From a press release issued by the Church Of Speed:

Saturday June 7 and Sunday, June 8, the Church of Speed presented the second Grand Bayou Motorcycle Festival of Speed at No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, LA.

After a rainy morning, the sky turned blue and was perfect for racing and spectating. During Saturday’s road racing qualifications, Pro racer Greg Moore, from Tuscaloosa, AL, caused some major excitement when he broke the track record with a 1.12.77 on a Michelin shod GSXR 1000, which bettered existing record set during last January’s Festival of Speed by John Haner by 0.13 seconds.

Saturday night, engines roared and smoke filled the air as the Drag Racing competitors leapt from the very sticky NPR starting line. The winner of the ensuing pandemonium was Jeffery Alphonse Winning the head Up class with a 8.471 second pass at 168 mph. Chris Lebou took Runner Up. In the 9.99 second or quicker top honors were captured by Chris Leboeuf from Lafayette on his backup bike with Dave Latino taking Runner Up. In the +10 seconds class, top honors went to Buddy Pravato, Runner-up in that class was Seth Duncan.

In an exciting and ground-shaking war of music competition, spectators danced and rocked to the music of seven different groups during the “Battle of the Bands”. MP79 took the honors of first place, Maven won second place and Rusty Duet took third place on the jamming PA supplied by PM productions.

Accompanied by the bands’ music and all of the spectators’ and riders’ celebrating, the pit bikes raced into the wee hours Saturday night. Topping off Saturday night’s festivities, a spectacular fireworks display by Johnny C. of Precision Pyrotechnics lit up the night sky over No Problem Raceway and the equally spectacular winner of the Trophy Girl Contest was Tasha Stubbs.

After Sunday morning practice sessions, Mike and Anna Bradford from Circuit Riders Motorcycle Ministries held Sunday services and the blessing of the bikes and riders.

Sunday was filled with breathtaking feats of speed, agility and daring as the motorcycle roadracers vied for the prizes.


The winners of Sundays Motorcycle Road Races were:

In the featured race: Heavyweight Expert 25 laps:
1st place: Greg Moore, from Tuscaloosa, AL, on a Suzuki GSXR1000 with a best time of 1:14.462
2nd place: Chad Smith, from Metairie, LA. On a Suzuki GSXR 750. (Dunlop)
3rd place: Bradley Champion, from Houston, TX. on a Suzuki SV650.

1st place Lightweight: Bradley Champion from Houston, TX, on a Suzuki SV650, with a best lap time of 1:17.982
2nd place Lightweight: Shannon Silva, from Kenner, LA on an Aprillia RS250
3rd place Lightweight: John Horton, from New Orleans on a 750 Ducati.


1st place Mediumweight Novice: Chris Murphy (CLK Racing, Dunlop), from Baton Rouge, LA on a Yamaha 600, with a best time of 1:19.530
2nd place Mediumweight Novice: Ryan Babin, from Schriever, LA on a Yamaha 600
3rd place Mediumweight Novice: Dave Chaplin, from Metairie, LA on a Suzuki 600


1st place Mediumweight Expert: Ben Thomas, Franklinton, LA, on a Suzuki GSXR 600, with a best time of 1:16.014
2nd place Mediumweight Expert: Bradley Champion, from Houston, TX, on a Suzuki SV650
3rd place Mediumweight Expert: Logan Young, from Houston, TX, on a Suzuki GSXR600


1st place Heavyweight Novice: Chris Murphy(CLK Racing), from Baton Rouge, LA, on a Yamaha R6; with a best time of 1:18.109
2nd place Heavyweight Novice: Tom Roche, from New Orleans, LA, on a Suzuki GSXR750
3rd place Heavyweight Novice: Daryll Ricks from Kenner, LA, on a Kawasaki ZX6R

Log on to www.mylaps.com for more complete race results and www.hotshotphotos.com for event pictures.

Sunday afternoon the crowds were thrilled by the awe-inspiring stunts and daring feats of courage performed by the professional stunt riders.

1st place: Jeremy Baker of Performance Extreme of Baton Rouge
2nd place: Michael Hebert of Performance Extreme of Baton Rouge
3rd place: Blaine Guidry of Voodoo Racing of Breaux Bridge (www.voodooracing.com).

The weekend culminated with Tasha Stubbs presenting the winners of the competitions with their “pieces of wood”, that were plucked from the mighty Mississippi River, and of course, the cash that went along with the trophies.

The Church of Speed would like to thank all of the volunteers’ and staff without whom the event would not have happened.

Event Sponsors included: Red Bull Energy Drink, Jagermeister, Gold Star Trophies BR, Matteis Cycles NO, Performance Extremes BR, GMD Computrack of Dallas TX, Calmes Cycles BR,