Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1392185
VOLUME 58 ISSUE 28 JULY 13, 2021 P125 in charge of amateur racing back then, so Ray tasked me with building a youth road race series using the MD250H. It was a daunting ask. While I had tons of experience with amateur motocross, I had no experience with amateur road racing, so we would need help from someone outside the walls of AHM to get this done. We sent out an RFP (request for proposal) to pretty much every sanctioning body we could think of, and the United States Grand Prix Rac- ers Union (USGPRU) rose to the top. Within a few months, we had gone from nothing to the starting grid of our first race with an impressive roster of riders, including Jake Lewis, Garett Gerloff, Hayden Gillim and other top young riders from around the country. Things were look- ing bright for the future of youth road racing, and specifically, the MD250H program. The series grew slowly over the next year, and in 2010 we proposed an MD250H USGPRU race to be held in conjunction with the Red Bull MotoGP at Indy. But it wasn't going to be as easy as we thought. The India- napolis Motor Speedway refused the race several times citing their concern for liability with young kids racing on the famed course, but I was persistent and explained why we wanted to do this and how important it could be for the future of youth road racing in America. Eventually the management team at Indy gave in and allowed the race to happen. We were thrilled, as we knew that this would give the eyes of the world and the heads of state in the MotoGP paddock a look at the talented kids that America was grooming for Mo- toGP, despite the fact that Ameri- can professional road racing was struggling. Garrett Gerloff won both races of the two-race series that weekend at Indy and stood atop the podium at a MotoGP event for the first time ever, but his success was just a footnote to a tragedy that all but doomed the MD250H program and put a dark shadow over youth motor- cycle racing. During the warm- up lap for race two, Peter Lenz, who was a promising young star of American road racing, was killed when he crashed and was struck by another rider. None of the riders knew what had happened to Peter when they came around to take their place on the grid. Most knew that he had crashed, but it was on the warm-up lap, so no one thought much about it and the race went on with Gerloff dominating the field just has he had done in race one. After the race, when we learned that Peter had been killed, we were all devastated. In the coming days, Peter's death would attract the attention of the mainstream news media, who immediately started point- ing fingers at the parents, the sanctioning organization, Indy Motor Speedway, and of course, the manufacturers. From CNN to the major networks, they all globbed on to the story, mak- ing up nonsense and acting like experts over something that they knew nothing about. Had they taken the time to actually inves- tigate youth motorcycle racing, they would have learned that it's all about family. Parents support- ing their kids in pursuit of their dreams. What the news media never understood is the passion for racing that lives within riders like Peter Lenz, Garrett Gerloff, and every other kid who's ever had the opportunity to race. A passion for life and a love for something so deep that even after witnessing tragedy first- hand, they continue to don their helmets, put down the visor, and race. Peter was 13 years old on the day he took his last ride, but he was already known to the Mo- toGP paddock for his tenacious appetite for racing and winning. I'm certain that he was watching over Garrett Gerloff in his debut on a MotoGP machine. Congratulations, Garrett, and I hope that you'll soon be stand- ing atop the podium at another MotoGP event, only this time in the premier class. Peter would be proud. CN