WMRRA’s first round of the 2015 season was held April 25-26 at Pacific Raceways, in Kent, Washington. Typically a wet and nasty weekend for the NW race club, the weather produced partially sunny skies, dry track, and great temps for the gritty riders who showed to shake off the winter moss from their excited bodies and race bikes. Last year’s #1 plate holder, Ryan “Chromie” Sutton wasted no time in setting the bar up high in Saturday’s Formula Ultra race by walking away with the win, producing lap times more than three seconds faster than his closest competitors on his Superbike Underground Suzuki GSX-R1000. Paul Capps had a great Saturday too, winning both 600cc SS and 750cc SS races on his self-sponsored Yamaha YZF-R6 with Chase Glidden riding his Speeddealer Motors Yamaha YZF-R6 chasing him to the line for second in both classes, producing some exciting races to watch. Ryan Doherty in Novice 1 took a commanding win over Jamin Pak and Mark Szilveszter in Saturday’s heat race.
Sunday’s weather was even nicer with temps in the mid 70’s, making it perfect for great racing. Young gun David Kohlstaedt and Sean Galt produced some good two-stroke racing with Galt beating Kohlstaedt in both 125cc GP and 250cc GP. Sunday’s Formula Ultra race saw the track record fall again to Ryan Sutton with a time of 1:23.118 and the win. Ryan was again head and shoulders above his competition, showing the crowd why he’s the man to beat! In 750cc SB Allister MacKinnon took a fun win on his Speeddealer Motor’s Suzuki GSX-R750 over 2Fast Track Days Mark DeGross on his Yamaha YZF-R6, all the while reminding DeGross the class is 750cc SB in jovial fashion! Open SB saw a little drama when Sutton suffered an issue with his bike while leading, handing the win to fellow Superbike Underground teammate Sam Verderico on his Yamaha YZF-R1M with MacKinnon taking second place. Sunday’s Novice 1 race saw both Ryan Doherty and Jamin Pak finishing 1st and 2nd, but KFG Racing’s Brisa White showed her girl power by taking third with a great podium finish.
Podium celebrations ended the day in the way they always do, with lots of banter, sponsor promotions, and Allister MacKinnon biting into cans of adult beverages, spraying the other podium finishers and the crowd with his glee! He should be happy, after the points for round 1 were tallied; MacKinnon leads the overall championship with a slim margin of 9 points over Sam Verderico, 169 to 160 respectively.
More, from a press release issued by Pirelli North America:
Pirelli rider Ryan “Chromie” Sutton sets new track record
Rome, GA – At the first round of WMRRA’s 2015 season last weekend, Pirelli backed rider Ryan “Chromie” Sutton set an impressive new track record of 1:23.118 in Sunday’s Formula Ultra race held at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington.
On his Superbike Underground Suzuki GSX-R1000 bike with Pirelli Diablo™ Superbike SC 1 front and rear tires, Sutton showed his dominance throughout the weekend, posting lap times more than three seconds faster than his closest competitors to take a convincing win in Saturday’s Formula Ultra race as well.
“Pirelli congratulates Ryan “Chromie” Sutton on his new records and for being another worthy recipient of our 2015 “bounty”. Our motto is ‘we sell what we race, we race what we sell’ and his record set on our Diablo race tires is proof of this high performance, quality and technology that all riders can benefit from,” said Jeff Johnston the Pirelli North America Roadrace Manager.
A collaboration between Pirelli Tire North America and Pirelli Roadracing vendors, the “bounty” is a $500 Pirelli tire voucher offered to riders who set a new absolute motorcycle track record on Pirelli tires during a 2015 Race Sanctioned Event*.
* Additional terms and conditions may apply with respect to the use of the tire voucher.