CCS Southwest Race Report from November 4th races. Lightweight GP The Road Race Southwest Lightweight GP saw the usual suspects take the grid for what was shaping up to be a great race. Matt Hartlieb #87 and Ted Rich #62 have dominated this class for the last few races. But with the return of Wayne Nielsen, the RRSW overall #2 plate holder from last season, as well as local regulars Aron Weiss #19, Mark Kochman #72 , and Jo Devine #317, this was definitely going to be a good race to watch. Hartlieb got the holeshot and lead the field into turn one, followed by Rich. Devine and Kochman followed, closely pursued by Weiss, and Nielsen who had an uncharacteristic poor start. Hartlieb and Rich both pushed hard and started to pull a slight gap on lap. Devine and Kochman were involved in their own private battle for 3rd, slowing each other as they fought for the last podium spot. Kochman was putting immense pressure on Devine in the back section, and coming into turn 12, Devine pushing the limits of his SV’s braking potential, lost the front end and low sided out of the race. Kochman did an amazing job, both by avoiding Devine, and by keeping control of his machine as it bucked violently across the Firebird curbing to miss the sliding rider. Further back in the field, Nielsen had struggled to get past Weiss, his lack of seat time evident due to his recent to tour of duty in Iraq. Nielsen now in 4th, pushed hard to catch Kochman, but the gap was to prove too great to overcome. Back at the front, Hartlieb and Rich were trading places, each making minor mistakes, and each looking for a weakness in the other rider. As the laps wound down and the leaders caught lap traffic, Hartlieb made best use of the back markers, and noticeably upped the pace for the last three laps to take the win. Rich was unable to answer the increased pace of Hartlieb, and slowed to maintain his 2nd place position. Kochman could not close the gap to the leaders after his incident with Devine and ran home with a safe and respectable 3rd. Middleweight GP With the overall Championship points gap a mere 21 points between the leader Rory Palmer #111, and last years overall amateur champion Ray Thibedeau #119, this race was definitely going to be a gloves off affair. As the flag dropped, Palmer got the holeshot, and Thibedeau ran into turn one in 4th place. Palmer immediately pushed hard to try and gap the field, and Thibedeau worked hard to make his way through to the leader. At the end of lap one Joey Steinmetz #53 pushed his CBR beyond its limit, and low sided exiting the tower turn. The bike slid down the main straight dumping bodywork and hard parts onto the track, and finally came to rest in the middle of the main straight. Thankfully, Steinmetz was fine and jumped over the wall to safety, but with his bike and the debris still on track, the race was immediately red flagged by course control. The RRSW crew did an amazing quick job of clean up, and the riders were allowed to immediately re-grid. With plenty of time remaining in the day, Race Director Randy Stem called a full race re-start, and the riders prepared once again to run the full 12 laps. The re-start again saw Palmer with the holeshot, but this time Thibedeau was close behind him, and was not about to let him get away. As the field spread out, Danny ‘Heavy D’ Demel #33 found himself in 3rd spot, with Nick Terrell #8 in 4th. Palmer and Thibedeau starting to gap the rest of the pack with a blistering pace from the front. Demel pushed as hard as he could, but with a tired rear tire from the previous day’s races, he just couldn’t keep the pace of the leaders. Demel showed some great talent holding off Nick Terrell, who seemed determined to get past in an effort to catch Palmer and Thibedeau. Back at the front, it seemed Thibedeau had some motor on Palmer down the main straight, but Palmer was able to hold his own on the back section. Palmer had to stay in front of Thibedeau as they came onto the straight, this allowed him to stay in touch into turn one, and then take back the lead in the twisties. This was without doubt some of the best racing I’ve ever seen, both riders pulling off impossible braking on several occasions, and both riders shutting the door on each other whenever they got the chance. The riding was very hard, but also very clean, and both riders displayed a skill level way beyond club racing. As the laps wound down, Palmer was unable to get back in front of Thibedeau coming onto the straight for lap 10, and Thibedeau started to gap with his extra speed down the dragstrip. Terrell had managed to get around Demel, but there was no way he could catch the leaders with only two laps remaining. Palmer pushed his rear Pirelli to the point of torture, spinning it violently as he looked for something extra in an effort to catch Thibedeau. But it was not to be, Thibedeau took the win, with Palmer a close 2nd, and Terrell taking the last spot on the podium with a very solid performance in 3rd. With the results of the day totaled, only 6 points now separate Palmer and Thibedeau going into the final round of the season on December 9th at Firebird West. If this race was any indication of what’s to come, it’s certainly a race you don’t want to miss. Unlimited GP The Unlimited GP saw the welcome return to Arizona of the Crazy Kiwi Aaron Clarke. Clarke currently holding the #1 plate from USBA was in town visiting his Brother-in-law Scott Jensen #617, and he figured he’d come out to Firebird to show all the local racers how it’s done. The race was definitely the Jenson and Clarke show, as the two riders put on a superb display of riding at the front of the field. Jensen held the cards going into the race, both with his superior local track knowledge, and with the addition of a well tuned traction control system fitted to his Suzuki GSXR1000. Clarkes bike was sideways everywhere, as he attempted to squeeze everything out of it in an effort to level the odds with Jensen. Clarke had a couple of huge moments bringing gasps from the crowd, but his amazing talents kept him on board, much to the delight of everyone watching. Tom Savoca #151, another very talented local rider, could only watch from 3rd position as Clarke and Jensen disappeared into the distance. The two riders traded places several times up until the midway point, Jensen then started to gap Clarke slightly as the pace increased. On lap 9, Jensen broke the existing lap record of 1.05.453 held by Mark Ledesma, with a lap of 1.05.352. Not content to break it just once, on lap 10 he broke it again with a lap of 1.05.146. Jensen’s pace was just too quick for the rest of the field, and he pushed home for the win, followed by Clarke in 2nd, and Savoca in a very lonely 3rd. After the race the two riders congratulated each other on what was definitely a great display of riding talent. In the post race interviews, Clarke jokingly accused Jensen of cheating with his traction control system, and thanked RRSW for putting on a very professional event. He vowed to return to Firebird whenever his schedule allows. Jensen’s win enabled him to close the point’s gap on the current Unlimited GP point’s leader Mark Ledesma. Unfortunately Ledesma is out for the rest of the season with a back injury, but may still yet hold onto the Unlimited GP title, if Jensen doesn’t get the points required at the December round. More, from a press release issued by Scott Jensen: Pirelli tires set yet another track record! Scott Jensen set a new track record at the Firebird raceway “main track” this past weekend. Enroute to winning both the races he entered with the Roadrace Southwest region of CCS Scott managed to lower the track record from 1:05.4, which was set by Mark Ledesma, to 1:05.1. Scott raced in both the Unlimited GP and Unlimited Superbike races, but broke the record in the Unlimited GP. Scott was using standard Pirelli 17-inch, SC2/Green-compound slicks, both front and rear, on his Suzuki GSX-R1000.