From a press release issued by USGPRU:

USGPRU National Championship Round 9 Portland International Raceway GP Results

PORTLAND, OR. – August 11, 2002 – The battle for the USGPRU Western Regional Championship ensued this weekend in the heart of the city at Portland International Raceway this weekend. Hosted by the Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association, the venue for the Western Regional Championship could not have presented a better battle ground for the USGPRU event surrounded by downtown Portland, the Pacific Ocean, the Columbia River, and Vancouver, Washington.

Nearly 50 racers from as far as Florida, Canada, and Japan flew in for what has heating up to be an intense finale to the West Coast USGPRU Championship. Riders from the South brought the California sunshine with them to warm up the event and yet the electricity in the air over points standings could be cut with a knife.

Qualifying sessions on Saturday for both the 125GP and 250GP events revealed the intense battles to follow during the main events. The top five Qualifying times for the 125GP event were within 1 second placing Josh Herrin on Pole with a 1.16.527 on his Honda RS125. Nobi Iso neglecting to weigh-in was DQ’d and relegated to a last place grid position. 250GP Qualifying subsequently had Iso on Pole with a 1.14.487 with the remainder of row 1 within three tenths of a second.

Herrin, Jake Gwin, Scott McNew, and Mike Orien took the front row for the 125GP event with nineteen riders behind them. As the flag dropped and 23 riders jammed en masse into Turn 1, Iso on his Aprillia RSR125 rocketed to second position to challenge Herrin from the back of the grid. Orien’s hopes of battling with Herrin and Iso were dashed as he low sided in Turn 3 early in the race. McNew on a loaner bike shared several exchanges with Gwin as they battled for third. While Mike McDonough slipped in behind McNew, Steve Wenner charged the field from pit lane having missed the warm up lap to take the fifth spot. A five-way battle ensued for fifth with Wenner, Darrell Baker, Kirk Snell, Phil Krenn, and Brian Ens all in hot pursuit of the lead pack. Multiple exchanges took place with as many as four riders wide going into Turn 7 passing back markers by the eighth lap. Newlywed Britt Arechiga battled with Jonathan Giddens for tenth place. Gwin leading McNew on the tenth lap was disqualified for causing a red flag and calling the 15 lap race short with high side in Turn 4. Iso captured the pole along with Herrin and McNew.

Local racers struggled with the heat as temperatures rose close to 100 degrees for the 250GP event. Iso managed to capture the pole position on Bruce Lind Racing’s Yamaha TZ250 with Wenner on his Honda RS250 along side. Filling out the front row were McNew on his brother’s Honda RS250 and Vincent Rolleri on a Yamaha TZ250. Of 23 entries, only three riders on 125s chose to challenge the 250s on PIR’s high speed track. McNew displayed his signature light-speed launch at the start and led the pack for first two laps. As Wenner and McNew drafted each other for position down the front straight, Iso drafted both of them and catapulted himself from third to first. Rolleri followed closely behind the leaders to hold onto fourth. Mark Watts in the points lead for the Regional 250GP championship and recovering from a recent injury quickly fell behind. A mid pack battle began to develop as John Lee gave chase to Mike Stubbs and Watts from the back of the grid. Joel Manes entertained spectators with a spectacular crash into Turn 1. Wenner miraculously managed to hold off McNew when his handlebar came loose as in the fifth lap. Again the race was called short as a crash in Turn 9 by Joe Pezzente caused a red flag. Rounding out the podium were Iso, Wenner, and McNew, with McNew capturing just 4 additional points to take the West Regional Championship.

The Eastern Regional final Championship round is scheduled at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama on August 13-15.

USGPRU sponsors include Infinity Investing, Acid Cigars, CCS/F-USA, Bridgestone, Dunlop, EBC Brakes, GPC Moto, Hjelm Motorsports, Motion Pro, Redline Cycle Imports, REV’IT! USA, Silkolene, Speed Fiber, 888-Fastlap, and VP Fuel.

About USGPRU
The USGPRU is the officially recognized Motorcycle Grand Prix Road Racing US National Championship series. The USGPRU emulates true World MotoGP racing experience and serves to attract young riders to gain experience in a professional environment and provide a path to world-class motorcycle racing. The USGPRU structures events with extended length grand prix racing exclusive to the GP machines, timed qualifying and strong contingency and sponsor support. For additional details, visit www.USGPRU.net



Full results:



125GP – 9 laps

1. Nobi Iso APR RSR125

2. Joshua Herrin HON RS125

3. Scott McNew HON RS125

4. Mike McDonough HON RS125

5. Steve Wenner HON RS125

6. Darrell Baker HON RS125

7. Kirk Snell HON RS125

8. Phil Krenn HON RS125

9. Brian Ens HON RS125

10. Jonathan Giddens HON RS125

11. Britt Arechiga HON RS125

12. Andy Moore HON RS125

13. Ryan Ferris YAM TZ125

14. Steve Korol YAM TZ125

15. Joel Manes HON RS125

16. Jeff Kittle HON RS125

17. Darrin Kuebler HON RS125

18. Brian Hess HON RS125 8 laps

19. Shellie Matthews HON RS125 8 laps

20. Roger Wong HON RS125 8 laps

21. Mike Orien HON RS125 DNF

22. Frank Pate HON RS125 DNF

23. Jake Gwin HON RS125 DQ



250GP – 8laps

1. Nobi Iso YAM TZ250

2. Steve Wenner HON RS250

3. Scott McNew HON RS250

4. Vincent Rolleri YAM TZ250

5. Mark Watts YAM TZ250

6. Mike Stubbs YAM TZ250

7. John Lee HON RS250

8. Mike Lytle YAM TZ250

9. Phil Krenn HON RS125

10. David Matthews YAM TZ250

11. Kurt Husted YAM TZ250

12. Jonathan Giddens HON RS125

13. Brian Chamberlain YAM RZ250

14. Herb Wagner YAM TZ250

15. Joel Manes HON RS250 DNF

16. Frank Pate HON RS125 DNF

17. Darrell Baker HON RS125 DNF

18. Mike McDonough HON RS125 DNS

19. Joshua Herrin HON RS125 DNS

20. Steve Korol YAM TZ125 DNS

21. Joe Pezzente YAM TZ250 DQ