BYERS, CO

Unseasonably wet and cold weather beleaguered for the June 12-13 round of the MRA Series at High Plains Raceway in Byers, Colorado. Despite a crash in the rain in Saturday morning's practice, Josh Galster proved his proficiency in the wet by winning five of his middleweight and heavyweight classes. Galster capped off his weekend by racing his Slednecks ZX-6R to a podium finish against the big bikes in the premier Race Of The Rockies GTO.

There was lots of excitement in the pits as the track cycled through brief drying spells, only to have the skies open back up and drench the course again. The start of the Open Superbike contest coincided with a heavy downpour. Dave Hetzler (24, above) got the holeshot, with Pat Lansu (77) close behind. Lansu took over the lead on the first lap, only to have Doug Kahl (121), recovering from a poor start, overtake him on lap two. Kahl immediately stretched out his lead, while Hetzler and Lansu battled behind him.

Meanwhile, Rob Christman was driving through the pack, eventually working his way past the Hetzler-Lansu fight and into second place, with Mike Applegate following suit. In the final laps, Applegate put on a hard charge for Christman's second-place spot but crashed out, handing the final podium position to Hetzler.

"There was so much water on the course, it became about getting the bike stood up enough to make it through," said race winner Kahl. "The front was pushing everywhere."

One of the best battles of the weekend came in Solo Lightweight Endurance contest, which saw spotty conditions, as the track deteriorated during the race. Returning Lightweight Endurance champion Shannon Moham has completely dominated the class in an unbroken three-year winning streak. This weekend, the crowd witnessed a Moto2-worthy fight between Moham and Mike Hellerstedt, with the two SV650 riders exchanging the lead dozens of times throughout the entire 30-minute race. Each could only gain tenths of a second over the other before being repassed, and the race was decided in the last corner of the last lap, when the pair encountered traffic, with Hellerstedt narrowly defeating Moham for the win. It should be noted that the Lightweight Endurance class starts behind the Middleweight Endurance class, and the effort of the SV riders' battle carried them through the field to fourth overall against the 600s.

Round four takes the MRA to Pueblo Motorsports Park on July 10t and 11. Racing action starts at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. on Sunday. Tickets are just $10 at the gate for adults; kids under 12 get in free. Stop by your local motorcycle dealer to pick up a two-for-one entry good at all MRA events.

The MRA is dedicated to promoting safe and competitive motorcycle road-racing events for enthusiasts in the Colorado area. For more information, go to www.mra-racing.org or call the MRA hotline at 303/530-5678.

Results

RACE OF THE ROCKIES GTO: 1. Dan Turner (Suzuki); 2. Mike Applegate (Suzuki); 3. Josh Galster (Kawasaki); 4. Doug Kahl (Suzuki); 5. Rick Grosse (Kawasaki).

RACE OF THE ROCKIES GTU: 1. Josh Galster (Kawasaki); 2. Dale Eaton (Yam YZF-R6); 3. Casey Dragos (Yam YZF-R6); 4. Brian Johnson (Suz GSX-R600); 5. Danny Anderson (Yam YZF-R6).

SOLO L/W ENDURANCE: 1. Mike Hellerstedt (Suzuki); 2. Shannon Moham (Suzuki); 3. David Labarr (Suzuki); 4. Martin Hester (Yamaha); 5. Geoffrey Snyder (Suzuki).

SOLO M/W ENDURANCE: 1. Dale Eaton (Yamaha); 2. Aaron Hersh (Kawasaki); 3. Rick Grosse (Kawasaki); 4. Mike Applehans (Suzuki); 5. Nicholas Lenski (Yamaha).

SOLO H/W ENDURANCE: 1. Crash Lowe (Suzuki); 2. Scott Stall (Suzuki); 3. Alan Filar (Suzuki); 4. Carlton Sorensen (Triumph); 5. Shannon Moham (Yamaha).

SOLO OPEN ENDURANCE: 1. Doug Kahl (Suzuki); 2. John Fifield (Yamaha); 3. Keith Eastin (Honda); 4. Rob Christman (Yamaha); 5. David Eid (Kawasaki).

AM GTU: 1. Anthony Ross (Yamaha); 2. Steven Grubbs (Kawasaki); 3. Jarret Scarberry (Yamaha); 4. Aaron Hersh (Kawasaki); 5. Carlton Sorensen (Triumph).

AM GTO: 1. Steven Grubbs (Kawasaki); 2. Jarret Scarberry (Yamaha); 3. Aaron Hersh (Kawasaki); 4. Keith Eastin (Honda); 5. Wyeth Jackson (Kawasaki).

M/W S/BK: 1. Josh Galster (Kawasaki); 2. Scott Stall (Suzuki); 3. Dalton Dimick (Yamaha); 4. Erik Cromer (Kawasaki); 5. Brian Johnson (Suzuki).

M/W S/SPT: 1. Josh Galster (Kawasaki); 2. Ricky Orlando (Kawasaki); 3. Casey Dragos (Yamaha); 4. Brian Johnson (Suzuki); 5. Dalton Dimick (Yamaha).

H/W S/BK: 1. Josh Galster (Kawasaki); 2. Brian Johnson (Suzuki); 3. Shane Turpin (Ducati); 4. Erik Cromer (Kawasaki); 5. Patrick Lansu (Ducati).

H/W S/SPT: 1. Josh Galster (Kawasaki); 2. Brian Johnson (Suzuki); 3. Dalton Dimick (Yamaha); 4. Casey Dragos (Yamaha); 5. Zach Shearon (Yamaha).

OPEN S/BK: 1. Doug Kahl (Suzuki); 2. Rob Christman (Yamaha); 3. Dave Hetzler (Kawasaki); 4. Patrick Lansu (Ducati); 5. Dan Turner (Suzuki).

OPEN S/SPT: 1. Crash Lowe (Suzuki); 2. Casey Dragos (Yamaha); 3. Curtis Knox Jr. (Yamaha); 4. Jason Curdy (Yamaha).

COLORADO CLASS: 1. Jeff Winter (Honda); 2. Martin Hester (Honda); 3. Dominic Medina (Honda).

LADIES OF THE ROCKIES: 1. Wyeth Jackson (Kawasaki); 2. Sheila Paul (Yamaha); 3. Kimberly Prichard (Triumph); 4. Trina Dawson (Yamaha); 5. Siobhan Bennett (Aprilia).

L/W GP: 1. Shannon Moham (Suzuki); 2. David Labarr (Suzuki); 3. Jeff Winter (Honda); 4. Geoffrey Snyder (Suzuki); 5. Rich Wu (Suzuki).

MDRN VINT GTU: 1. Aaron Hersh (Yamaha); 2. Shannon Moham (Suzuki); 3. Ian O'Connor (Yamaha); 4. Tony Baker (Yamaha); 5. Bread Puddin (Yamaha).

MDRN VINT GTO: 1. Aaron Hersh (Yamaha); 2. Alan Filar (Suzuki); 3. James Turner (Suzuki).

NOV GTU: 1. Adam McCarty (Triumph); 2. Bradley Hampton (Suzuki); 3. Luke Wuckert (Suzuki); 4. Kia Aftahi (Suzuki); 5. Sam Roberts (Triumph).

NOV GTO: 1. Keith Eastin (Honda); 2. Jason Patton (Suzuki); 3. Louis Ortiz Jr. (Suzuki); 4. Kia Aftahi (Suzuki); 5. Adam McCarty (Triumph).

S/TW GTU: 1. Shannon Moham (Suzuki); 2. Mike Hellerstedt (Suzuki); 3. Tony Baker (Yamaha); 4. Jeff Winter (Honda); 5. Rich Wu (Suzuki).

S/TW GTO: 1. Patrick Lansu (Ducati); 2. Jim Brewer (Ducati); 3. Lloyd Meador (Ducati); 4. Anthony Viera (Ducati).

SPTSMN: 1. Scott Shaper (Yamaha); 2. Richard Bickhard III (Suzuki); 3. James Turner (Suzuki).