Photography by Larry Lawrence
PEORIA, IL (Aug. 16, 2015) – Henry Wiles faced one of the stiffest challenges ever at the historic Peoria TT in the form of defending AMA Pro Grand National Champion Jared Mees. Mees was fast all day and Wiles admitted the No. 1 rider was going to be tough to beat, but when the green flag dropped it was Wiles taking off and holding off repeated challenges by Mees as the two cleared away from the rest of the 18-rider field. In the closing laps Wiles was perfect in traffic on his Zanotti Racing Honda CRF450R and took the win by a margin of 1.342 seconds over Mees. Californian Dominic Colindres, who just moved to GNC1 mid-season, scored his first career Grand National podium, finishing third, 14.9 seconds back from the leader.
“Jared was definitely faster than me early in the day,” said Wiles, who scored his 11th-straight Grand National victory at Peoria. “We were chasing some things on my bike, but the whole Zanotti team pulled together and they gave me a great bike by the time the main event came around. Once we came up on a group of about four or five riders and I heard Jared right there behind me again and I thought, “Man I have to do it all over again.’ Thankfully I was able to and got the win. It could be the end of an era since it sounds like we’ll be running Twins here next year. Who knows what will happen then.”
Mees said he was not thinking at all of his points lead, which blossomed to 29 points (156 to 127) over Bryan Smith, during the race. Sammy Halbert is third in the standings with 124 points.
“I wanted to win and that’s all I cared about,” Mees said. “I wanted to be the guy who stopped Henry’s streak, and even though we were close I couldn’t quite get it done today.”
Colindres was emotional after earning his first podium in the premier class. “I’m just so thankful to Babe DeMay and the whole Memphis Shades team for giving me the chance,” he said. “Henry and Jared cleared out, but I was able to hold off some good guys like JD and Briar, so it’s a really special for me.”
Newly crowned MotoAmerica Supersport road racing champ JD Beach took a solid fourth in only his second pro flat track event of the year. Briar Bauman rounded out the top five.
Jesse Janisch, on a 34 Racing Honda, edged Davis Fisher in the GNC2 class. It marked Janisch’s first victory of the season. Bronson Bauman took third.
The series next moves to the Charlotte Half-Mile at on Saturday, August 29.
Peoria TT Results – Aug. 16, 2015
1. Henry Wiles, Honda.
2. Jared Mees, Honda.
3. Dominic Colindres, Yamaha.
4. JD Beach, Yamaha.
5. Briar Bauman, Honda.
6. Jake Johnson, Honda.
7. Mick Kirkness, Yamaha.
8. Chad Cose, Honda.
9. Sammy Halbert, Yamaha.
10. Stevie Bonsey, Suzuki.
GNC2 Results
1. Jesse Janisch, Honda.
2. Davis Fisher, Honda.
3. Bronson Bauman, Honda.
4. Justin Jones, Honda.
5. Hayden Gillim, Suzuki.
