Byers, CO – The MRA series returned to High Plains Raceway over the weekend of July 8-9 for Round 4 of the Race of the Rockies Championship Series. The weekend was proceeded by Yamaha Champions Riding School on Thursday and a HPR track day on Friday giving a lot of the racers 4 days straight of track time.
Ryan Burke continued his domination of Race of the Rockies GTO on Sunday. With a hole shot from the start, Burke laid down a number of 1:12 lap times on the north course, getting within 0.4 seconds of the track record he currently holds. After clearly leaving the rest of the field behind, Burke got a big front end slide in turn 2 on lap 5 and decided to notch it back a little to finish the race with high 13’s and low 14’s. This topped off yet another weekend of 5 classes and 5 wins, the others being Middleweight & Heavyweight Supersport, Open Superbike, and Open Endurance. Ryan Burke is supported by Imperial Sportbikes, Mark Schellinger from YCRS, Geoff Cesmat, Dunlop Tires, Boulder Motorsports, and all of his family.
Shannon Moham took home the win in Race of the Rockies GTU after tangling with the always present Ricky Orlando on lap 1. Orlando came out on the short end this time and went down in turn 2, which is probably the first crash Orlando has had in more than a decade. Moham used his Yamaha YZF-R6 to lay down consistent mid 1:16 lap times for the rest of the race to take the win. Moham’s weekend was quite successful with 7 podium finishes, others which included Middleweight Superbike, Heavyweight Supersport & Superbike, Endurance Middleweight & Heavyweight, Formula 40 GTU. Shannon Moham is sponsored by Nordic Nursing, Dunlop tires, Race Tech suspension, Woodcraft CFM, K&N Filters, Vortex, GPR dampers, Lockhart Phillips, Vickery Motorsports, Motors by REX, Renegade race fuels, Pit Bull stands, Imperial Sportbikes, Denver n Dakota, Segren’s Nectar, MOM, and Falicon crankshafts.
Once again, the MRA Superstreet class was at full attendance on Saturday. The Superstreet program was started 7 years ago by the MRA and continues to have strong demand as street riders are easily able to get on a real racetrack for $100 and minimal bike preparation.
Marring the weekend was a multi-bike crash on the first lap of Novice GTU Saturday. In all 4 racers went down with a couple of them seriously injured. The MRA is hoping for a fast recovery of our injured new racers.
Coming up on July 22-23, many MRA racers will be travelling to Utah Motorsports Campus to take on the local Utah Sportbike Association racers for the Intermountain Challenge. The event will be using the UMC perimeter course. More information is available at https://www.facebook.com/utahsba/
The MRA will return to High Plains Raceway for the next round of sprint races on August 5-6, which will included the annual 4-hour endurance using the full course configuration. The SuperStreet program will not be held this weekend as to make time for the 4-hour race.
The Motorcycle Roadracing Association is dedicated to promoting safe and competitive motorcycle road racing events for enthusiasts in Colorado and the surrounding area. For more information go to https://www.mra-racing.org/.