Reichert, Hall & Bilansky Heart of America Cyclefest – Heartland Park, Topeka, KS Topeka, KS Marcos Reichert, Dan Bilansky and Matt Hall provided a great show for the folks on hand for the Michelin Pro Series & Team Challenge sanctioned by ASRA as the series returned to Heartland Park Topeka for Round 6 of competition. The weather is often the story on the Great Plains and such was the case this weekend. On Sunday morning a big storm blew through the area with gale-force winds leveling more than a few awnings and tents as workers and crew prepared to get underway with a full slate of CCS and Michelin Pro Series sprint races. Because of the weather all of Pro Series races were shortened to six laps as standing water and some streaming water increased risk for riders. The temperatures hovered in the high seventies during mid-morning practice with nary a ray of sun to dry the track, so earnest corner workers were scrubbing off remaining puddles through a shortened lunch break. As the Superstock race was gridded the sun came out and started to help with drying. Notwithstanding the sunshine some riders like favorite Matt Hall elected to run a rain tire out front to deal with two slick spots on either end of the course while most teams were running DOT’s. From the start of the Superstock race Brian Stokes leapt immediately into the lead. Riders were not taking a lot of chances on the drying track as they knew they had a lot more racing in the afternoon. After a couple of laps Matt Hall settled into a comfortable second with Buell rider Walt Sipp comfortably in third. Each rider made sure to protect their position with the pace they set. No one was pushing it in the changing conditions, the order remained the same at the finish with Stokes taking the win. Superbike was a different story, although Hall kept his rain tire on the front even though the track had dried considerably and when the flag dropped so did the hammer for Rockwall Racing’s Marcos Reichert and Chronic Racing’s Paul Allison as they had equally strong starts up the front straight and into turn one. At the end of lap one it was Reichert from Allison, followed by Matt Hall and Brian Stokes. But by lap two Hall found he could push the bike a little harder and pressed his way to the lead, dropping Marcos to second and Allison to third. On lap three Reichert was back in the lead as he and Hall dueled down the front straight, Brian Stokes also making a move on Allison as they passed the flag stand. The order remained the same to the checkered flag with Reichert nailing down the win, followed by Hall and Stokes. The Thunderbike race was third on the slate and we saw the championship points lead hanging in the balance as first year expert Joel Spalding carried a two point lead over former class champion Dan Bilansky. Bilansky managed to take the pole in Qualifying on Saturday shaving one point off Spalding’s lead, but both riders and fellow contender Walt Sipp knew Spalding had the motor. So no one really knew what to expect. Sipp was running the event on a tired Buell 1200 his team calls “the bucket of bolts.” After round 5 the rules changed to eliminate the post race dyno test and horsepower limit, but Bilansky was running a detuned motor left over from the previous round. Oddly, Bilansky built Spalding’s motor and knew it was a rocket. Spalding did not disappoint as from the dropping of the flag he and Bilansky drag raced to the first corner. Spalding won that battle and in fact lead by 8 lengths when the group returned to the front straight to start lap two. Sipp was in third about six lengths behind Bilansky. The crowd marveled as Spalding not only ran away from the pair, but set a new lap record in the effort and held the lead for three laps. It was lap four that was Spalding’s undoing as the group rounded out onto the front straight Spalding bobbled for a moment and suddenly Bilansky checked up allowing Walt Sipp to close the gap. Somehow Sipp then motored by Bilansky into turn one, and past Spalding going up the hill. Ironically, the lap before, Sipp’s ailing twin had cracked the weld near the top of the header on his front cylinder and the pipe had literally burst in two. Down on power, Walt Sipp had little chance of catching the battle waged between the class points leaders but for that momentary lapse coming out of the last turn. The crowd watched as Sipp still led Bilansky and Spalding to the line on lap five, but Dan Bilansky had a plan. He hoped to be able to pass Sipp and use him to block Spalding in what they all knew would be another drag race out of turn 14 on the final lap. And just as Bilansky imagined, so indeed the triplet proceeded onto the front straight, Sipp with the narrowest lead and Bilansky motoring as hard as he could off a great drive out of the final turn. It was just fortunate for Mr. Bilansky that Joel Spalding did not get the drive he needed to catch him down the front straight. Sipp shook his head in disappointment as Bilansky just slipped by at the flag with Spalding third. The last race of the day was no snoozer either. It was almost a rematch of the Superbike race as Factory Pro Sportbike again pitted Marcos Reichert, Matt Hall and Paul Allison against each other. Reichert took the lead from the start and he was trailed by Hall for the next five laps. But on lap six Matt Hall used his local knowledge to take the win. Said Hall, “Marcos was riding great all weekend. He showed me a few things…our goal was to get him all weekend and we finally got him. I felt a little stronger than him on brakes, especially going into the chicane where I passed him. When I saw the flag for half way I just put my head down and went after it.” Next round for the Michelin Pro Series sanctioned by ASRA is New Jersey and then Barber. Come out and see some of the best motorcycle road racing in the United states at the track nearest you. For a complete season schedule go to asraracing.com.