Ochs and Rolleri Win in Utah

Tooele, UT. – UtahSBA and Masters of the Mountain welcomed the USGPRU to wonderful Miller Motorsport Park in Tooele, Utah, for the third west coast round of fantastic racing.

The Rising Sun Cycles and GPTech Moto3 race was an absolute nail biter to the end. Gerry Signorelli, on his Racing for a Wish Moriwaki, threw down a challenge to the young hot shots in qualifying, stealing the pole by 1.1 seconds over Lex Hartl, Andre Ochs and Joe Roberts. At the start of the race, Hartl led the field with Signorelli and Ochs all over him. The lead trio began to gap the field while swapping the lead almost every lap. With three laps to go, Ochs tried to make a run for it but Signorelli battled back and retook the lead on the next lap. Ochs wasn’t done though, as he passed Signorelli and opened a small advantage over Signorelli and Hartl. But on the last lap with only four turns to go, Signorelli closed again and took Ochs on the inside at the Clubhouse turn when Ochs went in too late on the brakes. Ochs recovered through the Wind-up and Release turns and drafted Signorelli to the line claiming victory by 0.002 seconds. Hartl was right there in third on his Moriwaki.

The Pilot 125GP event was another great race all the way to the end. Andre Ochs clinched the pole by only a tenth of a second over Lex Hartl with Gerry Signorelli and Don Roberts filling out the front row. Mr. Holeshot, Lex Hartl, once again led the field at the start. By lap 2, it seemed to be a reprise from the Moto3 race when Signorelli caught the leading pair of Hartl and Ochs. Ochs went side-by-side with Hartl on the straight on lap 4 and took the lead on the inside of turn one. With the youth wearing him down, Signorelli was struggling to keep in touch, possibly because he just stepped off his Racing for a Wish BMW S1000R a minute before this event. Hartl kept the pressure on Ochs and challenged for the lead every time they crossed the start-finish line. But Ochs proved too strong on his Honda RS125 and won by a bikelength. Veteran racer, Don Roberts, also suffering from a poor start on his TZ125, caught up to Joe Roberts and passed Joe for fourth on lap 10. Then, with 1 lap to go, Don low-sided in turn 1, ending his race.

The Moto Liberty / RS Taichi 250GP saw Vince Rolleri, Kevin Winter, Don Roberts and David Matthews on the front row. Roberts was unable to start the race due to his accident in the 125GP race. Rolleri started in his usual fine fashion and jumped out to an early lead. However, he seemed to be suffering from a mechanical gremlin as his Yamaha TZ250 didn’t want to accelerate exiting turns. This allowed Winter to catch and pass Rolleri. While they battled on, Dave Matthews was able to claw his way into the mix. Matthews overtook Winter for the lead on lap 5. Just past the halfway point, Rolleri’s machine miraculously fixed itself and he was back on form setting ever-faster laps. Matthews struggled with Rolleri’s pace but was able to hold off Winter for second.

The USGPRU would like to thank Don Roberts, Jill Giles, UtahSBA, Masters of the Mountain and all the fine folks at Miller Motorsport Park for their exceptional hospitality. 

Rising Sun Cycles/GPTech Moto3 1. Andre Ochs (Mor) 2. Gerry Signorelli (Mor) 3. Lex Hartl (Mor) 4. John Milliron (Hon) 5. Shellie Matthews (Hon) 6. Joe Roberts (Hon) (dnf ) 

Pilot 125GP 1. Andre Ochs (Hon) 2. Lex Hartle (Hon) 3. Gerry Signorelli (Mor) 4. Joe Roberts (Hon) 5. John Milliron (Hon) 6. David Matthews (Hon) 7. Don Roberts (Yam) (dnf ) 8. Shellie Matthews (Hon) (dnf) 

Moto Liberty/RS Taichi 250 GP: 1. Vince Rolleri (Yam) 2. David Matthews (Yam) 3. Kevin Winter (Yam) 4. Daniel Qualtire (Yam) 5. Don Roberts (Yam) (dns) 6. Garth Callaghan (dns)

About USGPRU The USGPRU is the officially recognized Motorcycle 125 Grand Prix National Championship ®, 250 Grand Prix National Championship TM series, and Moriwaki MD250H youth racing 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

More, from another press release issued by USGPRU:

Lewis gets a hat-trick at VIR!

While the west coast USGPRU racers enjoyed perfect conditions at Miller, the eastern racers had to battle high heat and humidity at VIR this weekend. As temperatures soared, so did the young racer’s spirits when they heard the announcement that they would get the chance to race at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP this August. For details on this event, visit the USGPRU website. 

Veloce Racing’s, Jake Lewis, was the star of the show this weekend as he cleaned house in the Pilot 125GP, Rising Sun Cycles Moto3, and the REV’IT! Moriwaki MD250H Powered by HONDA races. In both the 125GP and Moto3 races, Lewis rode his Aprilia RSW125 to the win, and held off his teammate, Nobi Iso. While Iso was able to match Lewis’s pace, he was never able to get close enough to make a pass. The final podium spot in the Pilot 125GP race was a battle between Nick Hansen on his FOGI racing, Honda RS125, and CMRA racer, James Camacho. On the last lap, Hansen passed the scrappy Camacho in turn 3. Camacho fought back, but crashed in the final turn in spectacular fashion. Camacho’s crew scrambled to put his Honda RS125 back together, and succeeded thanks to their hard work and the ease of working on real GP bikes. Camacho threw on a new Arai helmet, and headed out to the grid of the Moto3 race. While Iso and Lewis checked out, Camacho and the ‘Hotrod’ Moriwaki riding, Nick McFadden, diced it up for third place. Camacho rode a solid race though, and showed the young McFadden the fast way to the finish line. 

 The last race of the day was the REV’IT! Moriwaki MD250H Powered by HONDA event. Stefano Mesa, Nick McFadden, Nick Hansen, Max Flinders, and Kaleb De Keyrel started to pull away from the rest of the field. Jake Lewis struggled early on, as he adjusted to the power delivery and engine breaking of the 4-stroke machine. Cassidy Heiser crashed out as he tried to pass for the lead. Mesa and McFadden started to break away in what appeared to be a 2-rider battle for the win. But Lewis was quickly working his way back to the front, overcoming an almost 8-second-defecit, while picking off his competitors along the way. On the final lap, he closed on McFadden and Mesa and passed for the lead. Mesa and McFadden made a charge, but were unable to catch Lewis aboard the Veloce Racing Moriwaki. 

The Moto Liberty / RS-Taichi race was everyone’s chance to shut down the perfect winning streak of Barrett Long. Canadian, Ben Young, put his FOGI racing Yamaha TZ250 into the lead early, with Cassidy Heiser and Leon Cortes in tow. Heiser’s run for the win didn’t last long as his Yamaha puked up a piston and he got to watch the race from the side of the track. Barrett Long pulled the pin on lap two, and made the charge to the front of the pack. He never looked back, and rode on to a comfortable win, his third in a row this season. Ben Young rode well, but couldn’t keep pace with Long, and settled for second place. Mike Aboyoun was forced to start from the back row of the grid (rode a different bike than he qualified on), but worked his way all the way up to third by the end of the 10-lap race. 

Full race results as follows: 

Pilot 125GP race: 1. Jake Lewis (Apr) 2. Nobi Iso (Apr) 3. Nicholas Hansen (Hon) 4. Stefano Mesa (Hon) 5. Barrett Long (Yam) 6. Cassidy Heiser (Hon) 7. Leon Cortes (Hon) 8. Erik Dadej (Hon) 9. John Hjelm (Hon) 10. Nick McFadden 11. Reet Das (Hon) 12. Max Flinders (Mor) 13. Kaleb De Keyrel (Hon) 14. David Celento (Hon) 15. Bob Rothrock (Hon) 16. Federico Cortes (Hon) 17. James Camacho (Hon) 18. John Long (Yam) 19. Lee Hollimon (Hon) 20. Justin Long (Yam) 21. Mike Tso (Hon) 

Moto Liberty / RS-Taichi 250GP race: 1. Barrett Long (Yam) 2. Ben Young (Yam) 3. Mike Aboyoun (Yam) 4. Steve Scott (Yam) 5. Al Campbell (Yam) 6. Jim Bonner (Yam) 7. Justin Long (Yam) 8. Bruce Lind (Yam) 9. Leon Cortes (Yam) 10. Daniel Rios (Yam) 11. Cassidy Heiser (Yam) 

 REV’IT! Moriwaki MD250H Powered by HONDA race: 1. Jake Lewis (Mor) 2. Stefano Mesa (Mor) 3. Nick McFadden (Mor) 4. Nicholas Hansen (Mor) 5. Max Flinders (Mor) 6. Kaleb De Keyrel (Mor) 7. Cassidy Heiser (Mor) 

Rising Sun Cycles Moto3 race: 1. Jake Lewis (Apr) 2. Nobi Iso (Apr) 3. James Camacho (Hon) 4. Nick McFadden (Mor) 5. Kaleb De Keyrel (Hon) 6. Nicholas Hansen (Hon)

About USGPRU The USGPRU is the officially recognized Motorcycle 125 Grand Prix National Championship ®, 250 Grand Prix National Championship TM series, and Moriwaki MD250H youth racing 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