Michelin Team Challenge Series Sanctioned by ASRA May 19, 2012 Blackhawk Farms Raceway South Beloit, IL Martinez/Farrell Performance Regains Form at Blackhawk Farms Raceway Jason Farrell and the Martinez/Farrell Performance GTO team returned to their home track Blackhawk Farms Raceway, looking for redemption after their runner-up finish to Thrashed Bike Racing at Carolina last month. Farrell, the lap record holder at BHF, started the race just as you would expect by taking the lead from the green flag and slowly inching away from the field for the first couple of laps. Abruptly on lap 3 of 75, Farrell dove onto pit road with a front brake issue and the crew jumped into action. It took 30 seconds for the crew to troubleshoot the problem as a clearance issue between the throttle and the brake lever then Farrell was able to rejoin the race as one of the last bikes on the lead lap. With the Martinez/Farrell Performance machine in the pits, it was the Chimichanga Racing Yamaha 600 with Ricardo Valdez aboard that assumed the point. Valdez, having a 30 second lead over Farrell, settled into the 1:11 lap time range with an eye on the next 71 laps to the checker. Farrell, knowing the damage was done, put his head under the bubble and started reeling off laps in the 1:10 range and began moving back up through the field. By the 20th lap, the Martinez/Farrell Performance Kawasaki 1000 had moved back into second place but still trailed Chimichanga Racing by the length of the front straight. On lap 28 Farrell moved back into the lead and started to work on gapping the second place with an eye on his first scheduled pit stop. On lap 42, Chimichanga Racing pitted giving Martinez/Farrell Performance the full lap needed to insure they would be able to complete their stop and retain the Overall lead. Even though Chimichanga Racing was able to regain the lost lap, the GTU class winner was unable overcome the pace set by GTO and Overall winner Martinez/Farrell Performance. The RnR Repsol Team of Rick Beggs and Terry Taylor brought their GTU machine home in third place Overall and second in GTU. In GTO, Martinez/Farrell Performance took the win followed by the C&H Racing Honda in second with Southern Sales KTM rounding out the top three. C&H was piloted by Dennie Huff and Branden Cretu while Southern Sales had multi-time ASRA National Champion Joel Spalding sharing the riding chores with John Erdman. Carolina winner Trashed Bike Racing had a flat and then rear wheel bearing problems to end any chance of consecutive victories for Walt Sipp and Tim Ivanoff. TBR finished in fifth position after replacing two rear wheels. After placing two GTU machines in the top three overall, Chimichanga Racing and RnR Repsol, it was XRay Racing finishing third in GTU and fourth Overall. Christian Meekma and Ray Hofman of XRay Racing now lead the class championship by just 5 points over RnR Repsol at the half-way point of the 2012 season. The GTL class has become a two team battle after 4 of the 8 rounds, with the GMB Racing team of Clayton Fisk and Max Grant winning at BHF followed by G-Baby Racing in second place. Now the G-Baby Racing squad of Jim Doyle and Nicole Ayers hold a narrow 4-point lead now in the 2012 GTL Championship. The next round of the Michelin Team Challenge Series sanctioned by ASRA will take place on June 17 at Virginia International Raceway during the 12th Annual Festival of Speed. For more information, complete results and points, visit www.asraracing.com. The American SportBike Racing Association (ASRA) is the parent organization to the Championship Cup Series (CCS), the largest amateur motorcycle road racing organization in the United States with over 3,000 licensed riders. ASRA sanctions eight Michelin Pro Series and eight Michelin Team Challenge road racing events for 2012. The CCS Series sanctions 45 events at popular tracks around the United States, including Daytona International Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Road America, Heartland Park, and Virginia International Raceway among other fine venues. In 2012 ASRA and CCS will provide riders with access to millions of dollars of sponsorship awards through participation in its sanctioned events. Join CCS and ASRA in the greatest road racing experience available today. Race CCS! To learn more visit our website at http://www.ccsracing.us or call us at (817) 246-1127.