PORTLAND, OR

OMRRA's 2010 season opener on May 22 and 23 could have been dubbed "The Tire Changer Challenge." Weather was all too seasonally typical for western Oregon: light rain, heavy rain, no rain (but never a really dry track), and even hail on Sunday, in turns four and five.

Well-heeled or well-sponsored racers were glad to have an extra set of rims, because it was a minute-to-minute decision as to tire choice. Rains worked fine in the rain, but not at all well if the track was drying out, and at least one racer wound up on slicks in a monsoon. He finished a distant last - but he finished.

The best lap times were in the 1:20s, by racers who are into the 1:07s on a dry track. Turn workers in turn eight saw seven lowsiders just during Saturday's morning practice. Turn eight is an immediate right transition after the fast left-hand turn seven, and then it's hard on the brakes setting up for turn nine and the front straight. No one ever crashes there on a dry track.

The best two-man race of the weekend was in the 600 Supersport class. In the red-flag-shortened eight-lapper, Oliver Jervis (125, above) led for a couple of laps, and then Chris Ancien (41) passed for the lead. Tamer Kekhia (16X) initially ran with the front-runners but eventually dropped back to sixth. Jervis tried to repass Ancien on every straight and every corner for three more laps before deciding to settle in and wait for his chance. He thought he had that chance on the inside into turn four on the white-flag lap and showed Ancien a wheel, but he slid out just a tad and Ancien took the checkered flag.

The best (and only) three-woman race was OMRRA's inaugural Formula Female class. The rules state that each rider must be a female with an Expert license and a bike of at least 600cc.

"There were three sign-ups and three finishers - the only time that happened all weekend," said OMRRA operations manager Janice Logan, perhaps a bit smugly.

Amy Jermain, lead instigator of the class, was on a borrowed 600. Christine Porter and Brittany Dickson were both on Supersport 1000s.

"We were all on rain tires," Jermain said. "It started off with a light rain and then got torrential. I got the holeshot, but after that I was in tippy-toe mode. Brittany took the lead out of turn nine on the first lap, but Christine had been practicing all weekend on rains, and she pretty much drove away from there."

Perennial OMRRA number-one plate holder Alan Schmidt said last year that he was going to step back a bit and only race one motorcycle in two classes. His mount of choice is a Suzuki GSX-R1000, but he hasn't backed off that much: He finished first in the Formula Ultra contest and third in the Open Supersport class on Saturday, and third in Formula Ultra on Sunday.

Graduating from an RS125, Devon McDonough loves his new ride, an SV650 Suzuki, and he used it to score wins in the 650 Twins Superbike, Middleweight Supersport and 450 Superbike classes. There are a lot of SV650s racing at PIR, and no one dares cheat in the Supersport class, or everyone will know by the end of the front straight. Not that anyone would, of course.

Results

250 VINT: 1. Jon Munns (Honda); 2. Scott Elder (Honda); 3. Garrick Gordon (Honda).

500 VINT: 1. Joe Wier (Honda); 2. Jon Munns (Honda); 3. Dean Willoughby (Honda).

450 CLUBMAN: 1. Brian Moe (Suzuki); 2. Frank Berthold (MZ); 3. Brian Schilt (Aprilia).

450 S/BK: 1. Devon McDonough (Suzuki); 2. Dustin Ranck (Suzuki); 3. Keith Di Brino (Suzuki).

F-2: 1. Shannon Lang (Honda); 2. Mackenzie Ancien (Moto Morini); 3. Michael Caravatta (Honda).

F-3: 1. Michael Caravatta (Honda); 2. Graham Buck (Honda); 3. Mackenzie Ancien (Moto Morini).

L/W S/BK: 1. Brian Moe (Suzuki); 2. Mark Leslie (Kawasaki); 3. Frank Berthold (MZ).

650 TW S/BK: 1. Devon McDonough (Suzuki); 2. Darren Carpenter (Suzuki); 3. Keith Di Brino (Suzuki).

600 S/SPT: 1. Chris Ancien (Kawasaki); 2. Oliver Jervis (Kawasaki); 3. Brian Pinkstaff (Kawasaki).

600 S/SPT SR: 1. Urban Moore (Yamaha); 2. Michael Anderson (Kawasaki); 3. Jon Leonard (Honda).

600 S/BK: 1. Chris Ancien (Kawasaki); 2. Oliver Jervis (Kawasaki); 3. Steve Suitor (Suzuki).

600 S/BK SR: 1. Darren Carpenter (Suzuki); 2. Michael Anderson (Kawasaki); 3. Aaron Krieger (Honda).

M/W S/SPT: 1. Darren Carpenter (Suzuki); 2. Devon McDonough (Suzuki); 3. Dustin Ranck (Suzuki).

M/W S/SPT: 1. Devon McDonough (Suzuki); 2. Keith Di Brino (Suzuki); 3. Geoff Ford (Suzuki).

750 S/BK: 1. Chris Ancien (Kawasaki); 2. Kevin Pinkstaff (Suzuki); 3. Bryan Rothenberger (Yamaha).

750 S/BK SR: 1. Michael Anderson (Kawasaki); 2. Duane Schotz (Kawasaki); 3. Jay Floyd (Kawasaki).

750 S/SPT: 1. Steve Suitor (Suzuki); 2. Kevin Pinkstaff (Suzuki); 3. Matt Presting (Yamaha).

750 S/SPT SR: 1. Brent Murray (Yamaha); 2. Urban Moore (Yamaha); 3. Duane Schotz (Kawasaki).

OPEN S/SPT: 1. Dan Wilson (Suzuki); 2. Tony Porter (Suzuki); 3. Alan Schmidt (Suzuki).

F-ULTRA SAT: 1. Alan Schmidt (Suzuki); 2. Oliver Jervis (Kawasaki); 3. Tony Porter (Suzuki).

F-ULTRA SUN: 1. Jason Quigley (Suzuki); 2. Kevin La Favor (Suzuki); 3. Alan Schmidt (Suzuki).