The inaugural MotoAmerica Mini Cup National Championships were held at the Briggs & Stratton Motorplex at Road America over the August 10-11 weekend, with five riders taking national championship wins.
Saturday’s action, run over a different configuration to what was used on Sunday, saw clean sweeps in the GP160 class for Jase Dill, Gabriel Datis in Stock 100, and Cameron Jones in Street GP, who all took two race wins from two starts.
In the premier GP 190 class, Mahdi Salem nearly missed the first race, but a stroke of luck kept him in the competition. During qualifying, his bike’s motor blew out, but his father managed to install a new engine just in time for the start.
However, the screws on the cylinder head weren’t fully tightened, causing Salem’s bike to leak oil onto the track. MotoAmerica officials pulled Mahdi off the grid, and the race began without him. Fortunately for Salem, a red flag halted the race, giving Salem’s dad a chance to fix the issue, allowing him to make the restart.
Once back in the race, Salem took victory over Kensei Matsudaira. Salem also claimed victory in the second race.
Sunday saw Salem in a much tighter battle for the wins and title in the GP 190 class. Salem and Matsudaira exchanged the lead multiple times in race two, with Salem taking the lead late in the race for a close victory and the national championship.
“I wasn’t going to pass him [Matsudaira] on the last lap where I did, but I got a good drive down that straight and had a lot of speed,” said Mahdi, who is set to begin his first year of high school this fall. “I almost hit his rear tire when I came up on him, but I was able to sweep by at the last second to take the win.”
Matsudaira finished runner-up in GP 190 with all second-place finishes and Williams Dalu took third.
Apex Racing’s Chase Jazikoff secured the Stock 50 Championship by sweeping all four races. He faced strong competition from CTR/Roof Systems’ Cruise Texter in both of Sunday’s races, with Cruise leading at times. Cruise’s impressive performance on Sunday earned him second place in the Stock 50 class championship, just ahead of Lucky 13’s Bron Macanga.
TopPro Racing’s Gabriel Datis was the first rider to complete a clean sweep when he clinched the Stock 110 Championship with a perfect score racing his Kawasaki. Team Sorrentino’s Blake Sorrentino finished second in the class and Beastmode Racing’s Christian Berlowitz took third.
Jase Dill of Ohvale USA achieved a perfect score in the GP 160 class by the weekend’s end. Historic GP’s Connor Raymond kept the pressure on by staying close in Sunday’s final race, securing four consecutive second-place finishes and taking second overall. Datis claimed third place, making him the only rider in the championship to podium in two different classes.
CJR Performance’s Cameron Jones went unchallenged in the Street GP class on his Honda Grom. Jones took convincing wins in all four rounds over the weekend in the unrestricted age class. CN
MotoAmerica Mini Cup National Championships Results
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