Eric Hjelter Wins the Framstad Cup at CRA Round 1
The 2017 Central Roadracing Association season kicked off at Brainerd International Raceway’s Donnybrooke Course May 12-14 and the highlight of the weekend was the annual running of the Framstad Cup, the CRA’s most prestigious race. Unfortunately, there was a low point of the weekend with Mario Anthony Ruffolo receiving serious injuries in the Unlimited Superbike race. A new member of the CRA family, Mario is a CCS Expert and a Meal Train page has been set up to support him and his family. To donate time or money to assist with Mario’s recovery, please visit https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/12dz25
The Framstad Cup is a tortoise vs. hare style race held in honor of founding CRA member, and all around great guy, Don Framstad. This invitation-only race sees riders on all style of motorcycles battle it out over the course of five laps. This year’s entry list saw riders equipped on machinery such as the Yamaha R3, Krämer HKR Evo II, Yamaha YZ450F, Suzuki SV650, Yamaha R6, Yamaha R1 and more. The 2017 edition was one of the more exciting races in recent memory with Novice rider Eric Hjelter taking his Triumph 675 across the line .331 seconds in front of ZX-10R mounted Scott Stall, who started the race one lap down to early leader Pam Dupont on her Yamaha R3. With the win, Eric’s name will be engraved on the traveling Framstad Cup next to CRA legends like 3-time CRA Champions Robert Jensen and Christian Schmidt.
The Unlimited class threw up a surprise in each race. The Supersport race started with the expected showdown between Rocky Mountain Kawasaki’s Christian Schmidt and Bell Helmets rider Scott Stall but unfortunately Schmidt’s challenge went up in smoke as his Kawasaki ZX-10R opted to give itself an impromptu oil bath. The demise of Schmidt’s powerplant ended his weekend and the former professional-Wolverine impersonator was forced to watch from the sidelines. The other big surprise was the expected domination of Kyle Ohnsorg on Mike Husman’s massively powerful BMW S1000RR not materializing. With Ohnsorg struggling to find the correct setup on one of his five bikes (yes, five – that’s one for each arm, leg and head) after an offseason switch from Michelin to Pirelli, Stall grabbed the opportunity with his tiny farmer hands and pulled off a clean sweep in all of the Unlimited races.
The Middleweight and Heavyweight classes were about two people – Kyle Ohnsorg in Expert and Josh Harein in Novice. Both riders cleaned house in all of their Middleweight and Heavyweight races and while that was almost expected with Kyle Ohnsorg (although he did face some stiff competition from Fisk Brothers Racing’s Brian Hebeisen), Harein was making his first foray into the classes after a solid debut year in the Unlimited class. While Harein had a strong rookie year in 2016, his dominance in the Middleweight and Heavyweight races was impressive. He carried that momentum into the offseason and underwent an intense weight loss program at the end of 2016 which mostly consisted of the removal of each of his finely formed dreadlocks. This clearly helped his drag coefficient which is incredibly important on the high speed Donnybrooke track and his dedication has already paid off handsomely – in more ways than one.
Chris “Chimp” Mattson showed the world that he means business by taking the win in his first Expert race over reigning Lightweight champ Jon Champ. Mattson and Champ were teammates in the 2016 5-Hour Endurance race where they were the champs (unlike Jon and his wife Katie who are the Champs – that capital letter apparently makes a big difference) and the student became the teacher in Lightweight Supersport. The champ, Champ, chastised “Chimp” for choosing to chase Champ down, with the charge making Champ more a chump than a champ. Mystified by Mattson’s many Marc Marquez-mimicking maneuvers, Champ challenged Chris (oohh, did I get you on that one?) Mattson, mounting multiple mesmerizing motorcycle-management masterclasses and wildly waving at wildlife while winning the weekend’s wemai… err… remaining races. On the Novice side of things, Dave Hanson and Steve Johnson had some fantastic battles further down the field with Dave Hanson coming home in front of Don Johnson three times and the white-suited Miami native finishing in front of HBS Racing’s Hanson two times.
Yet again, the most anticipated races of the weekend belonged to the Ultralight and Featherweight riders. In Ultralight, it was non-stop battle between Krämer HKR Evo2 riders Jack Barton and Mark Praska. Praska debuted a beautiful orange livery for 2017 and based on the paintjob alone he looked set to take home every win. When Barton’s transmission decided that it was time for its gears to finally venture into the big bad world on their own during practice, Barton turned to arch rival Praska in a desperate bid for help. In one of the worst examples of sloppy seconds, Barton acquired Praska’s 2016 Krämer before racing began and the two put on a massively entertaining show every time they hit the track.
The Featherweight races were hard fought affairs between Brad Kreller, racing in the memory of his brother Sean Kreller, and Brad Zajic, racing in the memory of friend Tyson Berger. Both riders fought tooth and nail in every race with Kreller taking the win total advantage 2-1 over Zajic. Sean Stettnichs joined the party occasionally while taking victory in every Featherweight Novice race but Kreller and Zajic were the class of the field.
The CRA welcomes the CCS to Brainerd International Raceway’s Competition Course for CRA round two, June 9-11. For more information, visit www.cra-mn.com or email [email protected].
Race Results
Framstad Cup
1 Eric Hjelter (Tri 675)
2 Scott Stall (Kaw ZX-10R)
3 Kyle Ohnsorg (Yam YZF-R6)
4 Tom Austin (Hon CBR600RR)
5 Sean Stettnichs (Kaw EX250R)
6 Wayne Minnichsoffer (Hon CBR600F2)
Unlimited SS Expert
1 Scott Stall (Kaw ZX-10R)
2 Shane Keaveny (Kaw ZX-10R)
3 Jacob Hennen (Kaw ZX-10R)
4 Lucas Wygant (Yam YZF-R1)
5 Billy Vossberg (Kaw ZX-10R)
6 Jake Schmotter (Yam YZF-R1)
Unlimited SS Novice
1 David Stone (Hon CBR1000RR)
2 Stephen Peterson (BMW S1000RR)
Unlimited SB Expert
1 Scott Stall (Kaw ZX-10R)
2 Shane Keaveny (Kaw ZX-10R)
3 Billy Vossberg (Kaw ZX-10R)
4 Jake Schmotter (Yam YZF-R1)
5 Jesse Nelson (Suz GSX-R1000)
6 Aaron Anderson (Suz GSX-R750)
Unlimited SB Novice
1 Seth Carsten (Suz GSX-R600)
2 David Stone (Hon CBR1000RR)
3 Stephen Peterson (BMW S1000RR)
Unlimited GP Expert
1 Scott Stall (Kaw ZX-10R)
2 Kyle Ohnsorg (BMW S1000RR)
3 Jake Schmotter (Yam YZF-R1)
4 Billy Vossberg (Kaw ZX-10R)
5 Aaron Anderson (Suz GSX-R750)
Unlimited GP Novice
1 Seth Carsten (Suz GSX-R600)
2 David Stone (Hon CBR1000RR)
3 Stephen Peterson (BMW S1000RR)
Heavyweight SS Expert
1 Kyle Ohnsorg (Yam YZF-R6)
2 Drew See (Yam YZF-R6)
3 Brian Hebeisen (Yam YZF-R6)
4 Aaron Anderson (Suz GSX-R750)
5 Justin Ebnet (Hon CBR600RR)
6 Chase Sellers (Yam YZF-R6)
Heavyweight SS Novice
1 Josh Harein (Yam YZF-R6)
2 Seth Carsten (Suz GSX-R600)
3 Kyle Franz (Duc 899)
4 Steve Horsfield (Yam YZF-R6)
5 Eric Hjelter (Tri 675)
6 Jeff Somers (Yam YZF-R6)
Heavyweight SB Expert
1 Kyle Ohnsorg (Yam YZF-R6)
2 Aaron Anderson (Suz GSX-R750)
3 Brian Hebeisen (Yam YZF-R6)
4 Clark Davis (Yam YZF-R6)
5 Brett Donahue (Suz GSX-R750)
6 Justin Ebnet (Hon CBR600RR)
Heavyweight SB Novice
1 Josh Harein (Yam YZF-R6)
2 Dillon Baumeister (Yam YZF-R6)
3 Seth Carsten (Suz GSX-R600)
4 Kyle Franz (Duc 899)
5 Jeff Somers (Yam YZF-R6)
6 Eric Hjelter (Tri 675)
Heavyweight GP Expert
1 Kyle Ohnsorg (Yam YZF-R6)
2 Aaron Anderson (Suz GSX-R750)
3 Brian Hebeisen (Yam YZF-R6)
4 Justin Ebnet (Hon CBR600RR)
5 Adam Bastien (Yam YZF-R6)
Heavyweight GP Novice
1 Josh Harein (Yam YZF-R6)
2 Seth Carsten (Suz GSX-R600)
3 Eric Hjelter (Tri 675)
4 David Stone (Yam YZF-R6)
Middleweight SS Expert
1 Kyle Ohnsorg (Yam YZF-R6)
2 Justin Ebnet (Hon CBR600RR)
3 Brian Hebeisen (Yam YZF-R6)
4 Drew See (Yam YZF-R6)
5 Erik Devaan (Yam YZF-R6)
6 Chase Sellers (Yam YZF-R6)
Middleweight SS Novice
1 Josh Harein (Yam YZF-R6)
2 Seth Carsten (Suz GSX-R600)
3 Justin Miest (Kaw ZX-6R)
4 Steve Horsfield (Yam YZF-R6)
5 Dillon Baumeister (Yam YZF-R6)
6 Jeff Somers (Yam YZF-R6)
Middleweight SB Expert
1 Kyle Ohnsorg (Yam YZF-R6)
2 Tom Austin (Hon CBR600RR)
3 Brian Hebeisen (Yam YZF-R6)
4 Justin Ebnet (Hon CBR600RR)
5 Clark Davis (Yam YZF-R6)
6 Jordan Imrie (Duc 848)
Middleweight SB Novice
1 Josh Harein (Yam YZF-R6)
2 Sam Burke (Yam YZF-R6)
3 Seth Carsten (Suz GSX-R600)
4 Dillon Baumeister (Yam YZF-R6)
5 Justin Miest (Kaw ZX-6R)
6 Jeff Somers (Yam YZF-R6)
Middleweight GP Expert
1 Kyle Ohnsorg (Yam YZF-R6)
2 Brian Hebeisen (Yam YZF-R6)
3 Justin Ebnet (Hon CBR600RR)
4 Jordan Imrie (Duc 848)
5 Jesse Nelson (Yam YZF-R6)
6 Jacob Hennen (Hon CBR600RR)
Middleweight GP Novice
1 Josh Harein (Yam YZF-R6)
2 Justin Miest (Kaw ZX-6R)
3 Seth Carsten (Suz GSX-R600)
4 Jeff Somers (Yam YZF-R6)
5 Eric Hjelter (Tri 675)
6 David Stone (Yam YZF-R6)
Lightweight SS Expert
1 Chris Mattson (Suz SV650)
2 Jon Champ (Suz SV650)
3 Aaron Foss (Suz SV650)
4 Anthony Marcinek (Suz SV650)
5 David Hanson (Suz SV650)
6 Stephen Johnson (Suz SV650)
Lightweight SS Novice
1 Brian Rogers (Suz SV650)
2 Leif Nadeau (Suz SV650)
3 Sonia Pond (Suz SV650)
4 Chad Reinhart (Suz SV650)
5 Mitchell Donahue (Suz SV650)
Lightweight SB Expert
1 Jon Champ (Suz SV650)
2 Josh Pangier (Yam FZR400)
3 Bill Plucky (Suz SV650)
4 Peter Ens (Buell XB12R)
5 Chris Mattson (Suz SV650)
6 Anthony Marcinek (Suz SV650)
Lightweight SB Novice
1 Brian Rogers (Suz SV650)
2 Sonia Pond (Suz SV650)
3 Jeffrey Quam (Suz SV650)
4 Chad Reinhart (Suz SV650)
Lightweight GP Expert
1 Jon Champ (Suz SV650)
2 Bill Plucky (Suz SV650)
3 Mark Praska (Krä HKR-Evo2)
4 James Michaelson (Hon CBR600 F2)
5 Chris Mattson (Suz SV650)
6 Jack Barton (Krä HKR-Evo2)
Lightweight GP Novice
1 Wayne Minnichsoffer (Hon CBR600F2)
2 Brian Rogers (Suz SV650)
3 Sonia Pond (Suz SV650)
4 Chad Reinhart (Suz GSX-R600)
Ultralight Expert – Race #1
1 Jack Barton (Krä HKR-Evo2)
2 Timothy Ring (Duc Monster 620)
3 Mark Praska (Krä HKR-Evo2)
4 Trevor Treviranus (Yam YZ450F)
5 Robin Schmidt (Kaw EX300R)
Ultralight Novice – Race #1
1 Jonathan Roswick (Kaw EX500)
2 John Roswick (Kaw EX500)
3 Roy Konicek (Yam YZF-R3)
Ultralight Expert – Race #2
1 Jack Barton (Krä HKR-Evo2)
2 Trevor Treviranus (Yam YZ450F)
3 Timothy Ring (Duc Monster 620)
4 Mark Praska (Krä HKR-Evo2)
Ultralight Novice – Race #2
1 John Roswick (Kaw EX500)
Ultralight Expert – Race #3
1 Mark Praska (Krä HKR-Evo2)
2 Jack Barton (Krä HKR-Evo2)
3 Trevor Treviranus (Yam YZ450F)
Featherweight SS Expert
1 Bradley Kreller (Yam YZF-R3)
2 Brad Zajic (Yam YZF-R3)
3 Bryan Lachmiller (Kaw EX250R)
4 William Miller (Yam YZF-R3)
Featherweight SS Novice
1 Sean Stettnichs (Kaw EX250R)
2 Pamela Dupont (Yam YZF-R3)
3 Jayme Schmit (Kaw EX250R)
4 Ewa Kalinsky (Yam YZF-R3)
5 David Juntunen (KTM RC390)
6 Lawrence Lin (Kaw EX300R)
Featherweight SB Expert
1 Brad Zajic (Yam YZF-R3)
2 Bradley Kreller (Yam YZF-R3)
3 Bryan Lachmiller (Kaw EX250R)
4 Robin Schmidt (Kaw EX300R)
5 Jesse Nelson (Kaw EX250R)
Featherweight SB Novice
1 Sean Stettnichs (Kaw EX250R)
2 Lawrence Lin (Kaw EX300R)
3 Ewa Kalinsky (Yam YZF-R3)
4 Jonathan Myers (Kaw EX250R)
5 David Juntunen (KTM RC390)
6 Roy Konicek (Yam YZF-R3)
Featherweight GP Expert
1 Bradley Kreller (Yam YZF-R3)
2 Brad Zajic (Yam YZF-R3)
3 Bryan Lachmiller (Kaw EX250R)
4 Robin Schmidt (Kaw EX300R)
Featherweight GP Novice
1 Sean Stettnichs (Kaw EX250R)
2 Lawrence Lin (Kaw EX300R)
3 Jonathan Myers (Kaw EX250R)
4 David Juntunen (KTM RC390)
5 Roy Konicek (Yam YZF-R3)
Formula 40 – F2
1 Shane Keaveny (Kaw ZX-10R)
2 Brian Hebeisen (Yam YZF-R6)
3 Brett Donahue (Suz GSX-R750
4 Karl Rehpohl (Kaw ZX-6R)
5 Dwayne Stroman (Kaw ZX-6R)
6 Gregory Bambach (Yam YZF-R6)
Formula 40 – F1
1 Josh Pangier (Yam FZR400)
2 Matt Cina (Yam FZ-07)
3 Chad Reinhart (Suz SV650)
4 David Juntunen (KTM RC390)
Formula 30 – F2
1 Brett Donahue (Suz GSX-R750)
2 Scott Masterton (Yam YZF-R6)
3 Nathan Dotson (Yam YZF-R6)
4 Martin Holte (Hon CBR600RR)
5 Bill Plucky (Suz SV650)
6 Eric Hjelter (Tri 675)
Formula 30 – F1
1 Wayne Minnichsoffer (Hon CBR600F2)
2 Anthony Marcinek (Suz SV650)
3 Bryan Lachmiller (Kaw EX250R)
250GP Expert
1 Jack Barton (Krä HKR-Evo2)
Supertwins Expert
1 Peter Ens (Buell XB12R
2 Bill Plucky (Suz SV650)
3 Matt Cina (Yam FZ-07
4 Chris Mattson (Suz SV650)
5 Anthony Marcinek (Suz SV650)
6 David Hanson (Yam FZ-07)
Supertwins Novice
1 Kyle Franz (Duc 899)
2 Jeff Franz (Duc 899)
3 Brian Rogers (Suz SV650)
4 Sonia Pond (Suz SV650)
5 Jeffrey Quam (Suz SV650)
6 Mitchell Donahue (Suz SV650)
Sportsman Middleweight Expert
1 Ken Nielsen (Yam YZF-R6)
2 Martin Holte (Hon CBR600RR)
Sportsman Middleweight Novice
1 Jason Weidholz (Hon CBR600F3)
Sportsman Lightweight Expert
1 Josh Pangier (Yam FZR400)
2 James Michaelson (Hon CBR600F2)
3 Jack Barton (Krä HKR-Evo2)
4 Mark Praska (Krä HKR-Evo2)
Sportsman Lightweight Novice
1 Wayne Minnichsoffer (Hon CBR600F2)
2 John Roswick (KTM 690)
Trophy Dash GP4 Expert
1 Scott Stall (Kaw ZX-10R)
2 Lucas Wygant (Yam YZF-R1)
3 Billy Vossberg (Kaw ZX-10R)
4 Mario Anthony Ruffolo (Yam YZF-R1)
5 Jake Schmotter (Yam YZF-R1)
6 Brett Donahue (Suz GSX-R750)
Trophy Dash GP4 Novice
1 David Stone (Hon CBR1000RR)
Trophy Dash GP3 Expert
1 Kyle Ohnsorg (Yam YZF-R6)
2 Justin Ebnet (Hon CBR600RR)
3 Tom Austin (Hon CBR600RR)
4 Clark Davis (Yam YZF-R6)
5 Chase Sellers (Yam YZF-R6)
6 Erik DeVaan (Yam YZF-R6)
Trophy Dash GP3 Novice
1 Josh Harein (Yam YZF-R6)
2 Steve Horsfield (Yam YZF-R6)
3 Eric Hjelter (Tri 675)
4 Tom Conroy (Kaw ZX-6R)
Trophy Dash GP2 Expert
1 Jon Champ (Suz SV650)
2 Bill Plucky (Suz SV650)
3 Matt Cina (Yam FZ-07)
4 Aaron Foss (Suz SV650)
5 Chris Mattson (Suz SV650)
6 Adam Harrison (Suz SV650)
Trophy Dash GP2 Novice
1 Wayne Minnichsoffer (Hon CBR600F2)
2 Leif Nadeau (Suzuki GSX-R450)
3 Sonia Pond (Suz SV650)
4 Jeffrey Quam (Suz SV650)
Trophy Dash GP1 Expert
1 Mark Praska (Krä HKR-Evo2)
2 Jack Barton (Krä HKR-Evo2)
3 Bryan Lachmiller (Kaw EX250R)
4 Josh Pangier (Yam FZR400)
5 Trevor Treviranus (Yam YZ450F)
Trophy Dash GP1 Novice
1 Sean Stettnichs (Kaw EX250R)
2 Jonathan Roswick (KTM 690)
3 Pamela Dupont (Yam YZF-R3)
4 Jayme Schmit (Kaw EX250R)
5 Lawrence Lin (Kaw EX300R)
6 David Juntunen (KTM RC390)
New Rider Race
1 Sam Burke (Yam YZF-R6)
2 Justin Miest (Kaw ZX-6R)
3 Stephen Peterson (BMW S1000RR)
4 Kyle Franz (Duc 899)
5 Francois Yang (Hon CBR600RR)
6 Jared Thompson (Yam YZF-R6)
Last Chance Qualifier
1 Ken Nielsen (Yam YZF-R6)
2 Jeff Somers (Yam YZF-R6)
3 Brandon Connett (Tri 675)
4 Anthony Marcinek (Suz SV650)
5 Trevor Treviranus (Yam YZ450F)
6 Jeff Franz (Duc 899)