AFM Round 8 at Infineon Tigert Wins the Race as Stanton Wins the Championship By Mike Solis Jeff Tigert took the win in the Mach 1 Motorsports Formula Pacific race this past weekend, his second consecutive win in the premiere class of AFM racing. From his second row spot on the grid, Tigert launched his CBR1000RR into third behind David Stanton and Michael Earnest, putting his CBR1000RR into second just halfway through the first lap by driving past the Pacific Tracktime GSX-R1000 of Earnest coming out of Turn 6. Just one lap later, Tigert repeated the maneuver on the Arclight Suzuki GSX-R1000 of Oakland Suzuki owner Stanton to take over the lead. For the next few laps, Stanton managed to shadow Tigert as the pair pulled clear of Earnest in third, as Chris Siglin charged through the pack on his Arclight Suzuki GSX-R600 like a man possessed. Determined to prove that he could put a 600 on the podium, Siglin made his way past a number of championship caliber riders on fast bikes including Corey Sarros, Ken Hill, Rob Mesa, and Jon Bawden as he stormed his way into fourth position. At the checkered flag, it was Tigert who took the win, crossing the line some five seconds ahead of Stanton in second. Stanton’s second place finish allowed him to clinch the 2005 Formula Pacific Championship, earning himself the number one plate for the second consecutive season. Earnest crossed the line to take third just two seconds ahead of Siglin, resulting in yet another Formula Pacific podium dominated by riders on Dunlop tires. “Everything came together with this HRC motor, these guys will tell you it’s doing a lot of the work for me,” Tigert stated from the winner’s circle. “The chassis is also great–with a great motor and a great chassis, my job becomes a lot easier.” Tigert started the day with a win in the Keigwins@theTrack 600 Production race, with second place going to Andy Carman in his first weekend under the BARF Racing tent. Bobby Fong appeared to have a firm grasp on third position, giving up the spot when his chain broke just before the halfway point, conceding third to former AMA Pro Thunder champion Tom Montano and his CBR600RR. The Pacific Tracktime 600 Superbike race was a battle for middleweight supremacy between Siglin and Tigert, with Siglin taking a flag-to-flag victory after nailing the holeshot. Tigert managed to stay close before losing touch with Siglin in traffic, eventually finishing second. Andy Carman looked good to take his second top-three of the day until his R6 mysteriously lost power on the last lap, allowing Bobby Fong to come past and finish third. “I knew I had to win the race to clinch the championship, so I could go to the Formula USA national that conflicts with the last AFM round at Buttonwillow,” said Siglin. “I know Jeff is tough every time he comes out, especially at this track. He was right there for a few laps, I think I just caught a few breaks in traffic and was able to get away.” Brian Long put in a good ride on his Spears Racing SV650 to take a convincing win in the Zoom Zoom Trackdays Formula 4 race, with Kurt Spencer finishing second on his Twin Works Factory SV650. The race saw regular front runners out of contention for the top positions, with Shawn Reilly black-flagged for noise on his Vallejo H-D Buell and Mike Lohmeyer struggling to break into the top five on his underpowered VFR400. Long attempted repeated his performance by taking the win in 650 Twins later in the day, with Spencer crossing the line in second after a close battle with third place finisher John Dakar. Jay Kinberger took a hard-fought win in the Aftershocks Suspension 250 Production race, successfully holding off the charge of second-place finisher David Crone. Michael Corbino, 16, held third briefly in his AFM debut, but slipped back to fourth as AFM veteran Kelly Winkelbauer made his way past at the halfway point to round out the top three. “David was just all over me–I think we had more than a few hairy moments out there!” Kinbger recalled. “It probably would have been best to let him go since I was already in a position to clinch the championship, but when he started to come by in the Carousel, I just thought to myself – I am NOT going to let him go!” Class points leader Mike Thompson looked strong early in the Teresa McKinney Realtor Formula 40 race, but was forced to retire early with mechanical problems, relegating the lead to Bud Anderson. Riding his Pacific Tracktime RC-51, Anderson went on to take his second consecutive class victory, with AFM Rider Rep Don Rudolfs finishing second on his GSX-R750. “It was a carbon copy of Buttonwillow, trying to get around Tom Bolles again–his new GSX-R1000 just has so much motor!” Anderson explained. “I was gaining on Mike Thomspon when he dropped out with some sort of mechanical in Turn 7, but I’d much rather win ’em fair and square. I also wanted to thank Roni for all her support–without her, I wouldn’t be out here.” Despite two falls in morning practice, a blown shock, and a fine for close passes on slower riders, Brien Whitlock was able to take the win on his CRF450 Supermoto bike, coming out on top of a race-long battle with the trick, custom framed 727cc Yamaha of second place finisher Jeff Shnapp. Gerry Piazza of GP Frame and Wheel returned to AFM competition to finish third. “I had to ride as hard as I could through some slower traffic to stay in touch with Jeff,” said Whitlock. “I didn’t feel that I passed anyone too closely, and I’m truly sorry if I made anyone feel uncomfortable out there.” After a sketchy start which saw two of the top five riders overcook the entrance to Turn 9 on the first lap, John Davis was able to take the win in the Mazda Technologies Formula 2 race. Wil Morton held the lead early in the race on his fast Honda RS250 before lowsiding in Turn 11, relegating the lead to the TZ250 of Davis. Dan Cook finished second, also on a TZ250. “That’s just too bad that Wil went down, I knew that was going to be a tough line for him to hold in 11,” said Davis after the race. “I think he had something for me today–it’s just unfortunate that things ended that way for him.” In the Formula 3 race, Mike Jarrard and Carlos Neves battled for the lead , Jarrard coming from behind with a bold last-lap, last-turn pass on second place finisher Neves to take the win. Mark Goodrich finished third, with each of the top three riders on Honda RS125s. Returning to his AFM roots for the weekend, Brian Parriott put on a show for the crowd with his elbows-out style on his Power Cup spec K1200R. Riding what many people referred to as a “160 horsepower land yacht,” Parriott managed to turn consistent 1:41s en route to a top 10 finish in the Mach 1 Motorsports Formula Pacific race, making his way past a number of notable riders on open class bikes. Later in the day, Parriott was part of a four-rider battle for fourth place in Open Grand Prix when he lowsided in Turn 9, bringing his race to an early end. The final round of the 2005 AFM season is scheduled to take place at Buttonwillow Raceway on October 23rd. AFM Round 8 October 2, 2005 Infineon Raceway Unofficial Results Mach 1 Motorsports Formula Pacific 1. Jeff Tigert (Hon CBR1000RR) 2. David Stanton (Suz GSX-R1000) 3. Michael Earnest (Suz GSX-R1000) 4. Chris Siglin (Suz GSX-R600) 5. Jon Bawden (Suz GSX-R750) 6. Rob Mesa (Suz GSX-R1000) Scuderia West Formula 1 1. Jon Bawden (Suz GSX-R750) 2. William Morton (Hon RS250) 3. Robert Campbell (Suz GSX-R750) 4. Garry Combs (Suz GSX-R750) 5. Jeremiah Grant (Suz GSX-R750) 6. Peter Doyle (Suz GSX-R750) Mazda Technologies Formula 2 1. John Davis (Yam TZ250) 2. Dan Cook (Yam TZ250) 3. Richard Denman (Hon RS250) 4. Sean Case (Hon RS250) 5. Richard Snowden (Hon RS250) 6. Michael Altamirano (Yam TZ250) Formula 3 1. Michael Jarrard (Hon RS125) 2. Carlos Neves (Hon RS125) 3. Mark Goodrich (Hon RS125) 4. Steve Magri (Hon RS125) 5. Marcus Henderson (Hon RS125) 6. John Kreidle (Hon RS125) Zoom Zoom Trackdays Formula 4 1. Brian Long (Suz SV650) 2. Kurt Spencer (Suz SV650) 3. Michael Metcalf (Suz SV650) 4. Jason Butler (Suz SV650) 5. Michael Lohmeyer (Hon 400) 6. John Daker (Suz SV650) Powerstands Open Grand Prix 1. Rob Mesa (Suz GSX-R1000) 2. Corey Sarros (Suz GSX-R1000) 3. Kim Nakashima (Suz GSX-R1000) 4. David Bell (Suz GSX-R1000) 5. Martin Szwarc (Suz GSX-R1000) 6. Scott Wilson (Suz GSX-R1000) Hare Racing Open Superbike 1. David Stanton (Suz GSX-R1000) 2. James Randolph (Suz GSX-R1000) 3. Ken Hill (Hon CBR1000RR) 4. Rob Mesa (Suz GSX-R1000) 5. Corey Sarros (Suz GSX-R1000) 6. Brien Whitlock (Suz GSX-R1000) Dial It In Tracktime 750 Superbike 1. David Stanton (Suz GSX-R750) 2. Jon Bawden 3. Robert Campbell (Suz GSX-R750) 4. Garry Combs 5. Jeremiah Grant (Suz GSX-R750) 6. Dan Sewell Pacific Tracktime 600 Superbike 1. Chris Siglin (Suz GSX-R600) 2. Jeff Tigert (Hon CBR600RR) 3. Bobby Fong (Yam YZF-R6) 4. John Daley (Yam 400) 5. Andy Carman (Yam YZF-R6) 6. Matt Eccleston (Yam YZF-R6) 450 Superbike 1. Paul Yoshimune (Hon 400) 2. Michael Lohmeyer (Hon 400) 3. Richard Moore (Yam 442) 4. Ross Wells (Yam 400) 5. Craig Sanders (Kaw 400) 6. Kenyon Kluge (Hon 400) Kilowatt Bar 250 Superbike 1. Shawn Herrera (Yam TZR250) 2. Andrew Duafala (Yam TZR250) 3. Dylan Benjamin (Hon 250) 4. Joe Rust (Apr RS250) 5. Steve Mandeville (Yam TZR250) 6. Vlastimil Kotyza (Kaw 250) Take It 2 The Track Open Production 1. Corey Sarros (Suz GSX-R1000) 2. Martin Szwarc (Suz GSX-R1000) 3. William Scott (Kaw ZX-10R) 4. James J. King (Suz GSX-R1000) 5. Kim Nakashima (Suz GSX-R1000) 6. Christopher Weiss (Suz GSX-R1000) Strictly Sport 750 Production 1. Robert Campbell (Suz GSX-R750) 2. Jeremiah Grant (Suz GSX-R750) 3. Liko Miles (Suz GSX-R750) 4. Don Rudolfs (Suz GSX-R750) 5. Craig Wierman (Suz GSX-R750) 6. Patrick Flora (Suz GSX-R750) Keigwins@theTrack 600 Production 1. Jeff Tigert (Hon CBR600RR) 2. Andy Carman (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Thomas Montano (Hon 600) 4. Matt Eccleston (Yam YZF-R6) 5. Andrew Brown (Yam YZF-R6) 6. Pete Demas (Suz GSX-R600) 450 Production 1. David Norgard (Yam FZR400) 2. Peter Licht (Yam FZR400) 3. Gwyn Lewis (Yam FZR400) Aftershocks Suspension 250 Production 1. Jay Kinberger (Kaw 250) 2. David Crone (Hon 250) 3. Kelly Winkelbauer (Kaw 250) 4. Michael Corbino (Kaw 250) 5. Thomas Hicks (Hon 250) 6. Richard Lesher (Kaw 250) Desmoto Sport Open Twins 1. Eric Gulbransen (Duc 749) 2. Scott Schwanbeck (Apr 1000) 3. Simon Williams (Duc 996) 4. Patrick Blackburn (Duc 998) 5. Bud Anderson (Hon 1000) 6. Patrick Corcoran (Duc 996) 650 Twins 1. Brian Long (Suz SV650) 2. Kurt Spencer (Suz SV650) 3. John Daker (Suz SV650) 4. Michael Metcalf (Suz SV650) 5. Jason Butler (Suz SV650) 6. Aaron Tulchinsky (Suz SV650) 500 Twins 1. Jay Jacobson (Suz GS500) 2. Jon Forman (Suz GS500) 3. Tom Dorsey (Suz GS500) 4. Kevin Smith (Kaw 500) 5. Patrick Aldinger (Kaw 500) 6. Boris Clifford (Kaw 500) Formula Singles 1. Brien Whitlock (Hon 450) 2. Jeff Schnapp (Yam 727) 3. Gerry Piazza (Yam 660) 4. Greg Creech (KTM 598) 5. Charles Statman (Hon 650) Teresa McKinney Realtor Formula 40 1. Bud Anderson (Hon CBR1000RR) 2. Don Rudolfs (Suz GSX-R750) 3. Thomas Bolles (Suz GSX-R1000) 4. Patrick Blackburn (Duc 998) 5. Gary Jaehne (Kaw 636 ZX-6R) 6. Jeff Gruetter (Hon CBR1000RR) Super Dinosaur 1. David Worthington (Suz 750) 2. Paul Kieffer (Hon 600) 3. Dave Norgard (Yam 400) 4. Peter Blum (Yam 400) 5. David Crussel (Kaw 748) 6. Mickey Fimbres (Kaw 500)