Highs and lows for Masters of the Mountain competitors at Miller

Tooele, Utah Round 3 of the Masters of the Mountains competition at Miller Motorsports Park greeted spectators and fans alike with baking sun, soaring temperatures and some fantastic racing. Saturday’s action got underway with the combined Expert and Novice grid in the Deseret Dash points race. In its inaugural season, the Deseret Dash has established itself as one of the primary events in the UtahSBA calendar with Round 3 boasting the most populated grid of the weekend. Oleg Pianykh took the win with a 2 second margin over Ogden based Clint Warner. Steven Marco (a recent graduate from UtahSBA’s RacerExperience program) led the Novice contingent with a respectable fastest lap of 1:37.29

Saturday’s action closed with the Endurance Race being run under the peak heat of the day taxing riders and machines to their limits. Arizona based Paradigm Racing continued to dominate the GTU Endurance class with another win complementing their series of first place finishes throughout the season. Clint Warner’s team brought home the overall win on the Endurance Relay and Casey Newell winning Endurance GTO.

Sunday’s racing saw mixed emotions for some of the top competitors in Open Superbike and King of the Mountain ‘O’ classes. An over exuberant jump-start by Oleg Pianykh on his Suzuki GSXR-1000 was rewarded by a meatball flag and ride-through penalty on lap 3 of the Open Superbike race. This uncharacteristic mistake found Pianykh at the rear of the pack while Canadian Jesse Sherstan laid down a series of 1:32 lap times dominating the rest of the field. Undeterred, Pianykh forged his Evolution Machine and Edge Powersports sponsored machine through the field but had no way of closing on Sherstan. In true sportsmanlike fashion, Sherstan reflected after the race: “It was a bit unfortunate [for Pianykh]. We’ve been running comparable times all weekend. I wanted the win but not like that.”

The disappointments of the weekend were not limited to the on-track experiences but paddock-side too. Ryan Brand blew his GSXR-1000 motor in practice, causing some frenzied bodywork changes in time for the Open Superbike race. Despite the set-back Brand brought his machine home to a respectable third place finish.

Drama continued for the liter-bike competitors in the 14 lap King of the Mountain race. The duo of Pianykh and Sherstan displayed a thrilling five lap battle until Sherstan high-sided in spectacular fashion exiting turn 10. The void allowed Brand to take a second place finish with Michael Bradshaw taking third on his Ducati. Pianykh, nursing a broken collarbone from a recent motocross accident, was happy to have achieved another first place finish crediting his Pirelli tires for lasting the distance and the high track temperatures. For the second time in the day, the two leading competitors echoed mixed emotions about winning, in regards to Sherstan’s high-side. “I wish he didn’t crash. We were having a great race, but I’m happy to take the win,” Pianykh said after the race.

Fresh from their foray into AMA SuperSport competition (during the WSBK event at Miller) local riders Brad Moore, Brian Childree, Gerry Hicks and Austin Carpenter showed remarkable talent and form in their respective classes. In the Middleweight Superbike and GTU classes, Canadian native Chad Swain dominated both races with a comfortable 11 second margins over the rest of the field. Local rider Gerry Hicks took second on his Honda Suzuki Salt Lake sponsored CBR600RR.

“Everything seemed to click for me this weekend,” Hicks said. “I picked up a lot of experience at the WERA round and made some different tire choices this weekend.”

Things are coming together for Gerry and he credited his mentors and sponsors for his breakthrough weekend.

Things were not as fortunate for Austin Carpenter in the King of the Mountain ‘U’ race as the notorious West Turn 10 claimed its second victim of the weekend. In only his third race season, Carpenter has displayed a great deal of promise yet his results do not reflect his true talent as he seems to be dogged with misfortune. A series of crashes have jeopardized promising results both at a club level and in his AMA SuperSport entry at Miller Motorsports last month.

Continuing on the subject of youthful exuberance, UtahSBA were pleased to announce the youngest competitor of the weekend with 11 year old Gauge Rees taking to the track on his immaculately prepared Trackstar Honda RS125. Despite his youth, his lap times showed remarkable maturity boasting a very respectable 1:50.99 Gauge raced junior SuperMoto in 2011 and this was his first venture onto the big track. The local road racing community wishes Gauge the best of luck for his future endeavors and look forward to watching his progress.

The Masters of the Mountains series resumes on August 18/19 on Miller Motorsports Park West Course.

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 motorcycle road 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 3 Results

Deseret Dash (Expert)

1. Oleg Pianykh (Suz GSX-R1000)

2. Clint Warner (Suz GSX-R1000)

3. Travis Child (Suz GSX-R1000)

4. Douglas Pogue (Hon CBR1000RR)

5. Rob Kaufman (Yam YZF-R1)

6. David Purcell (Yam YZF-R6)

Deseret Dash (Novice)

1. Steven Marco (Hon CBR1000RR)

2. Aaron Hansen (Suz GSX-R750)

3. Trent Owens (Hon CBR1000RR)

4. David Haak (Yam YZF-R6)

5. Cody Steggel (Suz GSX-R600RR)

6. Colton Hicks (Hon CBR1000RR)

Endurance GTO

1. Casey Newell (Yam YZF-R1)

2. Riley Hicks (Hon CBR1000RR)

3. Gary Gerber

Endurance GTU

1. Jim King (Yam YZF-R6)

2. Derek Festevan (Hon CBR600RR)

3. Drew Collins (Yam YZF600)

Endurance Relay

1. Clint Warner (Suz GSX-R1000)

2. Zach Austin (Kaw ZX6R)

3. David Peterson (Suz GSX-R750)

Formula 5

1. Aj Amman (Suz GSX-R750)

2. James McKay (Suz GSX-R750)

3. John Hopperstad

4. Mark Snethen (Suz GSX-R750)

5. Aaron Hansen (Suz GSX-R750)

6. Jason Hurrell

Super Twins

1. Jay Millhiser

2. Brad Moore (Suz SV650)

3. Jeff Masters (Buell)

4. Ben Travisano

Middleweight Superbike

1. Chad Swain (Kaw ZX6R)

2. Darrel Cherry (Hon CBR600RR)

3. Austin Carpenter (Yam YZF-R6)

4. Brad Moore (Suz GSX-R600)

5. Zach Austin (Kaw ZX6R)

6. Jim King (Yam YZF-6R)

Moto 3

1. Jayson Uribe (Hon RS125)

2. Brian Childree (Moriwaki MD250H)

3. Don Roberts (Yam TZ125)

4. Gauge Rees (Hon RS125)

Novice GTU

1. Cody Steggel (Suz GSX-R600)

2. Jeremy Ross (Yam YZF-R6)

3. Briar Handly (Yam YZF-R6)

4. David Haak (Yam YZF-R6)

5. Derek Festevan (Hon CBR600RR)

6. Eric Bradley (Tri 675)

Open Superbike

1. Jesse Sherstan (Suz GSX-R1000)

2. Oleg Pianykh (Suz GSX-R1000)

3. Ryan Brand (Suz GSX-R1000)

4. Eric Jones (Hon CBR1000RR)

5. Shane White (Suz GSX-R1000)

6. Justin Bradshaw (Duc 1098)

Twins O

1. Brad Moore (Suz SV650)

2. Daniel Short (Suz SV650)

3. Ben Travisano (Suz SV650)

GP250

1. Bruce Lind (Yam TZ250)

2. Jason Uribe (Hon RS125)

3. Don Roberts (Yam TZ250)

Combined GTO

1. James McKay (Suz GSX-R750)

2. David Purcell (Yam YZF-R6)

3. Rob Kaufman (Yam YZF-R1)

4. Aaron Hansen (Suz GSX-R750)

5. Steven Marco (Hon CBR1000RR)

6. Trent Owens (Hon CBR1000RR)

King of the Mountain U

1. Chad Swain (Kaw ZX6-R)

2. Gerald Hicks (Hon CBR600RR)

3. Harith Albadri (Yam YZF-R6)

4. Jeff Stern (Kaw ZX6R)

5. Zach Austin (Kaw ZX6-R)

6. Dylon Husband (Kaw ZX6R)

Combined U

1. David Purcell (Yam YZF-R6)

2. James McKay (Hon CBR600RR)

3. David Haak (Yam YZF-R6)

4. Cody Steggel (Suz GSX-R600)

5. Derek Festevan (Hon CBR600RR)

6. Michael Carr (Tri 675)

Twins GTU

1. Brad Moore (Suz SV650)

2. Brian Childree (Moriwaki MD250H)

3. Daniel Short (Suz SV650)

4. Gauge Rees (Hon RS125)

Open Superstock

1. Jesse Sherstan (Suz GSX-R1000)

2. Michael Bradshaw (BMW S1000R)

3. Shane White (Suz GSX-R1000)

4. Justin Bradshaw (Duc 1098)

5. Mark Snethen (Suz GSX-R1000)

6. Doug Pogue (Hon CBR1000RR)

Heavy Weight Superstock

1. Chad Swain (Kaw ZX6-R)

2. Harith Albadri (Yam YZF-R6)

3. James McKay (Suz GSXR750)

4. David Purcell (Yam YZF-R6)

5. David Peterson (Suz GSX-R750)

Sportsman

1. Cody Steggell (Hon CBR600)

2. Briar Handly (Yam YZF-R6)

3. Eric Bradley (Tri 675)

4. Aaron Nourbakhsh (Tri 675)

5. Eric Postnieks (BMW S1000R)

6. James Peters (Tri 675)

Novice GTO

1. Steven Marco (Hon CBR1000RR)

2. Erik Grim (Suz GSXR750-R)

3. Aaron Hanson (Suz GSXR750)

4. Jeremy Ross (Yam YZF-R6)

5. Trent Owens (Hon CBR1000RR)

6. Derek Festevan (Hon CBR600RR)

Middleweight Superstock

1. Chad Swain (Kaw ZX6-R)

2. Gerald Hicks (Hon CBR600RR)

3. Harith Albadri (Yam YZF-R6)

4. Darrel Cherry (Hon CBR600RR)

5. David Purcell (Yam YZF-R6)

6. Brad Moore (Suz GSX-R600)

King of the Mountain O

1. Oleg Pianykh (Suz GSX-R1000)

2. Ryan Brand (Suz GSX-R1000)

3. Michael Bradshaw (BMW S1000R)

4. Justin Bradshaw (Duc 1098)

5. Jeff Stern (Kaw ZX6-R)

6. Shane White (Suz GSX-R1000)

Formula 40

1. Michael Bradshaw (BMW S1000R)

2. John Hopperstad (Suz GSX-R1000)

3. Mark Snethen (Suz GSX-R1000)

4. Darrel Cherry (Hon CBR600RR)

5. Doug Pogue (Hon CBR1000RR)

6. Jason Hurrell (Kaw ZX10)