|
LATEST
Twelve-year-old Elena Myers at wins both the 125
and 250cc races at Portland International
Raceways.
6/05
Elena
wins 125GP at Portland International
Raceway!!!
Elena
Makes 125GP
debut!!
Elena
wins both 125 and 250cc races at
PIR!!
Myers
has rough weekend at USGPRU
Final
BIO
Web site www.elenamyers.com
 ,
E-Mail
Related Issue:
Women
Racers
Directory,
Women
in Racing,
Women
Racers,
More
Women in
Racing,
Race
Schedules,
Notable
Women
Elena wins 125GP at
Portland International Raceway!!!
12 year old Arclight Racing / UmbrellaGirls USA
sponsored rider, Elena Myers, won her very first
125GP race this past weekend at Portland
International Raceway in Oregon.
After her 4th place finish at the Streets of
Willow track in Southern California this past June,
this Northern California phenom was invited up by
OMMRA to take their new riders novice school and
get her official "Big Track" license. Very excited
about this opportunity, Elena didn't take long to
impress the powers that be when it came time to hit
the track. Immediately she was comfortable with the
very fast and very flat circuit by lapping in the
1:17 range on her very first day, times that are
considered very competitive. However, her best time
of the weekend came on Saturday's practice with a
1:15.8...a time that would have easily put her on
pole for last months USGPRU national!
By race day, Elena was very comfortable and
wasted no time in winning the first 125GP 4
lap-qualifing race by over 10 seconds to secure
pole position for the 10 ap main. Main event time.
When the green flag dropped, Myers got a bad start
and was in third by turn one behind fast locals Rob
Tatom and Mike McDonough. It didn't take long
however, as Elena made her move on lap one around
the outside of Portland's
back straight to grab the top spot, a spot that
she would not relinquish. By the white flag, Myers
had built up a lead of over 20 seconds and cruised
home to take her first GP win! At the awards
ceremony after the race, and as a big bonus, the
President of OMMRA granted her Expert status!
Elena has now officially become the youngest
rider in OMMRA's 33 year history to be granted
"Expert" status. Elena thanked all her great
sponsors and was quoted at the ceremony saying "I
want to thank OMMRA for giving me this great
opportunity and for believing in me, it was an
awesome experience."
6/05
Continuing with her astonishing learning curve,
UmbrellaGirlsUSA sponsored rider Elena Myers took 4
seconds off her best lap time at her most recent
track day at Thunder Hill raceway. Right from the
get go Elena was down into the low 2:05's in her
first session. By the 5th and final session, and
finally with no one in front of her, she knocked
off several
2:03's and then did her best of 2:02.56. These
times would most likely put her on the podium in an
AFM race!
With this being just her 3rd time at the track,
Elena was finally comfortable with not only the
track layout but the bike as well. When asked by
her father after he showed her the time "Well how
did that feel!" she replied "Fine but kinda slow"
she went on to say "What a difference a clear track
makes, I can't believe I did those times."
Stay tuned for some exciting news regarding a
little trip up north, details to follow soon.
Elena Makes 125GP
debut!!
Arclight sponsored rider Elena Myers made her 125GP
debut this past weekend at Willow Springs raceway
in Southern Claifornia. This once a year event held
at the Streets of Willow track was the perfect
venue for this rising stars first outing. Run by
the CMRRA minibike club, the weekend consisted of
all day practice on Saturday and a 2 race/moto
format for Sunday's races. Elena having been used
to tight and twisty circuits had no trouble
figuring out the very fast and very technical 1.8
mile track by lapping in the low 1:28's by the end
of her last practice session. While a few of the
fast guys were already in the 1:26's, Elena felt
confident that by the end of the day she would be
ready for Sunday's event.
Against a field of 16 riders, several of which
were the USGPRU top brass, Elena managed to draw
pole position for race one. Green drops and Elena
holeshots in turn one only to be passed by John
Schendel with a bold out-braking move up the
inside. She held on to second for a few more turns
but was passed again by a few more experienced
riders. Elena turning high 1:27's, managed to hold
on to fifth by the checkers for a second row start
in the main. Main event: Knowing what she had to do
and where she was loosing time, Elena was
determined not to make the same mistakes she had in
the first race. Starting from the second row she
put her head down when the green flew and charged
into turn one in the fifth spot. She nabbed one
rider on the exit to get into the 4th spot and
nearly out-broke the 3rd place rider by turn three.
It was a tight battle up front with all 4 riders
nose to tail.
As the laps wore on the 2 up front, Ben Solis
and John Schendel were battling hard, with Ryan
Ferris and Elena starting to lose touch. White
flag: By now, there was about a 3 second separation
between Ferris and Myers, who was securely in 4th.
As far as the rest of the field goes, they were
pretty much out of it as Elena crossed the line
with one lap to go. Starting to reel Ferris in a
bit for a last ditch effort, Elena managed to close
the gap slightly but it was not enough as she
settled for 4th place at the checkers some 2+
seconds behind Ferris. More than pleased, Myers
managed a best lap time of 1:26.4 seconds, just a
little over a 2 seconds off the 125cc lap
record!!
Elena wins both 125 and 250cc
races at PIR!!
Arclight Racing / UmbrellaGirls USA sponsored
rider, Elena Myers, once again paid a visit to
Portland, Oregon this past weekend for race number
7 of OMRRA's 8 race series. After achieving expert
status with a victory at her first visit, Elena
decided to enter both the 125 and 250GP classes.
Though the 250cc class was fielded with mostly
125's, it was nonetheless a great way to get track
time and work on bike set-up especially since
Saturday's usual all day practice was cut short
with a 4 hour endurance race.
Race day...Greeted with mild weather with temps
in the low 70's, Elena riding her 97 Honda RS125,
again tasted victory in not only the 125GP race but
the 250cc class as well. Myers easily won both 10
lap mains by well over 20 seconds. In the 250 race,
she nearly equalled the 125GP lap record, missing
out by just a few 10ths with a lap of 1:15.1 and
all while running into traffic from OMRRA's usual
multi bike,
multi wave start. This last outing caps off
Elena's phenomenal 125GP debut with three victories
in three starts. Quoting Elena "I wanna say thanks
to all my awesome sponsors, family and fans for the
great support this year, I can't wait till
2006!
Myers has rough weekend at
USGPRU Final
With some last minute sponsors help coming through,
Elena made a decision and decided to do just one
more race to wrap up a great first year of 125GP
racing. The logistics were tough but everyone came
through. Here's how it went.
With limited time to learn a new track and on a
rented bike, Elena was making the most of the two
sessions that she got on Saturday when things went
all wrong.
Myers, who was making her national debut at this
USPRGU final in Texas, struggled with a high speed
crash during qualifying. The USGPRU runs a 20
minute qualifying session to determine grid
positions for the main event. After setting
competitive times on her final lap of her last
practice session, she was ready to qualify. On her
second lap of qualifying she was overtaken on the
outside of turn 6 (a wide open 4th gear turn) when
the over taking rider made contact with her handle
bar sending Elena into a wild tank slapper. She
tried to recover but ran off the track at over
100m.p.h where she cart wheeled herself and the
bike to a stop. Battered and bruised she got up
only to find her bike did not fair as well. With
two swollen knees, some road rash a destroyed brand
new helmet and a destroyed bike, Elena at best,
would have to start at the back of the pack, that
is if we got the bike back together. After icing
down her knees and taking some anti-inflammatories,
Elena went to sleep in hopes of feeling ok for
Sunday's race. We managed to piece back together
the bike with some help from some fellow racers so
by race time, we were ready to go. Elena woke on
Sunday morning with her left knee badly bruised and
swollen the size of a softball. We had some
concerns about whether she would be able to
position herself on the bike as she struggle to fit
into her leathers. After taking some
anti-inflammatories and warming up the area she
mounted the bike and felt she was fit to ride.
Though she only got in one and a half laps of
qualifying she was still gridded in front of 3
other riders as her out lap of 2:05 was used for
her qualification. When the green flag dropped
Elena got a great start and rocketed by both rows
in front of her. By the time she came around for
lap one, she was in 14th position! Unfortunately,
the race was red flagged on the following lap which
meant a total restart from the original grid
position. On the re-start, Elena again got a great
start, this time coming around for lap one in 16th
position. She battled hard and made it up to 15th
going back and fourth with several riders. On lap 9
and in still in 15th position, Elena struggling
with the pain of her injuries, began to fade
slightly as she was passed by two riders when she
made a mistake and ran off the track. She regained
control and found herself back in 18th place where
she conceded to just finish and make it through the
race eventually finishing in that spot.
Though she was upset about the idea of finishing
back so far, we were all very proud of her results.
Elena showed some real courage to get back on and
race after such a high speed get off. At the
official awards ceremony after the races, she was
given a special "Tough Luck" award which cheered
her up. She was also given special consideration
for her efforts and bravery from the president of
the USGPRU.
Elena learned a lot from this past weekend,
about herself and what she is capable of
accomplishing, especially when things don't go her
way. After everything was said and done she still
said she had a good time. After all, that's what
really counts in the end.
Stay tuned for next year!
Photo Courtesy of Keith
Henry
BIO
I was born: November 21st 1993 in Mt. View,
California
I live in: Northern California with my Mom and Dad
and younger sister Sara
Race influences: Valentino Rossi and John
Hopkins
Hobbies: I have fun hanging out with friends and
playing sports like Basketball and of course,
playing MotoGP on PS2
My favorite music is: Pop
My favorite food is: Italian, Japanese, Mexican,
just about everything
Racing History: Turned Expert in 2004
I first Started riding at the age 8 on a little
50cc minibike my dad got me. I didn't really like
it at first so we sold it and got a couple of
Go-Ped Goquads. After riding around on the mini
karts I got kinda bored so we sold those and that's
when we discovered pocket bikes. My dad started a
pocketbike racing club where we live and I began to
compete. It took me a little while to get used to a
small pocket bike but after a few months of
practice at our local track, we went down to So Cal
where I won my first junior pocket bike race. From
there it was just practice, practice, practice.
That first year of racing I became the PBRN West
Coast junior champion and our club's (WCMRA) junior
champion. In-between the pocketbike racing I got my
first taste of a shifter bike. I got a Kawasaki
KX60 and began to do a little Flat track and
Supermoto racing, which was a lot of fun. After you
learn to shift a bike it's hard to go back to
pocketbikes so it was Motard for me for the next
year. In 2003 I raced in SupermotoUSA's
superlightweight class. For half the year I rode
the KX60 but by mid season we got a brand new
Suzuki RM85. That year I finished 3rd in the
championship against 2 national supermoto champs.
It was a fun season and I learned a lot. I really
love the pavement and it's where I do the best so
for 2004 I began to concentrate more on road
racing. There was a new mini road race club
starting at our local track called the SMRRC so we
joined and I began racing my RM85, which by now was
built up mainly for road racing. I also raced a
Honda XR100 in two classes as well. 2004 was such
an awesome year, I met some great friends and had a
great time. That year I won 3 championships, an
endurance race, and became the youngest female road
racer in American history to ever win a 80cc Expert
title!
What's up for 2006?
Well, it's a new year and I'm on a new team,
Roadracing World.com's team 'Kids: Don't Smoke!'.
I'll be racing my RS125 GP bike in the WERA West
series along with selected West Coast USGPRU
national events. It's going to be an exciting new
year with a great team and opportunity. I want to
thank John for believing in me and giving me this
chance of a lifetime. Stay tuned for some great
results!
Pigtails. Photo courtesy of Bob
Pengraph
* * *
WomenInRacing.org
©1996-2007 by of Gordon Clay
|
