Sunny skies and moderate temperatures greeted competitors on race day at the Black Rhino Superbike Challenge, held at the Utah Motorsports Campus in conjunction with MotoAmerica Round 7. The Pro-Am race, scheduled for 12 laps, drew competitors from all over the country and attracted several MotoAmerica regulars with a large purse funded by sponsorship from Black Rhino Tools, a Salt Lake City company producing quality hand tools for adventure enthusiasts.
The week had started strong with practice sessions on Thursday followed by practice and qualifying on Friday leading to the Saturday race. Local competitor, Shane Turpin, struggled with equipment problems throughout the weekend despite obvious preparation for the event. “I sure wish it had gone down differently, but we did all we could and it didn’t really come together for me this weekend.” said Shane. The bad luck continued into the Saturday morning warm-up and led to Turpin using his third bike of the weekend, taking the saddle for the first time for the sighting lap of the race. Shane rides for UMC based Rickdiculous Racing and finished the weekend in 5th place on a Yamaha YZF-R1M.
Another local favorite, Oleg Pianykh riding a Yamaha YZF-R1, was coming off of his own streak of bad luck in club championships and seeking redemption at the event. “It feels good to have a good result.” said Pianykh. “I’d like to thank the sponsors that helped make this happen, especially MotoStation, CT Racing and Pirelli North America. Also big thanks to Black Rhino for supporting this event!”
Race winner, Kyle Wyman, had crashed out of the MotoAmerica Superbike race less than an hour before the start of the Superbike Challenge, but was able to get his bike back together in time to make the race start. He took the holeshot in the race and never looked back, eventually winning the race by 19 seconds. While Kyle checked out, the battle for second position was hot, especially in the early stages of the race, with Pianykh, Turpin and Long exchanging positions. Ryan Burke, usually found racing with the Motorcycle Roadracing Association in Colorado, joined the battle eventually finishing 4th.
In the 600cc category Kory Cowan, riding a Yamaha YZF-R6, was the class of the field. Despite a significant horsepower disadvantage to the open class machines, Kowan managed to finish in the top 10 overall while winning the 600cc class. In second position was 15 year-old Gauge Rees on his Yamaha YZF-R6. Gauge was locked in battle and exchanged positions with Shane White, on his Suzuki GSXR-1000 and David Purcell on his Kawasaki ZX-10R throughout the race. “Gauge is the nicest kid in the world, until you put a helmet on him.” said White of his competitor. “He’s amazing on the brakes and it was great to race with him!”.
The Black Rhino Superbike Challenge was the first ever support race to the MotoAmerica Series. It was operated by the Utah Sport Bike Association, a Utah non-profit, dedicated to promoting education, safe riding and competition in the Intermountain West. For more information go to www.utahsba.com or find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/utahsba/?fref=ts
Official Overall Race Results:
1. Kyle Wyman (Yam YZF-R1), 12 laps, Total Race Time 22:44.613, Best Lap Time 1:52.497, $5155
2. Oleg Pianykh (Yam YZF-R1), -19.305 seconds, 1:54.234, $3209
3. Barrett Long (Yam YZF-R1), -20.574, 1:54.369, $1117
4. Ryan Burke (Yam YZF-R1M), -21.204, 1:54.296, $921
5. Shane Turpin (Yam YZF-R1), -24.299, 1:54.230, $881
6. Michael JR Bradshaw (BMW S1000RR), -40.105, 1:54.991, $745
7. Ray Thornton (BMW S1000RR), -47.221, 1:56.585, $593
8. Erik Grim (KTM RC8R), -58.249, 1:57.365, $539
9. Mark Harper (Yam YZF-R1), -58.339, 1:57.226, $528
10. Kory Cowan (Yam YZF-R6), -58.799, 1:56.832, $512
11. David Purcell (Kaw ZX-10R), -70.119, 1:58.247
12. Gauge Rees (Yam YZF-R6), -70.541, 1:58.076
13. Shane White (Suz GSX-R1000), -71.632, 1:58.531
14. Scott Decker (Yam YZF-R1M), -90.739, 1:59.901
15. Steve Kozicki (Yam YZF-R1), -101.816, 1:59.497
16. Kevin Dolan (Suz GSX-R1000), -102.551, 2:00.953
17. Sherwick Min (Apr RSV4 RF), -103.404, 2:00.281
18. Matt Guiver (Yam YZF-R6), -114.890, 2:02.163
19. Virgilio Gutierrez (Hon CBR1000RR), -1 lap, 2:01.825
20. Kevin Gibson (Apr RSV4), -1 lap, 2:02.379
21. Duncan Biles (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap, 2:02.611
22. Aaron Lanningham (Kaw ZX-10R), -1 lap, 2:03.768