Tigert Sets New Lap Record at WSMC Streets of Willow Race, On Revised Course

By Kurt Whittington

Jeff Tigert set a new motorcycle track record during WSMC’s first-ever event on the Streets of Willow Springs course this past weekend, March 30 April 1, 2007. All 27 classes ran under perfect weather conditions, culminating in a successful opening to this new WSMC series. For 2007 WSMC will be holding three more rounds of racing at the Streets of Willow Springs: May 5-6, October 6-7 and November 3-4.

Tigert set the fastest lap time of the day, and the new course motorcycle lap record with a 1:17.393 during the 650cc Superbike race according to official timing and scoring.

The track layout has been changed slightly in preparation for WSMC racing. The distance between turns three and four has been shortened and turn four is now wider. The curbing in the chicane between turns nine and ten has been modified to become rumble strips that can be ridden over, allowing a racer to pretty much straight line the chicane.

“The track’s way better now,” said Mach 1 Motorsports-sponsored Tigert. “The [chicane’s] way safer now and faster. People can do 16s, probably.”

Tigert won the 650cc Superbike and 600cc Superstock races at the Streets on his Dunlop DOT-labeled-tire-shod 2007 CBR600RR. In 650cc Superbike Tigert took the holeshot and lead unchallenged throughout the race. Young Gun Brad Adams held down second position for most of the race until he ran off the track in turn two on the final lap. Lenny Hale made a pass on James Brown into the Streets’ fast turn one to start the second lap, and with Adams not finishing, Hale took second in the race. David Sanders took third.

Pacific Power Sports sponsored Sanders won the 600cc Modified Production race on his GSX-R600 using Pirelli DOT-labeled tires in a close battle with Lenny Hale. Sanders’ pass for the lead was in turn 12, not a traditional passing zone due to the narrowness of the track at that spot.

“He was leaving the door open a little bit and it was a rough line, but I knew I had to do it,” Sanders said of his pass. Sanders crossed the finish line 0.4-second ahead of Hale.

Spears Racing’s David Raff took a hat trick of wins. Raff dominated the Middleweight Twins, Formula Twins Lightweight and 550cc Superbike races on his Pirelli-shod SV650. Raff, a regular in the AFM series, enjoyed racing at the Streets. “It’s a tight course, really makes you work hard. It’s similar to Sears Point, but I think a little more grueling,” Raff said.

Unofficial Results Below:

Track Daz 650cc Superbike 1. Jeff Tigert (Hon CBR600RR) 2. Lenny Hale (Yam YZF-R6) 3. David Sanders (Suz GSX-R600) 4. Bryce Prince (Kaw ZX-6RR) 5. James Brown (Hon CBR600RR) 6. Ricky Herd (Kaw ZX-6R)

Open Modified Production 1. Stuart Smith (Kaw ZX-10R) 2. Tim Knutson (Kaw ZX-10R) 3. Eric Ebert (Suz GSX-R1000) 4. Mickey Grana (Suz GSX-R1000) 5. Leo Ramirez (Suz GSX-R1000)

750cc Superbike 1. Eric Nolan (Duc) 2. J.C. Gibbs (Suz GSX-R750) 3. Frank Gray (Suz GSX-R750)

BOTT Middleweight 1. David Raff (Suz SV650) 2. John-Thomas Wood (Suz SV650) 3. Jim Chaconas (Buell XB-12R) 4. Stevan Correa (Suz SV650)

Vintage Lightweight 1. Clinton Whitehouse III (Yam) 2. Ed Milich (Duc) 3. Pierre Pfeffer (Duc) 4. Warren Spradlin (Yam) 5. Cody Burton (Hon) 6. Alice Sexton (Duc)

Inland Line-X 600cc Superstock 1. Jeff Tigert (Hon CBR600RR) 2. Corey Neuer (Suz GSX-R600) 3. Lenny Hale (Yam YZF-R6) 4. David Sanders (Suz GSX-R600) 5. Bryce Prince (Kaw ZX-6R) 6. Tyler Odom (Hon CBR600RR)

Open Superbike 1. Tim Knutson (Kaw ZX-10R) 2. Eric Nolan (Duc 998) 3. Mickey Grana (Suz GSX-R1000) 4. Leo Ramirez (Suz GSX-R1000)

750cc Superstock 1. Dustin Coyner (Kaw ZX-6R) 2. Chris Yakiligian (Kaw ZX-6R) WD: 1. Corey Neuer (Kaw)

BOTT Heavyweight 1. Eric Nolan (Duc 998) 2. Jim Chaconas (Buell XB-12R) 3. Christopher Lee (Suz TL1000R) 4. Lek von Kaesburg (Duc)

Motoyard.com 550cc Superbike 1. David Raff (Suz SV650) 2. Kurt Whittington (Suz SV650) 3. John-Thomas Wood (Suz SV650) 4. Chris Speights (Suz SV650) 5. Clinton Whitehouse III (Suz DR-Z350) 6. Stevan Correa (Suz SV650)

Motoyard.com 600cc Modified Production 1. David Sanders (Suz GSX-R600) 2. Lenny Hale (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Corey Neuer (Suz GSX-R600) 4. James Brown (Hon CBR600RR) 5. Matt Quigley (Kaw ZX-6RR) 6. Tyler Odom (Hon CBR600RR)

Rich Oliver’s Mysteryschool 250cc Grand Prix 1. Vincent Rolleri II (Yam TZ250) 2. Richard Barnett (Apr RS250) 3. Herb Abell (Apr RS250)

Formula Twins Heavyweight 1. Eric Nolan (Duc) 2. Christopher Lee (Suz)

500cc Modified Production 1. Richard Barnett 2. John Melich (Apr RS250) 3. Eric Angel (Yam FZR400) 4. Chris Speights (Kaw EX500) 5. J.C. Gibbs (Yam FZR400) 6. Hector Flores

Formula Singles 1. Kenny Kopecky (Husq SMR-510) 2. Cody Burton 3. James Provencher

Formula 2 1. Matt Quigley (Kaw ZX-6R) 2. Lloyd Magruder (Kaw ZX-6RR) 3. James Brown (Hon CBR600RR) 4. Matt Bergen (Hon CBR600RR) 5. James Davis (Yam YZF-R6) 6. Clinton Whitehouse III (Yam)

125cc GP 1. Tyler Odom (Hon RS125) 2. Kevin Murray (Yam TZ125) 3. John Fabijanic (Hon RS125)

GPR Stabilizer Open Superstock 1. Stuart Smith (Kaw ZX-10R) 2. Tim Knutson (Kaw ZX-10R) 3. Mickey Grana (Suz GSX-R1000)

750cc Modified Production 1. Ricky Herd (Kaw ZX-6R) 2. Dustin Coyner (Kaw ZX-6R) 3. Chris Yakiligian (Kaw ZX-6R)

Formula Twins Lightweight 1. David Raff (Suz SV650) 2. Chris Speights (Suz SV650) 3. Ed Milich (Duc) 4. Pierre Pfeffer (Duc) 5. Charlie Coyner (Suz SV650)

500cc Superstock 1. Kenny Kopecky (Husq SMR-510) 2. Eric Angel (Yam FZR400) 3. J.C. Gibbs (Yam FZR400) 4. Hector Flores (Yam FZR400) 5. Warren Spradlin (Yam)

500cc Singles 1. Kenny Kopecky (Husq SMR-510) 2. Chris Matty (Buell) 3. Tim Hurley (Buell) 3. James Provencher (MZ) 4. Cody Burton (Hon)

0-500 Novice 1. Seth Georgian (Suz) 2. Aaron Bush (Yam)

Formula 50 1. Ricky Herd (Kaw ZX-10R) 2. Lek von Kaesberg (Duc) 3. Charlie Coyner (Suz SV650)

Formula 40 1. Eric Ebert (Suz) 2. Leo Ramirez (Suz)

Two Stroke Production 1. Richard Barnett (Apr RS250) 2. John Melich (Apr RS250) 3. Herb Abell (Apr RS250) 4. Warren Spradlin (Yam)

BOTT Lightweight 1. Kenny Kopecky (Husq SMR-510) 2. Ed Milich (Duc) 3. Pierre Pfeffer (Duc) 4. James Provencher (MZ)

651-Open Novice Heavyweight 1. Vanik Aivazian (Suz GSX-R) 2. Tiras Banks (Suz GSX-R)

501-650 Novice Middleweight 1. Mike Kinoshita (Yam ZF-R6) 2. Michael Pesicka (Kaw ZX-6R) 3. Drew Porter (Yam YZF-R6) 4. Rodney Monroe (Kaw ZX-6R) 5. Marvin Meadows (Yam YZF-R6) 6. Richard Stampp (Kaw ZX-6R)

More, from a press release issued by Kenny Kopecky:

Riding a MotoForza prepared 2006 Husqvarna SMR-510 racer Kenny Kopecky won all four races he started at the Willow Springs Motorcycle Club’s first ever race at the Streets of Willow on Sunday, April 1st.

Having last raced a Single with WSMC in 1997, Kopecky quickly adapted and rode to uncontested wins in the Formula Singles and 500 Singles classes, but enjoyed rousing battles in 500 SuperStock and BOTT Lightweight classes on another warm and windy day at Willow. The 500 SuperStock contest ran nearly the entire length of the 8 lap race, with Kopecky getting a quick start and early lead, but was demoted to 2nd at the end of the 1st lap by hard-charging Eric Angel on his Yamaha FZR400. Kopecky stayed extremely close for several laps and seeing Angel fade a bit on lap 6 went for a pass in the esses heading to the Streets famous bowl turn. Running into the bowl faster then usual after the pass, Kopecky checked up a bit and inadvertantly caused Angel on his FZr to narrowly miss the Husqvarnas’ rear tire. The next lap would be Kopeckys’ fastest of the race, and with Angel unable to respond Kenny went on to win by 4.25 seconds. The battling pair had put nearly 30 seconds on 3rd place finisher (and multi-time WSMC 500 Class Champion) J.C. Gibbs at the end of the race.

Afterwards Kenny said “I know a number of the riders on Super-Moto type bikes run specific race tires or slicks, but we used one set of D.O.T. street-legal Dunlop D209’s throughout the whole weekend. The tires were great all weekend, and late in that race with Eric I think our combination of Dunlops and the awesome Husky suspension just made the track a little more comfortable for us.”

The bike was surprisingly stock, with the only performance changes by MotoForza being a gearing change for more top speed and a slip-on exhaust cannister with slight re-jetting. The WSMC rules allow a street-legal Single in a variety of classes, and Kopecky took advantage of this by also running the Husqvarna in B.O.T.T. Lightweight. “We had a good start and at the end of the first lap saw Chris Speights right on our tail at the skid-pad. We’d been really lazy there all day and figured we better try to ride a little harder to stay in front…following Eric in SuperStock was fun but I’d rather lead into the traffic than be 2nd.” While Kopecky ran his fastest lap of the weekend the pursuing Speights on his EX-500 lost the rear end coming out of turn 3 and crashed out of the race un-hurt. Kenny added “I’m really glad Chris was okay, I hate to see that happen. This Single is really well suited to the Streets of Willow course, and we had a ton of fun on the MotoForza Husqvarna SMR today! I hope more racers will come out to the next Streets meet…WSMC did a great job this weekend.”

Kopecky is planning to attend both the upcoming WSMC meet on the main Willow track April 13-15 and the next WSMC Streets of Willow meet on May 5-6.