Pianykh secures King of the Mountain title at Masters of the Mountains Round 5

Tooele, Utah Oleg Pianykh has not been beaten in the King of the Mountain class this season and round 5 of the championship was no exception. This last weekend Pianykh wrapped up the title on his Edge Power Sports sponsored Suzuki GSX-R1000 with on round to spare.

Despite four wins under his belt and being the short-odds favorite to take the title from #1 plate holder Jesse Sherstan, 2012 has not been easy for Pianykh a broken collarbone in June and a motor that expired in spectacular fashion at High Plains Raceway in July saw a summer seemingly dogged with ill-fortune. Optimism may have been further damped (in the Pianykh camp) after a high-speed spill during Saturday morning’s practice session. A ruptured oil-line saw Pianykhs Suzuki sliding off the track on the very fast exit of Miller’s Diablo triple-apex corner with a second rider going down in the melee. His oil-soaked machine was returned to the paddock and his pit crew worked throughout the remainder of the day and late into the evening readying the machine for Sunday’s qualifying.

If the pre-race cloud of misfortune shadowed the Pianykh crew, then it rained hard on title-holder Jesse Sherstan. Miller Motorsports West track is fast and proved to be hard on machinery this weekend. Sherstan’s GSX-R1000 motor expired in practice and, being a long way from his native Calgary, had only his Yamaha YZF-R6 to fall back on for the remainder of the weekend.

Pianykh brought his battle-scarred machine home to a landslide victory, securing a first place finish in the King of the Mountain race and a full 10 seconds ahead of Las Vegas native Jeff Stern. Despite a 400cc handicap Sherstan managed to bring home his machine to a credible third place finish, boasting a fastest lap of 1:32.

A reflective Pianykh said after the race: “It was an up and down weekend. I had an incident Saturday morning, and today [Sunday] won the race and title. I want to thank my sponsors; Edge Power Sports, Evolution Machine, Scott Larsen of Fastline Race Tire and Kory Cowan for helping me out this weekend.”

The King of the Mountain ‘U’ class saw Canadian Scott Decker secure another victory on his EDR-prepared Suzuki GSX-R600. The 600cc class title is still up for grabs with fellow native Chad Swain and local rider Gerry Hicks still in contention. Previous rounds in this class have seen close battles between Swain and Decker.

Round five, however, proved to be difficult one for Swain: “The big race for me today was KoM U and we had issues with the set-up on the bike. The Pirelli tires went off after 6 laps, and the set up of the bike couldn’t handle the bumps that the track has developed this year. I tried to chase down Decker and then realized I had to settle for fourth.”

Gerry Hicks laid it all on the line for a second place podium finish. Hicks said after the race: “We had a guest appearance from Jesse Sherstan on his R-6 which made it really interesting.”

Hicks rode a strong race and at mid-race distance made a bold move up the inside of Swain and Sherstan at Blackrock Hairpin and never looked back slotting his Honda Suzuki Salt Lake sponsored CBR600RR in second place and a podium finish.

With the season drawing to a close, titles were also secured in the supporting classes with David Purcell wrapping up the championship for Combined GTU class on his Yamaha YZF-R6 and Brian Childree winning Moto3 on his immaculately-prepared Moriwaki MD250.

Following the event Brad Moore (UtahSBA Vice President) contemplated the season: “It’s been a great weekend and a great season for me. I’ve wrapped up the Twins GTU championship with support from Piper Down Pub, City Weekly and Moty Design.”

UtahSBA also thank their class sponsors and vendors for their support this season: Honda Suzuki of Salt Lake, Apex Trackdays, Wrights Parts & Accessories, Redline Motorsports, SBS Performance, Plaza Cycle and Fastline Racetire.

The final round of UtahSBA Masters of the Mountains series shall be held at Miller Motorsports East track on October 6th and 7th.

The Masters of the Mountains is a motorcycle road racing series organized by the Utah Sport Bike Association, held at Miller Motorsports Park, and sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). The UtahSBA is a member-based non-profit organization committed to furthering the sport of motorcycle road racing through racing, rider education and safety. For more information on schedule, rulebook, class sponsors, purses and contingency please visit www.utahsba.com/racing or link to the UtahSBA page on Facebook.

Masters of the Mountains 2012 Round 5 Results:

Deseret Dash (Expert): 1. Clint Warner (Suz GSX-R1000) 2. Shane White (Suz GSX-R1000) 3. Mark Snethen (Suz GSX-R1000) 4. Tommy Richardson (Suz GSX-R1000) 5. David Purcell (Yam YZF-R6) 6. David Peterson (Suz GSX-R750) Deseret Dash (Novice): 1. Trent Owens (Hon CBR1000RR) 2. Colton Hicks (Hon CBR1000RR) 3. David Haak (Yam YZF-R6) 4. Marshal Miller (Yam YZF-R1) 5. Riley Hicks (Hon CBR1000RR) 6. Michael Hawkins (Suz GSX-R600) Endurance GTO / GTU / LWT: 1. Clint Warner (Suz GSX-R1000) 2. Jim King (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Colton Hicks (Hon CBR1000RR) 4. Raymond Clark (Suz GSX-R600) 5. Riley Hicks (Hon CBR1000RR) 6. Tim Gallagher (Suz SV650)

Formula 5: 1. Aj Amman (Suz GSX-R750) 2. Mark Snethen (Suz GSX-R1000) 3. John Hopperstad (Suz GSX-R1000) 4. David Petersen (Suz GSX-R750) 5. Briar Handly (Yam YZF-R6) 6. Aaron Nourbakhsh (Tri 675) Super Twins: 1. Eric Grimm (KTM RC8R) 2. Brad Moore (Suz SV650) 3. Jeff Masters (Buell) Middleweight Superbike: 1. Scott Decker (Suz GSX-R600) 2. Matthew Lewis (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Brad Moore (Suz GSX-R600) 4. Jim King (Yam YZF-R6) 5. Dana Wilson (Yam YZF-R6) Womens GTO: 1. Brooke Bailey (Hon CBR600R) 2. Caya Snethen (Kaw ZX636) 3. Lindsey Willis (Suz SV650) 4. Lillian Molina (Hon CBR600R) Novice GTU: 1. Jeremy Ross (Yam YZF-R6) 2. David Haak (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Briar Handly (Yam YZF-R6) 4. Randy Callicoat (Yam YZF-R6) 5. Devin Husband (Kaw ZX6R) 6. Ryan Luke (Suz GSX-R600) Open Superbike: 1. Oleg Pianykh (Suz GSX-R1000) 2. Jesse Sherstan (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Mark Harper (Hon CBR1000RR) 4. Justin Bradshaw (Duc 1098) 5. Shane White (Suz GSX-R1000) 6. Michael Bradshaw (BMW S1000RR) MOTO 3: 1. Brian Childree (Mor MD250H) 2. Gauge Rees (Hon RS125) Combined GTO: 1. Trent Owens (Hon CBR1000RR) 2. David Purcell (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Tyler Smith (Hon CBR1000RR) 4. Rob Kauffman (Yam YZF-R1) 5. David Haak (Yam YZF-R6) 6. David Peterson (Suz GSX-R750) King of the Mountain U: 1. Scott Decker (Suz GSXR-600) 2. Gerry Hicks (Hon CBR600RR) 3. Jesse Sherstan (Yam YZF-R6) 4. Chad Swain (Yam YZF-R6) Combined U: 1. David Purcell (Yam YZF-R6) 2. David Haak (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Devin Husband (Kaw ZX-6R) 4. Michael Hawkins (Suz GSX-R600) 5. Michael Carr (Tri 675) Twins GTU: 1. Brad Moore (Suz SV650) 2. Brian Childree (Mor MD250H) 3. Kevin Johnson (Buell XB9R) 4. Tim Gallagher (Suz SV650) 5. Gauge Rees (Hon RS125) Open Superstock: 1. Jesse Sherstan (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Michael Bradshaw (BMW S1000RR) 3. Ryan Brand (Suz GSX-R1000) 4. Justin Bradshaw (Duc 1098) 5. Mark Snethen (Suz GSX-R1000) 6. Shane White (Suz GSX-R1000) Heavyweight Superstock: 1. Chad Swain (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Scott Decker (Suz GSX-R600) 3. David Purcell (Yam YZF-R6) 4. David Peterson (Suz GSX-R750) Sportsman: 1. Briar Handly (Yam YZF-R6) 2. Aaron Nourbakhsh (Tri 675) 3. Ryan Luke (Suz GSX-R600) 4. Marshall Miller (Yam YZF-R1) 5. Tim Gallagher (Suz SV650) 6. Kevin Johnson (Buell XB9R) Novice GTO: 1. Erik Grimm (KTM RC8) 2. Trent Owens (Hon CBR1000RR) 3. Jeremy Ross (Yam YZF-R6) 4. Mark Tschampl (Apr RSV4) 5. Marshall Miller (Yam YZF-R1) 6. Erik Postnieks (BMW S1000RR) Middleweight Superstock: 1. Scott Decker (Suz GSX-R600) 2. Chad Swain (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Gerald Hicks (Hon CBR600RR) 4. Brad Moore (Suz GSX-R600) 5. David Purcell (Yam YZF-R6) 6. Aaron Nourbakhsh (Tri 675) King of the Mountain O: 1. Oleg Pianykh (Suz GSX-R1000) 2. Jeff Stern (Kaw ZX-10R) 3. Jesse Sherstan (Yam YZF-R6) 4. Michael Bradshaw (BMW S1000RR) 5. Ryan Brand (Suz GSX-R1000) 6. Justin Bradshaw (Duc 1098) Formula 40: 1. Michael Bradshaw (BMW S1000RR) 2. Mark Snethen (Suz GSX-R1000) 3. John Hopperstad (Suz GSX-R1000) 4. Kevin Dolan (Suz GSX-R1000) 5. Tommy Richardson (Suz GSX-R1000) 6. Jim King (Yam YZF-R6)