May Reclaims Lap Record Title

CCS 16th Annual Paul Farrel Memorial Virginia International Raceway – Alton, VA

June 9-10

by Lisa Theobald

Geoff May reclaimed his title as lap record holder at Virginia International Raceway on Sunday, during the Championship Cup Series Featuring the AMA Sanctioned ASRA Championship Series Presented by Pirelli Tire event, after briefly losing it to Stefano Mesa on Saturday. The new record was set during lap two of the Unlimited Grand Prix race while May was out front on his Kawasaki ZX-10R, being chased down by Stefano Mesa and Tyler Smathers for the lead. May’s new time of 1:25.825 was a mere 5/100 of a second faster than Mesa’s record setting lap the day prior, during the afternoon’s ASRA SuperStock qualifying session.

Smathers had nabbed the holeshot at the start of the Unlimited Grand Prix race on his Kawasaki ZX-10R with May and Mesa close behind and looking for a way around. By lap two, May had gained the momentum he needed to make the passing move to take over the lead, set a new lap record, and reclaim his title. Mesa was in hot pursuit on his BMW S1000RR and looking for a way around. As the front runners approached lap traffic with just one lap to go, Mesa made his passing move to claim victory in the final run for the checkered flag. May finished second with Smathers in third. Greg Ludt and Timothy Bemisderfer rounded off the top five.

May was able to take the lead over Mesa in both the Unlimited Supersport and Unlimited Superbike races to claim his weekend’s two victories. His sponsors include CBC National Bank, Dunlop, Arai, One-X Custom Suits, and SBS Brakes.

Mesa won the 25 minute GTO race Saturday on his Kawasaki ZX-10R, after working his way through traffic to take over the lead. Jeremy Whitehurst was first off the line on his Yamaha YZF-R1, but Smathers was quick to make his passing move and claimed the lead as they worked their way through turn two. Behind him, Vasiliy Zhulin, Geoff May, Mesa, and Frankie Babuska, Jr. were all vying for the front position. Smathers was able to hold off the rest of the field until lap four when Mesa claimed the lead and brought May up from behind him. Babuska shortly thereafter maneuvered his Suzuki GSX-R 1000 into third. Halfway through the race, May took over the lead and the race became a three rider battle to the finish. Down to the wire, Mesa was back out front in the white flag lap to take his first victory of the weekend. May finished second, followed by Babuska, Smathers, and Ludt.

Mesa claimed his third victory of the weekend in the ASRA SuperStock race after chasing May for all the way to the final run for the checkered flag. Mesa pulled ahead to win the nine lap race with May finishing close behind in second. Smathers, Xavier Zayat, and Lloyd Bayley rounded off the top five. Mesa is sponsored by Pirelli Tires, Thermosman Suspension, Arai, One-X Custom Suits, and Sidi.

One of the event’s youngest racers turned out to be the biggest winner of the weekend. Twelve year-old phenom, Tyler Scott, finished the weekend undefeated with six first place finishes, taking early leads in pretty much everything and often running unchallenged thereafter. Scott’s first victory of the weekend was during the 25 minute GTL race on Saturday, where he had to maneuver his Honda NSF250 through a field of bigger Suzuki SV650s to get to the front where position swapping was constant between Bart DeFrancesco, Doane Richardson, and George Demetropolis. Less than ten minutes into the race, Scott had taken over the lead and never looked back. He finished ahead of a combined field of 37 competitors. Demetropolis finished second with Richardson, DeFrancesco and Robert Fisher rounding off the top five. He was out front early again in the Moto 3 and Thunderbike races to claim his second and third victories of the weekend.

Scott was out front from the start of the ASRA Combined Moto 3 race on Sunday, to run away with the win, finishing unchallenged. He had to work a little harder to get through traffic during the ASRA Thunderbike race, and was out front by lap four, leading the rest of the field, and had similar results in the Lightweight Grand Prix race, taking over the lead after only two laps to claim his sixth and final victory of the weekend. Some of Scott’s sponsors include Arai, Evolve GT, EBC Brakes, VP Fuels, and Vortex Racing.

Zayat won the ASRA SportBike race on his Metric Devil Moto/N2 Racing Yamaha YZF-R6.

Greg Melka dominated the middleweight classes winning four of his six classes. He started the weekend with his first win in the 25 minute GTU race after nailing the holeshot and running away with the win on ;his Yamaha YZF-R6. Behind him, Bailey Cox held down a solid second place letting the battles rage behind him for third. Melka took the checkered flag without challenge. Cox finished second with Krunal Jadhav, Gabriel Wingard, and Brian Houck rounding off the top five.

Melka, ever the holeshot king, was out front again at the start of the Middleweight Supersport race and putting some distance on second place, Cox. An incident during lap three caused a red flag with a five lap race regridded restart. Cox was out front at the restart with Melka in hot pursuit until the final lap when Cox made an error and ran off course giving the lead back to Melka to take his second win of the weekend.

Melka ran unchallenged in the Heavyweight Superbike race on Sunday, finishing ahead of Cox again with Dustin Hughes, Justin Jones, and Jadhav completing the top five. He was out front again for his final win in the Middleweight Grand Prix race with Jones, Jadhav, William Frazier, and Evan Smith finishing behind. Some of Melka’s sponsors include Michelin, ProFlow, Arai, EBC Brakes and Syed. He also finished second in Heavyweight Supersport, and third in Middleweight Superbike.

The two day even produced a handful of multiple winners in the amateur ranks as well, including Justil Riley (six wins), Carten Wagner (five victories), and Kayla Yaakov (five wins).

The CCS Mid-Atlantic region will compete next June 23-24th, at Summit Point Circuit for a weekend of Twin Sprints. The next round of ASRA Sprint races will be held at Road America June 30th – July 1st. The CCS Southeast region is scheduled to compete again August 25-26th, at Roebling Road Raceway for a Twin Sprints weekend and will also include another round of ASRA Sprints races. For complete results, lap times, points standings, remaining 2018 season schedule for Championship Cup Series, ASRA, and ASRA Team Challenge Series, and any and all information on past and future events for all series and regions, please visit: www.ccsracing.us.