Burke and Moham restart their winning ways at 2020 MRA season opener

Fountain, CO, June 8, 2020 – With Colorado racetracks barely open and many club racers financially dazed, the MRA successfully started their 2020 Championship Series season at Pikes Peak International Raceway over the weekend of June 6-7.

This year PPIR has new management.   Leading up into this weekend, PPIR staff went over and above in planning the event, helping the MRA get on track, and making everyone in the club feel welcome.    The first race of every year usually presents some challenges and the need for COVID-19 mitigation processes greatly complicated the operational landscape.  But the PPIR staff was consistently on hand to consult and help out when needed.   This great cooperation between the PPIR track management & the MRA race club set the stage for a great race weekend.

On Friday, PPIR hosted a motorcycle only track day interleaved with a MRA new racers’ school.  New Rider Director Jeff Brown recruited several expert MRA racers as instructors such that each student had their own instructor for the majority of the day.   All students passed & licensed up as new road racers with the MRA.

On Saturday, the weather started off reasonably well but turned very unpredictable with intermittent wind gusts, rain, and even some hail.  Nearby lightning strikes stopped the races more than a couple of times so that corner crews could take shelter.   Fortunately, Race Director Rick Grosse has a great deal of experience in handling a chaotic day so all Saturday races were held except for the SuperStreet program.   The ending solo endurance events were all in alternating wet/dry/wet conditions with racers in each having to either race in the wet on slicks or use rains on drying surfaces.

Sunday was a much different situation.  The weather cleared to perfect conditions.  The first Race of the Rockies GTO qualifying event for 2020 saw Ryan Burke rip off a 0:57.725 as the best time, followed by Ray Thornton with at 0:58.420 and Dave Lambert with a 0:58.669.   Shannon Moham on a new Yamaha YZF-R6 took the top GTU qualification time of 0:58.804 followed by Jared Dear with at 0:59.799 and Joe Resta at 0:59.849.

For the GTO race, Burke led from the start followed by Lambert and Thornton.  Those three took off from the rest of the field and kept a heated pace in that order until on around lap 14, Lambert was able to get around Burke.  For the next 3 laps, Lambert led Burke from Thornton as that trio whittled their way through traffic on the short PPIR circuit.   Then with a couple laps left in the 20 lap race, Burke took advantage of a little bit of early braking into turn 4 by Lambert to get by and take over the lead for good.  At the end it was Burke by 1.5 seconds over Lambert, who in turn was 2 seconds ahead of Thornton.

For the GTU race, Moham led from the start with Joe Resta holding down second place.  With about 3 laps to go, Moham’s Yamaha started misfiring on the top end which forced him to ride around the problem to bring home the win.  Unfortunately for Resta, Moham had built up an insurmountable lead before the problem such that Resta wasn’t able to take advantage.  For the final podium spot, it was Dennis Stowers leading from Tyler Valentine for most of the race with a couple of GTO competitors mixed in the fray.  On the very last lap, Stowers crashed in the infield and Valentine was in the perfect position to take advantage of that and bring home the final podium position for GTU.

Ryan Burke is sponsored by The Burke Family, Dan Burke, Dunlop Motorcycle Tires/Race Tire Services, Boulder Motorsports, Vickery Motorsports, Yamaha Champions Riding School, Superbike Unlimited, Love Tapped By Jenny, Brighton Radiator & Muffler, and Bike Sport Development

Shannon Moham is sponsored by Nordic Nursing, Dunlop tires, Race Tech suspension, Woodcraft CFM, Vortex racing, Vickery Motorsports, Motors by REX, Renegade race fuels, Pit Bull stands, Imperial Sportbikes, Denver n Dakota, Segren’s Nectar, MOM, CP Carrillo, Ninjatech, Bell Helmets, Motonation, and Motorex

Going into the weekend, the MRA board of directors knew a decision on Round 3 needed to be made before everyone went home on Sunday.  Round 3 was tentatively set for June 20-21 at Pueblo Motorsports Park.  After conversations with many MRA members and some uncertainty about PMP’s operational capability the MRA board decided to not hold that event.  Although this seemed to be a better plan for the club’s finances and for most of the membership, it came as a disappointment to many MRA racers as the PMP course layout is a club favorite.  The decision to focus on Round 4 at High Plains Raceway over the weekend of July 18-19 including the 10th annual 4-hour endurance also has the club looking forward to holding Round 5 back at Pueblo in August.

So, next up the MRA will be using the full course configuration for Round 4 at HPR.  The SuperStreet class will not be held that weekend due to the endurance, but will return for Round 5 scheduled at Pueblo Motorsports Park over the weekend of August 8-9.  See https://www.mra-racing.org/schedule/season-schedule/ for updates.

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. Ryan Burke (Yam YZF-R1M)
2. David Lambert (Kaw ZX-10R)
3. Ray Thornton (Yam YZF-R1)
4. Mike Applehans (Suz GSX-R1000)
5. Chris Nami (BMW S1000RR)
6. Alex Greenman (Yam YZF-R1)

Apex Auto Glass’ Race of the Rockies GTU

1. Shannon Moham (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Joseph Resta (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Tyler Valentine (Kaw ZX-6R)
4. Jeremiah Walker (MV Augusta F3)
5. Dennis Stowers (Tri Daytona 675R)
6. Jason Martinez (Yam YZF-R6)

Race of the Rockies Championship Overall

1. Ryan Burke (Yam YZF-R1M)
2. David Lambert (Kaw ZX-10R)
3. Ray Thornton (Yam YZF-R1)
4. Mike Applehans (Suz GSX-R1000)
5. Shannon Moham (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Joseph Resta (Yam YZF-R6)

High Plains Raceway’s Ladies of the Rockies

1. Cindy Wulf (Duc 848)
2. Siobhan Bennett (Hon CBR600RR)

Imperial Sportbikes’ Amateur GTO

1. Phillip Hergenrader (Yam YZF-R1)
2. Mike O’Donnell (Suz GSX-R600)
3. LJ Elder (Kaw ZX-6)
4. Nathan Morales (Yam YZF-R1)
5. CJ Walker (BMW S1000RR)
6. Stephen Townsend (Yam YZF-R6)

XL3 Rigging’s Amateur GTU

1. LJ Elder (Kaw ZX-6)
2. Stephen Townsend (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Jay Samarjian (Yam YZF-R6)
4. Dan Spurlock (Suz GSX-R600)
5. Scott Weitmann (Kaw ZX-6R)
6. Caden McQuhae (Yam YZF-R6)

805 Beer’s Modern Vintage GTO

1. David Lambert (Kaw ZX-10R)
2. Aaron Hersh (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Kevin Madden (Hon CBR1000RR)
4. Nick Dremel (Yam YZF-R1)
5. Bob Hasenhundl (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Andrew Schrems (Suz SV650)

Nite Owl Sports Bar & Grill’s Modern Vintage GTU

1. Aaron Hersh (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Philip Pleiss (Hon CBR600RR)
3. Bob Hasenhundl (Yam YZF-R6)
4. Andrew Schrems (Suz SV650)
5. Marc Rawlings (Hon CRF450)
6. David Attwood (Yam YZF-R6)

Moto Station’s Open Superbike

1. Ryan Burke (Yam YZF-R1M)
2. David Lambert (Kaw ZX-10R)
3. Ray Thornton (Yam YZF-R1)
4. Dallas W A Sherman (Yam YZF-R1)
5. Dennie Burke (Suz GSX-R1000)
6. Chris Nami (BMW S1000RR)

Pho 95’s Open Supersport

1. Ryan Burke (Yam YZF-R1M)
2. Ray Thornton (Yam YZF-R1)
3. David Lambert (Kaw ZX-10R)
4. Mike Applehans (Suz GSX-R1000)
5. Joseph Resta (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Phillip Hergenrader (Yam YZF-R1)

Modworks’ Solo Endurance Open

1. Phillip Hergenrader (Yam YZF-R1)
2. CJ Walker (BMW S1000RR)
3. Chris Higgins (Yam YZF-R1)
4. Aaron Schlagel (BMW S1000RR)
5. Mike O’Donnell (Suz GSX-R600)
6. Nathan Morales (Yam YZF-R1)

Performance Cycle’s Heavyweight Superbike

1. Shannon Moham (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Dennis Stowers (Tri Daytona 675R)
3. Ken Yee (Kaw ZX-6R)
4. Jason Martinez (Yam YZF-R6)
5. Louden David (Kaw ZX-6R)
6. Mark Hellvig (Duc 848)

Dunlop/Louden Clear Designs’ Premiere Amateur

1. LJ Elder (Kaw ZX-6)
2. Scott Weitmann (Kaw ZX-6R )
3. Dan Spurlock (Suz GSX-R600)
4. Travis Froehlich (Yam YZF-R6)

ATS Diesel Heavyweight Supersport

1. Shannon Moham (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Dennis Stowers (Tri Daytona 675R)
3. Jason Martinez (Yam YZF-R6)
4. Ken Yee (Kaw ZX-6R)
5. Dan Spurlock (Suz GSX-R600)
6. Scott Weitmann (Kaw ZX-6R)

MRA’s Solo Endurance Heavyweight

1. Shannon Moham (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Dennis Stowers (Tri Daytona 675R)
3. Louden David (Kaw ZX-6R)
4. Jim Soiland (Duc 959)
5. Colton Wulf (Suz GSX-R750)
6. Timothy David (Kaw ZX-6R)

Green Tech Auto Body’s Middleweight Superbike

1. Shannon Moham (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Joseph Resta (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Dennis Stowers (Tri Daytona 675R)
4. Tyler Valentine (Kaw ZX-6R)
5. Ken Yee (Kaw ZX-6R)
6. Jeremiah Walker (MV Augusta F3)

IES Technologies’ Middleweight Supersport

1. Shannon Moham (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Joseph Resta (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Dennis Stowers (Tri Daytona 675R)
4. Ken Yee (Kaw ZX-6R)
5. LJ Elder (Kaw ZX-6)
6. Scott Morrison (Yam YZF-R6)

Wyeth Homes’ Solo Endurance Middleweight

1. Shannon Moham (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Tyler Valentine (Kaw ZX-6)
3. Dennis Stowers (Tri Daytona 675R)
4. Louden David (Kaw ZX-6R)
5. Wendell Huston (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Scott Morrison (Yam YZF-R6)

Spencer Russell Youth Racing’s Lightweight Grand Prix

1. Ricky Orlando (Kaw 650)
2. Joshua Baker (Suz SV650)
3. Geoff Cesmat
4. Andrew Schrems (Suz SV650)
5. Ryan Smith (Hon CBR500R)
6. Bruce Browning (Hus FS450)

Brighton Radiator & Muffler’s Solo Endurance Lightweight

1. Joshua Baker (Suz SV650)
2. Ricky Orlando (Kaw 650)
3. Marc Rawlings (Hon CRF450)
4. Dan Parker (Kaw 400)
5. Cindy Wulf (Suz SV650)
6. Andrew Schrems (Suz SV650)

Novo Advisors’ Solo Endurance Ultralightweight

1. Bob Halbert (Kaw 500)
2. Justen Behmer (Kaw 300)
3. Kreece Elliott (Kaw 300)
4. Colton Wulf (Hon CBR500R)

SCS Incorporated’s SuperTwins GTO

1. Patrick Lansu (Duc 749R)
2. Robb Weins (Duc Panigale)
3. James Wilkerson (Kaw 650)
4. Jim Brewer (Duc 1199R)
5. Joshua Baker (Suz SV650)
6. Alex Aubrey (Duc 848)

Alliance Motorsports’ SuperTwins GTU

1. Ricky Orlando (Kaw 650)
2. Joshua Baker (Suz SV650)
3. Bruce Browning (Hus FS450)
4. Luke Sanzone (Duc 1199)
5. Marc Rawlings (Hon CRF450)
6. Mathew Muldoon (Yam FZ-07R)

MRA’s Thunderbike

1. Dennis Stowers (Tri Daytona 675R)
2. Patrick Lansu (Pie X80R)
3. Ricky Orlando (Kaw 650)
4. Robb Weins (Duc 848)
5. Jeff Kandt (Tri Daytona 675R)
6. James Wilkerson (Kaw 650)

Moto Garage’s Formula 40 Extreme GTO

1. Ryan Burke (Yam YZF-R1M)
2. David Lambert (Kaw ZX-10R)
3. Chris Nami (BMW S1000RR)

Moto Garage’s Formula 40 Extreme GTU

1. Mark Hellvig (Duc 848)
2. Shannon Moham (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Andrew Schrems (Suz SV650)

Moto Garage’s Formula 40 GTO

1. Aaron Schlagel (BMW S1000RR)
2. Chris Higgins (Yam YZF-R1)
3. Kevin Madden (Hon CBR1000RR)

Moto Garage’s Formula 40 GTU

1. Dave Stiefvater (Kaw ZX-6R)
2. Bob Hasenhundl (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Cindy Wulf (Duc 848)

MRA’s 500 Production Cup Sat Race

1. Dan Parker (Kaw 400)
2. Luke Sanzone (Duc 1199)
3. Bob Halbert (Kaw 500)
4. Jason Madsen (Kaw 400)
5. Colton Wulf (Hon CBR500R)

MRA’s 500 Production Cup Sun Race

1. Jason Madsen (Kaw 400)
2. Ryan Smith (Hon CBR500R)
3. Luke Sanzone (Duc 1199)
4. Dan Parker (Kaw 400)
5. Bob Halbert (Kaw 500)
6. Colton Wulf (Suz SV650)

Vickery Motorsports’ 350 Production Cup Sat Race

1. Justen Behmer (Kaw 300)
2. Timothy Thornton (Kaw 300)
3. Kreece Elliott (Kaw 300)
4. David Lambert Jr (Kaw 300)

Vickery Motorsports’ 350 Production Cup Sun Race

1. Justen Behmer (Kaw 300)
2. David Lambert Jr (Kaw 300)
3. Timothy Thornton (Kaw 300)
4. Kreece Elliott (Kaw 300)

Woody’s Wheel Works’ Formula Colorado

1. Geoff Cesmat
2. Mike Applegate (Yam YZF-R1M)
3. Mark Applegate
4. Bruce Browning (Hus FS450)
5. Ryan Smith (Hon CBR500R)
6. Jason Madsen (Kaw 400)

MRA’s Supermoto

1. Geoff Cesmat
2. Mike Applegate (Yam YZF-R1M)
3. Mark Applegate (Hus FS450)
4. Bruce Browning (Hus FS450)
5. Marc Rawlings (Hon CRF450)
6. Chuck Shettsline (Yam YZF450)

Interstate Honda’s Novice GTO

1. Nick Dremel (Yam YZF-R1)
2. Kevin Madden (Hon CBR1000RR)
3. Stephen Townsend (Yam YZF-R6)
4. Jeff Kandt (Tri Daytona 675R)
5. Caden McQuhae (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Randy Hopper (Yam YZF-R6)

Law Tigers’ Novice GTU

1. Stephen Townsend (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Cameron Lee (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Caden McQuhae (Yam YZF-R6)
4. Jeff Kandt (Tri Daytona 675R)
5. Randy Hopper (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Robert Dietz (Suz GSX-R600)

Formula PB

Cancelled