Jake Gagne smashes track records and wins MRA’s Race of the Rockies at High Plains Raceway

Byers, CO – The MRA made its first 2016 appearance at High Plains Raceway this past weekend including the return of the 4-hour endurance on Saturday. A surprise treat for everyone (except the open class racers) was the appearance of RoadRace Factory’s Jake Gagne on the grids. Jake and the team subtly set up in the northeast corner of the paddock and proceeded to demolish the competition and most track records each time they put their Yamaha R1M onto the racing surface.

As early as Saturday it became clear that the long standing track record at HPR, held by Matt Lynn since May 2009, was likely to fall. During qualifying for the 4-hour endurance race, Gagne came within 0.4 seconds that best time. Then during the endurance race, Gagne broke it with a 1:44.018. It turns out that was just the beginning.

The 4-hour endurance race went incredibly smooth this year. The MRA runs three categories of endurance simultaneously; titanium butt (solo), true endurance (one motorcycle), and pony express (pass the transponder). Pho-King Quickcycles took the pony express and overall win with 124 laps with only a 1/2 lap lead over second place Pink Snappers. The competition for the top podiums was tough, with true endurance teams finishing within one lap and solo riders only separated by 1.5 laps. Louden David was able to stay in front of Eric Becker for the win in the titanium butt class. Louden racked up 114 laps by himself which was only 10 laps short of the overall team winner!

The assault on existing track records started in earnest on Sunday. Reigning MRA top plate holder Ryan Burke knew he was in for some tough competition and responded with a 1:45.164 qualifying time for Race of the Rockies. That broke the existing Race of the Rockies qualifying time by over a second and a half. Due to a mid-qualifying red flag Gagne and Utah fast guy Oleg Pianykh didn’t have qualifying times.

Ricky Orlando managed a hole shot in Open Superbike which quickly saw Gagne and Burke run to the front take off from the rest of the field with lap times in the 1:44-1:45 range. On lap 4, Gagne overcooked turn one and ended up sampling the adequate run off at High Plains Raceway. Burke, who had now been handed the lead unfortunately low sided in the very next turn ending his race. Gagne was able to get back on track and stay ahead of Pianykh to win. Also during this race, Gagne reset the track record again to 1:43.972, which now stands at the official HPR track record.

Burke took the hole shot in Race of the Rockies GTO followed by Dan “Otis” Turner and Ray Thornton. Gagne & Pianykh wasted no time getting from the back of the grid up with the front group and by lap two it was Gagne ahead of Burke, then Thornton, Orlando, Turner and Pianykh. Pianykh got around Turner to take over fifth while Gagne and Burke disappeared off of the front. On lap eight, Gagne ran off again giving Burke the opportunity to lead for a couple laps before Gagne was able to take the lead back and win by a slim, but impressive 1.2 seconds.

Wyeth Jackson became the first female racer to win Race of the Rockies GTU. The perennial Shannon Moham took the lead from the start, but lost his shifter bolt on lap 4 and had to retire. This left Jackson to battle with a hard charging Ken Yee for the GTU lead. Yee was able to get by Jackson on lap 5, but Yee ran off track and wasn’t able to recover. Jackson finished on the top of the podium with Tim Mayhew and Brian Dobrowolski rounding out the top 3 Race of the Rockies GTU finishers.

The track records demolished this weekend include 400 Production Cup by Jason Madama @ 2:04.384, Ladies of the Rockies by Wyeth Jackson @ 1:54.967, Open Superbike by Jake Gagne @ 1:43.972 (also the overall track record), Race of the Rockies GTO also by Gagne @ 1:44.229, Supermoto by Michael Surrat @ 2:07.755, and 4-hour endurance by Jake Gagne @ 1:44.018.

The MRA returns to High Plains Raceway on July 9-10 for the next round of sprint races. The SuperStreet program resumes for the remainder of the year. For more information, see http://www.mra-racing.org/superstreet/superstreet-information/

The Motorcycle Roadracing Association is dedicated to promoting safe and competitive motorcycle road racing events for enthusiasts in Colorado and the surrounding area. For more information go to http://www.mra-racing.org/.

Fay Myers Motorcycle World’s Race of the Rockies GTO
1. Jake Gagne (Yam YZF-R1M)
2. Ryan Burke (Yam YZF-R1M)
3. Ray Thornton (Yam YZF-R1)
4. Ricky Orlando (Kaw ZX-10R)
5. Oleg Pianykh (Yam YZF-R1)
6. Dan Turner (Suz GSX-R1000)

Vickery Motorsports’ Race of the Rockies GTU
1. Wyeth Jackson (Kaw ZX-6R)
2. Tim Mayhew (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Brian Dobrowolski (Kaw ZX-6R)
4. Scott Morrison (Yam YZF-R6)
5. Brad Morris (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Ken Yee (Hon CBR600RR)

Race of the Rockies Championship Overall
1. Jake Gagne (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Ryan Burke (Yam YZF-R1)
3. Ray Thornton (Yam YZF-R1)
4. Ricky Orlando (Kaw ZX-10R)
5. Oleg Pianykh (Yam YZF-R1)
6. Dan Turner (Suz GSX-R1000)

High Plains Raceway’s Ladies of the Rockies
1. Wyeth Jackson (Kaw ZX-6R)
2. Samantha Coleman (Kaw ZX-6R)
3. Katie Malone (Kaw ZX-6R)
4. Trina Dawson (Yam YZF-R6)
5. Tiffany Maestas (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Cindy Wulf (Suz GSX-R750)

Imperial Sportbikes’ Amateur GTO
1. Ian O’Connor (Kaw ZX-6R)
2. Erik Sipila (Kaw ZX-10R)
3. Dylan Hale (Yam YZF-R6)
4. Zach Friley (Hon CBR1000R)
5. Dan Elders (Suz GSX-R600)
6. Raymond Richard (Yam YZF-R6)

Vickery Motorsports’ Amateur GTU
1. Zach Hill (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Dylan Hale (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Ian O’Connor (Kaw ZX-6R)
4. Jeff Healy (Yam YZF-R6)
5. Andrew Schrems (Suz GSX-R600)
6. Raymond Richard (Yam YZF-R6)

Un!nk Printworks’ Modern Vintage GTO
1. Tim Meiners (Duc 749R)
2. Jim Wilson (Suz GSX-R1000)
3. Jay Hollman (Apr RSV1000R)
4. Zach Friley (Hon CBR1000R)
5. Scott Weitmann (Kaw ZX-6R)
6. Erik Sipila (Suz GSX-R1000)

The Walnut Room’s Modern Vintage GTU
1. Chris Coonshead (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Mike Applehans (Suz GSX-R600)
3. Casey Smith (Suz SV650)
4. Matthew Neuberger (Yam YZF-R6)
5. Raymond Richard (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Nik Scott (Yam YZF-R6)

Colorado Powersports’ Open Superbike
1. Jake Gagne (Yam YZF-R1M)
2. Oleg Pianykh (Yam YZF-R1)
3. Ricky Orlando (Kaw ZX-10R)
4. Dan Turner (Suz GSX-R1000)
5. Ray Thornton (Yam YZF-R1)
6. John Borst (Apr RSV4R)

Quik Cycles’ Open Supersport
1. Oleg Pianykh (Yam YZF-R1)
2. Ray Thornton (Yam YZF-R1)
3. Ricky Orlando (Kaw ZX-10R)
4. John Borst (Apr RSV4R)
5. Nikolas Lenski (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Ken Yee (Hon CBR600RR)

Imperial Sportbikes’ 4 hour Titanium Butt Endurance
1. Louden David (Kaw ZX-6R)
2. Eric Becker (Tri Daytona 675)
3. Andrew Schrems (Suz GSX-R600)
4. Jeff Healy (Yam YZF-R6)
5. Kenneth Kilness (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Alex Aubrey (Kaw ZX-6R)

Imperial Sportbikes’ 4 hour True Endurance
1. Midnight Ninja Tits
2. Mother Lovers (Kaw ZX-10R)

Imperial Sportbikes’ 4 hour Pony Express
1. Pho-King Quickcycles
2. Pink Snappers (Duc Supersport)
3. Century Racing (Apr RSV4R)
4. 3 Kaws And A Duc
5. Novice Shit Show
6. Boobz A’Hoy

Performance Cycle’s Heavyweight Superbike
1. Shannon Moham (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Brian Dobrowolski (Kaw ZX-6R)
3. Dennis Stowers (Tri Daytona 675)
4. Brad Morris (Yam YZF-R6)
5. Aaron Fisk (Kaw ZX-6R)
6. Dan Elders (Suz GSX-R600)

Apex Motorsports’ Heavyweight Supersport
1. Ryan Burke (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Shannon Moham (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Wyeth Jackson (Kaw ZX-6R)
4. Ken Yee (Hon CBR600RR)
5. Brad Morris (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Zach Hill (Yam YZF-R6)

ACES’ Middleweight Superbike
1. Shannon Moham (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Ken Yee (Hon CBR600RR)
3. Brad Morris (Yam YZF-R6)
4. Brian Dobrowolski (Kaw ZX-6R)
5. Tim Mayhew (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Dennis Stowers (Tri Daytona)

Full Throttle Riding Academy’s Middleweight Supersport
1. Ryan Burke (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Shannon Moham (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Ken Yee (Hon CBR600RR)
4. Wyeth Jackson (Kaw ZX-6R)
5. Brad Morris (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Brian Dobrowolski (Kaw ZX-6R)

Spencer Russell Youth Racing’s Lightweight Grand Prix
1. Tony Baker (Yam FZ-07)
2. Randall Adami (Kaw EX650R)
3. Ray Ray Gaimara (Suz SV650)
4. Michael Surratt (Suz RMZ450)
5. Kevin Boniface (KTM RC390)
6. Jeremy Widmann (Hon CBR500R)

Alliance Motorsports’ SuperTwins GTO
1. Shannon Moham (Duc 848 EVO)
2. Tim Meiners (Duc 749R)
3. Jim Brewer (Duc 1098R)
4. Casey Smith (Suz SV650)
5. Jay Hollman (Apr RSV1000R)
6. Tony Baker (Yam FZ-07)

Factory Trained Auto Repair’s SuperTwins GTU
1. Mike Applehans (Duc 848)
2. Casey Smith (Suz SV650)
3. Ray Ray Gaimara (Suz SV650)
4. David Day (Suz SV650)
5. Chuck Shettsline (Yam TZ250)
6. David Absolon (Yam YZR-R3)

Boulder Motorsports’ Thunderbike
1. Shannon Moham (Duc 848 EVO)
2. Dennis Stowers (Tri Daytona)
3. Tim Meiners (Duc 749R)
4. Jay Hollman (Apr RSV1000R)
5. David Day (Tri 675)
6. Tony Baker (Yam FZ-07)

Sol Performance/Moto Garage’s Formula 40 GTO
1. Ray Thornton (Yam YZF-R1)
2. Ricky Orlando (Kaw ZX-10R)
3. Jim Wilson (Kaw ZX-10R)
4. Travis Graham (Suz GSX-R1000)
5. Kale Dankenbring (Kaw ZX-10R)
6. Michael Surratt (BMW 1000RR)

Sol Performance/Moto Garage’s Formula 40 GTU
1. Wyeth Jackson (Kaw ZX-6R)
2. Mike Applehans (Suz GSX-R600)
3. Chris Coonshead (Yam YZF-R6)
4. Aaron Fisk (Kaw ZX-6R)
5. Matthew Hoskins (Kaw ZX-6R)
6. Scott Weitmann (Kaw ZX-6R)

Rocky Mountain Kawasaki’s 500 Production Cup Sat Race
1. Jeremy Widmann (Hon CBR500R)
2. Brian Jackson (Kaw 300)
3. Blair Harness (Hon CBR500R)
4. Nyles Gourlie (Hon CBR500R)
5. Timothy Schutt (Kaw EX500)
6. Lisa Hollinger (Hon CBR500R)

Rocky Mountain Kawasaki’s 500 Production Cup Sun Race
1. Brian Jackson (Kaw 300)
2. Jeremy Widmann (Hon CBR500R)
3. Blair Harness (Hon CBR500R)
4. Lisa Hollinger (Hon CBR500R)
5. Cindy Wulf (Hon CBR500R)

Rocky Mountain Kawasaki’s 400 Production Cup Sat Race
1. Jason Madama (Yam YZF-R3)
2. Jose Francisco Guedez (Yam YZF-R3)
3. Kevin Boniface (KTM RC390)
4. Brett Leveque (Kaw 250)
5. Brandon Fosbinder (KTM RC390)
6. Jim Soiland (Yam YZF-R3)

Rocky Mountain Kawasaki’s 400 Production Cup Sun Race
1. Jason Madama (Yam YZF-R3)
2. Kevin Boniface (KTM RC390)
3. David Absolon (Yam YZF-R3)
4. Jose Francisco Guedez (Yam YZF-R3)
5. Brett Leveque (Kaw 250)
6. Jim Soiland (Yam YZF-R3)

Rocky Mountain Kawasaki’s 250 Production Cup Sat Race
1. Shawn Parrish (Kaw 250)
2. Kevin Monahan (Kaw 250)
3. Cameron Lee (Kaw 250)
4. Mike Kionka (Kaw 250)
5. Sokhen Im (Kaw 250)

Rocky Mountain Kawasaki’s 250 Production Cup Sun Race
1. Shawn Parrish (Kaw 250)
2. Kevin Monahan (Kaw 250)
3. Mike Kionka (Kaw 250)
4. Cameron Lee (Kaw 250)
5. Sokhen Im (Kaw 250)

Woody’s Wheel Works’ Formula Colorado
1. Michael Surratt (Suz RMZ450)
2. Jason Madama (Yam YZF-R3)
3. Kevin Boniface (KTM RC390)
4. David Absolon (Yam YZF-R3)
5. Brian Jackson (Kaw 300)
6. Jeremy Widmann (Hon CBR500R)

MRA’s Supermoto
1. Michael Surratt (Suz RMZ450)
2. Joseph LoGalbo (Apr SXV450)

Interstate Honda’s Novice GTO
1. Justin Lewis (Kaw ZX-6R)
2. Jay Samarjian (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Andrew Schrems (Suz GSX-R1000)
4. Jared Dear (Suz GSX-R1000)
5. Travis Froehlich (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Orion Hughes (Kaw ZX-6R)

Law Tigers’ Novice GTU
1. Jay Samarjian (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Justin Lewis (Kaw ZX-6R)
3. Travis Froehlich (Yam YZF-R6)
4. Nik Scott (Yam YZF-R6)
5. Matthew Hoskins (Kaw ZX-6R)
6. Jared Dear (Suz GSX-R600)