USGPRU official send their deepest sympathies and condolences to the Lenz family.

In a statement released by the Lenz family:

"Peter Lenz passed away this morning from injuries sustained from a racing accident. On behalf of the Lenz family, we would like to thank Peter's friends and supporters for all their help throughout the years. We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss, but know that Peter is racing even faster in the sky. Our thoughts and prayers are now with the other racer and his family, who were involved in this tragedy.

All thoughts and messages can be directed to Peter's facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Peter-Lenz/70479071698?ref=ts

According to a family friend, a memorial fund has been established for USGPRU racer Peter Lenz to help the family pay for funeral expenses.

The fund accepts paypal at: peterlenzforever@gmail.com

Donations marked as memorial gifts will not be subject to the standard Paypal fees.

Memorial service and funeral arrangements are pending.

Indianapolis, IN - 30 Aug 2010: Garrett Gerloff completed the hat trick at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix, winning Sunday’s Rev’It Moriwaki MD250H Powered by Honda race as well as taking the win on Saturday and qualifying on pole in Friday’s qualifying session. Gerloff got off to a strong start to take the lead into the first turn and continued to pull away during the race. As in Saturday’s race, a battle for second place developed immediately between Nick McFadden, Jake Lewis, Ryan Matter and Stefano Mesa.

“I definitely got a better start today,” said Gerloff. “I led into turn one and really tried to put my head down and run away. Jake and Nick stayed with me the first couple of laps. I was getting kind of nervous, but I started to pull away little by little and I was monitoring the gap on my pit board.” Gerloff continued to run faster laps than the group fighting over second, and his margin of victory was 11.33 seconds at the end of the 11 lap race.

McFadden dropped back early in the race after a poor start. “I got off to a worse start than I did yesterday, and I just dropped back the first three laps,” said McFadden. “After that, I got in a rhythm, put my head down and caught back up to these guys.” Ryan Matter was the young man on the move, drafting past both McFadden and Lewis, who had held down second for the first seven laps. McFadden was shuffled back to fourth, but not for long. “I sat there for a couple of laps, then made a move,” said McFadden. “With two laps to go, I figured it was getting to the end of the race and I needed to get up there. I made a pass into turn one and held them both off until the end.”

Lewis was shuffled from second back to fourth place with four laps to go. “Yeah, Ryan and Nick flew past me on the front straight and I didn’t know that Ryan was up there too,” Lewis said. “I put my head down to get back past those two because Garrett was already way out there. I was able to get around Ryan, but I couldn’t get past Nick at the line.” The difference at the finish between the three riders was a mere .228 seconds.

Stefano Mesa faded to fifth, then was caught and passed on the last lap by Ben Young. Nick Hansen, Grayson Gerloff and Joe Roberts rounded out the top nine positions. As on Saturday, there was a six-rider race-long battle over tenth place that ended with Kaleb De Keyrel over Max Flinders, Andre Ochs, Tyler Linders, Lex Hartl and Brandon Altmeyer.

Indianapolis, IN - 28 Aug 2010: Garrett Gerloff took the lead on the second lap and never looked back, taking a convincing win in the Rev”It Moriwaki MD250H Powered by Honda race on a sunny Saturday afternoon at the 2010 Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix. Starting from pole, Gerloff was beat to turn one by Jake Lewis with Peter Lenz in pursuit. Gerloff went past Lenz and set out after Lewis, who led the first lap. Gerloff went past on lap two and immediately pulled out a lead that grew each lap. “I was a little worried,” said Gerloff. “Peter got around me after I ran off the track a little bit. I passed Peter and caught back up to Jake, just trying to keep focused. I tried to pull away and not have as much pressure at the end if he was right behind me.”

Jake Lewis tried valiantly to hang with Gerloff, going half a second faster than he had qualified, but to no avail. “I was trying to hang on and pushing it to the limit, but he was just going really good today,” said Lewis. “Halfway through the race I looked back and saw Nick and Peter right there, and I was like ‘Gosh, I didn’t know they were still there!’, so I started pushing even harder. Towards the end of the race, my foot started slipping off the peg and I made some silly mistakes and they caught right up. Nick passed me after the finish, it was close but that was good.”

Nick McFadden was able to go with the lead group at the start, and passed Lenz on lap four. Lenz latched on and pushed McFadden to the end, both riders turning their fastest laps on the last lap as they saw they were closing on Lewis. “I was just trying to catch up after getting a bad start,” McFadden said. “Stefano Mesa passed me going off the back straightaway, and I got separated from him and Peter a pretty good ways. I just put my head down and tried to catch up. After I caught Stefano and got past Peter, I could see we were reeling in Jake. About halfway through the race, Peter showed me a wheel and I just outbroke him and kept my head down.”

Stefano Mesa held on to finish fifth, four seconds ahead of Ryan Matter, who finished four seconds ahead of Joe Roberts in seventh place. Grayson Gerloff won a race-long battle over eighth place ahead of Nick Hansen, Ben Young, Andre Ochs and Austin Medrano, with the five riders nose-to-tail throughout the race.

The guys at On the Throttle, just finished editing the footage from the last round of USGPRU racing. The event was held at the fantastic Thunderhill raceway in Willows, CA.

Check out the latest racing action on the videos page: http://www.usgpru.net/videos.php

The Pilot 125GP race started with Jake Lewis on pole. Nobi Iso, Peter Lenz and Debra Barton filled out the rest of the front row. Lewis led the field through turn one on his Veloce Racing Aprilia with teammate Iso in tow. Barton, who was impressive all weekend, suffered a crash in turn six when another racer collided with her. With the Aprilias out in front, Lenz had his hands full with Andre Ochs and Lex Hartl, in a knock-down, drag-out battle for the final podium spot. With two laps to go, Hartl started to fade back leaving Ochs to continue pressuring Lenz for third. Lenz powered forward and held on for third place. Meanwhile, at the front, Iso was looking comfortable following Lewis, who was looking for his fifth straight win of the year. Lewis even set a new 125GP track record with a 1:55.275. On the white flag lap, the crafty veteran Iso closed the small gap to Lewis. Iso exited the final turn in perfect position, and drafted past his teammate at the checkered flag for the win.

Peter Lenz won a fantastic battle with Andrea Ochs in the REV’IT! Moriwaki MD250H Powered by HONDA race. Lenz led the pack early on, until Ochs passed on lap 4. On the last lap, Lenz re-passed Ochs coming down the hill in the back section of the track. With one final Herculean effort, Ochs dove into turn 14 underneath Lenz. But Lenz came out of the final turn in the lead, and held it down the front straight to claim victory.

In the Rising Sun Cycles / GPTech Moto3 race, Jake Lewis was looking to return to his winning ways. Yet again, he led the field at the start. Nobi Iso, was determined to repeat his earlier performance and on lap 2, threw down the fastest lap of this race. However, Lewis rode consistently fast out front, and managed his sizable lead over Iso and claimed the win. Lex Hartl ran a solid race for third while being chased by Michael Aquino on his Yamaha TZ250, powered by a 450 four-stroke.

Vince Rolleri was the pre-race favorite in the Moto Liberty/RS Taichi 250GP race as he has won every race he has entered this season. Rolleri stormed off to the front in usual fashion while Kevin Winter and Andre Benguerel battled for second. Rolleri looked set to continuing his perfect season, when the fickle finger of fate stepped in and the race announcer said, “Rolleri has this one in the bag”. Rolleri’s TZ250 suffered a mechanical failure, and he was forced to abandon the race. With a few laps to go, Winter was leading his hard fought battle with Benguerel and was able hold on for his first win of the season.

The USGPRU headed north to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin to join the ASRA for an incredible weekend of racing at the classic Road America raceway. Despite the large amounts of cheese and brats consumed, the racers were able to provide some excellent wheel-to-wheel racing action on a picture-perfect race weekend.

The story of the weekend again was 14-year-old, Jake Lewis, as he duplicated his recent VIR results. He won all three races he entered in the USGPRU National Championship races to score a perfect hat-trick weekend. He started off strong in the Pilot 125GP race as he and his teammate, Nobi Iso, led the field from the start. AMA regular, Kris Turner, was looking to end their winning streak though as he put his Honda RS125 on Nobi’s rear wheel. He held on to the draft of the Veloce Racing Aprilias for a few laps, then started to lose touch with the powerful Aprilias. On lap 3, he was handed a break as Nobi Iso tried unsuccessfully to pass Lewis for the lead. Heading into turn 5, Iso overcommitted and was forced to stand the bike up and use the runoff area. This allowed Lewis to win the race comfortably, and Turner was able to claim the second place spot. Iso recovered, but had to settle for 3rd.

In the Rising Sun Cycles Moto3 class, Iso and Lewis led the field of 125cc 2-stroke GP bikes and “hot rod” Moriwaki’s 250cc 4-strokes. Lewis carved through lap traffic like a seasoned veteran. Iso tried to keep up, but was unable to slice through traffic as well as Lewis, and had to settle for second place again. Third place was earned by the Vesrah sponsored, Nick McFadden, on his Moriwaki MD250H as he battled tooth and nail with Nick Hansen.

Lewis’s third win on the weekend was looking like a long shot in the REV’IT! Moriwaki MD250H Powered by HONDA class as the top 4 qualifiers were separated by less than .8 of a second. The points leader, Stefano Mesa, took the top qualifying position followed by Lewis, Xavier Zayat, and Nick Hansen. Off the line, Mesa stormed into the lead, followed by Lewis, Hansen, and Nick McFadden. Mesa planted his Moriwaki in the dirt on the outside of turn 5 on the first lap though, handing the lead over to Lewis. Local favorite, Nick Hansen, tried in vain to hold onto Lewis’s back wheel, but ended up settling for his season best of 2nd place. Max Flinders was able to close on the leaders late in the race, and captured his first podium finish!

The fire-breathing 250GP bikes took to the grid for the Moto Liberty / RS-Taichi sponsored race. AMA regular, Barrett Long, crushed the field yet again as he put his Yamaha TZ250 on pole position. Mike Aboyoun, Ben Young, and Leon Cortes filled out the rest of the front row. Long opened the door to his competition when he botched the start. Aboyoun jumped out into the lead, only to crash out in the very fast carousel on lap 1. Canadian, Ben Young, inherited the lead over Leon Cortes, and started to check out. All the while, Barrett Long, recovered from his bad start and was mowing through the field of racers on his way to the front. He caught Young on lap 3, and the youngster got a lesson from the veteran racer. Long took his fourth win of the season, followed by Young. Tom Swager and Cortes had been fighting for the past few laps, but Swager used his local knowledge of the track to best Cortes.

Torrance, CA: American Honda announces today that during the 2010 Red Bull Indianapolis GP, August 27 to 29, a special youth class has been added for racers riding the Moriwaki MD250H powered by Honda. This event, part of the United States Grand Prix Racers Union (USGPRU) race schedule, will allow up-and-coming road racers aged 12-16 to compete at the world-famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This Indy addition will feature a double-header race format with two points-paying races added to the 2010 USGPRU schedule.

In a parallel to the World Grand Prix Moto2 class, which uses a spec-built Honda engine based on the CBR600RR powerplant, the Moriwaki MD250H incorporates a Honda-built single-cylinder four-stroke engine sourced from the CRF250X. The USGPRU¹s MD250H class provides an excellent means for young racers to gain first-hand exposure to grand prix-style racing.

“American Honda’s support of this class through purpose-built machinery and excellent contingency rewards—$180,000 on the season—represents direct efforts to support and expand road racing at the grass-roots level,” said Keith Dowdle, Assistant Manager, HRCA. “The addition of this new round of MD250H racing to the USGPRU schedule means that these young racers will now have the opportunity to compete at one of the most storied tracks in the United States, during one of the most prestigious motorcycle racing events in the nation and before a huge crowd—quite an adventure for these young competitors! All of which makes the 2010 Red Bull Indianapolis GP an even more compelling race date than ever before.”

“We are absolutely thrilled to have been selected to join the MotoGP community at Indianapolis for this year's event,” said USGPRU Chief Steward, Stewart Aitken-Cade. “It’s a tremendous opportunity for our young racers to get out there on the world stage and give everyone a glimpse at what great young talent America has coming up through the ranks. We are equally pleased to be able to showcase these racers aboard the Moriwaki MD250H powered by Honda. Over the past two years, this bike has been a solid platform that has reliably provided some of the closest and most exciting races every weekend they race. Hopefully the MotoGP fans will enjoy the show the USGPRU brings to Indy.”

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 DeKeyrel 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.

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 bike length. 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.

Millville, NJ. - May 2, 2010 - The Moto Liberty/RS Taichi 250GP race got underway in the middle of a warm and humid 86-degree day with a grid of 17 racers. The pollen was so thick that many racers claimed to see yellow ‘rooster tails’ coming off the other competitors’ rear wheels. But amorous trees would not stop AMA regular, Barrett Long, who came from Miami to race his TZ against the best GP racers in the country. He qualified on pole with a 1:28.2; nearly three seconds faster than the next closest competitor, Ben Young. As the green flag flew, so did Mike Aboyoun from the second row. Aboyoun had a five-bike-length lead going into turn 1 and put his head down to try and break away early. Bruce Lind got a great start too, but apparently it was too good as he was later penalized with a "jump start".

As the pack came around to complete the first lap, the order was Aboyoun, Long, Cassidy Heiser, Young and Bill Himmelsbach. Long was tired of following Aboyoun and made a clean pass into turn 1. Aboyoun tried hard to stick with Long and set lap times that were over 4 seconds faster than his qualifying times. Unfortunately, his superb riding couldn't match that of Long and he had to watch as Long continued to pull away ultimately winning by seven seconds over Aboyoun. Long also set a new 250GP track record lap time of 1:28.042. Heiser had a lonely but strong race, finishing third ahead of Ben Young and Bill Himmelsbach. The two racers were locked to each other, nose-to-tail the entire nine laps with Young just beating Himmelsbach to the line by less than half a second. Costa Rican, Leon Cortes rounded out the top six with a strong finish after starting from last place on the grid due to a lack of a qualifying time.

The Rev’it! sponsored Moriwaki MD250H Powered by HONDA race started right behind the 250GP event. Due to the grid size and difference in bike speeds, the race director decided to go with a single flag, single wave start. Eventual winner Stefano Meza was the only one that noticed this on the grid sheet, and took off as the other racers waited for a second before realizing what was going on. Max Flinders and Nick McFadden stayed close to each other at the first part of the race until they caught up with some of the 250's and developed a gap between each other with McFadden eventually finishing second ahead of Flinders. Amazingly, Stefano Mesa finished the race not only winning his race, but actually would have finished in 7th in the 250GP race! That’s some testament to his riding and the racing competence of his Moriwaki race bike.

Nobi Iso propelled his Aprilia RS125 into turn 1 ahead of nearly 30 other GP bikes in the Pilot 125GP event. His teammate, Jake Lewis, tucked in behind him, and the two racers started to gap the field in a display of racing finesse that can only be described as inspired. Halfway through the 10-lap sprint, Lewis passed Iso for the lead, but couldn’t break away. On the penultimate lap, Iso made his move and seemed to have the race ‘in the bag’. But on the last lap, Lewis threw down a new 125GP lap record time of 1:28.70. He made a bold pass on Iso in the back section, and held on for his second win of the season. Team FOGI Racing’s, Nick Hansen, rode a solid race a few seconds back from the front-runners, and brought home his first podium finish of the season. Stefano Mesa turned in a great run as well, and claimed critical National Championship points for his 4th place finish.

One of the best races of the weekend was for 5th place as Barrett Long, Joe Roberts, and Erik Dadej went toe-to-toe-to-toe all race long. Long and Dadej brought many years of experience to bear on the battle, but young Roberts brought a superior power-to-weight ratio combined with some excellent riding skills. The three racers swapped position numerous times per lap, but in the end, Roberts rode his Celtic Racing Honda RS125 like a champion, and held off Dadej and Long.

In the Rising Sun Cycle / GPTech Moto3 race, Nick McFadden launched his hot-rod Moriwaki MD250H into the lead like he had JATO rockets strapped to his back! But he was quickly caught and overcome by the power of the Team Veloce Aprilias. Jake Lewis drew first blood, as he swept past McFadden’s 4-stroke. The Asian Peril, Nobi Iso, followed suit one lap later, and then continued on and passed Lewis for the lead. Iso was well on his way to his first victory of the season, but Lewis again was the fly in the ointment, and made a last lap draft pass across the finish line, besting Iso by less than a front wheel! In a déjà-vu moment, Nick Hansen finished 3rd, creating an identical finishing order to the 125GP race.

The Pilot 125GP race got underway with Lex Hartl starting in pole position and Peter Lenz, Andre Ochs and Gerry Signorelli filling out the front row. Hartl got away well and led the field into turn one. Ochs, Lenz, Joe Roberts and Signorelli all jockeyed for positions in the opening laps. Hartl, trying to get away early, dropped the hammer and started to pull a small gap by lap 3. Unfortunately, the hammer landed on his engine and ended his race before lap 5. Ochs took over the lead with Lenz and Roberts in tow. The trio was swapping paint for the top spot, when third place Lenz crashed out with less than two laps to go. Roberts, who had suffered from mechanical issues all day Saturday, and missed qualifying, fought back hard to set the fastest lap of the race on lap 11, but Ochs rode a strong race and took the win. Signorelli, racing a stock Moriwaki MD250H, came home in fourth followed closely by veteran racer John Hjelm.

The Moto Liberty/RS Taichi 250GP event saw points leader Vince Rolleri snag another win with Kevin Winter narrowly coming home in 2nd.

The MD250H Powered by HONDA and Rev’it! started with Hartl claiming his second pole position of the weekend. Andre Ochs, Lenz and Tyler Linders joined him on the front row. Lenz led the field on the start into turn 1. Ochs and Hartl swapped positions multiple times until the 3rd lap when Ochs ran off the track. Hartl and Lenz diced for the lead all the way to the finish with Lenz holding on for the win. Tyler Linders took the last step on the podium.

The Rising Sun Cycle Moto3 race saw Hunter Coffin launch his 450 into the lead with Ochs and Signorelli in tow on their MD250s. Ochs was starting to close the gap on the leader when he suffered an extremely rare rear wheel failure where the spokes separated from the hub. Signorelli crossed the line in 2nd. John Milliron made the Marine Corp proud as he overcame all sorts of mechanical gremlins, and was still able to claim 3rd place.

The USGPRU would like to thank CCS and RoadRace Southwest for their famous hospitality. Special thanks to Pat, Myron, Tara and Karen, and a shout out to the corner workers who stood in the Arizona heat all weekend to assist our riders.

The USGPRU headed south to sunny Florida this Easter weekend to join CCS Florida for another great racing event. Racers drove in from across the country to race the Jennings GP race track. The sometimes fickle Florida weather was fully cooperating, and provided near perfect conditions with temperatures in the mid 80’s and not a rain cloud in sight.

The Pilot 125GP racers took to the track first thing Saturday morning. Nobi Iso started on pole position with his teammate, Jake Lewis by his side. Barrett Long and Peter Lenz filled out the rest of the front row. Lewis led the 22-bike field into turn 1. Iso and Lenz tucked in behind Lewis and the three started to check out from the rest of the field. The Aprilia’s of Lewis and Iso proved too powerful for Lenz’s Honda, and they started to pull away from the youngster. Iso caught and passed Lewis on lap 3, and built up a small lead. It appeared like it was going to be the Nobi Iso show, but with 2 laps to go, Lewis pulled Iso back in, passed him back, and held on for the win. Peter Lenz brought it home for a solid third place finish.

All the while, there was an amazing battle raging for fourth place as Barrett Long, Stefano Mesa, and Erik Dadej battled back and forth. On the final lap, Dadej sat in 4th place, but Mesa was clearly in strike mode. He passed Erik on the back straight, and then Long passed Dadej in turn 8. Dadej attempted to re-pass Long 2 turns later, but lost the rear end and crashed out. Mesa held on to clinch 4th, leaving Long in 5th.

The Moto Liberty / RS-Taichi 250GP race was up next. Barrett Long owned this race from beginning to end. Despite Mike Aboyoun’s rocket start, Barrett made short work of Mike’s lead. By the end of the first lap, Barrett had a sizable lead over the rest of the field and went on for the win. Mike led the 2nd place battle with Al Campbell and Ben Young. Al and Mike were eventually passed by Canadian Ben Young. And Mike was able to hold off Al for the final spot.

The new Moto3 class, sponsored by GPTech, looked to be a carbon copy of the earlier 125GP race as Iso, Lewis, and Lenz lined up to race. But Nick McFadden, on a Moriwaki MD250H, threw a wrench in the works as he nailed the start and led the field into the first turn. Lewis was in hot pursuit though, and quickly caught McFadden and passed for the lead. Iso and Lenz were not as lucky though and couldn’t get by McFadden for another lap. This gave Lewis time to build up a sizable lead and ultimately, the win. Iso and Lenz were locked in battle for most of the race, but Iso came out on top in the end.

The last USGPRU race of the day was the Moriwaki MD250H Powered by HONDA and Rev’it! The race started out great as Nick McFadden got another hole-shot into turn one. Local favorite, Stefano Mesa, drafted by Nick on the back straight. Peter Lenz was also charging hard in third, and saw Stefano trying to check out up front. He made an aggressive attempt at a pass on Nick in turn 9, but the two collided and both crashed, bringing out the red flag. McFadden was able to restart the race, but Lenz was done for the day.

Mesa led the restart, and ran away with the win in a perfect flag-to-flag race. But he couldn’t take it easy as he was shadowed the entire time by first-time USGPRU racer, Kaleb De Keyrel. Third place went to Nick McFadden, who valiantly rode despite a sore hand and a damaged bike.

The USGPRU heads back west in a few weeks as we join Roadrace Southwest at Firebird raceway. Check out the USGPRU website for full details.

Thanks go out to all of the CCS Florida staff and corner workers for putting on such an amazing event!

The USGPRU kicked off the 2010 season of racing at Buttonwillow Raceway this past weekend.

The Pilot 125GP started the races with Lex Hartl in pole position and Joe Roberts, Bennie Taylor and Andre Ochs filling out the rest of the front row. An accident on the first lap brought out the red flag right away, and the race had to be restarted. On the restart, Hartl led the field into turn one. Roberts passed Hartl later on in the first lap. The two swapped the lead several times before Roberts broke free and opened up a gap of a half-second and held on for the win. Deion Campbell started from 14th due to a gridding error (he should have been gridded 7th), but fought back to 7th place within the first two laps. Hard-charging Peter Lenz, who started from 15th, clawed his way up to third place by the second lap and pushed hard after the leaders, setting the fast lap of the race with a blistering 1:55.313 setting the 125GP track record by a half-second in the process. But the two-second gap was too much to make up, and he settled for third. Ochs held off Taylor for fourth. The first adult to cross the line was veteran racer, Erik Dadej in 6th.

The defending 2009 250GP west coast champion, Vince Rolleri, led the Moto Liberty/RS Taichi 250GP field into turn one. Sixty-two-year-old race legend, Bruce Lind, was forced to race his B-bike due to gremlins in his A-bike. Lind launched himself from the second row and battled Rolleri into turn one. Rolleri held on for the first lap and began to open up an advantage. Kevin Winter and Jeff Pratt fought for third. Pratt passed Winter and began chasing down Lind, and caught him on the final lap. Lind, Winter, and Pratt went three-wide into the final turn, and Lind came out of the tussle in the lead to clinch second place. Pratt squeaked by Winter at the line. Daniel Qualtire rounded out the top five.

Peter Lenz qualified fastest for the Moriwaki MD250H Powered by HONDA and Rev’it! race. Hartl, Ochs and Tyler Linders joined him on the front row. The start saw plenty of drama as the field funneled down into the hairpin turn two. Ochs and Lenz banged bars and crashed out which brought out another red flag. Fortunately, both riders and bikes made it back to the grid for the restart. Hartl again led the pack cleanly through the first couple of turns with Lenz on his rear wheel. Ochs pitted on the first lap with a mechanical issue caused by the earlier crash. Lenz took the lead from Hartl on lap four and went on to claim victory. Tyler Linders secured third place.

This weekend saw the first race of the new Moto3 class sponsored by GP Tech. The exciting new class features a classic “David vs Goliath” battle that pits unlimited ultra-light 125GP bikes against hot-rod Honda powered 250cc 4-stroke Moriwakis and the heavier 450 4-stroke singles. Joe Roberts had an amazing qualifying session that put him on pole position. Peter Lenz, Benny Taylor and Andre Ochs filled the first starting row. Unfortunately, Roberts crashed out on the first lap, and stopped the race. The restart began with Tommy Aquino’s younger brother, Michael, leading the mixed field on his YZ450 powered machine only to lowside harmlessly in turn two. Lenz snagged the lead and charged hard to his second victory of the day as Taylor and Ochs stayed within striking distance. Tucker Lancaster and Gerry Signorelli crossed the line 4th and 5th respectively.

The USGPRU would like to thank the AFM for hosting an excellent weekend of racing, particularly Shawn, Paddy and Mary for all of their hard work and hospitality!

Impact Armor has agreed to provide free custom chest protectors for kids that race with the USGPRU. Adult racers can also get a great deal on a new chest protector if they are a current USGPRU member. Contact Impact Armor at (916-725-2936) or visit their website at: http://impactarmor.homestead.com/

Special thanks to the Ethan Gillim 'Chasing a Dream' fund for making this happen again. It was an enormously successful program last year as we gave away over 30 units. If you're interested in helping to keep this program going for years to come, please contact the USGPRU and we'll let you know how you can help keep everyone a little bit safer.