Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
Butler Machinery’s Robert Jensen won three Formula USA National races and Harding Buell’s Dave Estok took one race win Sunday at the Las Vegas Classic Course in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It was Arclight Suzuki’s Scott Harwell and Estok’s teammate Bryan Bemisderfer, however, who wrapped up the Formula Sportbike and Thunderbike Championships, respectively, at round six of the seven-round F-USA season.
Jensen took his first win of the windy day (30-35 mph sustained winds) over Michael Himmelsbach by 13 seconds in Superbike (600cc). Marin Cycleworks’ Jeff Tigert came from behind on his CBR600RR to edge Arclight Suzuki/Bettencourts’ Jeff Wood out for third in the closing stages of the race. Wood finished fourth, in front of teammate Harwell and Chad Rolland in the six-rider race.
Win number two for Jensen came on his beaten and broken 2002-model Suzuki GSX-R750 in the Formula Sportbike (750cc) final. Again, Jensen won convincingly, by 17 seconds, over Brian Stokes, who rode with shoulder and hand injuries suffered in a crash earlier in the day. Chris Ulrich finished third on his Arclight Suzuki GSX-R750, beating teammate Harwell, who rode a conservative race to clinch the Championship. Racers Edge’s Dale Kieffer finished fifth out of 10 competitors.
Jensen’s third win came again on his Michelin-shod Yamaha R6 in the Sportbike (600cc) race over Blackmans/Champions Sportbike Club Yamaha’s Himmelsbach. Championship leader Wood was second but lost the position to Himmelsbach when his rear tire went off late in the race. Wood held on to finish third, in front of Harwell and Tigert.
Estok’s Thunderbike win was the first race the Florida rider had won since taking the opening round victory at Daytona International Speedway. Riding a Buell XB9R Firebolt, he won the red-flag-interrupted, 16-lap race by 3.8 seconds over his similarly-mounted teammate Bemisderfer, who now takes the Thunderbike number-one plate from Estok. Also riding a Buell Firebolt, Hal’s Performance Buell’s Dan Bilansky overcame mechanical problems and a strong challenge from local hero Jason Catching (Suzuki SV650) to finish third.
The Thunderbike race was stopped when Jeff Johnson crashed in his own oil. Johnson was relatively uninjured and made the re-start on his back-up bike, but only after a lengthy delay to clean his oil spill.
PROVISIONAL FORMULA USA RACE RESULTS:
SPORTBIKE: 1. Robert Jensen (Yam YZF-R6), 20 laps; 2. Michael Himmelsbach (Yam YZF-R6); 3. Jeff Wood (Suz GSX-R600); 4. Scott Harwell (Suz GSX-R600); 5. Jeff Tigert (Hon CBR600RR); 6. Jason Catching (Kaw ZX-6R); 7. Scott Greenwood (Suz GSX-R600); 8. Jon Blaylock (Hon CBR600RR); 9. Chad Rolland (Yam YZF-R6); 10. Jim Davis (Yam YZF-R6); 11. Terry Embury (Hon CBR600); 12. Paulo Mariano (Suz GSX-R600), -1 lap, crash.
SUPERBIKE: 1. Robert Jensen (Yam YZF-R6), 20 laps; 2. Michael Himmelsbach (Yam YZF-R6); 3. Jeff Tigert (Hon CBR600RR); 4. Jeff Wood (Suz GSX-R600); 5. Scott Harwell (Suz GSX-R600); 6. Chad Rolland (Yam YZF-R6), disqualified for incorrect competition number.
FORMULA SPORTBIKE: 1. Robert Jensen (Suz GSX-R750), 20 laps; 2. Brian Stokes (Suz GSX-R750); 3. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R750); 4. Scott Harwell (Suz GSX-R750); 5. Dale Kieffer (Suz GSX-R750); 6. Kane Lasky (Suz GSX-R750); 7. Kevin Gordon (Suz GSX-R750); 8. Dave Ebben (Suz GSX-R750); 9. Joe Ribeiro (Suz GSX-R750); 10. Ivan Garza (Suz GSX-R750), disqualified for incorrect competition number.
THUNDERBIKE: 1. Dave Estok (Buell XB9R), 16 laps; 2. Bryan Bemisderfer (Buell XB9R); 3. Dan Bilansky (Buell XB9R); 4. Jason Catching (Suz SV650); 5. Walt Sipp (Buell XB9R); 6. Darren Danilowicz (Suz SV650); 7. John Cadreact (Suz SV650); 8. Kurt Miller (Buell XB9R); 9. Jeff Eklund (Buell XB9R); 10. Tom Gentry (Suz SV650); 11. Greg Avello (Buell XB9R); 12. Kiyo Watanabe (Suz SV650); 13. Billy Pedro, -2 laps; 14. Steve Slaughter (Buell XB12R), -2 laps; 15. Jeff Johnson (Buell 1200), -6 laps, crash; 16. Jim Davis (Suz SV650), -6 laps.