The CCS Florida season finale December 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, in Homestead, Florida, kicked off with 32 of 44 classes yet undecided, including the overall points championships in both the Expert and Amateur divisions.
In the Expert classes, Greg Melka wrapped up the 2012 CCS Florida season with the Overall Points Championship and won the number one plate for the 2013 season, beating out fellow points leader, Charlie Mavros for the title. {Editorial note: Mavros suffered a highside crash during the day, broke bones in both hands and was forced to miss his final four races.]
Lee Farmer took the top honors in the Amateur classes in one of the most exciting and challenging race weekends to date. Racers arrived from across the Americas to compete for titles and top honors with full grids in most classes.
Red flags throughout the day pushed the event’s grand finale, the Unlimited Grand Prix race, into sunset. And with darkness quickly approaching, the schedule was adjusted to complete the event before nightfall. Due to time constraints, the last few races were condensed to four-lap sprints and the Unlimited Grand Prix class was combined with Middleweight Grand Prix.
Florida’s current number one plate holder, Santiago Villa nabbed the holeshot on board the Prieto Performance Kawasaki ZX-10R at the start of the Shootout with the rest of the large field, including Sean Dwyer and Bruno Silva, hot on his tail. By lap two, Cory West had quickly maneuvered his EBR 1190RS into second place. On the next lap, he was up front and charging forward. With little time to maneuver through traffic and no room for errors, fellow EBR rider Geoff May worked his way into third place on his 1190RS on the last lap of the race. West took the victory, followed by Villa and May.
On the podium, West stated that he, “I let the power of the EBR 1190RS pull me. I just tried to stay focused and bring in the win. It’s been an awesome weekend! I hope to come back and do it some more.”
West finished second in the Unlimited Superbike class to May, who also won the first race of the day, GTO.
And although he didn’t clinch the overall points title, Charlie Mavros was the winningest Expert racer of the day with four first-place finishes. Mavros won the GT Lights, Ultralight Superbike, Lightweight Grand Prix, and Lightweight Superbike classes.
The CCS Florida 2013 season-opener will also be held at Homestead-Miami Speedway the weekend of February 16-17, with the 2013 awards ceremony to be held the evening of the 16th.
Expert Unlimited Grand Prix (Shootout) Results: 1. Cory West (EBR 1190RS); 2. Santiago Villa (Kaw ZX-10R); 3. Geoff May (EBR 1190RS); 4. Sean Dwyer (Suz GSX-R1000); 5. Jeff Lampe (Kaw ZX-10R); 6. Tim Hunt (Suz GSX-R1000); 7. Bruno Silva (Kaw ZX-10R); 8. Francois Dumas (BMW S1000RR); 9. Rodolfo Ramirez (Suz GSX-R1000); 10. Felipe MacLean (Kaw ZX-10R).