May 27-28, 2017
Round Three of the American Federation of Motorcyclists kicked off with surprisingly mild temperatures on Saturday at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, California.
Saturdays practice sessions showed Formula Pacific perennial front runner, Chris Siglin putting his Fastline BMW S1000RR on the top of the charts in four of the five practice sessions followed closely by Wyatt Farris, Cory Call and Tyler O’Hara, setting up for a good show for Sunday’s race.
Sundays race arrived and revs and heartbeats all rose as the one board went sideways. Tyler O’Hara on his Jim Deehan BBJK/MC Tech tuned Kawasaki ZX-10R, would jump to the front with Farris and Call in tow. Ezra Beaubier got an amazing launch from the second row and would put his One6Sport Yamaha YZF-R6 into fourth as they went around Turn One. However, that start took its toll on his clutch and Beaubier would have to retire from the race after a couple of laps.
At the front, O’Hara and Farris would run nose to tail with Call and Siglin in tow. Siglin moving into third on the second lap and the four circulated the 15-turn track running mid to high 1:48’s. In lap eight Call and his San Jose BMW S1000RR would work his way around Siglin. On the next lap, Farris on his Bikers 911/Indian Resort & Spa/GP Suspension Kawasaki ZX-10R, would make a daring inside pass on O’Hara in the last set of turns before the front straight.
With O’Hara leading out of Turn 13, Farris jumped into the draft as they headed to Turn 14. With leg dangling, Farris would get to the inside of O’Hara as they both went to the apex. O’Hara would pull back in front on the outside while Farris squared off Turn 14 and launched himself back to the inside of O’Hara in Turn 15 and into the lead as they came out onto the front straight. Farris would hold onto the lead the next couple laps and take the top step 0.7 second in front of O’Hara as the checkered flag fell. On lap 11, Call, trying to get back in touch with the lead duo, would run a 1:48.240 for fastest lap of the race and followed O’Hara across the line just under one second back to finish third.
The 600 classes started the day with 600 Supersport. In the Expert class, Brandon Crawford took the victory over Ezra Beaubier. However, the Novice class had a great battle between Hani Bisharat and Nick Lundquist. These two battled for the lead the entire race with announcer Vik Anderson screaming over the PA every lap as they would crest Turn Nine side by side. With never more than 0.249 second separating them each time they crossed the line, at the end when it mattered, it would by Bisharat over Lundquist at the line by the slimmest of margins taking the victory with a 0.045 second lead.
Later in the day, the showdown in 600 Superbike race between Ezra and Brandon unfortunately didn’t materialize as Crawford, the other 600cc bike being represented in Formula Pacific race, had a mishap and didn’t make the start of this race. Beaubier got the win and we’ll all have to wait for this battle to resume in Round Four. Bisharat and Lundquist did however occur, and these two picked up right where they left off. The lead never being more than the 0.610 second on the fourth lap. At the finish line, it would again be Hani Bisharat over Nick Lunquist by 0.782 second. When compared to their last race, it must have seemed like a decisive victory. All we know, it’s going to be fun watching these two novices battling with each other along with Beaubier and Crawford in the Expert class.
In AFemme action, the ladies did not disappoint. Valentine Welch got a great launch on her 600 followed by the pair of Kawasaki ZX-10Rs of AJ Jacobsen and Jennifer Lauritzen. Jacobsen would take the lead on lap two and on lap three, Lauritzen would make a charge forward and displace Welch for the number two spot. The trio then ran into lapped traffic bunching them together, but all three negotiated easily through with Jacobsen leading Welch and Lauritzen. Unfortunately, there was a crash on the start of lap five stopping the race and they would finish in the same order and only one second separating the trio.
In small bike action over the weekend, rookie Marc Edwards, on the Eric Kondo Racing Yamaha YZF-R3, continues to impress as he raced against the fast team of the Catalyst Reaction Tuning camp, consisting Patryk Buchcik, Paul Johnson, and Gordon Pull . Also on these grids, were AFM standouts and MotoAmerica KTM Cup contestants, Cory Ventura and Brett Voorhees.
Saturday’s Formula Three race or pitted Mark Fitzy Fitzsimmons and his Honda NSR250F again against the kids and their street based bikes. Edwards got a great launch and jumped out to commanding lead early. Fitzy had a rough start and the first time across the line was in sixth spot and having to work hard to get back to the front where Edwards was. But in the fourth lap, he came across the line as the leader with Edwards all over his rear tire. At the finish, it would be Mark Fitzsimmons over Marc Edwards by 0.752 second. A couple of races later in 350 Super Stock, Marc Edwards would win with a seven second plus some change lead to try and set a tone for Sunday.
On Sunday in Lightweight Twins, the grid would be unfortunately missing 2016 Champ Patrky Buchcik. However, Brett Voorhees on his Yamaha YZF R3 was on the grid and he and Edwards, wasted little time putting room between them and the rest of the field. With lots of passing on the straights and side by side riding, the two were never separated by more than .500 over four laps. In the fifth, the two started running into lapped traffic and Edwards opened the gap to 1.293 seconds. Refusing to give up, Voorhees ran fast lap of the race a 2:03.285 on the next and final lap and got by Edwards for the win with Cory Ventura rounding out the podium.
In the last race of the day, 250 Superbike, the young guns Edwards, Ventura and Voorhees would line up together to take the last green flag of the day. The race started out quickly with Voorhees leading Edwards, Ventura, and former class champion, Paul Johnson across the line. On lap three, Edwards would come across the line leading Voorhees with Ventura in tow, but Voorhees would take the lead back on the following lap as he and Edwards made a small break away. Edwards made an attempt to draft past on the last lap, but Voorhees maintained his lead down the front straight and won with a margin of 0.069 second as they crossed the finish line. Ventura would again round out the top three on his Spears Racing Yamaha YZF R3.
AFM Round Four will be held on July 15th and 16th at Thunderhill Raceway, Willows, California.
Results from Round Three
Formula III EXPERT
1. Mark Fitzsimmons (Hon)
2. Marc Edwards (Yam)
3. Brett Voorhees (Yam)
4. Paul Johnson (Kaw)
5. Cory Ventura (Yam)
Formula III NOVICE
1. Thomas Kendall (Yam)
2. Andrew Park (Kaw)
3. Ramkumar Subramanian (Yam)
4. Derek Powell (Kaw)
5. James Dills (Kaw)
Clubman LT EXPERT
1. Nicholas Shipilov (Yam)
2. Nick Gomez (Suz)
3. Miguel Correa (Suz)
4. Greg Jessee (Hon)
5. Larry Pasquale (Suz)
Vintage EXPERT
1. Paul Kieffer (Suz)
2. Mark McKinney (Yam)
3. Terry Cheney (Honda)
F40 HW EXPERT
1. Jason Lauritzen (Kaw)
2. Cory Call (BMW)
3. Hollis Adams (BMW)
4. Jon Bawden (Suz)
5. Tom Wilbert (BMW)
F40 HW NOVICE
1. Chad Haines (Kaw)
F40 MW EXPERT
1. Thomas Montana (Yam)
2. Stephen Rue (Hon)
3. Micah Larson (Yam)
4. Jahan Raissi (Tri)
5. Marten Bon (Kaw)
F40 MW NOVICE
1. Donald Marino (Suz)
2. James Roy (Kaw)
3. Dustin Tibbets (Suz)
4. Paul Blankenship (Yam)
5. Luis Nunes (Yam)
AFemme EXPERT
1. AJ Jacobsen (Kaw)
2. Valentine Welch (Suz)
3. Jennifer Lauritzen (Kaw)
Afemme NOVICE
1. Christine Harris (Yam)
F40 LW EXPERT
1. Dave Moss (Hon)
2. Charles Sorensen (Apr)
3. Ian Smith (Suz)
4. Aaron Tulchinsky (Yam)
5. Max Sawicky (Yam)
350 Super Stock EXPERT
1. Marc Edwards (Yam)
2. Patryk Buchcik (Kaw)
3. Cory Ventura (Yam)
4. Paul Johnson (Kaw)
5. Jay Kinberger (Yam)
350 Super Stock Novice
1. Andrew Park (Kaw)
2. Ramkumar Subramanian (Yam)
3. Alan Fortin (Kaw)
4. Derek Powell (Kaw)
5. Haim Beressi (Kaw)
F50 EXPERT
1. Gavin Botha (Yam)
2. Marten Bon (Yam)
3. Joe Hittner (Yam)
Clubman HW
1. Jade Oliver (Duc)
2. Wyman Apple
3. Paul Hess (Yam)
4. Ross Ferguson (Suz)
5. Jeremy King
Clubman MW
1. Nick Lundquist (Yam)
2. Hani Bisharat (Yam)
3. Salvator Rizzo (Yam)
4. James Roy (Kaw)
5. Son Vo (Yam)
650 Twins EXPERT
1. Martin Sullivan (Suz)
2. Sam Romick
3. Joshua Davies (Suz)
4. Aaron Tulchinky (Yam)
5. Charles Sorensen (Apr)
650 Twins NOVICE
1. Nick Gomez (Suz)
450 Super Stock EXPERT
1. Dave Moss (Yam)
2. Ian Smith (Suz)
3. Charles Coyston (Yam)
4. Paul Johnson (Yam)
5. Max Sawicky (Yam)
450 Super Stock NOVICE
1. Nicholas Shipilov (Yam)
2. Miguel Correa (Suz)
3. Xiao Xiao (Suz)
4. Chad May (Suz)
650 Twins EXPERT
1. Martin Sullivan (Suz)
2. Sam Romick
3. Joshua Davies (Suz)
4. Aaron Tulchinsky (Yam)
5. Charles Sorensen (Apr)
650 Twins NOVICE
1. Nick Gomez (Suz)
Formula II EXPERT
1. Roger Baker (Yam)
2. Mark Fitzsimmons (Hon)
3. Sergio Morales Galvan (Yam)
4. Norbert Katona (KTM)
5. Yuri Barrigan (Yam)
750 Super Stock EXPERT
1. Justin Merrick (Yam)
2. Jay Lee (Yam)
3. Steve Habura (Kaw)
4. Robert Brittain (Yam)
5. Ilya Roytman (Yam)
750 Super Stock NOVICE
1. Nick Lundquist (Yam)
2. Hani Bisharat (Yam)
3. Thomas Covinha (Yam)
4. Cyril Brun (Suz)
5. Dare Kolawole
Legacy HW EXPERT
1. Bawden (Suz)
2. Jose Flores (BMW)
3. Benjamin Hodges (Suz)
4. Christian Diegelman (Suz)
5. August Weber Jr. (Yam)
Legacy HW NOVICE
1. Ross Ferguson (Suz)
2. Jeremy King (Kaw)
3. Chad Haines (Kaw)
Legacy 250 EXPERT
1. Terry Cheney (Hon)
2. Paul Kieffer (Suz)
250 Super Stock EXPERT
1. Steve Driscoll (Suz)
2. Laura Lovet (Kaw)
3. Pao Vang (Kaw)
250 Super Stock NOVICE
1. Soua Yang (Kaw)
300 World Super Sport EXPERT
1. Marc Edwards (Yam)
2. Patryk Buchcik (Kaw)
3. Jay Kinberger (Kaw)
4. Eric Kondo (Yam)
5. Michael Kim (Kaw)
300 World Super Sport NOVICE
1. Ramkumar Subramanian (Yam)
2. Andrew Park (Kaw)
3. Alan Fortin (Kaw)
4. Derek Powell (Kaw)
5. James Dills (Kaw)
450 Superbike EXPERT
1. Dave Moss (Yam)
2. Ian Smith (Suz)
3. Charles Sorensen (Apr)
4. Charles Coyston (Yam)
5. Max Sawicky (Yam)
450 Superbike NOVICE
1. Nicholas Shipilov (Yam)
2. Miguel Correa (Suz)
Open Super Stock EXPERT
1. Wyatt Farris (Kaw)
2. Tyler O’Hara (Kaw)
3. Lenny Hale (Kaw)
4. Jason Lauritzen (Kaw)
5. Ricardo Villegas (Yam)
Open Super Stock NOVICE
1. Donato Pepe (Kaw)
2. Paul Hess (Yam)
3. Ross Ferguson (Suz)
4. Adi Nureddin (BMW)
5. Chad Haines (Kaw)
Open Twins EXPERT
1. Brendan Walsh (Duc)
2. Jason Butler (Duc)
3. Thomas Dorsey (Suz)
4. Craig Grantham (Duc)
Open Twins NOVICE
1. Jade Oliver (Duc)
2. Derek Yuill (Duc)
600 Super Stock EXPERT
1. Brandon Crawford (Yam)
2. Ezra Beaubier (Yam)
3. Stephen Rue (Hon)
4. Kevin Murphy (Yam)
5. Justin Merrick (Yam)
600 Super Stock NOVICE
1. Hani Bisharat (Yam)
2. Nick Lundquist (Yam)
3. Tomas Covinha (Yam)
4. Salvatore Rizzo (Yam)
5. Cyril Brun (Suz)
Super Dino EXPERT
1. Benjamin Hodges (Suz)
2. Roger Baker (Kaw)
3. Craig Grantham (Duc)
4. Peter Hively (Suz)
Super Dino NOVICE
1. Nick Gomez (Suz)
2. Greg Jessee (Hon)
3. Joseph Falkenstein (Kaw)
Open GP EXPERT
1. Cory Call (BMW)
2. Chris Siglin (BMW)
3. Sebastiao Ferreira (Yam)
4. Jeremy Coffey (Kaw)
5. Lenny Hale (Kaw)
Open GP NOVICE
1. Paul Hess (Yam)
2. Donald Marino (Suz)
3. Adli Nureddin (BMW)
Formula I EXPERT
1. Stephen Rue (Hon)
2. Trevor Nogueira (Kaw)
3. Ilya Roytman (Yam)
4. Robert Brittain (Yam)
5. Luke Luciano (Yam)
Formula 1 NOVICE
1. Nick Lundquist (Yam)
2. Salvatore Rizzo (Yam)
3. Tomas Covinha (Yam)
4. Dare Kolawole (Yam)
5. Robert McCoy (Suz)
Legacy MW EXPERT
1. Jose Flores (Suz)
2. Christian Diegelman (Suz)
3. Steve Habura (Suz)
4. Alex Corstorphine (Yam)
5. August Weber Jr. (Yam)
Legacy MW NOVICE
1. Jesse Quinionez (Kaw)
2. Geoffrey Ruberte (Yam)
3. Taylor Tschirky (Kaw)
Formula IV EXPERT
1. Joshua Davies (Suz)
2. Martin Sullivan (Suz)
3. Aaron Tulchinsky (Yam)
4. Ian Smith (Yam)
5. Charles Almy (Yam)
Formula IV NOVICE
1. Miguel Correa (Suz)
2. Nick Gomez (Suz)
Formula Pacific
1. Wyatt Farris (Kaw)
2. Tyler O’Hara (Kaw)
3. Cory Call (BMW)
4. Chris Siglin (BMW)
5. Jeremy Coffey (Kaw)
700 Super Stock EXPERT
1. Sam Romick (Suz)
2. Aaron Tulchinsky (Yam)
3. Joshua Davies (Suz)
4. Martin Sullivan (Suz)
Formula Singles EXPERT
1. Mark Fitzsimmons (Hon)
2. Norbert Katona (KTM)
3. Yuri Barrigan (Yam)
Formula Singles NOVICE
1. Thomas Kendall (Yam)
LT Weight Twins EXPERT
1. Marc Edwards (Yam)
2. Brett Voorhees (Yam)
3. Cory Ventura (Yam)
4. Paul Johnson (Kaw)
5. Jay Kinberger (Yam)
LT Weight Twins NOVICE
1. Andrew Park (Kaw)
2. Alan Fortin (Kaw)
3. Derek Powell (Kaw)
4. Haim Beressi (Kaw)
5. Chris Ackerman (Yam)
600 Superbike EXPERT
1. Ezra Beaubier (Yam)
2. Stephen Rue (Hon)
3. Thomas Montano (Yam)
4. Kevin Murphy (Yam)
5. Jay Lee (Yam)
600 Superbike NOVICE
1. Hani Bisharat (Yam)
2. Nick Lundquist (Yam)
3. Salvatore Rizzo
4. Tomas Covinha (Yam)
5. Cyril Brun (Suz)
Open Superbike EXPERT
1. Tyler O’Hara (Kaw)
2. Wyatt Farris (Kaw)
3. Jeremy Coffey (Kaw)
4. Lenny Hale (Kaw)
5. Jason Lauritzen (Kaw)
Open Superbike NOVICE
1. Charles Mouillet (Kaw)
2. Daniel Velazco (BMW)
3. Donata Pepe (Kaw)
4. Paul Hess (Yam)
5. Wyman Apple (Suz)
750 Superbike EXPERT
1. Steve Habura (Kaw)
2. Ilya Roytman (Yam)
3. Robert Brittain (Yam)
4. Richard Conway (Tri)
5. Joseph Palmeri (Yam)
750 Superbike NOVICE
1. Nick Lundquist (Yam)
2. Tomas Covinha (Yam)
3. Cyril Brun (Suz)
4. Donald Marino (Suz)
5. Robert McCoy (Suz)
Legacy LW EXPERT
1. Charles Almy (Yam)
2. F. Patrick Carroll (Yam)
3. Chad O’Hara (Kaw)
4. Peter Hively (Suz)
5. Matt Merheaghe (Yam)
Legacy LW NOVICE
1. Greg Jessee (Hon)
2. Nick Gomez (Suz)
3. Xiao Xiao (Suz)
250 Superbike EXPERT
1. Brett Voorhees (Yam)
2. Marc Edwards (Yam)
3. Cory Ventura (Yam)
4. Paul Johnson (Kaw)
5. Gordon Pull (Kaw)
250 Superbike NOVICE
1. Andrew Park(Kaw)