Round Two Team Challenge Helmbach Holds off Attacks from Sipp and Ryan for Win Carolina Motorsports Park, Kershaw, SC – Warm, sunny weather on Saturday gave way to Sunday’s cool temps and a damp start for riders in Round 2 of the Michelin Team Challenge. The series returned to the heart of the Palmetto State as perennial favorites and newcomers prepared to vie for the lead in the 2011 points race. The action got started just after noon and though the cool temperatures might have helped with tire preservation, it did nothing to dampen the racing action. The holeshot belonged to Walt Sipp aboard Tim Ivanoff’s Thrashed Bike Racing Buell 1125R. Trailing Sipp into the first corner were the Chester Auto Repair BMW S1000RR entry ridden by Eric Helmbach, Dustin Young on the Martinez Motorsports Kawasaki ZX10R and GTU favorite Scotty Ryan on the Team Stiles R6. By the time the leaders reached the back straight kink Helmbach had the lead from Sipp and Ryan was third. For the first ten laps Sipp literally rode the tires of the Buell staying right with Helmbach’s BMW before the Buell back tire started to heat up. Sipp backed off tying to get a little heat out of his rear tire thus letting Ryan’s Yamaha close in. By quarter distance Helmbach held the lead by about 3 seconds as the leaders circulated through the kink. Sipp and Ryan were nose to tail and two laps later Ryan got by Sipp on the backside of the track and started to stretch the R6’s legs. Helmbach, though riding a conservative pace to make up for lost points in the Turn 5 incident in the last round at Roebling Road, was showing the field what the big BMW could do as he built his gap on the field to over 8 seconds by half distance. As Walt Sipp started to work his lap times down again, and for no reason he could discern, he lost the front end on the Buell in Turn 4. The spill sent rider and bike skittering up the race surface all the way into Turn 5. Sipp gathered up the damaged machine and clutching the detached left clip-on in his hand, lever still intact, limped the Thrashed Bike entry back to the pits for extensive repairs. At the end of lap 26 Ryan pitted for fuel. On the very next lap Helmbach was in for fuel and successfully returned to racing without relinquishing the lead. Martinez Motorsports rider Dustin Young, running fourth pitted around Lap 34 to add fuel and put Calvin Martinez aboard. But within three laps corner marshals were reporting the Martinez Motorsports Kawasaki smoking. Martinez was flagged and returned to the pits, ending his team’s run in the GTO class. At two-thirds distance Nick Hansen returned the Thrashed Bike Buell to the race. The team would soldier on for third in class behind returning endurance racer Jim Barry on his Yamaha R1. The order at the front was Helmbach from Ryan, then Premier Racing’s Dougherty and Horton followed by Rachel Sasse on the RNR Repsol Kawasaki, and Mark Miller on the Saddlebaum Racing SV650. But the complexion of the race was about to change. Scotty Ryan seemed to be willing his Yamaha onward, narrowing the gap to Helmbach. For nine straight laps Ryan worked on the gap knocking off a half second here and a second there, showing Helmbach a wheel between twelve and thirteen, trying to work his way inside at turn eleven, until on Lap 54 the pair were only 0.07 seconds apart at the stripe. Ryan could close in over the slower sections, but Helmbach used power and smoothness to keep Ryan from closing the deal. On Lap 57 Ryan pitted for his final fuel stop. Upon exit from the pits he was down 38 seconds to Helmbach who would stop two laps later for his final splash of fuel. When the final shuffle was done Ryan had dropped from trailing by a mere 0.1-second gap to a 12-second gap with five laps to go. Scotty Ryan had to push and push hard to make up the deficit. On lap 59 the push came to an end as approaching Turn 12 Ryan’s front brake faded sending him off track, ending his day and dashing his hopes for the overall or the GTU class win. Helmbach cruised home for the Overall and GTO class victory. Rachel Sasse showing a lot of grit and skill brought the RNR Repsol Kawasaki ZX6R home for the GTU class win and Mark Miller nailed the top GT Lights spot on the Saddlebaum Suzuki SV650 ahead of the Old Glory Speed Shop Buell, whose team worked through the afternoon and evening before the enduro swapping out a blown motor. The top three finishing orders overall and by class were: Overall 1 Chester Auto Repair Eric Helmbach Califon, NJ 4 RNR Repsol Rick Beggs, Rachel Sasse Sterling, VA 22 Premier Racing Daniel Dougherty, Adam Horton Mohrovia, MD GTO 1 Chester Auto Repair Eric Helmbach Califon, NJ 280 Barry Motorsports Jim Barry Manchester, NH 222 Thrashed Bike Racing Walt Sipp, Nick Hansen Breaux Bridge, LA GTU 4 RNR Repsol Rick Beggs, Rachel Sasse Sterling, VA 22 Premier Racing Daniel Dougherty, Adam Horton Mohrovia, MD 66 Begin It Now Racing Greg Bordeleau, John Mullen Valdese, NC GTL 17 Saddlebaum Racing Mark Miller West Orange, NJ 11 Old Glory Speed Shop Dennie Huff, Brandon Creto Hanover, PA 111 Mototech Racing Frank de La Renta Pembroke Pines, FL Tim Ivanoff, who’s Thrashed Bike Racing Team suffered severe damage mid race commented after the race, “We’re all back to zero. Every team has suffered a setback. From here it’s like starting over.” To prove Ivanoff’s point, after two rounds you can throw a blanket over the top six teams in the Michelin Team Challenge. Pos Points Team 1 53 STILES RACING – DELAVAN, WI. Meghan Ryan, Scotty Ryan & Mark Stiles 2 52 PREMIER RACING – MOHROVIA, MD. Daniel Dougherty & Adam Horton 3 51 RNR REPSOL RACING – STERLING, VA. Rick Beggs & Rachel Sasse 4 47 CHESTER AUTO REPAIR – CALIFON, NJ. Eric Helmbach & Alex Shaw 5 46 SADDLEBAUM RACING – WEST ORANGE, NJ. Jim Fotinopoulos,Mark Miller & Jim Cohrs 6 46 THRASHED BIKE RACING – BREAUX BRIDGE, LA. Joel Spalding, Walt Sipp & Tim Ivanoff Don’t miss the action! Round 3 is just two short weeks away as the riders prepare to descend on Topeka, Kansas April 23, 2011 to run the Heartland Park-Topeka circuit and sort out who will dominate the 2011 Michelin Team Challenge. 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 4,000 licensed riders. ASRA sanctions eight Michelin Pro Series and eight Michelin Team Challenge road racing events for 2011. The CCS Series runs 50 events at popular tracks around the united states. Tracks include Daytona, Loudon, Firebird, Heartland Park, and Virginia International among other fine venues. In 2011 ASRA and CCS provide riders with access to millions of dollars of sponsorship awards through participation in it’s 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.