T
wo weeks ago, Gar-
rett Gerloff became
the first American to
compete in a MotoGP pre-
miere-class event since the
late great Nicky Hayden in
2016. Gerloff was a regular
competitor in the USGPRU
Moriwaki MD250H Pow-
ered by Honda race series
back in 2008, '09, and '10.
Ray Blank, who was
the senior vice president
of American Honda dur-
ing that time, was intent
on feeding the MotoGP ranks
with American talent. Ray is
a road race enthusiast, and
he was instrumental in getting
Nicky Hayden his Repsol Honda
MotoGP ride back in 2003.
Throughout his tenure, Ray
used his power and influence
to further the American Honda
road race program and made it
one of the most winning teams
of all time. But in 2008 the AMA
inexplicably sold the rights to
pro road racing to the Daytona
Motorsports Group without any
input from, or consideration for,
the manufacturers. It was a move
that left American road racing
in shambles for many years to
come. But Ray knew that there
were other ways to ensure that
young Americans kept racing, so
he reached out to Midori Mori-
waki.
The Honda and Moriwaki
families have long been partners
in road racing in Japan. Mori-
waki had just introduced the
MD250H, which used a Honda
CRF250R motor in a very small
Grand Prix–style chassis. I was
P124
CN
III WHEELSPIN
BY KEITH DOWDLE
MORIWAKI
MD250H-
TRIUMPHS AND
TRAGEDIES
Peter Lenz takes a victory lap
after one of his many wins as
a young road race star.
