FMRRA: Florida Motorcycle Road Racing Association
Round 6: Palm Beach International Raceway
May 6, 2018
FMRRA 2018 Championship returns to PBIR for Round 6
Florida Motorcycle Road Racing Association’s 2018 season headed back south for Round 6 at Palm Beach International Raceway.
Sunday kicked off with Christina Miranda on pole leading a field of fifteen for the Superstock 600 Grande Corsa. Miranda, Daryan Martin, and Seth Starnes kept the racing within tenths of each other’s lap times for twelve laps straight. In lap four, Martin tried to make a pass on Miranda for first but ran wide and fell back to third behind Starnes; however, he was able to reclaim second in the next lap. Further back in the pack (behind Brad Gordon) Bob Damerau, Frank Custureri, and Adam Diaz were having an equally fierce battle for fifth (all within a second of each other). Starnes was finally able to get past Martin in lap ten and started to close the gap to Miranda. Going into turn nine, the leaders came into lap traffic and Miranda went to the outside for the pass. Starnes took advantage diving to the inside and worked around all three riders emerging on the front straight and across the line with the victory!
Leaving his bike at post-tech for fuel testing, Starnes hopped onto his lightweight bike to join the rest of the field on pole in the Superstreet 250/300 and Moto3 Grande Corsa race. Young stars Alexis Olivera (freshly back from the KTM Cup in Mexico) and Fabian Alvarez rounded out the front of the field early on. Meanwhile Chase Mollak, Charlie Ohana, and Michael Norman duked it out for fifth overall, with Mollak and Ohana exchanging positions multiple times early on in the race. Alvarez made a move on Olivera at the halfway point and moved into second overall. Mollak pulled away from the pack mid-field, but the competition continued with Dustin Richards moving up into the mix with Ohana and Norman. Stealthily working his way up to the front Alejandro Rei slid into second past Alvarez and Olivera just in time for the checkered flag.
Todd Wagner started from the pole in the Superstock 1000 Grande Corsa and held the top position decisively for twelve laps. Amateur standout Wagner took the ultimate victory over Alex Irzyk and Shannon Andrus in the stock-engine liter bike class.
The now familiar face of Christian Miranda started again from the pole in the Sunoco Superbike 600 Grande Corsa. Daryan Martin started from second and held the spot with a solid launch behind Miranda. Nearing the end of the first lap, Jose Lloreda made a pass on Dustin Richards to come into the top three. Shaking things up further back, William Wend made a great move on Adrian Mitchell and pulled in behind Richards in the next lap. Wend kept the pressure on Richards for the whole race, but in the end, Richards held him off crossing the line .12 seconds ahead of to take fourth overall. Christian Miranda took first overall, followed by Martin and Lloreda (first in Amateur). Dustin Richards and William Wend finished out the amateur podium with second and third respectively.
Seth Starnes started from the pole on his Superbike-Spec Yamaha FZ-07 leading a field of Formula and Production Twin bikes. Jonathan Pellnitz and Carl Cohen resumed their tight battle for the Production Twin championship pulling up right onto the rear tire of Starnes. Three laps in, Cohen dove to the inside and passed Starnes in turns nine/ten to take the lead from Starnes, with Pellnitz close in tow. On the next lap, Pellnitz took advantage of his teammate Starnes’ slipstream and pulled a Hurricane Racing “Shake and Bake” to try to slingshot up to Cohen; however, was unable to make it stick and Starnes and Cohen swapped positions lap and lap again for the next few laps. Pellnitz not to be dissuaded stayed up close behind the two looking for an opening to try to snag valuable championship points in the close season-long battle and finally grabbed second in lap nine, with Cohen seemingly losing some momentum. On the last lap coming down the back straight Cohen came out of turn eight with more speed and took back the class victory from Pellnitz by 0.339 seconds!
Veteran Sean Dwyer started from the pole in the guaranteed $1000 payout Sunoco Superbike 1000 to finish out the morning’s Grande Corsa races. Todd Wagner had a great launch and was able to pull into the lead early on, but Dwyer quickly started closing the gap and stayed glue to Wagner’s rear tire for three laps with Alex Irzyk shortly behind in tow. On lap four Dwyer dove to the inside on the entry to turn nine and grabbed back the lead position from Wagner and lead the field home for the victory and the paychecks. Alex Irzyk took third overall (second in Expert) followed by Shannon Andrus.
With the threat of afternoon showers looming, the Series pushed back lunch and kicked off the sprint races without a break. Val Lavrik started from the back (as he skipped qualifying) but ultimately took home the overall victory in the Euro Cup followed by Carl Cohen and Jonathan Pellnitz.
In the Superstreet and Moto 3 sprint Alejandro Rei started on pole, but right away on the first lap Alexis Olivera passed the three top racers to take the lead position. On the next lap the front of the field mixed up some more with Fabian Alvarez and Daniel Ossa both coming up into second and fourth respectively. Four laps in Alvarez was able to make a pass on Olivera and held the overall spot with a gap of 1.129 seconds. Alexis Olivera won the Moto3 Amateur class followed by Charlie Ohana and Yvette Lamar. Fabian Alvarez took home the victory in Moto3 Expert followed by Alejandro Rei and Jonathan Pellnitz. Alex Ehrenstein and Matt Mullins shared the Superstreet 250 podium. Daniel Ossa won the Superstreet 300 Amateur followed by Michael Norman and Justin Thorpe, and finally Chase Mollak took home the gold in the Superstreet 300 Expert class followed by German Vacca.
MPH Racing’s Todd Wagner started from the Superstock 1000 pole closely followed by Dewain Thomas and MPH teammate Derik Johnson. Sean Dwyer started further back and tore through the field working his way up to the front. After six laps Dwyer took the Superstock 1000 overall and Expert victory with Shannon Andrus joining him on the Expert podium. MPH Racing swept the Superstock 1000 Amateur podium with Todd Wagner, Derik Johnson, and Adrian Mitchell taking home all three spots.
The Formula40 – 600 race started with a light drizzle and made for an interesting display of racer experience with their use of rubber. Alejandro Rei and Brad Gordon came through turn ten on the first lap rubbing elbows and crossing the line .025 seconds apart. Rei experienced an error around turn seven and he lost ground putting him within grabbing space of veteran Bob Damerau. Rei was able to close back up on Gordon after another two laps and ultimately made the pass in lap four. Gaining more and more confidence by the lap in the moisture, Rei took the checkered flag with a 7.3 second lead after nearly losing it all in lap two! Doug Ford, Kurt Peterson, and Mel Ford made up the Formula40 – 600 Amateur podium; while Alejandro Rei, Brad Gordon, and Bob Damerau took home the Expert class top three. Rei’s win over Gordon brings him within six points of the Formula40 – 600 Class Championship, currently being held by Gordon.
The Bridgestone Cup sprint race featured predominantly 600cc bikes in the only FMRRA spec-tire race. Jose Lloreda led the field followed by Derik Johnson and William Wend. Daniel Ossa, German Vacca, and Nofal Dawahra (all Team BikePass Motorsports racers) were all right behind Wend and within milliseconds of each other. Vacca twisted the throttle and dug deep on lap four pulling himself up into second place with a blazing lap time. On the next lap Wend passed Derik Johnson coming up into third. Final results showed Lloreda, Vacca, and Wend in the Bridgestone Cup 600cc class while Derik Johnson and Daniel Ossa took the podium in the 1000cc Class.
The Production and Formula Twin Sprint race started in the rain. Production Twin racer Michael DeRoche low sided on lap one taking out fellow Production Twin Sam Purkis on lap one causing a restart. After the restart, Hurricane Racing’s Jonathan Pellnitz lead a definitive six lap victory over the rest of the grid showing his confidence in the rain, true to the team name, and grabbing valuable points over Carl Cohen in their tightening scramble for the Championship. Seth Starnes won the Formula Twin Class while Roger Morissette was the only amateur to finish after the early race incident that collected the other class riders.
The wet Formula40 – 1000 started with Christopher Dooley on the pole, but Dewain Thomas had a great launch and took advantage grabbing the lead into turn one. Thomas lost grip on in turn three going off track and ending the race early with three laps in the books. Val Lavrik took the top spot on the podium with Christopher Dooley in second and Robert Fellman in third.
The rain was not letting up and seventeen racers took the Superstock 600 grid braving the elements. Christian Miranda started from the pole and lead the field of water plumes into turn one. Brad Gordon showed his mettle and worked his way through the field passing Miranda but was only able to hold it for one lap before Miranda took the lead back. An early race finish was called, sealing Miranda’s victory with Gordon in second and Seth Starnes third overall. Frank Custureri (first), Adrian Mitchell (second), and Dustin Richards (third) made up the Superstock 600 Amateur Podium. After Round 6, Brad Gordon leads Daryan Martin by thirteen points in the Superstock 600 Overall Championship.
The Formula 50 – 1000 saw Alejandro Rei lead a wet parade around the track with Robert Fellman in cold pursuit. Much of the field vacated due to the weather, but the two ensured they got their Championship points.
The Sunoco Superbike 600 Sprint saw Christian Miranda on the pole again and Seth Starnes riding the start out with a wheelie tucked under the windscreen into turn one. Daryan Martin and Dustin Richards both had a great launch and moved up the field along with Jose Lloreda. Two laps in Starnes made a great drive closing the gap and moving in on Miranda, while Frank Custureri made a move past Richards and Lloreda into fourth. Starnes was finally able to work past Miranda on lap four in turn nine taking advantage of the long braking zone from the back straight. Miranda put on the pressure, but Starnes held the lead across the finish line. On the last lap William Wend was able to pass Richards to round out the back of the amateur podium behind Frank Custureri (first) and Jose Lloreda (second). The final expert podium saw Seth Starnes in first followed by Christian Miranda and Daryan Martin.
After a rainy afternoon the Sunoco Superbike 1000 racers took to the grid for the final race of the day. The field was cut back as a number of racers opted out due to the continuing rain, but Shannon Andrus took home the hardware and points in the Expert Class. The amateur field saw Derik Johnson make a great display of his talent and confidence in the rain leading Val Lavrik and Patrick Plowman across the line to finish out the day and the podium.
Florida Motorcycle Road Racing Association heads further south for the series’ debut event at Homestead Miami Speedway for Round 7 on June 10th and then heads north to Roebling Road Raceway for the Season Finale on June 23-24, 2018.
FMRRA thanks all their 2018 sponsors for their support of our passionate racers and the sport as a whole.
Sunoco Racing Fuels
Southern Racing Fuels
Palm Beach Sports Commission
Chirino Insurance
Pabst Blue Ribbon
Bridgestone Tires
Vanson Leathers
MYLAPS Sports Timing
Florida Track Days
Full Season Championship Results and Individual Race Results are conveniently available online at:
https://www.fmrra.com/championships/
More photos and videos are available at