Lexington, OH. September 23, 2007 The final round of the USGPRU 2007 season took place this weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. AMA Sports was hosting their annual National Grand Championship, and proved to be an outstanding complement to the 125 and 250 GP National Championship Event. Unlike last year’s event, there wasn’t a drop of rain to be found. Heading into the event, neither championship had been decided. Young PJ Jacobsen had a 40-point lead over Nobi Iso in the 125GP class, and Ryan Ferris had a 28-point lead over Canadian Eddy Brunet in the 250GP. With 50 points up for grabs for a race win and 40 points for second place, it looked like PJ would just have to finish the race to wrap up his second national title in a row. But a late season acceptance into the MotoGP academy meant he needed to pull out of Mid-Ohio and head to Spain to start getting familiar with the tracks in Europe. This left the door open to Iso, but the only way to win the championship would be to win the race. Likewise, Ferris had a large lead over Brunet, but Brunet’s track knowledge and voracious desire to win gave him a solid shot at the championship despite the odds. Friday’s Rising Sun Cycle 125GP qualifying saw Iso set the fastest times with a 1:36.292 lap, followed by Benny Solis and Texan, Chase Vivion, rounding out the front row. The 250GP qualifying had the 2006 250GP Champ, Alex Welsh way out in the lead with a blistering 1:34.014 lap aboard his Honda RS250 machine. Chris Pyles and Kyle Ferris came across next almost 1.5 seconds back, but still just ahead of Brunet in fourth. Ryan Ferris struggled with electrical problems and only completed 1 lap and barely qualified in 33rd position. Brunet’s championship chances were looking much better. The 125GP National Championship race got off to a great start as Iso, Vivion, Solis and local favorite Scott Smallwood all battled nose-to-tail for the lead. Heading into the keyhole turn on lap 4, Smallwood and Solis collided as Smallwood tried to make the pass on Solis’s inside. Both riders went down, and then there were only 2 riders up front. On lap 5, Chase Vivion passed Iso for the lead but this was to be a short-lived victory as lapped rider Chris Terheyden brought the race to a stop on lap 7 when he high-sided in the “Esses”. The restart saw Iso and Vivion dipping down into the low 1:36 times, but in the end, Iso was able to pull out a slim 2-second lead to clinch the win and the National 125GP Champion title. Third place went to 12-year-old, Royce McLean on his Yamaha TZ125, narrowly edging out Toriano Wilson and Miles Thornton. This made for a three-manufacturer podium with Aprilia on top, followed by Honda and Yamaha. The 250GP race wasn’t quite as dramatic as Alex Welsh led every lap from flag-to-flag. While he made it look easy at the end, Chris Pyles held onto Alex’s rear wheel for the first half of the race before fading back and eventually being caught by the younger of the two Ferris boys, Kyle. Pyles was passed by Kyle Ferris late in the race, relegating him to third place. Eddy Brunet narrowly held onto fourth place ahead of Scotty Ryan and Sean Wray. Ryan Ferris was able to correct his earlier electrical gremlins and worked his way up from 33rd to 10th place. That was enough for him to clinch the title of National 250GP Champion for 2007. The USGPRU would like to thank Stephanie McIntyre and the rest of the AMA Sports staff for another great event. Thanks also to the WERA crew for running a smooth event as usual. The staff of the USGPRU appreciates all the help that our volunteers and sponsors have provided all season long. We couldn’t do what we are doing without your help and we sincerely thank you for that assistance. We look forward to another great season in 2008! 125GP Results: 1.Nobi Iso Aprilia RS125 2 Chase Vivion Honda RS125 3 Royce McLean Yamaha TZ125 4 Toriano Wilson Honda RS125 5 Miles Thorton Honda RS125 6 Stewart Aitken-Cade Honda RS125 7 Hayden Gillim Honda RS125 8 Melissa Paris Honda RS125 9 Frankie Lee Gillim III Honda RS125 10 Cassidy Heiser Honda RS125 11 John Hjelm Honda RS125 12 Merle Eschman Honda RS125 13 Mike Aboyoun Honda RS125 14 Crystal Campagna Honda RS125 15 Glen Pison Honda RS125 16 Marcus ‘nice rims’ Matthews Honda RS125 17 Alex Guilbeault Honda RS125 18 Paul Hoyt Nelson Honda RS125 19 Doug Brown Honda RS125 20 Ray Hixon Honda RS125 21 Steve Belknap Honda RS125 22 Bill Doran Honda RS125 23 Eric Yurejefcic Honda RS125 24 Adam Neese Yamaha TZ125 25 Scott Smallwood Honda RS125 DNF Chris Terheyden Honda RS125 DNF Benny Solis Honda RS125 DNF Ryan Matter Honda RS125 DNS Al Campbell Honda RS125 DQ Geo Van Der Merwe Honda RS125 250GP results: 1 Alex Welsh Honda RS250 2 Kyle Ferris Yamaha TZ250 3 Chris Pyles Yamaha TZ250 4 Eddy Brunet Honda RS250 5 Scotty Ryan Yamaha TZ250 6 Sean Wray Yamaha TZ250 7 Daniele Lenarduzzi Yamaha TZ250 8 Mike Aboyoun Honda RS250 9 Benny Solis Honda RS125 10 Ryan Ferris Honda RS250 11 John Dempsey Yamaha TZ250 12 Toriano Wilson Honda RS125 13 Mark Stiles Yamaha TZ250 14 Stu Aitken-Cade Honda RS125 15 Tom Fournier Yamaha TZ250 16 Chris Manfrin Yamaha TZ250 17 Al Campbell Yamaha TZ250 18 Melissa Paris Honda RS125 19 Mark Jaeckle Yamaha TZ250 20 Mike Wright Yamaha TZ250 21 Royce McLean Yamaha TZ125 22 Jamie Worthington Aprilia RS250 23 Jim Bergey Honda RS250 24 Ryan Matter Honda RS125 25 Mike Danielson Yamaha TZ250 26 Paul Hoyt Nelson Honda RS250 27 Steve Aspland Yamaha TZ250 28 Alex Guilbeault Honda RS125 29 Jerry Sadler Yamaha TZ250 30 Jon Cone Honda RS250 31 Dan Brown Honda RS125 DNF Zack Lee Honda RS250 DNF Ofir Abergal Aprilia RS250 DNS Geoffrey Maloney Yamaha TZ250 DNS Mark ‘Bigman’ Kelly Honda RS250 DNS Todd Urig Yamaha TZ250 Final Top 5 National 125GP points: 1. Nobi Iso 310 2. Patrick Jacobsen 300 3. Benny Solis 236 4. Tyler Odom 150 5. Jon Schendel 130 Final Top 5 National 250GP points: 1. Ryan Ferris 266 2. Eddy Brunet 248 3. Kyle Ferris 188 4. Vincent Rolleri 166 5. Chris Pyles 148