kept close enough to McFadden that when they hit the front straight, the power of the Aprilia was enough to get Iso to the finish line first. Decosta tucked in behind McFadden to round out the podium. The final race of the day was also one of the most anticipated. The REV’IT! Moriwaki MD250H Powered by HONDA race was up and the qualifying results had only 1 second spread across the top 5 riders. Nick McFadden led the field for the first 3 laps, with Ben Young, Andrew Decosta, and Max Flinders on his tail. Flinders lost the front pack, but stayed close enough to see the great battle rage on up front. Decosta was determined to win his first national race, but Young had the same idea. McFadden put on a tremendous display of patience and mature riding as he obviously was sitting back watching Young and Decosta dice for the lead. Decosta and Young were side-by-side down the straights and in the turns in a battle that kept everyone on their feet to see what would happen. And on the last lap, McFadden showed his hand, caught the draft and whipped by Decosta. Young was able to narrowly hold off McFadden for the win. Special thanks to the crew from CCS for hosting such a spectacular event at a great race course. Results from this weekend’s race at NJMP Lightning: Pilot 125GP race results 1.Barrett Long (Yam) 2.Leon Cortes (Hon) 3.Max Flinders (Mor) 4.Andrew Decosta (Hon) 5.Gerry Signorelli (Mor) 6.Nobi Iso (Apr) 7.Jeff Federici (Yam) 8.Nick McFadden (Mor) 9.Crystal Campagna (Hon) 10.Alex Wisdom (Mor) 11.Cody Sousa-Saints (Mor) 12.Khyren Wilson (Mor) 13.Federico Cortes (Hon) 14.Paul Hoyt Nelson (Hon) 15.Sharad Shanbhag (Hon) DNS Jake Lewis (Apr) DNS Justin Long (Yam) Moto Liberty / RS-Taichi 250GP race results 1.Barrett Long (Yam) 2.Leon Cortes (Hon) 3.Adrian Jasso (Yam) 4.Jimmy Clark (Yam) 5.Paul Hoyt Nelson (Hon) DNS Brian Surtees (Yam) DNS Mike Aboyoun (Hon) DNS Eric Moore (Yam) REV’IT! Moriwaki MD250H Powered by HONDA race results 1.Ben Young (Mor) 2.Nick McFadden (Mor) 3.Andrew Decosta (Mor) 4.Max Flinders (Mor) 5.Cody Sousa-Saints (Mor) 6.Alex Wisdom (Mor) 7.Khyren Wilson (Mor) 8.Bruce De Grilla (Mor) DNS Jake Lewis (Mor) Rising Sun Cycle/GPTech Moto3 race results 1.Nobi Iso (Apr) 2.Nick McFadden (Mor) 3.Andrew Decosta (Mor) 4.Gerry Signorelli (Mor) 5.Crystal Campagna (Hon) 6.Bruce De Grilla (Mor) 7.Cody Sousa-Saints (Mor) 8.Khyren Wilson (Mor) DNS Jake Lewis (Apr) The USGPRU is the officially recognized 125 Grand Prix National Championship® and 250 Grand Prix National Championship® series. The popular Moriwaki MD250H spec-bike youth class and the exciting new Moto3 classes round out a real GP experience. The USGPRU provides a unique opportunity for riders by providing extended length grand prix racing with timed qualifying and superb contingency and sponsor support. Race and practice format is designed to prepare riders for the experience of 2-wheel racing at the highest levels.