UtahSBK Round 4: Norton claims “King of the Mountain” Crown

Round 4 of the UtahSBK series presented by Utah Motorcycle Law took place August 29^th-30^th at Utah Motorsports Campus in Grantsville, Utah just outside of Salt Lake City. The 5 round championship series kicked off its penultimate round with a Friday practice hosted by track day partner ApexTrackdays. Riders spent the day getting dialed in with eyes on the sky as inclement weather threatened to add an extra element of difficulty to the race weekend.

Saturday morning, racers arrived to a wet track and paddock  as the inevitable storm hoovered over the 500-acre facility. Qualifying was tricky with the track declared wet as racers took to the East configuration on Rain tires to set their grid positions. After the first round  of qualifying the track started to dry and race direction took a short break in an attempt to further dry the surface but mother nature had other ideas and more rain kissed the surface, a pattern that would last all day long. When qualifying resumed, Ryan Breckenridge proved the bravest in tricky conditions, setting the fastest qualifying time assuming the pole position for the “King of the Mountain” race on Sunday aboard his Zx6R. Justin Delong and Chris Mousley would round out the front row for the weekends premier race.

The racing surface wouldn’t dry out until the lunch break on Saturday, but that wouldn’t dampen the action. Fast qualifier and visiting racer Ryan Breckenridge would go bar to bar with multiple class championship leader Parker Mayer in the Ryder Gear Moto2 Expert race. An exciting battle that would seem to last all weekend between these two. Saturday mornings race would end closely with Breckenridge leading Mayer to the line. The two would battle again in the Fuzimoto Middleweight Superbike race Saturday afternoon, this time on a dry track. Mayer and Breckenridge would run wheel to wheel for the entire race, but after 7 laps it was Mayer crossing the line first under 1 second ahead of Breckenridge. Since the 2 racers seemed inseparable, it was no surprise they would be teaming up in the relay class for the afternoon’s upcoming Endurance Race.

With Weather still looming over the racetrack, endurance racers made their final preparations and plotted their strategies in flag-to-flag endurance race. In the final moments leading up to the race, the rain started to come down again, forcing racers to start the race on rain or DOT tires. No sooner than the rain came and the race was underway, the wind picked up and sun broke through the clouds quickly drying the course giving racers the first tough decision on when to switch bikes or tires to a dry set up. Breckenridge was leading the race on rain tires, pulling in and transferring his transponder to Mayer who was on a full dry setup. Meanwhile, the single bike operations of the ironman racers and true endurance teams faced tougher choices. Some teams chose to stay out on their rain tires with a drying track praying for more rain, others quickly came down pitlane looking to take advantage of a dry line on slick tires, then there were a few who started the race on DOT tires that decided to stay out and put in the laps regardless of track conditions. Among the latter was Ironman Gary Yost aboard is Yamaha R3. Yost’s DOT strategy would prove to be a perfect plan. Yost was able to circulate the entire time regardless of conditions making passes on the competition to secure the class lead at the midway point of the race. With about 12 minutes remaining, sky darkened and the rain came down again forcing those on track with slicks to return to pitlane, racers on DOT tires to quickly slow their pace, and the racers still on rain tires finally caught the break they strategized for. True Endurance team “2G1GSXR” piloted by Remington Mathews and Sam Fischer, still out on rains, quickly became the fastest bike on track. With Mathews in the saddle, head down, they quickly began to catch the class leading Precision Fab team but again mother nature had other ideas… lightning struck and due to safety concerns the race was red flagged and inevitably the race was called. The duo of Mayer and Breckenridge secured the overall and relay class win. The Precision Fab Machinery team of Anthony Norton and Ryan Richardson would finish first in the True Endurance category. Gary Yost would end the race ahead of all the other Ironman entrants and secure his first endurance win on the season. UtahSBK and endurance racers thank sponsors, Vortex Racing, IV Haven, and Apex Assassins for supporting our endurance championships all season long.

Sunday morning track conditions were marginally better, but clear skies above finally brightened things up and it seemed racers would have a dry track to fight on for the day. As racers completed the morning races, track conditions still proved tricky with a “green” track as the previous days rain had seemingly washed away the rubber on the surface keeping the track slightly on the slick side. By lunch ambient conditions were perfect with sun shining and air temperatures reaching 80 degrees with a light breeze, just in time for the weekend’s main event, the 14 lap Same Day Heating & Air King of the Mountain Race.

KOM pole sitter Ryan Breckenridge would get the jump when the lights went out securing the holeshot as early drama ensued as Justin Delong suffered a mechanical heading into turn 1 causing a bit of congestion behind the leader. Reigning King of the Mountain champion Anthony Norton found himself starting p12 after qualifying complications on Saturday but immediately had his ZX10 moving forward through the field. Out of the first turn the running order was Breckenridge, Mayer, Ryan Richardson, Chris Mousley, and Kohl Burmester. Norton was on a rampage, quickly making his way into 4^th, now behind Mayer after Richardson took over the 2^nd position.  After a brief battle with Mayer, Norton was in 3^rd to start the second lap, taking over the 2^nd position in turn 2 of the second lap. Breckenridge was setting a fast pace out front as Norton reeled him in during the second lap. On the cusp of his 4^th consecutive club championship, Norton slid sideways into turn 1 with the lead to start the third lap, a lead that he would not relinquish for the remainder of the race. The battle was on for the podium as Richardson was chipping away at Breckenridge for 2^nd and 3^rd positions  with Mayer and Mousley contesting for the podium spots as well. These 4 would run with nothing between them for the first half of the race, exchanging spots multiple times. Richardson would finally edge away in 2^nd  leaving Mayer, Breckenridge, and Mousley to fight over the final spot on the podium. In the final laps, Mayer would make the move on Breckenridge for 3^rd and hold on by a narrow margin earning his spot on the box. Breckenridge would finish 4^th and Mousley 5^th.

With his Victory, Anthony Norton secured his 4^th consecutive #1 plate and King of the Mountain title. Norton had this to say following the race: 

“Starting from the back to take this win summarizes the struggles I have had this season. Every round had a different set of obstacles to overcome. Thankful for my better half Stacey, my friends in the paddock, and of course my sponsors and supporters for helping me persevere. I want to thank Precision Fab Machinery, Legal Ride NV, Bestige Holdings, Racers Edge Dunlop, Ryder Gear, KYT Helmets, Fuzimoto, and Vortex for another year of support. Happy to bring home another #1 plate for everyone involved in my program.”

With only 1 round left, The UtahSBK President Brian Childree wanted to extend the greatest appreciation for all their sponsors and especially the volunteers of the club that brave weekends like this to provide the best possible experience for the racers. Without the support from the community the series wouldn’t be nearly as successful as it is.

Round 5, the final round, is just 3 weeks away and is set to be quite a show. The Oxy Moron Media team is back for round 5 providing a live stream of the weekend (follow them on YouTube), with announcer and personality Emily Mae back in the tower calling races and making her way through the paddock. Expect special appearances from UMC track ownership and some of the other series partners during the broadcast. Racers get signed up and fans mark your calendars, you won’t want to miss the UtahSBK season finale on September 19^th and 20^th!

The post UtahSBK Round 4: Norton claims “King of the Mountain” Crown appeared first on Roadracing World Magazine | Motorcycle Riding, Racing & Tech News.

OTHER USERS BOUGHT THIS!!!