From a press release issued by USGPRU:
USGPRU West Coast Round 1 Results
Phoenix, AZ. 9 March 2008 The USGPRU racers converged on the small but fast Firebird East track for the first round of the western region series. With temps in the high 70’s the Rising Sun Cycle 125GP racers lined up on the grid to do battle. As the green flag dropped, Benny Solis was quick off the line but Royce McLean powered by him on his Yamaha TZ125 to take the lead into turn one. Solis settled into 2nd with veteran John Hjelm and young Austin DeHaven following closely behind. McLean led the pack throughout the 1st lap until Hjelm made a Banzai pass into the final turn, surprising the youngsters and snatching the lead. Hjelm powered down the front straight, but McLean dug deep and was able to pass Hjelm into turn one once more. Solis was able to work his way past Hjelm and McLean and by turn five was in the lead on the second lap. Solis never looked back from that point on.
Meanwhile, DeHaven also worked his way past Hjelm and by mid-race, the top 4 positions were set with Solis in the lead and pulling away, being chased by McLean, DeHaven, and Hjelm. DeHaven made a valiant charge on McLean in the latter stages of the 10-lap race but could not put it together for a pass. Solis checked out from the pack running a fastest lap of 59.7 seconds and winning the event handily. There was some action in the final laps of the race between newcomer Andrew Artola and local superstar Kim Brauneis, with Artola running Brauneis down and making the pass for 6th position. Brauneis would have none of that, and leaned on her vast home track experience to rally back and reclaim the position before the checkered flag was flown.
The Moto Liberty 250GP race saw pole-sitter Kyle Ferris first off the line, but both Vince Rolleri and Dylan Olsen used superior horsepower and quickly passed him. Olsen held the advantage into turn one followed closely by Ferris who had made up for a lack of power by out-braking Rolleri into the turn. Ferris then lined up his sights on Olsen and stuffed his bike underneath Olsen going into the sweeping turn three. Ferris kept a solid lead of 7- to 10-bike-lengths for the next 9 laps. Rolleri got by Olsen on lap 3 and began to run down Ferris. Ferris seemed to sense the coming attack from Rolleri and comfortably picked up the pace and controlled the lead. With victory in sight, Ferris’s back wheel spun loose exiting the final turn. This put Ferris up and out of the seat, barely able to regain control before running up on the rumble strips. Rolleri capitalized on this mistake and powered by Ferris to claim the win. Despite Olsen running the fastest lap of the race, he couldn’t beat Ferris to the line and had to settle for third place.
The USGPRU would like to thank Randy, Heidi, John, and the rest of the CCS / Road Race Southwest team for another great weekend. Also thanks to Sascha and Dave at Red Bull for the weekend support.
This weekend wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the 2008 USGPRU National Series sponsors: RoadracingWorld.com, Rising Sun Cycles, Moto Liberty, Motion Pro, Repsol Lubricants, REV’IT, Bridgestone Tires, Dunlop Tires, EBC Brakes, GP Tech, Rich Oliver’s Mystery School, Powerstands, Chicken Hawk Tire Warmers, Hjelm Motorsports, Michelin Tires, Regina Chains, and Starlane by Yoyodyne.
Race Results:
USGPRU / Rising Sun Cycles 125GP Race
1. Benny Solis, Jr (Honda RS125) Fast Lap 59.738 2. Royce McLean (Yamaha TZ125) 1:00.484 3. Austin DeHaven (Honda RS125) 1:00.505 4. John Hjelm (Honda RS125) 1:01.078 5. Robert Johnston (Honda RS125) 1:06.244 6. Kim Brauneis (Yamaha TZ125) 1:07.554 7. Andrew Artola (Honda RS125) 1:07.708
USGPRU / Moto Liberty 250GP Race
1. Vincent Rolleri (Yamaha TZ250) Fast Lap 57.208 2. Kyle Ferris (Yamaha TZ250) 57.321 3. Dylan Olsen (Yamaha TZ250) 57.174 4. Benny Solis, Jr. (Honda RS125) 1:00.321 5. Michael Rajotte (Honda RS250) 1:00.343 6. Royce McLean (Yamaha TZ125) 1:00.603 7. Austin DeHaven (Honda RS125) 1:00.830 8. Dale Whelan (Yamaha TZ250) 1:01.565 9. Steve Buckner (Yamaha TZ250) 1:06.849