MacKinnon Upsets, Gessner Dominates At WMRRA Round Two

Pacific Raceways, Kent, Wa. April 28-29, 2012

The Washington Motorcycle Road Racing Association’s Round 2 was favored with warm, dry weather and fast racing this weekend, and the big guns came out to play at Pacific Raceways. The competition was fierce across all the classes, from the near-200mph Formula Unlimited bikes to the incredibly close competition of the Ninja 250 Cup and the pure racing scream of the GP bikes in the Peter Lenz Memorial 125GP class.

The weekend’s festivities got off to a fast start with the riders and machines that missed the cold and wet Round 1 shaking off the winter blues and getting back up to speed quickly for the coming battles. The din of the fascinating mix of vintage roadracers and the shriek of the 600ss bikes combined to bring the atmosphere at the track to racing intensity before lunch on Saturday, with spectators lining the fences and bleachers ready for action.

Saturday’s Open Singles race saw 13-year-old John Gessner shrugging off the effects of a 95mph crash in practice and getting down to business. Unfortunately, early challenger and club president Tim O’Mahony suffered with shifting problems during the race and dropped off the pace slightly, allowing Gessner to escape to victory.

On Sunday, the big news was the incredible battle in the 750 Superbike race between #1 plate holder Eli Edwards, Ryan “Chromie” Sutton and WMRRA stalwart (and past president) Allister MacKinnon. After a race-long 3 way battle and an incredible back straight drafting pass for the lead, MacKinnon finally found clean track, put his head down and built a gap that even the hard-charging Edwards and Sutton couldn’t match, taking a hard-earned first victory in his long roadracing career.

Both Saturday and Sunday featured a virtual Ninja 250 riding clinic by Wendy Leber in both the Ultra Lightweight Sportsman class and the Ninja 250 Cup, with Leber clicking off seemingly perfect laps one after another and leaving the competition trying to keep her in sight at the finish.

The Peter Lenz Memorial 125GP Race saw a fierce battle in the opening laps between Round 1 race winner John Gessner and his chief rival Tim O’Mahony, with the two sliding, drafting and passing in formerly unheard-of parts of the track in an effort to get an edge and check out, while Sean Galt on the MD250H lay in wait to pounce on the leaders should the opportunity arise. Several of the vintage racers also decided to give 125GP racing a go, and no doubt the front of the field will get a lot busier once the rest of the wily veterans finish getting dialed in. A thrown drive chain sidelined the unfortunate O’Mahony on Lap 8 before he could make good on his efforts to beat the young Gessner, and he returned to the pits unhurt to prepare for the next race.

The 250GP race was a rematch between Gessner, O’Mahony and Galt, and the start was a near replay of the 125GP race, with Galt on his Moriwaki MD250H leading the 125’s off the line and Gessner passing him around the outside of Turn 3 in an attempt to put a gap between himself and the hard-charging O’Mahony. Gessner was able to build a seemingly insurmountable gap, but a late-race battle with TFS-mounted Greg Canright allowed O’Mahony to get nearly within striking distance on the last lap. At the line, Gessner held on for the win, with O’Mahony close behind.

The last race of the weekend was the ferocious Formula Unlimited class, pitting MacKinnon once again against Edwards and Sutton. Armed with both horsepower and momentum from his earlier victory, MacKinnon managed to check out for the win, leaving Sutton and Edwards in a race for second place.

The Washington Motorcycle Road Racing Association was formed in 1974 to organize and promote the sport of motorcycle roadracing in Washington State. WMRRA Currently races at two tracks in the state, Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington, and the newly constructed The Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton, Washington. To learn more, go to www.wmrra.com, or contact club president Tim O’Mahony at [email protected]

WMRRA Round 2 Race Results (as provided by WMRRA):

600 Supersport: 1-Eli Edwards 2-Brad Delong 3-Adam Roberts 4-Mark DeGross 5-Kevin Klemmer 6-Doug Hillius

650 Supersport: 1-Ted Hawkins 2-Paul Gienau 3-Robert May 4-Eric May 5-Colt Bristow 6-Eric Sweet

750 Supersport: 1-Eli Edwards 2-Brad Delong 3-Adam Roberts 4-Mark DeGross 5-Jared Barnes 6-Kevin Klemmer

Middleweight GP Twins: 1-Ted Hawkins 2-Brandon Knowles 3-Barry Carlson 4-Eric May 5-Robert May 6-Paul Gienau

Open Singles: 1-John Gessner 2-Tim O’Mahony 3-Sean Galt 4-Shellie Matthews (DNS)

Open Supersport: 1-Mark DeGross 2-Jared Barnes 3-Ken Lalonde 4-Mike Alton 5-Robert Workman 6-Volga Mermut

Peter Lenz Memorial 125GP: 1-John Gessner 2-Sean Galt 3-Joseph Wright-DNF 4-Tim O’Mahony (DNF) 5-Mick Hart (DNF) 6-Shellie Matthews (DNS)

250 Ninja Cup: 1-Wendy Leber 2-Adam Granzer 3-Sean Galt 4-Attila Denes 5-Andrew Hastings 6-John Floyd

250 GP: 1-John Gessner 2-Tim O’Mahony 3-Sean Galt 4-Shellie Matthews (DNS)

500 Vintage: 1-Marc Brown 2-Jim West 3-Levi Maryott

600 Superbike: 1-Eli Edwards 2-Ryan Sutton 3-Brad Delong 4-Mark DeGross 5-Adam Roberts 6-Kevin Klemmer

600 TFS: 1-Shawn Becher 2-Adam Becker 3-Greg Canright 4-Damon Wells 5-John Soldano 6-Kyle Staples (DNS)

160 Vintage: 1-Tim O’Mahony 2-Mark Etheridge 3-Arash Nadersha 4-Neil Jensen 5-Brian Skeahan 6-Mick Hart

750 Superbike: 1-Allister MacKinnon 2-Eli Edwards 3-Ryan Sutton 4-Adam Roberts 5-Jared Barnes 6-Brad Delong

750 Vintage: 1-Gary Ryder 2-Duncan Craick 3-John Nilsson

Formula Thunder: 1-Shawn Becker 2-Howard Crow 3-Brandon Knowles 4-Don Brockett 5-Ted Hawkins 6-Paul Gienau

Formula Ultra: 1-Allister MacKinnon 2-Eli Edwards 3-Ryan Sutton 4-Mark DeGross (DNF) 5-Scott Claboe (DNS) 6-Jared Barnes (DNS)

Heavyweight Early GP: 1-Scott Claboe 2-Jerry Kassebaum 3-Anthony Bakker 4-David Marod 5-Chris Mann 6-Greg Canright

Lightweight Superbike: 1-Shawn Becker 2-Ted Hawkins 3-Barry Carlson 4-Eric May 5-Rhett Halpin 6-Paul Gienau

Novice Sunday: 1-Steven Bleistein 2-Wes Stults 3-Chase Glidden 4-Tom Doyle 5-Dan Cordon 6-Christopher Larrabee

Open GP Twins: 1-Ken LaLonde 2-Howard Crow 3-Tony Connell 4-Don Brockett 5-Brandon Knowles 6-Robert Workman

Open Superbike: 1-Mark DeGross 2-Allister MacKinnon 3-Ken LaLonde 4-Ryan Sutton 5-Jared Barnes (DNS) 6-Aaron Holmberg (DNS)

Ultra-Lightweight Sportsman: 1-Wendy Leber 2-Adam Granzer 3-Sean Galt 4-Jonathan Wood 5-John Floyd 6-Attila Denes