Buhl Sport Detroit confirms Augie Lerch to debut in GRC Lites this week

Photos: Buhl Sport Detroit
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Augie Lerch, who ran the first half of this year’s Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda season, will make his Red Bull Global Rallycross debut this week in the GRC Lites class. He’ll drive the No. 4 Opportunity Detroit/Buhl Sport Detroit entry, the car and sponsor of which were announced late last month.

The Tucson driver also competed in three Stadium Super Truck races this season, to gain experience on dirt.

“I have been on pavement for most of my racing career,” Lerch said in a release. “This year I competed in three Stadium Truck races with a best finish of third at the Sands Sports Super Show round. I have been a big fan of the GRC series and when Robbie Buhl called with this opportunity it was too exciting to pass up.”

Lerch will be part of a 14-car GRC Lites field that also includes fellow past Mazda Road to Indy drivers Austin Cindric, Colette Davis and Gustavo Menezes.

SuperMotocross set to introduce Leader Lights beginning with the World Championship finals

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In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.