Bruce Lind Racing LLC is pleased to announce that the 2008 Bruce Lind Racing Traveling Circus (BLRTC) will be sponsored by MotoSport.com .

The BLRTC will have MotoSport.com sport bike catalogs available at each event attended. MotoSport.com is also the presenting sponsor for the ASRA's Championship Cup Series (CCS) Sportsman Classes for 2008 and 2009 seasons.

About Bruce Lind Racing Bruce Lind Racing has been active in American Motorcycle Road Racing since 1964. For most of the last ten years, it has organized a traveling coop that has been referred to as the Bruce Lind Traveling Circus because of the number of riders and bikes involved and the size of the paddock awning.

For 2008, the BLRTC consists of;

Michael Danielson

Pat Dowd

Kory Gill

Bruce Lind

Dave Matthews

Shellie Matthews

Mike Orien

Jeff Pratt

Steve Scott

Sean Wray

The BLRTC concentrates on the USGPRU Grand Prix National series with an occasional CCS Lightweight GP and Formula 40 event thrown in.

About MotoSport.com -

MotoSport, Inc., based in Tualatin, Oregon (near Portland), was founded in 1999 by Bill Butcher in Yakima, Washington. The company later moved to Oregon where it quickly grew to become the largest U.S. retailer of parts, accessories and apparel in the dirt bike market. The company has continued to grow by expanding its offering in the off-road market to include ATV and side by side lines, and most recently entering the sport bike and Harley-Davidson(r) markets.

MotoSport, Inc. has experienced rapid growth by focusing on a few fundamental principles: stocking the products it sells, offering competitive prices, and most importantly, delivering outstanding customer service by hiring and retaining a knowledgeable sales staff that is dedicated to power sports and the customers it serves. For further information about MotoSport, Inc. visit www.motosport.com.

Roadrace Southwest played host for round three of the USGPRU’s West Coast region at Firebird Raceway. The weekend was fantastic as temperatures hovered in the low nineties, and provided great conditions for racing as well as for spectators.

The big news of the weekend was the debut of the new MD250H class. The new bikes are built by Moriwaki and powered by the stout Honda CRF250X engine. The unique sound of the 250cc four-stroke, single-cylinder race bike brought out curious onlookers to see this new class which brings with it a prize purse of $10,000 per event.

The Moriwaki MD250H Powered by Honda race drew a large crowd of spectators as these GP machines thundered off the line for the first time. Garrett Gerloff and Zach Warnock got great launches, but Miles Thornton did even better to secure the lead. This new spec class clearly highlights the talent of the racer, and Gerloff was in that spotlight as he passed Miles for the lead and never looked back. Thornton was able to keep pace and gain on Gerloff at times but had his hands full with Warnock and couldn’t challenge for the win. Warnock stayed on Thornton’s tail but it was ultimately Thornton who finished second and Warnock third. Gerloff walked away with $2000 for the win, Thornton with $1700 for second, and $1500 to Warnock for third place.

Rising Sun Cycles 125GP race saw Warnock grab the holeshot on his Honda RS125 but Royce McLean and the MD250H riders, Gerloff and Thornton, weren’t about to let him get away. A four-way battle for the lead quickly settled down to a three-way battle for second as McLean was on a mission and passed Warnock and started to walk away from the pack. Positions were swapped constantly throughout the race for second between Warnock, Gerloff and Thornton. Warnock fought hard to keep Gerloff and Thornton at bay, and seemed to have second place ‘in the bag’. On the last lap, Gerloff charged, and snuck around the outside of Warnock in turn three. Warnock tried to come back, but grabbed too much throttle and spectacularly highsided out of the race. That moved Thornton up to third and new racer, Lex Hartl to fourth. With all of this drama cleanly behind him, McLean went on to win and take over the regional and national championship 125GP points lead.

In the Moto Liberty 250GP race, Kyle Ferris got to turn one first with Vincent Rolleri hot on his rear wheel. Rolleri and Ferris diced for the lead but Ferris quickly tired of that battle, and put in some fast laps to try and escape Rolleri’s charge. By lap 6, he had opened up a three-second lead and maintained that gap until the end of the race. Michael Rajotte and Dylan Olsen were in a close battle for third until a mechanical problem caused Olsen to retire, handing the final podium spot to Rajotte.

Notably absent from the weekend were West Coast points leaders Benny Solis, Jr., and Austin DeHaven as they were off at the Red Bull Rookies Cup race at Barber.

Jennings GP and CCS Florida played host to the first round of the USGPRU’s East Coast racing season. With rain and strong winds the prediction for the weekend, 66 racers braved the elements to race this tight and twisty road coarse.

Despite the damp conditions, Nobi Iso set the fast times in 125 qualifying early on, only to have the young Texan, Lloyd Ramsey-Worrell steal pole position with a time of 1.22:382. Jake Lewis and Cassidy Heiser rounded out the rest of the front row. Surprisingly, PJ Jacobsen was only able to muster enough speed to pull a very uncharacteristic 12th place starting position.

The rain stayed away just long enough to run the Rising Sun Cycle 125GP race in the dry. Nobi Iso took advantage of PJ’s misfortune, and launched his Aprilia out to a commanding lead, pulling an easy 2-second gap over Ramsey-Worrell and the rest of the 39-bike grid in only one lap. A 7-rider battle for second ensued while Iso tried to distance himself further. Jacobsen slashed through the crowd by the fourth lap and set his sights on Iso who had a substantial lead. By lap 7, PJ was on Iso’s rear wheel and ready to pounce on the lead position. Iso checked up for a lapped rider in the fast left kink of the back straight, but PJ kept his Honda spooled up and sling-shoted himself into the lead with only 2 laps to go. PJ threw lappers at Iso right an left and was able to keep Iso at bay all the way to the finish line to claim his first win of the year.

Five bikes battled it out for the final podium spot with Lloyd Ramsey-Worrell narrowly edging out his teammate, Jake Lewis, for the final podium slot. Their other teammate, Chase Vivion, made it a 3-4-5 finish for team Rockwall Honda.

The Moto Liberty 250GP qualifying was a back and forth battle for the lead between PJ Jacobsen on his new Celtic Racing Honda RS250, and AMA regular Barrett Long on his Yamaha TZ250. The two kept slashing each other’s times until PJ finally threw down a 1.16.49 second lap. Long was followed by Perry Melneciuc and Melissa Paris on her new Honda RS250.

The skies opened up just minutes before the start of the race, and riders scrambled for rain tires if they had them. Seventeen of the 27 racers made it to the start in time and bolted for turn one. Much to the soggy crowd’s surprise, Adam Roberts put his Yamaha TZ250 into the lead immediately, and started pulling away from the crowd. Brent Lyskawa and PJ were left to battle for second place in what would turn out to be a very wet game of cat and mouse. PJ was setting Brent up for a last lap pass, practicing and testing to see where he had traction. The two were able to finally match the leader’s pace, but too late to make a charge. Adam Roberts handily won the race with a lead of over 13 seconds. PJ did make the last lap, last corner pass over Lyskawa to claim second place by half a wheel.

The USGPRU would like to thank Henry DeGouw and the rest of the CCS Florida team for another great weekend.

The second West Coast round of the USGPRU’s Rising Sun Cycle 125GP was held this past weekend at the WSMC Streets of Willow. Several newcomers were in attendance, some traveling all the way from Canada and Oregon. Weather played a factor all weekend at the southern California track, with the winds blowing at over 20 MPH.

The Saturday afternoon 125GP qualifier had everyone battling for pole position. Benny Solis, Jr. and Austin DeHaven got physical, with contact being made between them several times during the session. The battle made for some very fast times as Solis and DeHaven threw down the quickest laps of 1:21.724 and 1:21.255 respectively. Despite battling mechanical gremlins earlier in the day, Royce McLean captured third position with a 1:23.560. Newcomers Travis Ohge, Zach Warnock and Michael Martin beat out the rest of the field to claim the second row of the grid.

When the green flag was thrown for the Rising Sun Cycles 125GP race, DeHaven shot off the line like a rocket, with Solis in tow. By Turn 4 of the first lap, Solis had overtaken DeHaven and was determined to keep the lead. DeHaven charged hard all race long, riding his fastest time in lap 10, but it wasn’t enough to beat Solis who claimed his second win of the season.

Martin passed McLean for third place early on, but the Canadian fought back, reclaimed the position and held it for the rest of the race despite having sick motor issues. USGPRU newcomers Martin and Ohge both put in solid rides to round out the top five.

The 250GP class was noticeably absent this weekend, but they will run their own round on the main Willow track in September with WSMC.

The Vegas round has been cancelled. The great folks at Fastrack bent over backwards to help us out, but in the end we needed to find somewhere else to run that race. Several options surfaced, but the best one I could lock down was going back to Firebird in April for another round with the fine folks at Roadrace Southwest. This race weekend will will now be the first official round of the Moriwaki MD250H Powered by HONDA race.

Additionally, the MD250H race at Jennings will be rescheduled from April 5-6 weekend to another TBD event. The 125GP and 250GP races will continue as planned, but the MD250H race is off the schedule for that weekend. We are still trying to locate a substitute weekend to host that race.

Finally, the famous 250/50 race has been cancelled at Willow Springs on Sept 20-21. We had planned to participate in this great race. Luckily, WSMC will be hosting one of it's normal race weekends instead, and the USGPRU has been allowed to bring out our Moto Liberty 250GP class to join in. So the 250/50 is cancelled, but we will still race that weekend.

The USGPRU racers converged on the small but fast Firebird East track for the first round of the western region series. With temps in the high 70's the Rising Sun Cycle 125GP racers lined up on the grid to do battle. As the green flag dropped, Benny Solis was quick off the line but Royce McLean powered by him on his Yamaha TZ125 to take the lead into turn one. Solis settled into 2nd with veteran John Hjelm and young Austin DeHaven following closely behind. McLean led the pack throughout the 1st lap until Hjelm made a Banzai pass into the final turn, surprising the youngsters and snatching the lead. Hjelm powered down the front straight, but McLean dug deep and was able to pass Hjelm into turn one once more. Solis was then able to work his way past Hjelm and McLean and by turn five was in the lead on the second lap. Solis never looked back from that point on. Meanwhile, DeHaven also worked his way past Hjelm and by mid-race, the top 4 positions were set with Solis in the lead and pulling away, being chased by McLean, DeHaven, and Hjelm. DeHaven made a valiant charge on McLean in the latter stages of the 10-lap race but could not put it together for a pass. Solis checked out from the pack running a fastest lap of 59.7 seconds and winning the event handily. There was some action in the final laps of the race between newcomer Andrew Artola and local superstar Kim Brauneis, with Artola running Brauneis down and making the pass for 6th position. Brauneis would have none of that, and leaned on her vast home track experience to rally back and reclaim the position before the checkered flag was flown.

The Moto Liberty 250GP race saw pole-sitter Kyle Ferris first off the line but both Vince Rolleri and Dylan Olsen used superior horsepower and quickly passed him. Olsen held the advantage into turn one followed closely by Ferris who had made up for a lack of power by out-braking Rolleri into the turn. Ferris then lined up his sights on Olsen and stuffed his bike underneath Olsen going into the sweeping turn three. Ferris kept a solid lead of 7- to 10-bike-lengths for the next 9 laps. Rolleri got by Olsen on lap 3 and began to run down Ferris. Ferris seemed to sense the coming attack from Rolleri and comfortably picked up the pace and controlled the lead. With victory in sight, Ferris's back wheel spun loose exiting the final turn. This put Ferris up and out of the seat, barely able to regain control before running up on the rumble strips. Rolleri capitalized on this mistake and powered by Ferris to claim the win. Despite Olsen running the fastest lap of the race, he couldn’t beat Ferris to the line and had to settle for third place.

The USGPRU would like to thank Randy, Heidi, John, and the rest of the CCS / Road Race Southwest team for another great weekend. Also thanks to Sascha and Dave at Red Bull for the weekend support. This weekend wouldn't have been possible without the support of the 2008 USGPRU National Series sponsors: RoadracingWorld.com, Rising Sun Cycles, Moto Liberty, Motion Pro, Repsol Lubricants, REV'IT, Bridgestone Tires, Dunlop Tires, EBC Brakes, GP Tech, Rich Oliver's Mystery School, Powerstands, Chicken Hawk Tire Warmers, Hjelm Motorsports, Michelin Tires, Regina Chains, and Starlane by Yoyodyne.

The first round of the USGPRU’s new Moriwaki MD250H Powered by HONDA racing class will be postponed. According to the USGPRU President, Stewart Aitken-Cade, “Although HONDA has indicated that they will be able to ship the exciting new MD250H out to the customers before the first round, we felt like it would be cutting things a little too close for comfort. The March 8-9 weekend at Firebird is only 2 weeks away, and that’s barely enough time to pick up the bikes, much less set them up for the young riders. The last thing we want to do is rush these kids out to the track without adequate time to safely prepare and test their bikes.” The rest of the USGPRU weekend will continue as planned in conjunction with the Roadrace Southwest series at Firebird. It is only the MD250H class that has been postponed.

The $10k purse that was aligned with that weekend will not be lost. The MD250H race will still be run, but it will now be held in conjunction with the already scheduled Super Cycle ’08 event at the Reno-Fernley raceway, August 22-24. In addition to the USGPRU’s Rising Sun Cycles 125GP and Moto Liberty 250GP races, we will be running two separate races of the MD250H class for a total purse of $20,000 that weekend alone. Just in case the great GP style racing is not enough for you, the track will also be hosting supermoto racing, sprint races, and an endurace event on what is shaping up to be a weekend you won’t want to miss.

For 2008, the USGPRU is sponsored by Rising Sun Cycles, MotoLiberty, Roadracingworld.com, Repsol Lubricants, Starline by Yoyodyne, GPTech, Hjelm Motorsports, Ian Emberton Racing, Motion Pro, Revit Leathers, Power Stands, Regina Chains, Chickenhawk Racing, and EBC Brakes.

The USGPRU is pleased to welcome Yoyodyne as a new contingency sponsor for the 2008 season. They will be providing a contingency support program for those USGPRU 125GP racers using any Starlane laptimer/instrumentation system on their race bikes.

In addition, the USGPRU will be equipping several bikes with the new battery-powered Starlane Athon GPS3 lap timers. The extremely easy-to-use system uses GPS to determine lap times without the hassle of beacons or underground loops. In addition, the system replaces the tachometer, shift lights, and speedometer and integrates several other features such as a hot-lap indicator and automatic track-mapping. The track-mapping feature allows the user to analyze individual corner speeds, splits, and lines taken in every corner. Comparing different racers’ lines and resultant speeds creates an affordable way for our youth racers as well as the more seasoned veterans to look at how other riders attack a course in a more quantitative manner than previously available to them.

We will be demonstrating the ability of these systems as an instructional aid for all of our racers. The process will hopefully help racers learn tracks faster as well as learn how to dissect a racetrack and put together combinations of turns.

We are excited to have Yoyodyne join our team in helping to support true GP racing in North America!

The United States Grand Prix Racers Union announces the 2008 calendar of events for the National Championship Series.

Eastern Region

Apr 5-6 Jennings GP

May 24-25-26 Summit Point

Jun 20-21-22 Virginia International Raceway

Jul 5-6 Road America

Jul 25-27 Shannonville

Aug 9-10 Barber Motorsports Park

Western Region

Mar 8-9 Firebird (east)

Apr 5-6 Streets of Willow (RSC 125GP only)

May 17-18 Las Vegas Classic

Jun 14-15 Portland Int’l Raceway

Jul 26-27 Miller Motorsports Park

Aug 22-24 Reno-Fernley

Sep 19-20-21 250/50 (Moto Liberty 250GP only)

National Championship final

Oct 4-5 Miller Motorsports Park

The USGPRU is proud to welcome Moto Liberty back to the Grand Prix paddock as the official class sponsor for the 250GP class.

In a "past life" Moto Liberty was a huge supporter of GP racing in the USA. They fielded race-winning machines in almost every discipline of AMA racing, from GTU Endurance machines to 250GPs. Moto Liberty has had riders such as Takahito Mori, Danny Walker, Randy Renfrow, Al Salaverria and many others ride for them. In the early 90s, Moto Liberty was instrumental in building the 125GP class in the US as well as developing a cult-like following at their small retail store just outside of Dallas, TX.

Currently, Moto Liberty has settled into a Texas-based organization with 2 retail stores specializing in sportbike and race gear. The Dallas location has over 100 race suits in stock, by manufacturers including RS Taichi, Rev 'it, Dainese, Alpinestars, Fieldsheer and more.

According to Moto Liberty’s owner, Audrey Menarik, “Moto Liberty is so happy to be able to be back at the track. As with most people involved in the motorcycle industry, we never go away; we just come back in different forms.” Moto Liberty USA has become the #1 motorcycle gear and accessories store in Texas (as voted by Ride Texas Magazine Reader) five years in a row. Moto Liberty is dedicated to stocking a huge inventory of leathers, boots, gloves and helmets to help customers really get the gear that fits. “By sponsoring the 250 GP class, we hope to let racers and fans know that we're here to help them get protective gear that fits them well, keeps them safe, and does so at a great price.”

Check out their website at www.motoliberty.com to see what the new Moto Liberty is all about.

Moto Liberty joins an already powerhouse list of companies that have signed on to support the USGPRU in 2008, including Rising Sun Cycles, Roadracingworld.com, GPTech, Hjelm Motorsports, Ian Emberton Racing, Motion Pro, Power Stands, Regina Chains, Chickenhawk Racing, and EBC Brakes.

It was recently announced that 14-year-old Cameron Beaubier will be joining the 2006 USGPRU 125GP champion, PJ Jacobsen, at the prestigous 2008 MotoGP academy.

For additional information, see click below link for the roadracing world press release on the subject. http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=30736

The USGPRU is thrilled that two of our young racers were selected ahead of so many other highly qualified racer from around the world. Hopefully this will show the path for many aspiring young roadracers in North America to follow. And for all those that don't think that North America has any young talent coming up, this is a great opportunity for those critic to eat a little crow. PJ and Cam are just the tip of the talent iceberg! Come out to any USGPRU event and you'll be amazed at how deep the talent pool is getting among the youth ranks.

The USGPRU is helping to develop the future superstars!

The following people were the winners during this year's USGPRU raffle:

Rebecca Henn: RSC RS125
Toriano Wilson: Revit Leathers
Ryan Matter: Repsol KBC Helmet
Jim Bergey: Repsol KBC Helmet
Peter LeDuc: Bridgestone 250GP tires
Josh Steinberg: Dunlop 125GP tires
Chris Quillman: Dunlop 250GP tires
Miles Thornton: Hjelm 125 parts
Nobi Iso: Hjelm 250 parts
Dave Celento: Powerstand table
Ryan Keenan: Powerstand blackmax stand
Kris Turner: Powerstand blackmax stand
Benny Solis: Powerstand powerchock
Kevin Murray: Motion Pro compression tool
Hayden Gillim: Motion Pro bearing remover tool
PJ Jacobsen: Repsol oil kit
Jeremy Barnard: Repsol oil kit
Mike McDonough: USGPRU T-shirt
Miles Thornton: USGPRU Sweat shirt
Ron Corey: USGPRU Miller video
Tyler Odom: Agaperacing Engine stand
Rebecca Henn: Agaperacing Pipe cleaner
Mike Lytle: Agaperacing Pipe cleaner
Marcus Matthews: Marvic Aspen rims

The USGPRU would like to thank everyone that donated the great prizes to this raffle as well as everyone that participated in the raffle itself. It was a lot of fun and we hope to do it again next year.

The final round of the USGPRU 2007 season took place this weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. AMA Sports was hosting their annual National Grand Championship, and proved to be an outstanding complement to the 125 and 250 GP National Championship Event. Unlike last year’s event, there wasn’t a drop of rain to be found.

Heading into the event, neither championship had been decided. Young PJ Jacobsen had a 40-point lead over Nobi Iso in the 125GP class, and Ryan Ferris had a 28-point lead over Canadian Eddy Brunet in the 250GP. With 50 points up for grabs for a race win and 40 points for second place, it looked like PJ would just have to finish the race to wrap up his second national title in a row. But a late season acceptance into the MotoGP academy meant he needed to pull out of Mid-Ohio and head to Spain to start getting familiar with the tracks in Europe. This left the door open to Iso, but the only way to win the championship would be to win the race. Likewise, Ferris had a large lead over Brunet, but Brunet’s track knowledge and voracious desire to win gave him a solid shot at the championship despite the odds.

Friday’s Rising Sun Cycle 125GP qualifying saw Iso set the fastest times with a 1:36.292 lap, followed by Benny Solis and Texan, Chase Vivion, rounding out the front row. The 250GP qualifying had the 2006 250GP Champ, Alex Welsh way out in the lead with a blistering 1:34.014 lap aboard his Honda RS250 machine. Chris Pyles and Kyle Ferris came across next almost 1.5 seconds back, but still just ahead of Brunet in fourth. Ryan Ferris struggled with electrical problems and only completed 1 lap and barely qualified in 33rd position. Brunet’s championship chances were looking much better.

The 125GP National Championship race got off to a great start as Iso, Vivion, Solis and local favorite Scott Smallwood all battled nose-to-tail for the lead. Heading into the keyhole turn on lap 4, Smallwood and Solis collided as Smallwood tried to make the pass on Solis’s inside. Both riders went down, and then there were only 2 riders up front. On lap 5, Chase Vivion passed Iso for the lead but this was to be a short-lived victory as lapped rider Chris Terheyden brought the race to a stop on lap 7 when he high-sided in the “Esses”.

The restart saw Iso and Vivion dipping down into the low 1:36 times, but in the end, Iso was able to pull out a slim 2-second lead to clinch the win and the National 125GP Champion title. Third place went to 12-year-old, Royce McLean on his Yamaha TZ125, narrowly edging out Toriano Wilson and Miles Thornton. This made for a three-manufacturer podium with Aprilia on top, followed by Honda and Yamaha.

The 250GP race wasn’t quite as dramatic as Alex Welsh led every lap from flag-to-flag. While he made it look easy at the end, Chris Pyles held onto Alex’s rear wheel for the first half of the race before fading back and eventually being caught by the younger of the two Ferris boys, Kyle. Pyles was passed by Kyle Ferris late in the race, relegating him to third place. Eddy Brunet narrowly held onto fourth place ahead of Scotty Ryan and Sean Wray. Ryan Ferris was able to correct his earlier electrical gremlins and worked his way up from 33rd to 10th place. That was enough for him to clinch the title of National 250GP Champion for 2007.

The USGPRU would like to thank Stephanie McIntyre and the rest of the AMA Sports staff for another great event. Thanks also to the WERA crew for running a smooth event as usual.

The staff of the USGPRU appreciates all the help that our volunteers and sponsors have provided all season long. We couldn’t do what we are doing without your help and we sincerely thank you for that assistance. We look forward to another great season in 2008!

From Celtic Racing Press release:

It is with much regret that Celtic Racing would like to announce that Patrick 'PJ' Jacobsen, the current USGPRU 125cc Champion will no longer be running with the team for the remainder of the season.

PJ has become the first American rider ever to be accepted to ride with the Red Bull MotoGP Academy. Having tested with the Academy throughout the season in Spain, PJ was finally accepted after he turned 14 years old earlier this month. Riding a familiar RS125 Honda PJ will contest the final four races of the Spanish Championship.

On behalf of PJ, Celtic Racing would like to sincerely thank the USGPRU for giving him the opportunity to race at such an early age and the stepping stone that has brought him to this 'chance of a lifetime' opportunity.

The most disappointing element of the 2007 season for PJ is that he will miss the 2007 USGPRU final this weekend at Mid Ohio. He currently leads the standings by 40 points but can lose the Championship to Japenese exile, Nobi Iso who must win at Ohio to take the title.

Celtic Racing wishes PJ every success as he bids to become America's future MotoGP star. We at Celtic Racing cannot deny the talent and desire that PJ has and we stand proud as a team that PJ wore his Celtic Racing colors with such pride.

The USGPRU 125GP and 250GP National Championships will be decided on 22 Sep weekend at Mid-Ohio. While championships certainly showcase a season’s worth of hard work and dedication, sometimes the riders with the greatest improvements, don’t ever get recognized. But that won’t be true this year. Thanks to Rich Oliver’s Mystery School, one lucky rider will be awarded the prize of ‘Most Improved’ for the 2007 season. That rider will win a free entry to a four-day Ultra Pro Camp at Rich’s Mystery School.

Rich Oliver's Mystery School has developed the four-day Ultra Pro Camp to teach professional riders key training techniques on how to become a Champion rider. Rich Oliver, a five-time AMA National 250 GP Champion, used many different training techniques over his career and overtime, learned the key mental and physical exercises to help him drop lap times and ultimately capture the title of Champion.

Rich says, "I went to Road Atlanta to watch the USGPRU event and was extremely excited to see a series that promotes two-strokes for up and coming riders. I firmly believe in education of every professional rider and am proud to offer a complimentary four-day Ultra Pro Camp to the Most Improved National USGPRU series rider at the upcoming race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. This course will help the recipient learn the intricacies of professional riding, mental and physical toughness, nutrition and how flat track riding applies to road racing."

Each four-day Ultra Pro Camp is limited to six participants to insure each rider gets the ultimate personal instruction. To learn more about Rich Oliver's Mystery School, visit www.richoliver.net

The USGPRU is sponsored by Roadracingworld.com, Rising Sun Cycles, Hjelm Motorsports, Ian Emberton, Motion Pro, Power Stands, Redline Motorsports, Regina Chains, Repsol Lubricants, Chickenhawk Racing, and EBC Brakes.

The USGPRU headed for Road Atlanta last weekend for the penultimate round of the 2007 season. The AMA pro series hosted the weekend, which allowed many of our young racers to rub elbows with some of their heroes and meet their future teammates and competitors.

The weekend started out with a session of the Apex Academy, hosted by 1993 World 500GP Champion, Kevin Schwantz. Twenty of the USGPRU racers all listened to Kevin as he described the fast line around the Road Atlanta circuit as well as a few stories from his illustrious racing career.

The Saturday qualifying session had 41 riders ripping off fast laps around the race track. Fourteen-year-olds, PJ Jacobsen and Kris Turner battled for pole position with PJ finally claiming the slot with a time of 1:34.205. Kris was only .5 seconds behind PJ and certainly still in the hunt. Nobi Iso and Elena Myers were able to round out the rest of the front row.

The weather cooperated Sunday as the skies threatened rain, but held off long enough to get the race underway. The green light saw Iso catapult his Aprilia into the lead heading into turn one, closely followed by Myers, Turner, and Toriano Wilson. PJ got a very poor start, but proceeded to mow through the crowd and caught up with Turner by the second lap. Myers was shown a ‘meatball’ flag for jumping the start though and had to roll in to the hot pit for a stop-n-go penalty. While she was in serving her penalty, Floridian, Steve Wenner highsided his Honda RS125 in turn 10b, bringing out the red flag, and stopping the race.

The 8-lap restart was made from original grid positions. And in a picture perfect replay, Iso again put his Aprilia out into the lead with Myers right on his rear wheel. Myers couldn’t complete another lap though as her Honda suffered an electrical failure and had to retire.

Turner was riding like a man possessed, and ducked under Iso in T-6. But the power of the Aprilia allowed Iso to drive right by again down the long back straight. PJ wasn’t about to let these guys have all the fun, and joined in to make for a 3-way battle royal at the front. Turner led for 4 of the 8 laps, Iso for 2, and PJ for the remaining 2 laps. But the only lap that counts is the final lap, and for that, PJ was able to slip through some lap traffic and finished just under 1 second ahead of Turner and Iso.

While all this was going on up front, there was a six-way battle for fourth place between Tyler Odom, Melissa Paris, Royce McLean, Toriano Wilson, Lloyd Worrell, and Miles Thornton. The oldest racer of the crowd was a whopping 23 years old! The battle raged all race long, but the final lap saw Worrell and McLean pull a little gap on the rest of the group. It appeared that Worrell had the spot wrapped up coming down the hill into the final corner, but McLean held the throttle WFO, rode up on the curbing around the outside of Worrell, and clinched the position by inches at the line. The crowd sighed a collective breath when the 12-year-old McLean popped out from behind Worrell at the line with his fist pumping in the air!

The USGPRU would like to thank Kevin Schwantz for participating in this round of the Apex Academy, as well as Marnie Lincoln for helping to get the event all set up. Thanks also to Keith Kizer and Morgan Broadhead for allowing us to come out and race with the Pro series. Finally, thank you to all of the staff at the Road Atlanta raceway and special thanks to the corner workers and medical staff for their hospitality and assistance throughout the weekend. The final round of the USGPRU 2007 season will be held at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, OH the weekend of 22 September.

The USGPRU made one last stop at the scenic Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, UT, where Utah SBA played host for the 2007 Final West Region round.

The Rising Sun Cycles 125GP qualifying saw Nobi Iso circulating Miller’s East Course with a blistering 1:38.180 lap. Tyler Odom was the second fastest 125GP pilot followed by young Canadian sensation Royce McClean. Robert Johnston and local favorite Don Roberts rounded out the top five.

250GP action saw the battle of the brothers as Kyle and Ryan Ferris fought for pole. It was, however, younger brother Kyle who stole the position from 250GP points leader Ryan. After Kyle had destroyed the motor on a bike borrowed from his brother, he jumped aboard Bruce Lind’s TZ250 and with only a handful of laps on the bike set a pole winning time of 1:37.891. Qualifying was interrupted by a red flag as the pole winner himself high-sided when the gearbox locked up after damage from a previous crash earlier in the day. Ryan was 0.9 seconds off the fast time with Mark ‘Bigman’ Kelly, Tyler Odom and Vince Rolleri rounding out the top five 250GP racers.

Veteran Nobi Iso took off on the start of the Rising Sun Cycles 125GP race and never looked back. Tyler Odom found enough speed in his RS125 machine to make it a race for the win but just couldn’t match Iso’s Veloce Aprilia. The real race was for 3rd as fan favorite Royce McClean and Jon Schendel swapped positions multiple times per lap. Schendel, riding a Bruce Lind TZ125, started from the back of the grid after failing to report to tech inspection following his accident in qualifying. That battle came to an abrupt end as Schendel’s chain had enough and retired with a mechanical. McClean, at just 12 years old, recovered from being 5 seconds down to Odom to 1.7 seconds behind on the white flag lap and was gaining quickly. McClean came up .002 seconds short of beating Odom. Robert Johnston, Don Roberts and Shellie Matthews rounded out the field.

Kyle Ferris, on pole and on a bike he only had about 10 laps on, completely botched the start of the 250gp race and was dead last to turn one. That bobble proved to be no problem as he caught up to the lead bikes of brother Ryan and Vince Rolleri. Ryan and Vince were nose to tail swapping the lead several times. Then on lap 6, Ryan with a mission to win the 250gp National Championship, had enough and started to open his lead. Lil’ Ferris, Kyle, was also able to get around Rolleri and stayed on Ryan’s wheel to the checkered flag. Mark ‘Bigman’ Kelly was able to hold off relative USGPRU newcomer Dylan Olsen for fourth. Ryan’s win is his 5th of the year and he is undefeated in the West.

Series rookie Benny Solis, Jr. had the Rising Sun Cycles 125GP West Region Championship wrapped up with 204 points after his finish in Portland last month. Iso’s win at Miller moved him to second in the standings and Odom moved past Schendel into third. RoadracingWorld.com’s Elena Myers finished the season in fifth.

The 250GP West Region Champion is Ryan Ferris with a perfect season and 250 points. Vince Rolleri finished his season in second. Kyle Ferris moved up into third, pushing Schendel and Odom back to fourth and fifth respectively to round out the 2007 250gp season.

The USGPRU would like to thank the wonderful folks at Miller Motorsports Park and the Utah SBA. Round 6 of the USGPRU East Region is this weekend at Road Atlanta, where the Rising Sun Cycles 125gp will be in conjunction with the AMA Superbike weekend.

The 2005 USGPRU 125GP and 250GP Champion, Garrett Carter, announced that he and Arai Helmets will be awarding a new Arai helmet to three lucky winners at the Road Atlanta round, 1-2 September. According to series President, Stewart Aitken-Cade, this was an idea that Garrett came up with in order to give a little bit back to the USGPRU.

Garrett will join the USGPRU staff after the race on Sunday 2 September for the awards presentation where he will select the three worthy winners. Garrett said, “I know what it’s like to be a privateer. I see this as a way to help out some of the up-and-coming riders that are doing everything they can just to make it to the next round. By providing them with top of the line safety equipment like these Arai Helmets, maybe they won’t get hurt in a crash or maybe it will just be one less thing for their parents to worry about. Either way, I support what the USGPRU is doing, they helped me to get where I am, and I hope this will help to keep their program growing in the right direction.”

Inspiration and instruction proved to be a winning combination this weekend as the USGPRU took to the Barber Motorsports Park for the fifth round of the East Coast Championship. In addition to the great racing action, Erion Honda’s Josh Hayes, and Celtic Racing’s Chaz Davies were on hand to participate in the USGPRU’s Apex Academy. The pro riders were able to provide on-track as well as classroom instruction to riders wishing to improve their racecraft. The combination of Davies experience racing 250GP bikes across Europe and Hayes’s extensive knowledge of the US racing scene made for a dynamic and exciting learning environment.

Due to time limitations, qualifying was canceled for all classes, and the grids were based on national points standings followed by order of entry. This put young PJ Jacobsen on pole position for Sunday’s Rising Sun Cycle 125GP race. Coming off his first loss of the season at Road America, PJ was determined not to let the veteran Nobi Iso steal any more precious championship points. But when the green flag dropped, Iso put his Aprilia out in front with PJ in tow as well as a gaggle of other 125’s. The battle that we’ve seen play out at every round this year between PJ and Nobi began again, but the twist this time seemed to be that PJ’s Honda actually had a little bit of power on Nobi’s Aprilia. PJ set a new track record (formerly set by Brian Kcraget) twice during the race, but Nobi pulled out a last lap charge, and eclipsed PJ’s fast lap with a blistering 1:34.006 lap. But it wasn’t enough as even though he out-drove PJ on the final corner, PJ motored on by to win by a narrow .04 second.

The battle for third was fairly heated between Melissa Paris, Benny Solis, and Red Bull Rookie competitor, Kris Turner. Solis and Turner broke away from Paris about half-way through the race. The two kids diced for the final podium spot, but Solis started throwing lapped riders at Turner and was able to effectively open a gap that Turner couldn’t close.

The 250GP race was wrought with controversy as former world 250GP, AMA Pro, and MotoGP racer, Chaz Davies entered the frey just for fun. Apparently he had so much fun teaching the USGPRU racers in the Apex Academy, that he got the bug again and couldn’t resist entering another GP race. The odds were stacked against him though as he had to start in dead last on the 29-bike grid, and ride a tired 1993 Honda RS250 affectionately named ‘Sea Biscuit’. Another wild-card rider, Perry Melneciuc, came out of retirement to campaign his Yamaha TZ250 for the weekend. He too had to start on the last row, but the former top-5 AMA racer could not be counted out.

The start saw Californian, Ryan Ferris nail the launch and he immediately opened a 2-3 bike lead over second place. But the pace proved to be too much, as he crashed in the museum turn on lap 1. By lap 2, Chaz had broken into the top-5, and Eddy Brunet had his hands full with Mark ‘Big Man’ Kelly. Melissa Paris was also in the mix aboard her Josh Hayes tuned, Celtic Racing machine along with Kyle Ferris and Kris Turner.

Chaz broke through the pack by lap 3 and the rest, as they say, is history. He put on a final lesson of the weekend as he set a new USGPRU track record of 1:32.517 (formerly set by Garrett Carter in ‘05) and proceeded to walk away from the pack at an alarming rate. Perry Melneciuc had also been making strong progress and was fighting with Eddy Brunet for second place. The roller coaster section of the track proved too much for Eddy’s Honda as it chewed up and spit out the championship points leader on lap 5. Youngster, Kyle Ferris had one of his best 250GP finishes as he captured the final podium slot.

http://www.usgpru.net/usgpru_miller_ama_07.php

The USGPRU welcomed Eric and Ben Bostrom for the first Apex Academy session last weekend at Portland International Raceway. The Boz Brothers sat down with the USGPRU riders on Friday and provided tips on track analysis, nutrition and training, and how to work with sponsors and fans. “It was an awesome experience – I couldn’t believe they came to help us out!” exclaimed 125GP rider Tyler Odom after the final session. Riders of all ages were present during the lessons, which were held between practice sessions in the Red Bull Pinzgauer tent. Everybody walked away with several ideas of how to prepare for a race, run the race, and how to present themselves before and after the race.

The riders took the lessons tought by the Bostrom Brothers out to the track on Saturday. The Rising Sun Cycles 125GP qualifier saw hometown hero Nobi Iso throwing down a fast lap of 1:13.817, with Elena Myers and Benny Solis Jr. pulling down the second and third-fastest times, respectively. Newcomer Ryan Matter crashed during qualifying and broke his leg, but only after capturing the 4th fastest qualifying time.

The 250GP qualifying session foreshadowed the spectacular race on Sunday with only a half-second separating the top four positions. Ryan Ferris captured pole position with a 1:12.056, followed quickly by Canadian Eddy Brunet (1:12.264), Vince Rolleri (1:12.590) and Kyle Ferris (1:12.605).

The Sunday main events saw Nobi Iso doing battle with Elena Myers throughout the entire race. Elena was within a wheel of Nobi on several blasts down the front straight, but Nobi’s Aprilia was able to hold the youngster off to claim the crown. Benny Solis Jr., Tyler Odom and Royce McLean each ran somewhat lonely races, with almost a full second separating each of the riders. The battle for 6th place became heated by the fourth lap, with Jeff Lim and Michael Caravatta swapping spots several times throughout each lap. Lim ended up with an at-the-line victory to hang onto 6th place.

The 250GP race was stopped early on with the red flag coming out on the first lap after Tyler Odom high-sided his machine in “spectacular fashion” according to the closest corner worker. Although Odom was unhurt, he was unable to make the restart, which saw Ryan Ferris, Vince Rolleri and Eddy Brunet immediately start a voracious 3-way battle for the top spot. Brunet led the first lap, but Ferris and Rolleri eventually overtook him. Ferris was barely able to hold off Rolleri, their bikes nearly side-by-side at start/finish almost every lap. Brunet hung back just a couple of bike lengths, possibly hoping that the top two would take each other out at some point during the 15-lap race. Kyle Ferris and Dylan Olsen were in the mix as well, battling for fourth. Turn 8 was ultimately the downfall for Rolleri, who low-sided near the end of lap 10, handing the lead to Ryan Ferris. Brunet, Olsen and Kyle Ferris were able to avoid the turn 8 wreckage to complete lap 10, but Olsen brought out another red flag with a crash in turn 4, ending the race. It was truly an impressive battle, with Ryan Ferris throwing down the fastest lap of 1:10.671 and claiming the win.

The USGPRU would like to thank Eric & Ben Bostrom for participating in the first round of the Apex Academy, as well as Ron Trunick’s Red Bull Team, Kevin from Bob Lamphere’s Beaverton Yamaha, the OMRRA staff and volunteers, the corner workers and medical staff for their hospitality and assistance throughout the weekend. The next USGPRU West Coast round is August 25-26 at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah.

The USGPRU joined the ASRA and Moto-ST roadrace series this weekend at the sun-drenched Road America racetrack in Elkhart Lake, WI. So far this season, the Rising Sun Cycles 125GP class has been dominated by 13-year-old PJ Jacobsen. The 250GP class has been a bit closer as Canadian Eddy Brunet played catch-up on the West Coast dominating Ryan Ferris.

In the Rising Sun Cycles 125GP qualifying, Nobi Iso set the fast time early in the session aboard his blistering fast Aprilia RS125. But PJ was able to pull out a late-session fast lap to claim the pole position.

Prior to the 250GP qualifying, Chris Pyles spent several sessions following his old teammate, Mike Himmelsbach around the racetrack. Apparently, this was time well spent, as Chris was able to set the fastest time and claim the pole position. Des Conboy rode his Celtic Racing Honda to a solid second place position. He was followed by Eddy Brunet, who had crashed early in the 250GP qualifying, but remounted and rode his battered machine for a few more hard laps before his motor expired.

For the Sunday race, Nobi Iso was determined to use the superior horsepower of his Aprilia to finally overpower the young superstar PJ's Honda. Iso nailed the start and led the pack of 26 riders into turn one, but PJ was right on his rear wheel. Miles Thornton, Scott Smallwood, and Cassidy Heiser tried to keep pace, but quickly realized that there was no chance they were going to keep up with the madmen at the front. Iso seemed to be opening a bit of a gap on PJ for the first few laps, but once PJ found a rhythm, he reeled in Iso and made a pass for the lead. It was beginning to look like every other race these two have had all season. The back and forth battle ensued as neither was willing to let the other slip away. Iso led on the final lap and PJ was nipping away at every turn. Going into the ultra-high-speed carousel turn, PJ made a breath-taking pass underneath Iso to take the lead down the back straight. Iso tucked in tight and followed PJ up through the final turn. While PJ ran the defensive line, Iso positioned for the drive up the hill, and was able to motor by PJ to win the race by half a bike-length. Iso won his first national event of the season, and issued PJ his first loss of the year.

The battle for third came down to the last lap as Smallwood did battle with the pair of 13-year-olds, Miles Thornton and Cassidy Heiser. Smallwood trailed Thornton at the start of the last lap, and the pair seemed to be shaking Heiser finally. At the end of the back straight, Miles crashed out of the final podium slot and Smallwood went on take third place, followed closely by Heiser.

The 250GP race was a blow-out as Chris Pyles decimated the field of 27 bikes in a flag-to-flag victory. Pyles was clearly the class of the field as he had a margin of victory of more than 9-seconds over second place. The battle for second place though was not an easy one by any stretch. A four-way battle between Eddy Brunet, Mark 'Big Man' Kelly, Brent Lyskawa, and Des Conboy was keeping everyone on the edge of their seats as they would go three-wide down the front straight. On lap three, Des Conboy lost his front brakes at the end of the super-fast back straight. He crashed into turn 12, destroying any chance of earning points this weekend. Luckily, he was able to walk away from the high-speed crash. Brunet, Kelly, and Lyskawa continued to do battle right up until the final lap. Brunet was able to nurse his wounded Honda RS250 across the line barely ahead of the big Irishman, Mark Kelly.

According to series President, Stewart Aitken-Cade, “This indicates to me that the industry as well as companies like Red Bull, support what we are trying to do with the USGPRU. We believe that there is some amazing talent in the youth racers we have racing with us today. By leveraging some of the experience of the pros, we can accelerate the kids learning process to make them even more competitive when they move up to the professional ranks.”

We currently have the Red Bull riders, Eric and Ben Bostrom coming out to the Portland, Oregon round July 15 at Portland Int’l Raceway for the USGPRU and OMRRA race weekend. Chaz Davies will do a little on-track training at Barber Motorsports Park, Aug 11-12 weekend with ASRA and USGPRU. And finally, Kevin Schwants will be sitting down with the kids at Road Atlanta, Aug 30 to share some thoughts with the kids. We’re still looking to have more pros come out to the other events this year, and will continue on with the program again in ‘08.

Young PJ didn’t win easily though. The battle started early in the weekend when Japanese native Nobi Iso started throwing down some very fast times on his Aprilia RS125. In qualifying, he set a blistering time of 2:02.563 early on and the rest of the 43-bike field struggled to get within 2 seconds of that time. But on his final lap, PJ threw down an amazing 2:01.944 time to claim the pole position as well as set a new official 125GP track record.

The youngest lady in our field, Elena Myers, had her hands full with newcomer, Melissa Paris. Thirteen-year-old Elena served up a strong 2:05.898, but Melissa squeaked ahead with a 2:05.873.

West coast points leader, Benny Solis, had been struggling all weekend on his Bell-tuned Honda, but soldiered through to secure an eighth-place starting spot.

Going into the main event, Solis and Jacobsen were tied for first with 150 points each. Iso trailed with 140 points. Solis didn’t seem to be a contender this weekend, so a win for Jacobsen would mean the points lead. If Iso won, he would be tied or possibly in the lead depending on how Jacobsen fared. But the youth-riddled field of bikes had enough wild cards throughout, that nobody could predict the outcome.

At the start of the race, Iso ripped off a great launch, to lead the pack into turn 1. PJ was hot on his heals with Myers as well. Paris flubbed the start and had a fair bit of work to do in order to catch the front pack. Iso and PJ started to check out from the field, and proceeded to put on one of the best shows all weekend long. They swapped for the lead almost every lap, and often several times per lap. PJ seemed to have the advantage in the corners, but Iso’s Aprilia clearly had the horsepower and usually passed PJ down the long front straight.

As the 13-lap event pressed on, PJ and Nobi started to encounter a lot of lapped traffic. While they both diced through the backmarkers with the precision of a pair of neurosurgeons, neither seemed able to secure a clear advantage. It all came down to the final lap, and despite some minor swapping of paint, the racing remained tight right up to the final corner when PJ was able to hold off Nobi down to the checkered flag.

Twenty-three-year-old Paris charged through the crowd, and caught up to Myers mid-way through the race. The two ladies drag raced down the front straight in what appeared to be an absolute dead-even power battle. Paris had the advantage during the last lap, but Myers made a late charge to close the gap on the last lap. An incident with a lapped rider almost caused Myers to bin it and she was forced to settle for fourth as she watched Paris claim her first USGPRU National podium finish.

Benny Solis was able to hang on to 5th place, and secured a few vital national points to keep his championship hopes alive.

The USGPRU would like to thank the AMA for allowing us to join them this past weekend. We would also like to thank Miller Motorsports Park for inviting us to join in this wonderful event. We all really enjoyed the weekend.

PJ Jacobsen and Eddy Brunet each won their race during round three of the USGPRU National Grand Prix Racing Series Sunday at New Hampshire International Speedway, in Loudon, NH.

Jacobsen rode his Celtic Racing Honda RS125 to a dominating victory in the 125GP race. While he unofficially set a new 125GP track record of 1:15.3 in practice, the high temperatures during the race were enough to keep him in the mid 1:16’s at best. That was still fast enough to beat PJ’s championship rival, Nobi Iso, who fought through a very uncharacteristic electrical problem with his Aprilia RS125. Local young-guns, Brent Lyskawa and Cory Hildebrand swapped paint for the entire 15-lap event, but in the end young Lyskawa took third place by a tenth of a second.

Canadian, Eddy Brunet, beat a talented field of 23 riders in the Rising Sun Cycle 250GP event. His last lap sprint in qualifying was enough to claim the pole position, and he used it to his advantage as he charged to lead the field into turn 1. Brunet worked extremely hard all weekend and it showed as he decimated the field to finish with a 15-second lead over Des Conboy on his Celtic-tuned Honda RS250. Conboy and local favorite, Chris Reynolds battled all race long, and it appeared that Reynolds was stalking Conboy for a last-lap pass. That turned into a last turn attempt, which then turned into a last turn crash as Reynolds watched Conboy ride away to the checkered flag. Sean Wray had 15 laps to overcome a terrible start, and was able to work his way all the way up 4th place when Reynolds crash handed Wray the final podium spot.

The fourth round of the 125GP Western Region is this coming weekend at Miller Motorsports Park. Currently, PJ Jacobsen and Benny Solis are tied at 150 points each in the 125GP class. PJ Jacobsen is expected to be attending this event to try and claim the win and the National points lead.

The 250GP class is almost as close as the 125 class, as Ryan Ferris maintains a slim 10 point lead over Eddy Brunet.

That sure pays for a lot of travel expenses!! Come on out and grab your piece of the purse.

The USGPRU Western Regional Round 3 was held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Classic Course this past weekend. In Rising Sun Cycles, 125GP qualifying, young Benny Solis continues his top form by setting a pole winning time of 1:25.047 with Jon Schendel and Tyler Odom setting times of 1:25.631 and 1:25.761 respectively. Austin DeHaven was 4th fastest in qualifying but was disqualified after failing tech inspection. This elevated Mike McDonough and Jeff Lim to 4th and 5th with only 2 tenths separating the two.

In the 250GP qualifying, Ryan Ferris also continued his fast form by setting a fast lap of 1:22.461 over a time of 1:23.961 set by Vince Rolleri. Tyler Odom is feeling more comfortable on his machine and was able to round out the front row.

The 125GP race turned into a head to head battle between Solis and Odom. Solis got the hole shot but Odom was right on his rear tire with Jon Schendel getting a front row seat for this fight. Odom relentlessly applied pressure to Solis, but unfortunately, the young points leader was unflappable and never relinquished the lead. Odom had a few last lap moves going into turn four and setting up a drive out of the last turn, but admittedly said he waited one lap too long. Solis held off Odom for the win by a half bike length. Schendel, who struggled with the heat in the Las Vegas sun, finished third. A seesaw battle for fourth saw Lim a bike length in front of Kevin Murray and Mike McDonough.

The start of the 250GP race saw Ferris leading the pack with Rolleri right in tow. Ferris started to check out early on as Rolleri chose the wrong tire compound and could not keep pace. Odom was settling into third but was unknowingly being stalked by the other Ferris, Kyle. This was Kyles first weekend on a 250cc machine, and clearly he was enjoying the extra power. After experiencing mechanical troubles in the 125GP race, Kyle opted to start the 250GP race on a bike he only had two prior sessions aboard. He eventually finished 4th over Solis. Race winner Ryan Ferris quickly fled the track after tech inspection to catch a flight back home to attend his prom.

USGPRU racers were greeted with typical Mojave Desert charm with windy conditions last weekend at Streets of Willow in Rosamond, CA. The WSMC hosted weekend events ran smoothly as the riders adjusted their riding style to accommodate the harsh weather conditions.

Saturday afternoon's Rising Sun Cycles 125 GP qualifying saw Kids Don't Smoke! rider Elena Myers on her stock "right-out-of-the-crate" Kawasaki-green 2007 Honda RS125 battling with veteran Jon Schendel and young gun Benny Solis for top spot. But it was local rider Tyler Odom who surprised everyone by taking pole, putting down a fast time of 1:23.249 before his crank seized and the resulting crash took him out of qualifying early. Just over a half-second separated the top three qualifiers, with Schendel and Myers coming in with 1:23.400 and 1:23.867 respectively.

Vince Rolleri took charge of the 250 GP qualifying round with a 1:20.969, but Ryan Ferris was only a half-second back with a 1:21.437. Jon Schendel, Kyle Ferris and Boyd Bruner rounded out the top five.

Early Sunday morning was deceptively wind-free, but Mother Nature kicked in with strong winds just before the first practice sessions got onto the track. Pole winner Odom was not able to get his seized crank replaced in time to enjoy his 125 pole position, but he stuck around to support his fellow racers from the sidelines. Excitement was brewing as the young talents were sizing each other up. 125 GP legend Vicky Jackson-Bell was in attendance to meet the kids.

In the Rising Sun Cycles 125 race, Elena Myers took the hole-shot on her Carlos Neves tuned machine, but it was Solis, Jr. who would lead the field on lap one. Solis was on a mission to win back-to-back races in his first two starts aboard his Honda RS125. The intense battle for runner up between Schendel and Myers allowed young Benny to stretch his lead by 3 seconds. Schendel, riding a Kevin Murray Yamaha TZ125, used his knowledge to hold off a hard fighting Myers. Boyd Bruner and Kyle Ferris had an intense battle for 4th until Bruner and another rider crashed simultaneously, in separate turns, bringing out the red flag to end the race. That elevated Ferris to 4th followed by Jeff Lim.

The 250 race saw Rolleri taking the hole-shot and looked to be controlling the race as Ryan Ferris was hot on his tail. Ferris was looking for his move, and with 3 laps to go applied the pressure and made the pass on Rolleri exiting turn five. Rolleri came back to reclaim the lead but bobbled in the skid pad and was not able to recover the deficit. Schendel put in another strong ride to hold off Alex White and Bruner to snag the final podium spot.

The USGPRU would like to thank WSMC, Stephanie Huth and Willow Springs International Raceway. Western Regional Round #3 will be held in Las Vegas at the Classic Course on May 19.

Fifty-seven USGPRU racers traveled to Topeka Kansas (nearly doubling the state’s population) this weekend for the first round of the eastern region championship. The CCS/ASRA series hosted the USGPRU at the newly renovated Heartland Park Raceway.

Saturday morning qualifying for the 125GP class saw 27 riders line up to vie for the podium spot. The bar was set early on with defending 125 National Champion PJ Jacobsen, ripping off a 1:51.614 lap. Nobi Iso was the next closest qualifying at almost a full 2 seconds back. Hayden Gillim and Scott Smallwood charged on to claim the remaining spots on the front row.

The 250GP qualifying was equally tense as the Canadians Eddy Brunett and Alex Welsh, duked it out for the top spot. Eddy rode his Honda RS250 to set the best lap of 1:49.590 with defending 250GP National Champ, Welsh close behind him. PJ Jacobsen and his teammate Mark ‘Bigman’ Kelly, rounded off the front row on their Celtic Racing machines.

Sunday morning the riders were greeted by hundreds of spectators lining the stands around the 2.5 mile track. They all wanted to see some great racing, and the USGPRU and ASRA racers did not disappoint. The 125GP event favorite was clearly the 13-year-old champion, PJ Jacobsen. He nailed the start, and led the field into turn one. At the end of the first lap, Nobi Iso on his Spiros and Orr tuned Aprilia RS125, motored past the youngster across the starting line. But PJ wouldn’t give up and tucked a little harder and chased down the wily veteran. On lap four Jacobsen re-passed Iso for the lead, and kept his head down and started clicking out fast laps. Iso tried to hang on but couldn’t keep pace.

Meanwhile Kris Turner and Hayden Gillim were having a battle of their own for third place. Their fight didn’t slow them down either as by lap 9, they had actually reeled in Iso and both riders made the pass. Iso dug deep, and gave his Aprilia a kick in the tail. He charged hard and the three-way battle for second place was on. Iso charged back past both youngsters (whose combined ages still were less than his age) to reclaim the second spot. Young Hayden Gillim was able to hang on to fourth place. Iso was able to hold off Redbull Rookie Cup contender Turner for another lap to claim second. All the while, PJ had stretched his lead to almost 8 seconds over the rest of the field to take the win and the lion’s share of the purse.

The 250GP race started out where the qualifying left off with Brunett and Welsh in a dead lock for the lead. But that only lasted about 3 laps before Welsh started to stretch his Honda’s legs and started to slowly put a gap between him and Brunett. The battle for third place was a bit closer as former AMA 250 contender Chris Pyles had his hands full with the young PJ Jacobsen. Chris clearly had a major horsepower advantage, but PJ kept chipping away at him and finally wore Chris down and made a pass stick with only 2 laps to go. While this battle raged on, Welsh managed to put almost 14 seconds between his bike and Brunett. Welsh easily won the race and is taking his share of the purse back to Canada with him.

The USGPRU would like to thank the staff of the CCS/ASRA for allowing us to join them this past weekend. We’d also like to thank Heartland Park for such a wonderful facility. We all really enjoyed the weekend.

The next round of the USGPRU Western Region is to be held at the Streets of Willow, 5-6 May. The next Easter Region event will be over Memorial Day weekend at the always popular, Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia. Come on out and watch some of the stars of tomorrow as they learn the art of Grand Prix racing!

The USGPRU West Coast Region kicked off the 2007 season last weekend in Chandler, Arizona at Firebird East, hosted by CCS/RoadRace Southwest. The weather was perfect and the spectators were treated to some exciting racing.

Newcomer Benny Solis, all of 12 years old, wowed the crowd during 125 GP qualifying, snatching pole position away from veterans Jon Schendel and John Hjelm on Saturday afternoon with a 1:00.480 lap. Both Jon and John put the pressure on the kid with lap times of 1:00.845 and 1:01.373 respectively. Kyle Ferris qualified fourth on his Team Infinity Replicast machine, filling up the front row.

The 250 GP qualifier had young gun Ryan Ferris returning with fine form hitting sub-minute times (0:59.307), with Vince Rolleri following in second at 0:59.946. Youngster Benny Solis qualified third with Schendel right behind him in fourth rounding out the front row.

When the green flag fell on the 125 GP race, Benny Solis, who in his first race weekend on a 125cc machine, showed that he will be a force with which to be reckoned. Riding a near-perfect race for the fans, he took off from the start and never looked back. The battle was for second place, with John Hjelm and reigning regional 125 GP champ Schendel riding like the true veterans they are. Swapping positions several times, Schendel took advantage of Hjelm, who had run wide in turn 3, to take second place with 2 laps to go. Teenager Tyler Odom gained a position and landed in fourth early in the race when Kyle Ferris' bike seized after the third lap. Boyd Bruner from Chicago and Oregonian Mike McDonough touched levers a few times, and Bruner eventually took fifth.

The 250 GP race had Vince Rolleri breathing down Ryan Ferris' neck throughout the entire race. It was a real battle to the finish, but in the final few laps Ferris opened up a one second gap on Rolleri. Solis kept Schendel out of third place, with a back-and-forth battle. Tyler Odom rode another strong race with a solid 5th place finish. Daniele Lenarduzzi made the trip from Tennessee to see 6th place, with Bruner, Kyle Ferris and Mike McDonough right behind him.