Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
Robert Jensen, Matt Wait and Ed Key were the big winners at round two of the Formula USA National series Sunday, in near perfect weather conditions at Mid-America Motorplex in Pacific Junction, Iowa.
Jensen won the premier Sportbike race on his Butler Machinery-sponsored Yamaha YZF-R6, the Unlimited Grand Prix on the Tul-aris 800 prototype and finished a close second in the Superbike race on his Yamaha 600.
Kneedraggers.com Yamaha’s Wait won the 14-lap Superbike race and finished second behind Jensen in the 28-lap Sportbike final.
Ed Key, 48, surprised himself in winning the Thunderbike contest over Bryan Bemisderfer.
Wait led pole-sitter Jensen for 25 laps in the tire-taxing Sportbike event. Riding on Pirelli tires, Wait ran a blistering pace of low-1:32 laps, but Jensen, who ran on Michelins, was never more than three bikelengths back, even in traffic. Then on lap 26 of 28, Wait ran wide in a corner, and Jensen pounced on the opportunity to take the lead. Once in front, Jensen turned some of the fastest laps of the race and beat Wait to the flag by 0.75-second.
Making his full-time return to the Formula USA series after a seven-year absence, Arclight Suzuki’s Dave Stanton finished third, 39 seconds behind Jensen. Stanton’s teammate Scott Harwell finished a lonely fourth. Bettencourt/Argo Cycles’ Jeff Wood, the highest-place finisher on Dunlop tires, took fourth on a new Honda CBR600RR. Wood’s teammate Scott Greenwood rode home fifth with Team Celtic Racing’s Des Conboy, Scott Stevens, local rider Scott Ackerman and Adam Dolney rounding out the top 10.
Hal’s Performance Advantage Buell’s Mike Ciccotto, second in Sportbike points after the first round, retired with bike troubles on the first lap.
Former AMA Pro Thunder Champion Shawn Conrad, who was riding with a broken thumb and cracked collarbone, crashed his Yamaha YZF-R6. Conrad did not worsen his existing injuries in the crash, which he claimed was caused when he had to take evasive action to avoid Stanton.
Wait, who qualified on the pole with a new official Mid-America Motorplex lap record of 1:30.864, got another holeshot at the start of the 14-lap Sportbike sprint, while Jensen was fifth into the first corners. The pair were soon locked together in front with Harwell and Stanton joining the race for the lead on their 16.5-inch Pirelli slick-equipped-Suzuki GSX-R600 Superbikes. On lap four, Stanton highsided into the gravel trap outside of turn eight, escaping relatively uninjured.
Wait, Jensen and Harwell remained nose-to-tail for the remaining 10 laps. Jensen never got by Wait, and Harwell couldn’t get by Jensen, although he tried several times in turn one. Wait took the win by 0.3-second over Jensen with Harwell less than one bikelength back in third. Jeff Wood took a lonely fourth in front of Greenwood. Sixth-place Conboy, racing dentist Dr. Jeffrey Purk, Darrin Mitchell (who had crashed out of the Sportbike race), Ackerman and Kevin Gordon completed the top 10.
Kosco Harley-Davidson/Buell’s Eric Wood raced for fifth with Conboy early in the race but developed transmission problems, ran off the track and got his Firebolt stuck in thick mud.
Jensen started the day by giving the MotoDynamics Tul-aris 800 prototype its first national-level race win, topping the Unlimited Grand Prix field despite an early challenge from Yamaha YZF-R1-mounted Conrad.
Kevin Gordon finished third in Unlimited Grand Prix after a race-long battle with Dave Ebben ended with the two colliding and Ebben falling in turn seven late in the race. Ebben was leading Gordon, who said he unintentionally hit Ebben from behind when Ebben “changed his mind” and checked up behind a lapped rider. Ebben was upset but not injured.
Hoban Brothers Harley-Davidson’s Richie Morris out-qualified the Thunderbike field by over one second and had a five-second lead on lap seven of the 14-lap final when he crashed in turn nine due to a overflow bottle dumping fuel onto his front tire.
The crash caused a red flag, and Morris was unable to repair his machine in time to make the six-lap re-start. On the re-start, the battle from the first segment between Key, Bemisderfer, Dave Estok and Jason Smith resumed with Hal’s Harley-Davidson’s Dan Bilansky joining the fray.
Key beat Bemisderfer for the win and Bilansky out-drove a slowing Estok from the final corner to the finish line for third.
Buell-mounted Jeff Johnson, Brian Lacy on a Suzuki SV650, Joe Rozynski on another Buell, Arthur Wagner on a Honda CBR600F2, Jason Jenkins on a Suzuki SV650 and Smith (who slowed less than two laps from the end with apparent mechanical problems) filled out the top 10.
South Saint Paul, Minnesota’s James Boudreau ran away with the seven-rider USGPRU 125cc 14-lap event. John Hjelm finished second with Robert Johnston an even more distant third. All three were on RS125 Hondas.
Sunday’s Formula USA Race Results:
Sportbike: 1. Robert Jensen (Yam YZF-R6), 28 laps; 2. Matt Wait (Yam YZF-R6); 3. David Stanton (Suz GSX-R600); 4. Scott Harwell (Suz GSX-R600); 5. Jeff Wood (Hon CBR600RR); 6. Scott Greenwood (Suz GSX-R600); 7. Des Conboy (Suz GSX-R600); 8. Scott Stevens (Suz GSX-R600); 9. Scott Ackerman (Yam YZF-R6); 10. Adam Donley (Yam YZF-R6); 11. Eric Wood (Buell XB9R); 12. Rob Pearson (Kaw ZX-6R), -1 lap; 13. Kevin Gordon (Suz GSX-R600), -1 lap; 14. Jason Smith (Kaw ZX-6RR), -1 lap; 15. Dr. Jeffrey Purk (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap; 16. James Milroy, Jr. (Suz GSX-R600), -1 lap; 17. Brett Johnson (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap; 18. Dave Ebben (Suz GSX-R600), -1 lap; 19. Christopher McNeil (Suz GSX-R600), -1 lap; 20. Michael Fields (Kaw ZX-6), -1 lap; 21. Jason Jenkins (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap; 22. Jason Quillman (Suz GSX-R600), -1 lap; 23. Mike Shreve (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap; 24. Paulo Mariano (Suz GSX-R600), -2 laps; 25. Gus Holcomb (Suz GSX-R600), -18 laps; 26. Shawn Conrad (Yam YZF-R6), -19 laps, DNF, crash; 27. Craig Babcock (Suz GSX-R600), -20 laps; 28. Darrin Mitchell (Suz GSX-R600), -23 laps, DNF, crash; 29. Alex Barrera (Suz GSX-R600), 23 laps, DNF, crash; 30. Kevin Brown (Yam YZF-R6), -23 laps.
Superbike: 1. Matt Wait (Yam YZF-R6), 14 laps; 2. Robert Jensen (Yam YZF-R6); 3. Scott Harwell (Suz GSX-R600); 4. Jeff Wood (Hon CBR600RR); 5. Scott Greenwood (Suz GSX-R600); 6. Des Conboy (Suz GSX-R600); 7. Dr. Jeffrey Purk (Yam YZF-R6); 8. Darrin Mitchell (Suz GSX-R600); 9. Scott Ackerman (Yam YZF-R6); 10. Kevin Gordon (Suz GSX-R600); 11. Christopher McNeil (Suz GSX-R600); 12. Brett Johnson (Yam YZF-R6); 13. Mark Stiles (Yam TZ250), -1 lap; 14. Kyle Knutson (Kaw ZX-6), -1 lap; 15. Alex Barrera (Suz GSX-R600), -2 laps; 16. Eric Wood (Buell XB9R), -8 laps, DNF; 17. David Stanton (Suz GSX-R600), -11 laps, DNF, crash.
Unlimited Grand Prix Expert: 1. Robert Jensen (Tul-aris 800); 2. Shawn Conrad (Yam YZF-R1); 3. Kevin Gordon (Suz GSX-R750); 4. Alex Barrera (Suz GSX-R1000); 5. Matt Malterer (Suz GSX-R750); 6. Rich Deeming (Suz GSX-R1000).
Unlimited Grand Prix Amateur: 1. Mark Nelson (Yam YZF-R6); 2. Michael Shallcross (Suz GSX-R750); 3. Robert Collins (Suz GSX-R1000); 4. Henry Chin (Suz GSX-R1000); 5. Grant Lessard (Yam YZF-R6); 6. Darby Pool (Yam YZF-R6).
Thunderbike: 1. Ed Key (Suz SV700); 2. Bryan Bemisderfer (Buell 1200); 3. Dan Bilansky (Buell XB9R/1200); 4. Dave Estok (Buell 1200); 5. Jeff Johnson (Buell 1200); 6. Brian Lacy (Suz SV650).
USGPRU 125cc Grand Prix: 1. James Boudreau (Hon RS125); 2. John Hjelm (Hon RS125); 3. Robert Johnston (Hon RS125); 4. Travis Huffman (Hon RS125); 5. Paul Nelson (Hon RS125); 6. Marc Whitney (Hon RS125).