UtahSBA: Lopez Wins King Of The Mountain Race

UtahSBA: Lopez Wins King Of The Mountain Race

© 2020, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc. From a press release issued By James Riggs on behalf of UtahSBA:

The UtahSBA held Round 5 of its Utah Motorcycle Law Masters of the Mountains Race Series on Saturday August 15th on the Utah Motorsports Campus’ East Track. Round 5 came just three short weeks after Round 4, but racers’ appetites were still ravenous, braving the hot and extremely dry weather brought on by a heavily delayed monsoon season for a record turnout for the 2020 race season. Competitors traveled in from as far away as North Carolina to experience the UtahSBA’s trademark hospitality, and the world-class facilities at the Utah Motorsports Campus

Separated by only a four-point lead in the season standings Genaro Lopez and 2019 KOM Champion Jerry Hicks took to the track early in the morning to dice it up in the Moto Station and AZ Riding Academy KOM Qualifying sessions for pole position honors with club president Eric Jones giving them both a thorough shakedown. Hicks prevailed turning a 1:35.940 followed by Jones at 1:36.376 and Lopez with a 1:36.772. With that the stage was set for an epic KOM race.

Summer swelter racing kicked off with The Mechanic Modern Vintage race. The race launched with a bang, but ended nearly as quickly with visiting racer Stuart Clotworthy falling in turn 6 during the first lap and his bike becoming properly stuck in the gravel trap. The restarted race saw Rick Squires take an early lead trailed by Kevin Dolan and James Kling. The order held for the first half of the race and saw Squires put his Honda Fireblade to work soaking up the track and opening a significant  gap from Dolan and Kling. At the start of lap 5 Jessie Carter overtook Kling and set his sights on reeling in Dolan. Then, at the start of lap 7, disaster struck with the leading Squires lowsiding out of his solo lead in turn 1. In all the excitement Carter overtook Dolan and crossed the finish line under an array of flags with the pair trailed by Joshua Snow.

The club’s premier 14-lap King of the Mountain Race gridded up first thing after lunch with racers putting their food comas on hold, blowing clutches, and wheelieing from the start all the way to the entrance of turn 1.  Hicks secured an early lead in the race, chased by Kory Cowan, Lopez, and Bill Davis. Lopez provided some lap 1 excitement attempting an outside pass on Cowan on the entrance of turn 7 but failed to make it stick running wide with Cowan and Davis overtaking. Lopez put his BMW to work and charged hard, managing to close the gap and resume his scramble with Davis and Cowan. Lopez and Davis eventually managed to pull away from Cowan but the gap was short lived with William Russel lowsiding out of 5th place while trying to catch up with Cowan. The race was red flagged to clear the bike from the impact zone.

With the red flag resolved race direction made the tough call to shorten the restarted race to 11 laps. Hicks worked hard and re-secured his lead at the start of the race, trailed closely by the battling Lopez and Davis. Cowan was forced to retire following the start due to his Yamaha’s clutch signing off. Lopez and Davis sparred heavily for second place with Davis prevailing and overtaking Hicks on the inside of turn one at the start of lap 5. Hicks was not content with this new arrangement, however and made short work of Davis, overtaking Davis on the entrance of the attitudes. Davis asserted his turn 1 dominance overtaking Hicks again on the following lap, but this time around the outside of the turn. Lopez thought he found his window in chasing Davis, making an attempt on Hicks in turn two but was swatted back having to wait for the entrance of turn 1 to come around again making an inside pass on Hicks at the start of the 8th lap.  Davis worked hard to hold off the hard charging Lopez but Lopez found his move, passing Davis on the entrance of the attitudes complex in lap 9 and then tried to make good on his escape from Davis and Hicks. By this point Hicks was biding his time behind Davis eventually passing in the Attitudes during lap 10. With the checkered flag out Lopez took his first ever KOM combined win followed by Hicks and Davis.

With the win Lopez increased his season standing lead to 14 points over Hicks. Lopez stated that he cannot thank his family and sponsors enough for all the support he receives at the race track and says he is hopeful to keep the championship ball rolling in the 6th round and secure the season win. He went on to comment that he was thrilled by how much he has grown as a rider in his four years racing with the UtahSBA, coming from a novice racer to a premiere class leader. Round 6’s face off for championship glory between Lopez and Hicks should prove intense.

The rest of the afternoon provided excellent racing with novice Lee McNutt taking an early lead in the combined GTU race and walking away from points leader Grant Cowan and visiting Zach Austin. McNutt went on to win the race with a 6.165 lead over Cowan. Middleweight Superstock saw an early battle between Ryan Richardson and Cole Phillips play out with Richardson prevailing and Grant Cowan sneaking in to steal second place from Phillips in the 4th lap. Stock 1000 played out like a KOM rematch for Lopez and Davis with Davis putting in a win with a lead of just 0.476 on the previously victorious Lopez.

As racing wrapped up and the air temperature still scorching, students in the UtahSBA’s Advanced Rider Training Course took to the track following afternoon classroom and parking lot sessions to practice new skills and techniques at the higher speeds afforded by the track. Students rode a mix of sport bikes, adventure bikes, and one cafe racer and all performed exceptionally well according to their instructors. All told students came off the track beaming about their awesome day as the sun set and the temps finally started dropping.

The UtahSBA is headed into the final round of the 2020 season with Round 6 to be held on Utah Motorsports Campus’ West track on Saturday September 5th.

The Utah Sport Bike Association is a Utah Non-Profit dedicated to promoting education, safe riding and competition in the Intermountain West. You can find more information about the USBA, upcoming events, and schools at www.utahsba.com or find us on Facebook at www.utahsba.com

 

Overall Results:

 

Motostation/AZ Riding Academy KOM Overall:

1. Genaro Lopez (BMW S1000RR)

2. Jerry Hicks (YAM YZF-R6)

3. Bill Davis (BMW S1000RR)

4. Duncan Biles (YAM YZF-R1)

5. David Thomas (BMW S1000RR)

6. Steven Marco (YAM YZF-R1)

 

Motostation KOM GTO:

1. Genaro Lopez (BMW S1000RR)

2. Bill Davis (BMW S1000RR)

3. Duncan Biles (YAM YZF-R1)

4. David Thomas (BMW S1000RR)

5. Steven Marco (YAM YZF-R1)

6. Dallas W Sherman (YAM YZF-R1)

 

AZ Riding Academy KOM GTU:

1. Jerry Hicks (YAM YZF-R6)

2. Ryan Richardson (YAM YZF-R6)

3. Cole Phillips (YAM YZF-R6)

4. Clint Gibson (KAW ZX-6R)

 

Harrison Eurosports Combined GTO

1. Rick Squires (HON CBR1000RR)

2. Joshua Snow (YAM YZF-R1)

3. Lee McNutt (YAM YZF-R6)

4. Gilbert Gonzalez (KAW ZX-10R)

5. Marshall Miller (BMW S1000RR)

6. Christopher Jaech (TRI 675R)

 

Kimco Combined GTU

1. Lee McNutt (YAM YZF-R6)

2. Grant Cowan (YAM YZF-R6)

3. Zach Austin (TRI 675R)

4. Christopher Jaech (TRI 675R)

5. Peter Hofpointner (YAM YZF-R6)

6. Clint Gibson (KAW ZX-6R)

 

The Edge Powersports Deseret Dash – Expert

1. Bill Davis (BMW S1000RR)

2. Dallas W Sherman (YAM YZF-R1)

3. Steven Marco (YAM YZF-R1)

4. Eric Jones (YAM YZF-R1)

5. Jason Johnson (DUC 848)

6. Clint Gibson (KAW ZX-6R)

 

The Edge Powersports Deseret Dash – Novice

1. Rick Squires (HON CBR1000RR)

2. Kevin Madden (HON CBR1000RR)

3. James Kling (DUC 1198)

4. Christopher Jaech (TRI 675R)

5. Zach Austin (TRI 675R)

6. Nicholas Schmit (SUZ GSX-R600)

 

Harrison Eurosports Formula 40 – GTO

1. Bill Davis (BMW S1000RR)

2. Eric Jones (YAM YZF-R1)

3. Jesse Carter (SUZ GSX-R750)

4. Kevin Dolan (KAW ZX-10R)

5. James Peterec (SUZ GSX-R1000)

6. Steven Marco (YAM YZF-R1)

 

Harrison Eurosports Formula 40 – GTU

1. Christopher Jaech (TRI DAYTONA 675R)

2. Phil O’Bryan (KAW ZX-6R)

3. Brian Larrabure (PIE X80)

4. Joe Brown (KAW ZX-6R)

5. Adam Kownatka (KAW ZX-6R)

6. Mark Taylor (KAW NINJA 400)

 

The Edge Powersports Lightweight Superbike

1. Mark Taylor (KAW NINJA 400)

2. Christopher De La Torre (SUZ SV650)

3. David Purcell (KAW NINJA 400)

4. Jordan Wolfgramm (KAW NINJA 300)

5. Phil O’Bryan (KAW NINJA 300)

 

Moto Station Middleweight Superbike

1. Ryan Richardson (YAM YZF-R6)

2. Grant Cowan (YAM YZF-R6)

3. Cole Phillips (YAM YZF-R6)

4. Adam Kownatka (KAW ZX-6R)

5. Clint Gibson (KAW ZX-6R)

 

Toxic Moto Racing Middleweight Superstock

1. Cole Phillips (YAM YZF-R6)

2. Kory Cowan (YAM YZF-R6)

3. Genaro Lopez (YAM YZF-R6)

4. Peter Hofpointner (YAM YZF-R6)

5. Alex Zinaich (YAM YZF-R6)

6. Joe Brown (KAW ZX-6R)

 

The Mechanic Modern Vintage – GTO

1. Jesse Carter (SUZ GSX-R750)

2. Kevin Dolan (SUZ GSX-R1000)

3. Joshua Snow (YAM YZF-R1)

4. Marshall Miller (BMW S1000RR)

5. James Kling (DUC 1198)

6. David Meyer (YAM YZF-R1)

 

The Mechanic Modern Vintage – GTU

1. Grant Cowan (YAM YZF-R6)

2. Clint Gibson (KAW ZX-6R)

3. Nicholas Schmit (SUZ GSX-R600)

4. Pratt Wellman (YAM YZF-R6)

5. Phil O’Bryan (KAW ZX-6R)

6. Raymond Clark (SUZ GSX-R600)

 

MotoUnited Moto 2

1. Jerry Hicks (YAM YZF-R6)

2. Ryan Richardson (YAM YZF-R6)

3. Grant Cowan (YAM YZF-R6)

4. Genaro Lopez (YAM YZF-R6)

5. Cole Phillips (YAM YZF-R6)

6. Lee McNutt (YAM YZF-R6)

 

The Edge Powersports Moto 3

1. Christopher De La Torre (SUZ SV650)

2. David Purcell (KAW NINJA 400)

3. Mark Taylor (KAW NINJA 400)

4. Jordan Wolfgramm (KAW NINJA 300)

5. Rachel Kuns (YAM YZF-R3)

 

Blud Racing Lubricants Novice GTO

1. Rick Squires (HON CBR1000RR)

2. Joshua Snow (YAM YZF-R1)

3. James Kling (DUC 1198)

4. Christopher Jaech (TRI DAYTONA 675R)

5. Kevin Madden (HON CBR1000RR)

6. Malachi Roybal (YAM YZF-R1)

 

Blud Racing Lubricants Novice GTU

1. Lee McNutt (YAM YZF-R6)

2. Christopher Jaech (TRI 675R)

3. Zach Austin (TRI DAYTONA 675R)

4. Belisario Arango (KAW ZX-6R)

5. Max Tseng (YAM YZF-R6)

6. Nicholas Schmit (SUZ GSX-R600)

 

Moto Station Open Superbike

1. Bill Davis (BMW S1000RR)

2. David Thomas (BMW S1000RR)

3. Duncan Biles (YAM YZF-R1)

4. Genaro Lopez (BMW S1000RR)

5. James Peterec (SUZ GSX-R1000)

6. Spencer Kruger (YAM YZF-R1)

 

MotoUnited Open Superstock

1. Genaro Lopez (BMW S1000RR)

2. Bill Davis (BMW S1000RR)

3. David Thomas (BMW S1000RR)

4. Steven Marco (YAM YZF-R1)

5. James Peterec (SUZ GSX-R1000)

6. Jesse Carter (SUZ GSX-R750)

 

ee Racing Corps Open Twins

1. James Kling (DUC 1198)

2. Brian Larrabure (PIE X60)

3. Donald Rothfuss (DUC 848 EVO)

4. Raymond Clark (SUZ SV650)

5. Christopher De La Torre (SUZ SV650)

 

Inspired Financial Production 500

1. Mark Taylor (KAW NINJA 400)

2. David Purcell (KAW NINJA 400)

3. Jordan Wolfgramm (KAW NINJA 300)

4. Phil O’Bryan (KAW NINJA 300)

 

Monarch Powersports Sportsman

1. Sam Arquit (Suz GSX-R750)

2. Richard Findlay (KAW ZX-10R)

3. Kirk Doyle (KAW ZX-6R)

4. Miguel Alamillo (Suz GSX-R600)

5. Russell Carpenter (YAM YZF-R6)

6. Nick Neven (HON CBR600RR)

 

C&R Coatings Stock 1000

1. Bill Davis (BMW S1000RR)

2. Genaro Lopez (BMW S1000RR)

3. James Peterec (SUZ GSX-R1000)

4. William Russell (KAW ZX-10R)

5. Jesse Carter (SUZ GSX-R750)

6. Jason Johnson (KAW ZX-10R)

 

Mountain Autosport Super Street Bike

1. Victor Arias (HON CBR1000RR SP)

2. Cole Phillips (YAM FZ8)

3. Sam Arquit (SUZ GSX-R600)

4. Rachel Kuns (YAM FZ6)

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