Close Battles Continue Throughout MRA Race Round 2

Denver, CO June 12, 2013

This past weekend, June 8th and 9th, the MRA gathered to race in Deer Trail, CO at High Plains Raceway and with greater attendance of racers and spectators than Round 1–which Round 1 was record setting in recent history! More class records were set, racers from abroad battled it out with locals on the track and the camaraderie and generosity filled the race paddock.

One of the many battles that caught a lot of attention this weekend were in SuperTwins GTU between an MRA long-time champion, Shannon Moham and a visitor from California, Frankie Garcia. Ray Gaimara and Chris Weed also had their own back and forth action in the race. They all put on an impressive display of race craft and trust. Moham started the race taking the hole shot into turn one with Ray close behind. Shannon started pulling out a gap from the field shortly after. Frankie Garcia took second and started working to close the gap to Shannon. Once Frankie caught up, he passed Shannon prior to turn one, both riding a Suzuki SV650. However it didn’t take long for Moham to fire back at Garcia by getting a better drive out of turn three and passing him onto the back straight. Frankie came right back into turn four around the outside of Shannon. 

Meanwhile Ray Gaimara and Chris Weed went head to head for 3rd place! Weed would get around Gaimara in the back section of the track while Ray would fight back by passing him in the straights. Shannon and Frankie clicked off laps in the 1:55s and ultimately Frankie pushed Shannon to break the class record he had previously set four years prior with a 1:55.468. With a little over one lap left Garcia passed Moham again into turn four by putting the brakes on late. On the start of the final lap Moham came across the line alone with Garcia nowhere in sight. As the checkered flag came out, Shannon took the win while Chris Madea final pass stick coming in second with Ray following in third.

Tracy Schram wins Race of the Rockies on his Kawasaki ZX-10R in front of Turner and Thornton. The 2012 Race of the Rockies (ROR) champion Dan Turner on pole position got a great start. Doug Kahl then passed Turner into turn four on the first lap. However when they all came across the Start/Finish on lap two the running order was Schram, Turner and Mike Applegate. This was the start of the neck and neck battle that lasted through the end of the race. Applegate was then able to get around Turner in pursuit of Schram. This order remained for a few laps until Mike put the hammer down and turned his fastest lap of the race at the time of a 1:49.416. He got around Tracy to take the lead from the pack. Tracy fought back with a 1:49.993 and looked up the inside of turn four on Mike but didn’t make it stick as Mike is a demon on the brakes. Dan also followed with a fast lap of 1:49.904. The riders stayed incredibly consistent clicking away lap after lap in the 1:49s. Just behind the front three, Ricky Orlando swapped positions with Ray Thornton. Ray eventually made a pass on Ricky that stuck. He then proceeded to pull out a small gap on Ricky. Back in the front, Schram and Applegate continued to swap positions and rode a close, clean race. Turner stayed with them on cruise control in third place waiting to pounce. Unfortunately for Applegate, he crashed during the fantastic battle, which lead to Tracy taking it home with the win.

When asked how he is adapting to the new bike during the post-race interview, Tracy answered, “It’s awesome, it’s really tough to translate what I’ve been riding into this thing. But it is starting to come along; we’ve got a ways to go. I feel there is a lot more left in myself and the bike…”

The Imperial Sportbike and ABATE of Colorado 4 Hour Endurance Race was a success with many riders competing for the trophies and cash purses. The grids for the Titanium Butt and True Endurance classes were larger from the previous year. Racing action for the race started at 4pm on Saturday and finished up by 8pm as the sun was starting to set. In the end, the participants squeezed into the pavilion at High Plains Raceway in the late evening for the awards ceremony where trophies for all three classes down to fifth place were given out in addition to the purse money that came to a grand total of $3000. The purse money was funded from the generous sponsorship support of Imperial Sportbike and ABATE of Colorado, in addition to a portion of the surcharge that all participants paid.

The MRA regularly sees racers traveling from Montana, New Mexico and a few other states. This weekend brought in additional racers from out of state (Texas and California to name a couple) that came for the 4 Hour Endurance Race or the known camaraderie and family like atmosphere.

One long time MRA traveler from New Mexico, Ray Thornton confirmed that when he said, “Glad to be here. I want to thank the corner workers, the MRA, it’s a great organization. Great competition, great tracks and it’s just a great time. It makes it worth the drive and thanks to all of you.”

The group from California were seen all weekend long full of smiles and laughter around the pits, even when MRA locals played a few friendly pranks on them. The MRA welcomes you to come out to Colorado and have some fun–on and off the track.

On June 29th and 30th the MRA will head to Pueblo Motorsport Park for Round 3. ABATE of Colorado will be hosting a BBQ Cook-off between the member districts. This cook-off is put on for the racers and the paddock. Typically a couple hundred pounds of meat will be smoked along with all the fixings.

Fay Myers Motorcycle World Race of the Rockies GTO 1. Tracy Schram 2. Dan Turner 3. Ray Thornton 4. Ricky Orlando 5. Rob Christman

Vickery Motorsports Race of the Rockies GTU 1. Kelcey Walker 2. Shannon Moham 3. Nikolas Lenski 4. Carl Sorensen 5. David Mobley

High Plains Raceway Ladies of the Rockies 1. Wyeth Jackson 2. Samantha Coleman 3. Donna Turner 4. Kimberly Prichard 5. Siobhan Bennett

Brighton Radiator & Muffler Middleweight Supersport 1. Peter Tabor 2. Nikolas Lenski 3. Keith Eastin 4. Kelcey Walker 5. Nyles Gourlie

Apex Sports Racing Heavyweight Supersport 1. Peter Tabor 2. Jon Glaefke 3. Kelcey Walker 4. Nikolas Lenski 5. Bruce Browning

Northern Colorado Euro Open Supersport 1. Peter Tabor 2. Ricky Orlando 3. Kelcey Walker 4. Aaron Hersh 5. Patrick Lansu

Grand Prix Motorsports Middleweight Superbike 1. Nikolas Lenski 2. Peter Tabor 3. David Mobley 4. Carl Sorensen 5. Kelcey Walker

Heavyweight Superbike 1. Shannon Moham 2. Nikolas Lenski 3. Kelcey Walker 4. Bruce Browning 5. Rick Grosse

Colorado Powersports Open Superbike 1. Rob Christman 2. Mike Applegate 3. Tracy Schram 4. Dan Turner 5. Ricky Orlando

Factory Trained Auto Repair Supertwins GTU 1. Shannon Moham 2. Christopher Weed 3. Ray Gaimara 4. Matthew Davis 5. Jeff Waychoff

Mile High Harley Davidson Supertwins GTO 1. Patrick Lansu 2. Jon Glaefke 3. Casey Smith 4. Frankie Garcia 5. Jim Brewer

Vickery Motorsports Amateur GTU 1. Matt Diehl 2. Bruce Browning 3. Bryant Smith 4. Dennis Stowers 5. Joe Washburn

Imperial Sportbikes Amateur GTO 1. Matt Diehl 2. Bruce Browning 3. Joseph Washburn 4. Todd Larson 5. Stephen Robards

Law Tigers Novice GTU 1. Ryan Smith 2. Brooks Bryant 3. Richard Liedtke 4. Tim Meiners 5. Brian Dobrowolski

Rocky Mountain Kawasaki Novice GTO 1. Todd Larson 2. Scott Morrison 3. Aaron Tritt 4. Brooks Bryant 5. Tim Meiners

The Walnut Room Modern Vintage GTU 1. Shannon Moham 2. Christopher Coonshead 3. Frank DiRanna 4. Rick Grosse 5. Christopher Weed

Unink Printworks Modern Vintage GTO 1. Erik Peat 2. Christopher Coonshead 3. Frank DiRanna 4. Louden David 5. Evan Cordonier

Boulder Motorsports Thunderbike 1. Patrick Lansu 2. Jon Glaefke 3. Carl Sorensen 4. Casey Smith 5. Dennis Stowers

Woody’s Wheel Works Colorado Class 1. Christopher Weed 2. Jason Madama 3. Jeff Winter 4. Jeremy Widmann 5. David Hayward

Moto-Garage & Sol Performance Formula 40 1. Rob Christman 2. Ricky Orlando 3. Patrick Lansu 4. Geoffrey Snyder 5. Travis Graham

Spencer Russell Youth Racing Lightweight GP 1. Shannon Moham 2. Christopher Weed 3. Ray Gaimara 4. Jason Madama 5. Jeff Waychoff

Money$mart Production 250 Cup Saturday 1. Tony Baker 2. David Kibler 3. Matt Diehl 4. Brian Bartlow 5. Michael Henao

Money$mart Production 400 Cup Saturday 1. Michael Davis 2. Jay Russell 3. Holly Hendrickson

Money$mart Production 500 Cup Saturday 1. Jason Madama 2. Jeremy Widmann 3. Blair Harness 4. Jesse Morehouse 5. Max Reissig

Money$mart Production 250 Cup Sunday 1. Matt Diehl 2. David Kibler 3. Tony Baker 4. Brian Bartlow 5. Bruce Browning

Money$mart Production 400 Cup Sunday 1. Michael Davis 2. Michael Henao 3. Jay Russell 4. Holly Hendrickson

Money$mart Production 500 Cup Sunday 1. Jason Madama 2. Jeremy Widmann 3. Blair Harness 4. Jesse Morehouse 5. Max Reissig

The Motorcycle Roadracing Association is dedicated to promoting safe and competitive motorcycle road racing events for enthusiasts in Colorado and the surrounding area. For more information go to http://mra-racing.org,www.facebook.com/Motorcycle… or call the MRA hotline at (303) 530-5678.