FMRRA: Florida Motorcycle Road Racing Association Round 7: Palm Beach International Raceway July 23, 2017
Stefano Mesa wins Expert Overall Championship during FMRRA Season Finale at Palm Beach International Raceway
Florida racers Stefano Mesa and Daryan Martin lock down the Expert and Amateur Overall Championships in the finale round of the 2017 Florida Motorcycle Road Racing Championship:
With the 2017 FMRRA Championship coming to a close, Stefano Mesa was officially crowned the Expert Overall Champion for the second year in a row. The South Florida native was a dominant force throughout the year. Along the way there were some incredible close battles with Jupiter, FL resident Sean Dwyer, but in the end Mesa took home the championship.
Wrapping up his amateur year, Daryan Martin (Plant City, FL) on his Yamaha R6 again demonstrated his increasingly building talent. Landing on the podium in three of his four races on Sunday, Martin proved he will be a force to be reckoned with as he continues his racing career as an Expert throughout the South East
The season finale at Palm Beach International Raceway started off with an incredible battle for the top step of the podium between Alejandro Rei and Aaron Hernandez in the SuperStock 600 Grande Corsa. Rei held the lead with Hernandez nipping at his rear tire the whole way. In lap 9 (of 12) Hernandez made an impressive pass but was unfortunately unable to make it stick in the final laps. Rei took the checkered flag by a scant margin of 0.185 seconds starting the day off with a photo finish.
The Sunoco SuperBike 1000 Grande Corsa featured plenty of action for the spectators watching around the track. Felipe Maclean started from the pole but it was Expert Overall Champion Stefano Mesa on his Kawasaki ZX-10R nailing the hole shot. While Mesa took off with the lead, there was a battle for the rest of the podium between the other top 4 riders with Felipe Maclean taking second place and Sean Dwyer ultimately taking third by a close margin over Marcin Biernacki.
The SuperStock 1000 sprint race was another highlight. The race again put Mesa, Dwyer, MacLean, and Biernacki together with Felipe MacLean on the pole. This time Maclean took the hole shot. By the end of the first lap Dwyer had picked his way through the field to second place with Mesa on his heels. In lap 2, Mesa worked his way past Dwyer with Biernacki following in fourth position. Lap 3 saw Mesa passing MacLean for the lead, and in Lap 4 Dwyer worked his way into second place right behind Mesa. The top four battled the next two laps to the end but ultimately held those positions with the podium order Mesa, Dwyer, MacLean.
The Bridgestone Cup race was an impressive showing from Team BikePass Motorsports as BPM racers Alex Aguilar (with his first victory), Juan Zuluaga, and German Vacca swept the podium in the Bridgestone-sponsored contingency race for the 600 class. Robert Picinich took the win in the Bridgestone 1000 class.
The Production Twin sprint saw the season-long rivalry between Jonathan Pellnitz and Carl Cohen resume. Cohen started from the pole on his Dunlop equipped Monster 1100 but Pellnitz took the hole shot. After a 3-lap restart, Pellnitz and Cohen again were wheel to wheel with Pellnitz setting a class record (1:27.586) and taking the win over Cohen.
The SuperStock 600 sprint saw a great battle for the Expert win between Seth Starnes and 2016 FMRRA Amateur Overall Champion, Max Angles. Seth Starnes sat on the pole and led until lap 5 where Angles passed the veteran Starnes to take the win with a .148 second photo finish. For the amateur class, Jose Lloreda was the first to cross the MYLAPS timing loops in front of Alejandro Rei and Alex Aguilar to take the win.
The penultimate race was the Sunoco SuperBike 1000 sprint race. After a short rain delay, Robert Picinich gave Felipe MacLean his closest battle of the day on the wet track. Picinich passed Maclean in the final two turns to bring his Bridgestone-shod Kawasaki to the checker flag and take the wet victory.
Florida Motorcycle Road Racing Association will be celebrating the season’s closing with a Championship Beach Party at South Boca Beach Inlet as a thank you to the racers, friends, family, and sponsors who helped make the series a success.
Sunoco Racing Fuels
Southern Racing Fuels
Moto Corse Performance
Pabst Blue Ribbon
Bridgestone Tires
Vanson Leathers
MYLAPS Sports Timing
Florida TrackDays
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