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YJR Racing
The team name comes from John and Yustin
Riopko. Yustin is John and Cathy's son. The name Yustin is the Ukrainian
version of Justin. It was both John's father and brothers name. Yustin is limited to dirt bike right now but may one day become
the teams "A" rider.
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| Mark Brennan and Yustin Riopko, (John's brother). Mark located the parts for the teams first bike. |
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Our History
John Riopko is the rider on the team contesting CCS events on a Yamaha FZR400. John
was born in 1960 and has been involved with motorcycles since the age of 3. At the age of 40 John deciced that street riding
was not as fun or safe as it used to be. After many years of attending motorcycle road racing events he decided to participate.
For the next two years John investigated the requirements of racing and set about building the team. Two old RD 400's and
some additional parts were located by John's brother inlaw Mark Brennan. From these parts the first race bike was born. It
was originally decided to contest Formula RD in the WERA Vintage series. In 2001 John first took to the track at a NESBA track
day and participated in several of these events in the 2002 season. In the summer of 2002 John took the Learning Curves roadracing
liscense class and was ready to race. During this time it was determined that the vintage 2 stroke required too much upkeep
and a modern bike would be more desirable.
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The Beginning
John's first race was a CCS event at Summit Point West Virginia in September 2002. He raced the vintage RD400 in a race
for modern bikes. While the results were less than memorable the racing hook was set. At this event the team purchased a 1988
Yamaha FZR400 that had been wrecked with the intent of building a competitive ride for CCS Lightweight and Middleweight Sportsman
classes.
First race weekend at summit, note FZR400 in trailer.
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