Michelin Pro Series
April 26, 2009
Heartland Park-Topeka
Topeka, Kansas
Rozynski Brothers Use Weather in Heartland Upset
The first indication that the weather was going to be a significant factor at Heartland Park Topeka was the thunderstorm that washed out the Saturday qualifying sessions for the Michelin Pro Series. After dropping over one inch of rain in less than 30 minutes on the Heartland Park facility, the runoff from the already saturated ground put mud and other debris across several turns, forcing ASRA officials to call it a day when it was clear the clean up would take longer than the amount of daylight left. This left the Michelin Pro riders gridded by points and order of entry for the Sunday finals. The weather wasn’t done yet as the skies threatened all day Sunday and light drizzle continued to make things difficult for the riders.
First up at Noon on Sunday was the SuperStock race. The field got smaller as to started to drizzle just when the riders were called to the grid, notably Robert Jensen who later commented, “It’s hard enough to ride a 1000 around here, let alone on a wet track. I’ll save myself for the other races.” To their credit the riders that answered the call faced the worst of conditions, a damp but drying track surface, and they put on a good show for the seven-lap event. At the start it was Brian Stokes on his Michelin-shod Kawasaki 1000 with the holeshot, but he was closely followed by Matt Hall from Kansas City. The two swapped positions on lap two until Stokes was able to get back in front of Matt on lap three and hold that advantage to the end. Matt Hall, using Pirellis on his Kawasaki, finished second with Brian Hall coming home in third making it a Kawasaki sweep for the SuperStock podium and two of the top three for Michelin. The win puts Stokes into a tie for the Michelin Pro Series SuperStock points lead.
The SuperBike event rolled up to a drier surface with Stokes, Hall and Paul Allison all having their sights set on stopping the favorite, Robert Jensen. Hoping to improve on his second place from Daytona, Allison on a Yamaha started on the pole by virtue of points, but it was Jensen on the Suzuki that took the holeshot and left the others to fight it out for second. As Jensen, riding on Michelins, settled into his race pace and pulled away from the runner-up battle, Allison used his Pirellis to hold Matt Hall off and capture second once again. While the position gave Allison the championship point lead, he clearly wanted to break the “streak” of second places he has this season.
For Dan Bilansky, the Thunderbike victory at Daytona re-energized the Wisconsin rider and he showed up at Heartland Park with nothing but victory on his mind. With the skies drizzling again, the start of the ThunderBike race saw Joel Spaulding take the holeshot on his Buell and lead the first lap of the seven-lap contest. Bilansky, also on a Buell, fell victim to the touchy track surface and in his own words, “High-sided to the Moon!” on the opening lap and all he could do was get up and try to salvage some points. On lap two, Spaulding ran afoul of the tricky traction conditions and found himself on the ground as well. Joe Rozynski wasted no time in putting his Pirelli-shod Buell into the top position.
“I saw Joel go down and as I took the lead I just kept waiting for Bilansky to come up and put the pressure on me. I kept looking for it and when I realized it was Dan that went down on the first lap, I relaxed a little too much and almost crashed out myself,” said Joe. “Then I kept waiting for Sam (Joe’s brother) to try something but he never made it to me.”
Sam Rozynski had an axle back out and it was all he could do to bring his Buell home in second, just 0.1 second ahead of David Myers, also on a Buell. This was the first win for Joe Rozynski, the first 1-2 finish in the class for the Rozynski brothers, the first podium for David Myers and a Buell sweep of the ThunderBike class. It also marks the second year in a row for a first-time winner in the class at Heartland Park.
The final event of the day was the Factory Pro SportBike race, and it was a barn-burner. Jensen, fresh from the SuperBike win, was ready to go but it was Paul Allison took the holeshot and Jensen was forced to get past him to lead lap one. Jensen brought Matt Hall along with him to the front and two laps later Hall put his Kawasaki out in front for laps three and four. Jensen, not to be denied, pushed his Suzuki through to the point and held on the lead to the checkered flag. It was Jensen for the win, Matt Hall in second and then Allison in third, with the top three just a little over one second apart at the finish. Matt Hall’s Kawasaki tested over horsepower during post race inspection and he was docked three positions, That moved Allison on a Yamaha to second and Brian Stokes on a Kawasaki to third. Allison moves to the lead in the Factory Pro SportBike points heading into round three of the series at Road America next weekend.
Round three of the Michelin Pro Series will be May 1-2-3 at Elkhart Lake’s Road America with the Michelin Team Challenge, CCS Championship races and the USGPRU. Races start each day at Noon, For complete results, visit www.asraracing.com.
More, from a press release issued by Buell:
JOE ROZYNSKI RIDES BUELL TO THUNDERBIKE WIN AT TOPEKA
Sam Rozynski and David Myers fill an All-Buell Podium at ASRA National
TOPEKA, Kan. (April 27, 2009) Soundwaves.com/H-D/Buell of Frederick rider Joe Rozynski rode a Buell XB12R to win the Thunderbike National at the ASRA Michelin Pro Series event at Heartland Park. It was the first ARSA National win for the veteran Buell racer from Sparta, N.J. Buell riders filled the Thunderbike podium, as Soundwaves.com/H-D/Buell of Frederick rider Sam Rozynski finished second and David Myers finished third on a Buell XB12R.
Periodic rain washed out most of the racing program on Saturday, including qualifying for the Thunderbike National, so riders were gridded for the start based on points. That put the season points leader, Hal’s H-D/Buell/Hal’s Speed Shop rider Dan Bilansky, on the pole. Racers were dodging rain again on Sunday, and at the start of the 10-lap Thunderbike race the track was dry at the start/finish line, but wet with rain in two other sections. Joe Rozynski led at the start, with Bilansky right behind in second. Bilansky crashed on the first wet section in turn three on the first lap. Hal’s H-D/Buell/Hal’s Speed Shop rider Joel Spalding passed Joe Rozynski on the front stretch to take the lead at the beginning of lap two. But Spalding carried too much speed into the wet section and crashed when his front tire washed out in turn three. With Spalding down, Joe Rozynski reclaimed the lead and was not challenged for the rest of the race. Both Bilansky and Spalding managed to free their motorcycles from the mud surrounding the track and rejoined the race on lap five. Bilansky finished in fifth place, while Spalding was sixth.
“I got out in front right at the start and we ran into rain on turn three,” said Rozynski, who has been racing a Buell in ASRA Thunderbike since 2001. “I didn’t realize that Bilansky went down until we came back around the track. When Spalding passed me at the beginning of lap two, we both came into that wet section too fast for the track conditions, and my front start to slide, but I managed to save it when he went down. After that the track started to dry and I just rode as hard as I could. I’m really stoked to get the win. It’s been a great weekend for us.”
After two events on the 2009 ASRA Michelin Pro Series Thunderbike schedule, Bilansky leads with 56 points, followed by Joe Rozynski with 53 points, Sam Rozynski with 51 points, and Spalding with 45 points.
The next event on the 10-race ASRA Michelin Pro Series schedule is May 1-3 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.
Buell Riders Win Motorsports.com CCS Sprint Races
Buell riders took wins in a double-header weekend of Motorsports.com CCS sprint competition at Heartland Park. Bilansky won twice in Expert Thunderbike and once in Expert SuperTwins, while Hal’s Speed Shop rider Matt Sheahan won twice in Amateur Lightweight Supersport.
To learn more about Buell motorcycles, visit your local Buell dealer today and experience the pure streetfighter attitude, style and performance only found on board a Buell. For the Buell dealer nearest you, pull into www.buell.com.