Silva Wins Shootout, Mesa In Points Lead
CCS Florida – Jupiter, FL
September 28, 2014
Bruno Silva won the Unlimited Grand Prix race with CCS Florida region this weekend after getting off to a rough start. The first lap of the race was stopped for an incident just after the start and Stefano Mesa was the early leader at the restart. One lap later, Silva got out front and was able to hold Mesa off for the remaining five laps of the sprint race to take his third victory of the day on his Kawasaki ZX-10R. Mesa finished second on his Suzuki GSX-R1000 with Sean Dwyer rounding off the top three on his Suzuki GSX-R1000.
“The track is really hot,” stated Silva. “I had a hard time during the superbike races. The first superbike race, my front tire lost pressure. The second superbike race, I blew the engine.
“Pirelli did an awesome job here. This is the second time we’re here and really fast on those tires, so I’m really happy. Thanks, first of all, to God, and my family for all their support,” he exclaimed. “I’d like to dedicate this race to Lucas [Silva’s younger brother who crashed earlier in the day]. He went to the hospital with an injury. Also, thanks to Eric Gray with GMD Computrack Ft. Lauderdale, Pirelli tires, those guys are awesome, Alphalog Race Team, and Apex Motorsport.” Silva also won the Unlimited Supersport and Unlimited Superbike races.
Mesa was the winningest expert of the day with six first-place finishes. He won the GTO, GTU, Middleweight Supersport, Heavyweight Supersport, Middleweight Superbike, and Middleweight Grand Prix classes.
“It’s really hard to switch from a 600 to a 1000 just right off the bat,” stated Mesa after the final race. “It’s completely different lines, different braking, you’re going so much faster and you don’t even notice it. And, when you come, it’s time to brake, and it’s like, ‘I don’t have time to brake.’ These two guys have been riding amazing. I was the slowest today and these guys got me up to pace. Thanks to West Side Performance for all their help. Dunlop tires always doing the great job. Mike from Thermosman, he’s always good. He’s always on point. And everybody for being over here.”
Mesa’s combined wins currently place him out front in this season’s overall points race for the number one plate. Greg Melka, just coming off his overall championship points win with the CCS Southeast region, started the weekend in the points lead, with a mere 30-point gap over Mesa. But, Mesa’s efforts netted him a 129-point lead headed into the final race of the season in a double points event at Homestead-Miami Speedway on December 6-7th.
For additional information on CCS Florida’s grand finale event at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and for full race results, please visit: www.ccsracing.us.
UNLIMITED GRAND PRIX RESULTS:
1. Bruno Silva ( Kaw ZX-10R); 2. Stefano Mesa (Suz GSX-R1000); 3. Sean Dwyer (Suz GSX-R1000); 4. Carlos Felipe Ortiz (BMW S1000RR); 5. Jose Fernandez (Hon CBR1000RR).