My Dad and I flew into Paris, France and went down to the Hertz rental car place and got the car and a GPS, very smart move. We leave and get onto the autoroute and the first thing we see is the Tour Eiffel, (Eiffel Tower), it was awesome and so high.

So we begin to make our journey down to Valencia, Spain, 1534 kilometers away, about 1150 miles. It took us two long days of driving to get there, but at least it was a nice drive. If you looked you could see that there’s so much history from the 1000 year old castles on the top of mountains that have cliffs on both sides, to 200 year old houses with grapevines out in front. It was so cool driving into these small little towns. Even though I only have my permit, my Dad let me drive a lot of the way. I aquired a new taste while there. You see I’m a BIG milk drinker but in Europe they don’t have milk like we do here. I ended up drinking coffee or a soda called Orangina. Dad said the coffee wasn’t good for me, it would stunt my growth. Lol Just kidding.

We got to Cheste, the little town where the track is, on the first night and met this kid Jake and his trainer, Braxton Lane. I finally realized how big this whole thing was. This kid wasn’t here with his Dad or Mom, he came with his trainer. He was a Honda rider from Malaysia. He doesn’t go to school, he only races and trains. We went out to dinner and we ate at this little place, Greek food in Spain, lol. The food was pretty good and there were girls all over the place. It had to be 5 to 1 and me and Jake we’re pretty happy. They must have known why we were there as we were getting lots of attention.

Then the next day we went to the track just to look, not to ride and we met these two families from England. Both the Dad’s had Honda RC30s like my Dad does, so they hit it off right away. After the track went cold from a local track day, we all went out and walked the track together. It took a long time, it is huge. That was the night before the test. I had a really hard time getting to sleep, especially with my Dad’s snoring lol.

The next day we got up early and I went for a run and then we got to the track 8 o’clock in the morning. We were one of the first ones there and then met some more Americans. At the briefing, we listened to Alberto Puig and Harold Bartol talk a little about what to expect. Sito Pons and his kid were there and everyone was kinda surprised that his kid even had to try out.

The rest of the day it was all the Americans that were hanging out together as we were the last session of the day. It seemed like everyone one from different countries stayed with each other. Alpinestars was there with demo stuff for us to try. I tried a pair of their MotoGP Pro boots and gloves, sweet. So when it was time for me to go, they took us into the pits and told us to get ready. It was kind of weird, we didn’t really see the point in this because they said that it was going to be an hour until we ride. There was supposed to be 30 min briefing and 30 min to get ready, but we don’t want to argue so we go and changed into our gear. When we went to the next room, the briefing room, we all sat down and the guy that was talking to us said that it is GP shift which means 1 up and the rest down, and the he asked any questions? He didn’t say anything else and then when we did ask a question he said it was a stupid question and it doesn’t matter.

So we were called out to go onto the bike, I was the first one out in my group and when I got out I felt something weird going on with the bike. The bikes revs were going up and down uncontrollably. So after 3 laps, I had to go in and switch bikes and lost 3 of my 10 or so laps. As I found out later, this bike had over 90 laps on it and was pretty spent. When I went back out, I could feel a huge difference. I went to hard on turn 5 and almost high-sided, I was doing a superman on the bike.

I dropped my lap time by 8 seconds and past several other riders by the time it was over. So when I got off, I was excited because I thought that I did good but I guess I didn’t do good enough. I thought that having identified a problem with the bike and switching and then lowering my times dramatically, they would think that was good, and that I saved the high side.

In the end it was an awesome experience and I am so happy we went. The guys from Alpinestars we’re really cool and let me keep the gear.

So we headed back towards Paris and on the way stopped at some really cool places. Chateau D’ Chambord, ~http://www.lvo.com/gb/mag/chateaux/cham/cham1.html~

This place was amazing. It was designed by Leonardo da Vinci a very long time ago. We went inside and walked around and saw what is supposedly a very famous staircase inside the castle. It is two staircases that wrap around each other. Legend has it that da Vinci designed it so that mistress’ could come down the staircase while their husbands are going up the staircase and they can’t be seen. We sat on benchs and climbed staircases that where ancient and where Kings and Queens had been centuries ago.

We also went to a medieval town called Carcassonne ~http://www.carcassonne.org~ that has an unbelievable history. It is the only town that didn’t fall to the Roman Empire during some war that I forget.

Another place we visited was an old chΓteaux that my Dad stayed at many years ago ~http://www.slh.com/france/st_symphorienlechateau/photographs1_stsdes.html~

When we got back to Paris, we had a day and a half to kill before our flight home. We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, walked around eating cheese, croissants and baguettes and spent a lot of time at the sidewalk cafes watching all the people. These people are crazy on their scooters and must be colorblind. I don’t think anyone can tell what a red signal light means. On our last night, we splurged and went to a fancy French restaurant and had six course dinner.

The flight home was pretty brutal. We flew from Paris to Chicago to Salt Lake City to Los Angeles changing planes at each city. I sure love it over there, but I was awfully glad to get home to my family and my dog.

I would also like to thank everyone for helping me get too where I am today and hopefully were I am going in the future.

Josiah Taulbee and everyone from SCminiGP who have supported me from day one.

~http://www.SCminiGP.com~

Ras Brodsky and Blata for sponsoring me for 2 years in a row.

~http://www.BaltaUSA.com~

Paul Grasham of Rooster Racing for building my engines, over and overa

~http://www.RoosterRacing.com~

All the great people at LABikers for their continued support and fundraising.

~http://www.labiker.com/about/~

All the racers at Willow Springs Motorcycle Club for their fundraising

~http://www.willowspringsraceway.com/clubs/wsmc/home.htm~

Mike and Brad Curtis of FleetServe in Texas for the airline tickets.

~http://www.FleetServe.com~

Jay Pitster who loaned me his RS125 to practice without even knowing me.

~http://www.mortgagebanq.com~

My Aunt and Uncle Steve & Muriel Price of San Francisco Sea Plane Tours.

~http://www.Seaplane.com~

Bruce Porter of Arai Helmets.

~http://www.AraiAmericas.com~

Erik Kuehn & Denny Arroyo of Sava West for my tires.

~http://www.SavaWest.com~

Scott King from Del Amo Motors

~http://www.delamo-motorsports.com~

All the many individual people that chipped in to help.

And finally, my Dad who gives up so much so I can have a shot at my dream. He’s even thinking of selling his beloved Honda RC30 to buy me a 125. I hope he doesn’t have to. I WANT IT…LOL

~http://www.sub-rosa.net~

~http://www.MyRC30.com~

Thank you,

Drew Price

SCminiGP #65

God’s Speed Harry.

Long time engine builder and tuner Harry Okuda (Okuda Racing) passed away on September 28th after fighting a long battle with cancer. Harry was an icon in mini road racing and was known for his super fast engines. We will all miss Harry.

Update: A memorial service has been scheduled for 1 p.m. October 4 at Rose Hills Memorial Park, 3888 Workman Mill Road, Whittier, CA 90601.

Saskatchewan Mini Roadracing Association (SMRA) hosted the fifth and final round of the Inaugural Western Canadian Mini Roadracing Series. Over 50 racers from clubs across Canada converged under the living skies at Martensville Speedway (Martensville, Saskatchewan, Canada) 20 minutes outside Saskatoon for a weekend celebration filled with competition, camaraderie and fun.

The two day event commenced Saturday evening with Super pole qualifying. Setting the stage for Sundays main event track times were reduced by several seconds over 2005: 2 seconds were reduced by the Thunder class by AMRA President Jay Fox with an impressive 53.8 on his stock CRF 100 and almost a full second on the NSR50RR bike by SMRA President John Lenz with a 52.6s. True to mini roadracing precedents set in the 2006 season the Youth Contingency Formula 80 Title Contenders Royce McLean and Matthew Bagshaw set the bar for the weekends festivities on Formula 80 Open GP bikes running in the 48’s.

As the sun rose Sunday morning the energy surrounding the camp of racers was intense. The sound of Formula 80, Motard, Thunder, 12″ wheel bikes and pocket bikes created an atmosphere which invigorated race enthusiasts as they prepared for a day of extraordinary racing. Rows of these æsmaller only in stature’ race bikes created a sight for the spectators that thrilled to the intense surroundings. Early morning practice only increased the excitement for all as riders and machines tantalized the crowd with brief excursions’ on the track.

Premier Series Formula 80 GP Open Heat # 1: title contenders McLean and Bagshaw acknowledge each other as they wait for the rest of the grid to line up. Only a few points separate each other in the standings for the WCMMR #1 plate, its all down to these two final heats. A great start by both the 11 year old and the 16 year old, early lead by Mclean, 17 year old John Ross MacRae out in second with a fantastic back of the pack start. With Bagshaw in third place the three young talented racers went into lap 6 with this line up; pressuring McLean in the bends. Then, in the hairpin just before the front straight MacRae stuffed his RS85 under McLean’s YZ85rr with Bagshaw in tow. The two checked out down the straight only to see MacRae tuck the front end in turn two leaving Bagshaw alone in the lead with McLean close behind. With three laps to go Bagshaw and McLean cat and mouse around the track, McLean gaining on the straights while Bagshaw confirms his amazing elbow dragging cornering ability. The checkered sees Bagshaw take the flag with only feet to spare. Heat #2: MacRae runs in third place around the first corner after starting on the grid in last position. Mixing it up with McLean and Bagshaw all three run neck and neck; Mclean puts his head down, setting the track record with a 47.7s on his second lap maintaining the speed for three high speed laps and finishing in the lead for the win and the series title. MacRae and Bagshaw follow close behind with a show of incredible competition and sportsmanship dicing it up as they have for the last five years.

Stock Classes accentuate a rider’s abilities and the NSR50RR Class is no exception. John Lenz SMRA President sets the pace at his home track, followed closely by AMRA’s Bagshaw and MacRae. Phenomenal racing rounded every corner as skills and talents were emphasized for the 10 lap event. Round #5 sees the checkered flag owned by Lenz, 2nd Bagshaw and 3rd MacRae. The Series sees Stuart Johnston who traveled from Vancouver BC for just one point take the title. With Lenz in second and AMRA President, Fox, is knocked off of the podium by his son with a tie for third place. Who ever said it was a good idea to race with your kid?

Stock Class Thunder Series: Almost 50 year old MacNeil burned up corner after corner on his XR 100, closely followed by 40 year old Fox on his CRF 100. 16 year old Bagshaw had to work hard to maintain a lead on 40 + year old Titmus as they bumped tires corner after corner in true motocross style. Only racers who have earned each others trust and respect can ride as tight as these four racers did for the full battle which preceded the drop of the checkered flag.

To highlight the emerging skills of the Mini Roadracing Youth Contingency AME Magazine has sponsored the 21 & Under Series. Spectator’s expectations were exceeded as Gerbrandt, MacRae and Bagshaw set a rhythm around Martensville Speedway which was poetic to watch. Flying under the checkers in first, second and third place. The Series title was awarded to Gerbrandt who beat out Bagshaw by one point.

The new season of Pocketbike Racers didn’t disappoint the crowds as they proved again these extreme machines are more than just ornamental. The skill and competence needed to pilot these bikes around the track continues to amaze racers and enthusiasts from all backgrounds. Jamie Dingwall of Phatbikes ran away with an miraculous 70 point lead over second place in the Pocketbike Open Class, while Glen Peterson barely held first place over Grinn and Barrett Motosports own Brendon Schmidt with a three point difference in the Pocketbike 40 cc Class.

In the Ladies class Chelsea McLean earned 92 points for the season on her 2004 NSR 50, followed by rookie Kayseas Redsky and in third place CIMRA’s own Janet Graham.

Youth Classes hold the promise of a great future for the next generation of roadracing. Tyler Robinson held off Allyssa Fox for an overall first place series title closely followed by Teagan Edie in the Youth 8-10 class. Brother of Teagan, Bodhi Edie held the field in the youth 10-14 class followed by Emerson Lefurgey and Max Mann-MacNeil. Congratulations!

Congratulations and Thank you to all the racers and their families who have participated in the inaugural WCMRR series. A special thanks to all the volunteers and to Race Directors Mike Bruce Round #1, Dave Rudd Round #2, Scott Nalder Round #3 & 4 and Guy Vince Round #5 for all your support. Special Mention to Club Presidents: PCMRA Paul Ludwig, CIMRA Steve Graham, SMRA John Lenz and AMRA Jay Fox for all their efforts in the successful fruition of this series plus the growth and recognition of the sport, Mini RoadRacing.

What’s next for the Western Canadian Clubs?, Regional events are to be held at most local tracks in fact the AMRA Regional season is less than 70% complete. Then we all move indoors for the National double header Indoor Series in Calgary and Edmonton Alberta in January 2007. See www.amra.ca for schedules and Information.

Thinking about becoming involved in this great sport? The following was sent in by SMRA’s newest Member:

“Well I have a little something to say; Thank You all so very much for getting me going in this great sport! I didn’t place high enough to get some time on that microphone today, however I just want to share some of my thoughts on competing in my first race weekend!

Wow, What an absolute blast!!! The camaraderie between all the riders and the excitement from the competition this past weekend was something else to say the least! I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun in one weekenda It was a memorable weekend for all the right reasons and I’m eager to see what more races and more experience will bring to me as a rider and as a member of the SMRA. Thanks again for everything! Best Regards, Tyler Fehr”

What does your family do for fun?

About WCMRR

Western Canadian Mini RoadRacing Series is a series comprised of Western Canadian Clubs who wish to emphasize Fun Family Racing with a focus on camaraderie, competition and sportsmanship. For the inaugural 2006 season Fox Family RoadRacing is the Primary Organizer and Sponsor of this extremely successful series. For the 2007 season the series will be a National Series; expanding and including more clubs and tracks into the schedule. For additional details contact amra@shaw.ca or visit ~http://www.amra.ca~

Alright race fans, the moment we have all been waiting for. The last race of the season is finally here and the results are in. The race took place at The Track at Centennial, located in Denver, CO. It was a beautiful day for our final race. The temp was a cool 65 degrees and clear skies. There was a great turn out for our last event of the year. Alright lets get to it.

Junior A: first place David D., second place Jordon S. and third place Britnee R.

Junior B: First place Jordon S., second place Britnee R. and third place was Madison C.

Senior A: First place, Sarah C., second place Mike D. and third place Bobby B.

Senior B: Tied for first place was Marcus W. and Steve V.. third place was Paul C.

Senior C: Frist place was Jason M., second place Steve V. and third place Marcus W.

Alright now for the final season results:

Britnee R., riding a modifed cag, took the podium in the junior A class for the season! She is a great rider with alot of potential! Her outstanding effort through out the year made her a champion. Second place went to Jordon S. Jordon rode a modified cag. Jordon is one fast rider. He gave all the juniors a hard time out there. Third place went to Madison C on her modified cag. Madison showed that consistancy gets you on the podium. Great job kids, we look forward to seeing you again next year! Let’s all step it up to a euro 4.2 and see what happens!

Junior B. was clinched by Britnee R. on her modified cag. Second place went to super fast David D. on his modified cag. David D. is the most improved junior I saw out there this year! He is starting to develope as a rider. Third place went to Jordon S. Lets keep up the great work guys.

Senior A was won by Mike D. on his modified cag. Awsome job Mike! do it again next year! Second place went to Sarah C. on her cag. Sarah wasn’t quit close enough to catch Mike with points, but she gave it a great try! Third place went to Quinn S. Quinn did not race the last race due to broken thumb and still managed to stay in third for the year! we’ll see you again next year!

Senior B was clinched the last race of the day by Steve V. on his BMS. There was only a 6 point lead coming into the day. He managed to come out 4 points ahead. Paul C. on his polini powered banshee, placed second. Paul is Mr. consistency! He don’t crash and always is up at the front! Congrats Paul! great year! Third place went to Kevin Coax, on his Gianinni R-1. Kevin was a new come to RMMMC and had an outstanding season! definatly some to watch for next year.

Senior C. was won by Steve V. on his BMS. even though he had some amazing crashes he managed to hold on to his lead. Second place was cliniched by Kevin Coax. during the last race. Kevin riding his Gianinni R-1 managed to hold off Paul C. during the last moto to put him ahead in the points! great riding Kevin! Paul C. took third place for the year aboard his banshee. Paul always has a good day on the track! we all look forward to next year!

Thank you to our sponsors! Smokin’ Pocketbikes, MiniGPX, and SavaWest! We are all thankful fo everything you have done! We look forward to woking with you next year!

Please check out our website for the final results for everyone! stay tuned for next year, things will get even closer! ~http://www.rmminimoto.com~

USminiGP will have an exhibition ride during the Street Extreme Miami event held October 21-22 at the Miami-Dade Fair Expo. More information on the event can be found at ~http://www.streetextrememiami.com/email1.htm~

Riders from all over the country came together last weekend to compete in the Annual AMA Road Racing Grand Championships at the Mid-Ohio MotorSports Course in Lexington. The event is an annual tradition during which the Annual Horizon Award is presented to up-and-coming riders based on their performance and sportsmanship during the event.

Also awarded, and in only its second year of presentation, is the AMA Road Racing Top Novice of the Year. This year’s award went to 16 year old newcomer Robert Wilkey, rider #119 of Fairfax Station, Virginia. Wilkey’s stellar performance produced 6 straight wins in six starts including 600cc SUPERSTOCK NOVICE, 600cc SUPERBIKE NOVICE, 750cc SUPERBIKE NOVICE, 1000cc SUPERSTOCK NOVICE, 1000cc SUPERBIKE NOVICE and FORMULA 1000cc NOVICE.

His performance included a spectacular rain race on Saturday that saw Wilkey start dead last, on pit row, and make his way through two full waves of riders in the course of the 8 lap race in the pouring rain to take the lead and win. Exciting too was the 750cc SUPERBIKE NOVICE race on Sunday that saw Wilkey go from a Second Wave start to race leader in less than one lap before running away with the win.

Officials at the race said that they “have not seen a Novice ride like this in at least 20 years!” One commentator remarked that “Wilkey’s got more poise and control than riders with many times his years and experience.”

You can bet he will be just as exciting to watch at the upcoming National Club Championship Finals. Look for him at the:

WERA Grand National Finals at Road Atlanta, October 12-15, and

CCS Race Of Champions at Daytona International Speedway, October 20-22

The AMA Sports Report can be found at:

~http://www.amadirectlink.com/amrace/2006/rr/Index.asp~

Bruce Porter is the Director of Motorsports Promotion and Marketing for Arai Helmets. In his 20+ year career with Arai has helped his racers achieve over 400 championships.

He gave us a quick run down on how best to clean a faceshield:

• The visors are made of Polycarbonate Plastic, and are very sensitive to alcohol and ammonia.

• Don’t use alcohol or ammonia based cleaners (see above).
• The best solution to clean with is non-abrasive soap and water.
• Soak the visor in water to get soften up the bugs. Lay a wet towel on the shield if you don’t have a sink.
• Hard bugs are like a fine grit sandpaper, don’t use your fingernail to scratch them off. Taking the time to soften up bugs with allow the face shield to be cleaned with no impact to the shields overall clarity.
• Use a soft rag (such as a clean cotton shirt) and wipe the shield clean.

Arai Helmets wants to update our customers involved in our voluntary program to repair helmets that experienced a loosening of the flexible black trim strip around the helmet’s lower perimeter:

The Arai “Pre-Paid Return” offer for these helmets only expires on September 29, 2006. “The UPS Stores” will no longer pack and ship helmets at no charge after September 29, 2006. Helmets shipped on or after October 2, 2006 would revert to the normal warranty program procedures.

“We’re issuing this update because some of the riders affected may have thought that simply registering their helmets by September 29th was sufficient. But the helmets must be shipped to us for the trim-strip repair by the 29th in order to get the free shipping,” said Brian M. Weston, Director of Operations. He added again that Arai has also extended “our standard five-year warranty for Lower Trim Strip related issues by an additional two years to give all affected customers time to respond and be covered. We want to accommodate everybody and make all our customers happy. Our first priority is to get the strips re-fastened and returned as quickly as possible, and to allow the extra warranty time for everyone to respond.”

Weston reiterated that the loosening was traced to a limited number of helmets in a production run some time ago, and has since been corrected.

For full details, affected consumers should log onto ~http://araiamericas.com/qcs_query_tech.html~ to register helmets for repair and begin the process. This address is for Lower Trim Strip repairs only. All other warranty inquiries must use the normal warranty channels.

10th Annual AMA Sports Road Race Grand Championships

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

Lexington, Ohio

September 24, 2006

Provisional Race Results:

72cc METRAKIT (all on Metrakit 72s):

1. Tommy Aquino

2. Cassidy Heiser

3. Antonio Filho

4. Hayden Gillim

5. Michael Aquino

6. Ethan Gillim

7. Eric Yurejefcic

8. Dylan Burgess

Below are the times from the 72cc Metrakit spec class. It appears only 9 riders are running the class restricted to Metrakit’s bikes. Mid-Ohio is getting some light rain and qualifying was delayed on Friday because of the weather conditions. Due to the delay, Metrakit qualifying took place Saturday morning.

Metrakit 72 Qualifying (short course)

1. Tommy Aquino, 1:33.054

2. Hayden Gillim, 1:34.825

3. Cassidy Heiser, 1:35.093

4. Antonio Filho, 1:35.461

5. Michael Aquino, 1:40.656

6. Ethan Gillim, 1:40.890

7. Eric Yurejefcic, 1:41.950

8. Dylan Burgess, 1:46.686

9. Ben Solis, û