USGPRU Kids Clean Sweep the Windy Weekend at Miller
17 July 2011, Miller Motorsports Park:
Rounds 5&6 of the USGPRU National Championship race series.
The racers converged on the magnificent Miller Motorsports Park for a full-on double-header weekend of racing. The race at Thunderhill had been cancelled due to weather, so the race was combined with the Miller event to make for 2-times the purse, racing, and points up for grabs.
The track was abuzz with activity ranging from open-wheel racecars, GP bikes, drifting, 4-wheeler rock-climbing, and go-karts! The weekend was a motorsport fan’s dream come true! The only downside to the event was the very strong winds that made racing motorcycles challenging to say the least!
The Pilot Moto3 races were dominated by the trio of Xavier Zayat, Max Flinders, and Andre Ochs. In race 1, Zayat and Flinders checked out at the start with Zayat taking the lead with Flinders in tow. On lap 7 of 10, Flinders passed for the lead and looked to have the race in the bag when on the second to last turn, he ran slightly wide and Zayat was able to pull alongside in the last turn. It was a drag race to the finish line with Zayat taking the win by .047 second. Ochs rode to a lonely 3rd place finish.
Race 2 was a different story as Andre Ochs took off like a shot at the start, and never looked back. He stretched his lead to almost 5 seconds and easily took the win. Flinders had 2nd place seemingly covered, with Mario Alvarez and Zayat a little ways behind him. Once Zayat was able to get by Alvarez, he reeled in Flinders and made a pass on lap 8 to nab 2nd place.
The REV’IT! sponsored Moriwaki MD250H Powered by HONDA races were basically the Xavier Zayat show as he trounced the competition in both races. Ben Truslow had his hands full with Max Flinders dogging him the entire first race. But Ben was able to keep Flinders at bay long enough to take 2nd place.
In race 2, Flinders kept on Zayat’s rear wheel for about 5 laps. Zayat was able to turn up a little more speed though and slowly put a gap between himself and Flinders. Truslow and Ochs had a battle for the final podium spot, which Truslow was ultimately able to capture for himself.
Finally, the Moto Liberty / RS-Taichi 250GP class was up. Andre Ochs was really comfortable on his immaculately prepared Honda, and was able to clean-sweep both races. In race 1, Max Flinders and Mario Alvarez had a tight battle for second place. Alvarez was able to get the power down a little bit better than Flinders though and narrowly clinched second place from Max.
Race 2 was a carbon copy of race 1. Bruce Lind rode through the challenging wind conditions to capture 4th place in both races.
The USGPRU thanks all of its sponsors that help to make it possible for us to keep doing what we love to do. Without your help, many more racers wouldn’t be able to afford to come out and live the GP dream. Thank you RS Cycles, Motion Pro, Moto Liberty, Pilot, REV’IT!, HONDA, Impact Armor, and RS-Taichi. We also have great contingency support from EBC, Silkolene, Dunlop, and Bridgestone. Thank you for your continued support! We would also like to extend a special thank you to the folks at Utah Sportbike Association for not only hosting us this weekend, but also for making room for a double-header set of races in an already tight schedule. Don, Dana, Lance, Jill, and all the other folks that worked so hard and made us feel welcome, thank you all! Full race results as follows:
Pilot Moto3 Race 1: 1. Xavier Zayat (Hon) 2. Max Flinders (Mor) 3. Andre Ochs (Hon) 4. Mario Alvarez (Hon) 5. Jon Schendel (Yam) 6. Stewart Aitken-Cade (Hon) 7. Alex Wisdom (Mor) 8. Gavin Herrin (Hon) 9. Don Roberts (Yam) 10. Daytona Anderson (Hon) 11. Yannick Beghar (Yam)
Race 2: 1. Andre Ochs (Hon) 2. Xavier Zayat (Hon) 3. Max Flinders (Mor) 4. Mario Alvarez (Hon) 5. Gavin Herrin (Hon) 6. Alex Wisdom (Mor) 7. Daytona Anderson (Hon) 8. Jon Schendel (Yam) DNF Stewart Aitken-Cade (Hon) DNF Yannick Beghar (Yam)
REV’IT! Moriwaki MD250H Powered by HONDA Race 1: 1. Xavier Zayat (Mor) 2. Ben Truslow (Mor) 3. Max Flinders (Mor) 4. Andre Ochs (Mor) 5. Alex Wisdom (Mor)
Race 2: 1. Xavier Zayat (Mor) 2. Max Flinders (Mor) 3. Ben Truslow (Mor) 4. Andre Ochs (Mor) 5. Alex Wisdom (Mor)
Moto Liberty / RS-Taichi 250GP Race 1: 1. Andre Ochs (Hon) 2. Mario Alvarez (Hon) 3. Max Flinders (Mor) 4. Bruce Lind (Yam) 5. Don Roberts (Yam) 6. Jon Schendel (Yam) 7. Alex Wisdom (Mor) 8. Daytona Anderson (Hon) 9. Andrew Edwards (Apr) DNS Stewart Aitken-Cade (Hon) DNS Daniel Qualtire (Yam)
Race 2: 1. Andre Ochs (Hon) 2. Mario Alvarez (Hon) 3. Max Flinders (Mor) 4. Bruce Lind (Yam) 5. Daytona Anderson (Hon) 6. Don Roberts (Yam) DNS Stewart Aitken-Cade (Hon) DNS Jon Schendel (Yam) DNS Alex Wisdom (Mor) DNS Andrew Edwards (Apr) DNS Daniel Qualtire (Yam)