Road racers across the country are a gritty bunch, full of determination and tenacity, pitting their wills against one another all for the passion and glory of doing something extraordinary rather than ordinary with their lives. Motorcycle racing in the NW takes that one step further by racing in downpours, hail, and gusty conditions that separate the Prima Donnas from the real racers. With temps in the mid 40’s to low 50’s most of the weekend, WMRRA’s first round at the Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton, WA took place and did not disappoint. The lead off heat of the year ended up with 2013 Overall Champion Ryan “Chromie” Sutton hounding 2012 Overall Champion Mark DeGross the entire Open Super Sport race, yet DeGross was able to keep the hard charging ZX6 rider at bay and take the win. “Chromie” would later dominate the 600 Super Sport race and take a commanding victory in that class. Jonathan Wood took his first career victory in 750 Super Sport with a solid performance on his Premium Rush Motorcycle Rentals R6. Dark clouds rolled in and dumped the wet stuff for the Formula Ultra finale on Saturday which saw Canadian Adam Robarts snatch the lead from DeGross where the two battled nearly to the bitter end. Unfortunately, Robarts highsided himself in the slippery conditions as the pair were side by side exiting turn 12, resulting in a victory for DeGross.

Sunday brought even more rain, treacherous conditions, and unfortunately a procession of crashed bikes. Those that kept it on two for Sunday, were happy, having balanced the risk/reward equation to their satisfaction. The days racing opened up with Sean Galt taking the top spot on the podium for the Ultra Lightweight Superbike race, battling with the wiley Brit, Christopher Johnson, both on Ninja 250’s.DeGross took an uncontested win in Sunday’s Formula Ultra race which all expected to witness a good battle between him and Sutton. However, “Chromie” fought through visor fogging issues all race and could barely see, bringing it home collecting valuable points in 3rd. In 600 SuperBike Ryan Sutton went out with a mission, sliding all over in the rain, laying down a dominating as well as confidence inspiring ride for the win. He later exclaimed, “With all my vision and fogging issues on Saturday and early Sunday, I wondered if I really had it in me to go fast in the rain. I had to prove it to myself that I could, once I got the right visor to see!” Boy did he ever. After his 600 SB win, he took another solid win in Open SuperBike pushing hard on his ZX6 in hailing conditions, beating a mostly 1000cc field. Highlight of the day was 2nd year expert Chase Glidden riding a solid wet weather performance for the win in 750 Superbike and his first career win.

Out of state racer Thad Langford summed up the weekend during the trophy ceremonies. The Alaskan racer stated when receiving his 2nd place award for 600 TFS “I’ve never raced in the rain before, but you WMRRA guys are real men racing in this terrible weather and it was so fun! I look forward to doing it again with you guys!” WMRRA knows this and throughout its 30 year history, has always conducted racing rain or shine. If you want to race in the NW, get used to riding in the rain. Typically only one to two rounds of WMRRA’s 6 round series ends up wet, but like it or not, WMRRA isn’t for the faint at heart when the rain shows up. We grid up and go racing! Overall points after the first round shows DeGross with a slight advantage over Sutton at 188 to 165, with big bike rider Donny Schultz in 3rd at 132.

April 26-27, 2014 @ The Ridge – Results

Open Supersport
1. Mark DeGross (Hon CBR1000RR)
2. Ryan Sutton (Kaw ZX-6R)
3. Adam Robarts (Hon CBR1000RR)
4. Sam Verderico (Suz GSXR-1000)
5. Brian Pinkstaff (Kaw ZX-6R)
6. Jared Barnes (Suz GSXR-750)

650 Supersport Twins

1. Eric May (Suz SV650)
2. Barry Carlson (Suz SV650)
3. Cliff Beebe (Suz SV650)
4. Robert May (Suz SV650)
5. Erick Rostad (Suz SV650)
6. Neil Heineman (Suz SV650)

Open Single
1. Sean Galt (Mor MD250H)
2. Greg Canright (KTM 560SMR)
3. Joseph Wright (Hon RS125)

750 Supersport
1. Jonathan Wood (Yam YZF-R6)
2. John Gessner (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Chase Glidden (Yam YZF-R6)
4. Steven Bleistein (Yam YZF-R6)
5. Dan Manheimer (Suz GSXR-750)
6. Keith Robert (Yam YZF-R6)