Dateline September 24-25, 2005: History in the Making at Nelson Ledges Raceway
20 years ago the Italian racing community created and developed the sport of Minimoto in an effort to safely train their youth in the fine art of road racing. To date that practice has created some of the finest riders in the sport of modern road racing.
Today, less than a handful of American kids have set out to prove that same practice can work here in the United States to develop a new generation of road racers that is at least as skillful, as race savvy and as capable if not more so than those developed by current US road racing training methods and practices.
Three of these talented young riders, 12 year old Josh Cook, 13 year old Corey Rech and 15 year old Robbie Wilkey, wrote the first chapter this weekend as they made their Road Racing debut at the storied Nelson Ledges Raceway, a well-known two-mile road course near Cleveland, Ohio. Here's how it went down:
Josh Cook and Corey Rech have been racing MetraKit bikes this year and their parents decided that platform was only holding them back. Robbie had only been racing Minimoto up until recently when he raced a Mini Motard at a local event in Delaware that Jeremy Pupillo and Corey Rech attended. Last week after the Delaware event, Jeremy Pupillo and Dave Cook contacted Robbie and Bill with an invitation to join them for the 3 Hour Endurance race at Nelson Ledges Raceway on Saturday so Robbie could compete with Corey and Josh on their "new" GSXR 600 sportbike that had been converted for racing. Robbie had never ridden much less raced a full-size bike so they weren't sure it was the right thing to do but Bill and Robbie were already planning to make the transition to full size racing very soon, having just acquired a Yamaha TZ250, and Jeremy explained that it was just a club event and assured them that it was a fun track and a great bunch of folks to race with (he ended up being right) and it would be a great first experience for the kids.
Robbie and Bill also brought the TZ along hoping for some track time as he hadn't gotten a chance to ride it yet. Saturday morning we were able to get Robbie out on his TZ for his first big bike experience and he got in about a dozen or so laps during the practice session. Jeremy's bike needed new tires and the tech inspection revealed some other issues to take care of so inspite of working furiously they weren't able to get it ready in time for the kids to practice on. But we did get to send Corey out on the bike during one of the Mini Enduros to shake it out and make sure it was running Ok, and he managed to get 30 minutes of some good laps in before the Endurance race started.
After all those laps Corey was tired so Josh hopped aboard for the first 30 minute segment of the Endurance. Now the track record is a 1:06 and the fastest 600 time is a 1:09, but most of the Liter bikes were running 1:11 to 1:14 and most of the 600 bikes were running 1:14 to 1:17. Anything below 1:30 is considered very good and anything below 1:17 is considered advanced riding according to the track staff. Most of the kids (teens) there run in the mid to high 1:20's with their "fastest kid" topping out at 1:14 on his SV650. Most of the kids have several seasons of full size bike racing under their belt, the fast kid on the SV650 is 15 years old and has been coached in big bike racing pretty much since the age of 11.
This was the very first race for all 3 kids on this bike (GSXR 600) and they were nervous to say the least. Josh and Corey had a little bit of practice time on the GSXR but had never actually raced it. Josh started out a little cautious (hey, no practice yet that day) but generally confident and was quickly running in the low 1:30's. But within just 10 short minutes he was suddenly running mid 1:20's! We couldn't believe it! Before his first segment was over Josh had posted a 1:24 on this big bike. We were blown away! By the end of his second segment which came later in the race, he improved it even further finally posting a number of 1:22's! Josh was now running at least even with most every kid in the local club most of whom had at least a couple seasons of saddle time!
Unfortunately mechanical trouble took Josh out of the race just 5 minutes before his first segment was over and the bike was down in the back where we couldn't get to him during the race. Almost 20 laps passed before a red flag stopped the race and we were able to get to him. The fix took only minutes and the bike was ready for the re-start.
Robbie was given the second 30 minute segment. His first time ever on a full size bike (besides the practice rounds on his 250 that morning) and here he was racing a 600 in an Endurance. When he came around the first time we were sure we had made a mistake with the timer, but 5 laps later there was no doubt, Robbie was running 1:17's and 1:18's! And before he finished his run he posted the team's fastest lap, a 1:16, faster than many seasoned riders with a couple years experience on that track. We were all whistling and hooting and yelling, these kids were already doing more than we could have asked and far more than we ever expected.
Corey, who had already run a 30 minute session and then had been waiting more than an hour and a half now to get in the saddle again had become very nervous. Especially since the first accident of the weekend happened right in front of him while he was trying to get his first laps of the day in... that obviously weighed heavily on his mind as he thought about actually racing on a real track on a full size 600 bike for his first time in actual competition while waiting for his turn. As a result, he started out a little unsure of himself, a little less confident than Josh and Robbie, but after 10 or 15 minutes of riding he seemed to regain his composure and settle in to his pace and soon was tearing it up pretty good out there. By the end of his run, Corey too was hitting the mid 1:20's and pulling to within just a couple seconds of Josh! These kids were absolutely amazing to watch. The poise and professionalism they showed their first day was an example to everyone. They all rode like winners! And no crashes! (which made both the Mom's and the guys who have to pay for the repairs very happy! lol!).
At the end of the race the kids team finished in 5th place out of 8 seasoned experienced teams and we couldn't help but wonder whether they would have been on the podium if the bike hadn't broken down.
On Sunday they held the Sprint races and Josh and Corey took turns on the big 600 against the cream of the 600 rider crop, Josh was also running against the Liter bikes. Both kids raced seasoned and fast riders on very fast race bikes. Again they rode incredibly well, better than most of the local kids and finished very respectably in their races. Josh got down to a 1:20 and Corey posted a 1:22, absolutely incredible times for their first outing on the big machine.
Robbie rode only his TZ 250 in the Sprints. We entered him in the 250GP class which ended up being combined with:
Sportbike Light - Expert
Sportbike Light - Novice
SuperTwins - Expert
SuperTwins - Novice
In all, almost 20 fast and experienced riders on the grid running mainly 400 to 1000cc twins and Robbie was gridded dead last. TZ's can run like the wind but they don't always launch off the line so well. Robbie got kind of a slow start but once he got up to power he was flying into the heart of the pack going into turn #1... Bill couldn't bring himself to watch the lap from the tower so we just waited until they came around... as the front of the pack came back to the start/finish, the leader was really flying out ahead of the pack but Robbie was right there in the mix! He was actually running 5th at the end of lap 1!
Just two laps later Robbie had passed all but the first place rider and was now running 2nd! Bill quickly ran up to the tower to watch the whole circuit... the leader was way out there on a Ducati 999 but Robbie was reeling him in! With just two laps to go Robbie finally caught and passed the leader and started to pull away!
Robbie won his first ever road race... and posted a 1:12 in the process (and a mess of 1:13's)! Just 3 seconds off the track record Superbike 600 time, only 6 seconds off the track record and only just over a second slower than many of the Liter bikes were running that day! (see results below)
If anyone had any doubts about the abilities of any of these 3 kids to put the big bikes through their paces or doubts about the kind of serious training that the sport of Minimoto provides, all credible claims about those doubts were completely erased this weekend.
The entire US Minimoto Racing community can be very proud of what these kids have accomplished already and it's only their first race!
All 3 will be racing the big bikes in one or more race organizations next season. Stay tuned, you won't want to miss the outcome!
SPECIAL NOTE: During our introduction to the facilities the track owner/race organizer (Bob) told us that he himself worked with Tommy and Nicky Hayden as they made the transition from Dirt Tracking to Roadracing. He was the one who told them that they needed to be on bigger bikes, the same thing he told Corey and Josh after watching them ride their Metrakits. Tommy and Nicky were on 125’s at the time. He allowed the Haydens to ride the bigger bikes even before they were old enough for the various race series (WERA, CCS, etc) and club events around the country. Bob was also the one who let Earl Hayden (Tommy and Nicky’s dad) put Roger Lee Hayden (the youngest brother, now racing in the AMA) on a 750 at Nelson Ledges when he was just 13 yrs old.... and he didn't post anywhere near the times that our boys were doing this past weekend...
