AFM Round 8 at Buttonwillow By Mike Solis After making the most of one of his trademark starts, Chris Siglin managed to hold off a hard charging James Randolph to take the win in the MDK Motorsports Formula Pacific race at Buttonwillow last Sunday, which was run in the reverse direction for the second straight season. At the start of the race, Siglin quickly worked his way to the front on his Dunlop-shod Arclight Racing GSX-R1000 as Randolph slipped back to fourth, despite holding the lead into the first turn after the green flag dropped. From his fourth place position, Randolph bounced back on his Pirelli-shod Tigershark Racing GSX-R1000, charging past the Pacific Track Time duo of Cory Call and Michael Earnest to regain the second spot. Coming out of the final turn on the final lap, Randolph managed to outdrive Siglin but didn’t have the track to make the pass happen, as Siglin went on to win his first Formula Pacific race in three years. Randolph crossed the line in second, with Earnest third. “I’m just speechless, I really am,” said Siglin. “When I started racing, I idolized these guys I can’t even explain what it’s like to be up here. That last lap was a really slow lap I started hearing things behind me and losing focus. I mean, it’s the last lap and I’m leading Formula Pacific, ya know? That’s where everyone wants to be out here.” With just a single point separating him from Earnest at the start of the race, Randolph’s second place earned him the number two plate for the 2008 season. “It was just good racing, we’ve been having good racing all year, and it’s been fun” said Randolph, who clinched the number two plate. “I know where those guys are gonna go, and I know where I’m going to go fortunately we haven’t had too many mishaps.” Despite coming up just one position short of the number two plate, Earnest proved to be in good spirits in the winner’s circle, joking about his near highside on his Dunlop-shod Kyle Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 at the end of the first lap as they came onto the front straight. “I had that little moment on the first or second lap coming onto the straight, but it was all good since I landed on my wheels, said Earnest. “Chris was riding really well at the front, James was riding great, it’s just a privilege to be standing up here with guys who are riding this good.” Ken Hill finished in 5th on his Roseville Cycle Honda with Honda R&D test rider Jeff Tigert in 6th. After the race, Tigert spoke in the pits of his intentions to take a step back from racing after this season, having pursued racing success both locally and nationally since 1999 when he made his debut on a Honda Hawk. Despite finishing in 14th place on his Mach 1 Motorsports Yamaha over 30 seconds behind the leaders David Stanton had plenty to celebrate at Buttonwillow, reclaiming the number one plate for 2008. “This has been a learning year for me, a lot of hard work went into it,” said Stanton. “With a new bike, a new sponsor, the only thing that was the same was the Dunlop tires. It’s been really rewarding to come out here and win this number one plate, because the level of competition here is just so deep the last four races have been just crazy! To come out here and do this on a bike that no one else rides is a great feeling, it’s really special for Jeff Leggitt and Mach 1 Motorsports. This is really for them, for believing in me, and it feels good!” A number of young, talented riders made their presence felt at Buttonwillow, with teenagers like Gregory Grouleff, Ryan Fulton, Scott Gilbert and Bryce Prince all having strong finishes in their respective classes over the course of the weekend. 16-year-old Garrett Willis had the best result of any young rider at Buttonwillow, taking his first AFM win in the Suzuki of Oakland 750 Production race on his Roseville Cycle tuned Honda CBR600RR after passing Cory Call to take the lead on the last turn of the last lap. “I didn’t really expect to finish that high up after the race started going, with a 4th row spot on the grid,” said Willis, a student of Doug Chandlers CHAMP racing school. “Towards the end I saw Cory getting closer and closer, and I made a ton of ground up one lap in traffic. I don’t know if he knew I was there, so I just got him on that last turn, last lap.” Scott Wilson, Jeff Hagan, and Ricky Corey all had successful weekends at Buttonwillow, as each rider took home two wins apiece. Riding his Foremost Insurance Suzuki, Wilson took wins in the R Tech Fuels 750 Superbike and Scuderia West Formula 1 races. In his last weekend on his Art Chambers Suzuki SV650, Jeff Hagan took wins in the Foremost Insurance 650 Twins and Race-Oil.com / AMSOIL Formula 4 races. On his K&L Supply Yamaha R6, Ricky Corey took home wins in the Pacific Track Time 600 Superbike and Keigwins@theTrack 600 Production classes. AFM Round 8 October 20-21 Buttonwillow / Wolliwnottub Raceway Unofficial Results – Top 6 per class MDK Motorsports Formula Pacific 1. Chris Siglin (Suz 1000) 2. James Randolph (Suz 1000) 3. Michael Earnest (Suz 1000) 4. Cory Call (Suz 1000) 5. Ken Hill (Suz 1000) 6. Jeffrey Tigert (Hon 1000) Fremont Honda Kawasaki Open Superbike 1. James Randolph (Suz 1000) 2. Corey Sarros (Suz 1000) 3. David Bell (Suz 1000) 4. James J. King (Suz 1000) 5. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 6. Grant Riggs (Suz 1000) R Tech Fuels 750 Superbike 1. Scott Wilson (Suz 750) 2. Garry Combs (Suz 750) 3. Gregory Grouleff Jr (Suz 750) 4. Peter O’Sullivan (Suz 750) 5. Stan Riner (Suz 750) 6. William Scott (Yam 600) Pacific Track Time 600 Superbike 1. Richard Corey (Yam 600) 2. Jeffrey Tigert (Hon 600) 3. Garrett Willis (HOn 600) 4. Brant Wiwi (Yam 600) 5. Gregory Grouleff Jr (Suz 600) 6. Scott Gilbert (Yam 600) Alpine RV 450 Superbike 1. Mark Elrod (Hon 400) 2. Vlastimil Kotyza (Yam 413) 3. Jonathan Forman (Suz 500) 4. David Wallis (Hon 400) 5. Ryan Fulton (KTM 450) 6. Scotty Storey (Hon 400) 250 Superbike 1. Susan Urquhart (Kaw 250) 2. Richard Lesher (Kaw 250) Take it 2 the Track Open Production 1. Ken Hill (Suz 1000) 2. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 3. Kim Nakashima (Suz 1000) 4. Liko Miles (Suz 1000) 5. Blake Wicker (Kaw 1000) 6. Jeff Smith (Suz 1000) Suzuki of Oakland 750 Production 1. Garrett Willis (Hon 600) 2. Cory Call (Suz 750) 3. Scott Wilson (Suz 750) 4. Garry Combs (Suz 750) 5. Gregory Grouleff Jr. (Suz 750) 6. Kim Nakashima (Suz 750) Keigwins@theTrack 600 Production 1. Richard Corey (Yam 600) 2. Garrett Willis 3. Brant Wiwi (Yam 600) 4. Lenny Hale (Yam 600) 5. Gregory Grouleff Jr (Suz 600) 6. William Scott (Yam 600) 450 Production 1. David Wallis (Hon 400) 2. David Munoz (Hon 400) 3. Paul Kieffer (Yam 400) 4. Scotty Storey (Hon 400) 250 Production 1. Thomas Dorsey (Suz 400) 2. Lisa Mazurkiewicz (Kaw 250) 3. Craig Farless (Kaw 250) 4. Brendan Hanley (Suz 400) 5. Norman Smith (Kaw 250) 6. Richard Lesher (Kaw 250) GP Frame and Wheel Open Grand Prix 1. Corey Sarros (Suz 1000) 2. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 3. David Bell (Suz 1000) 4. Robert Mesa (Suz 1000) 5. Mike Thompson (Suz 1000) 6. Justin Mastalka (Suz 1000) Scuderia West Formula 1 1. Scott Wilson (Suz 750) 2. Cory Call (Suz 750) 3. Stan Riner (Suz 750) 4. Garry Combs (Suz 750) 5. Kim Nakashima (Suz 750) 6. Peter O’Sullivan (Suz 750) Mazda Technologies Formula 2 1. Carlos Neves (Hon 250) 2. Shawn Herrera (Yam 250) 3. Kelly Winkelbauer (Yam 250) 4. Ryan Corey (Hon 250) 5. Michael Altamirano (Yam 250) 6. Erik Kolstoe (Yam 250) Formula 3 1. Jeffrey Lim (Hon 125) 2. Kevin Murray (Yam 125) 3. Michael Aron (Hon 125) 4. Debra Barton (Hon 125) 5. Phillip Krenn (Hon 125) 6. Peter LeDuc (Hon 125) Race-Oil.com / AMSOIL Formula 4 1. Jeff Hagan (Suz 650) 2. Oliver Rowen (Suz 650) 3. Dan Sewell (Suz 650) 4. Kevin Heiss (Suz 650) 5. Brian Harp (Suz 650) 6. Christian Sommer (Suz 650) Desmoto Sport Open Twins 1. Matthew Green (Duc 999) 2. Scott Schwanbeck (Duc 749) 3. Craig McLean (Duc 1098) 4. Lance Williams (Duc 750) 5. Martin Ayala (Duc 999) 6. Steve Metz (Duc 749) Foremost Insurance 650 Twins 1. Jeff Hagan (Suz 650) 2. Dan Sewell (Suz 650) 3. Greg McCullough (Suz 650) 4. Christian Sommer (Suz 650) 5. Oliver Rowen (Suz 650) 6. William Fox (Suz 650) 500 Twins 1. Jonathan Forman (Suz 500) 2. Bobby Lee Broussard (Suz 500) 3. Lisa Mazurkiewicz (Kaw 250) 4. Daniel Lucero (Kaw 250) 5. Norman Smith (Kaw 250) Formula Singles 1. Andre Benguerel (Hus 450) 2. Thomas Dorsey (Suz 400) 3. Michael Altamirano (Suz 400) 4. Brendan Hanley (Suz 400) 5. Clay Hassinger (ATK 598) Teresa McKinney Realtor Formula 40 1. Mike Thompson (Suz 1000) 2. Jeff Smith (Suz 1000) 3. William Bouch (Suz 1000) 4. Neil Russell (Suz 1000) 5. Ron Bunten (Suz 1000) 6. John Reeves (Suz 1000) Super Dinosaur 1. Mark Woodlief (Yam 450) 2. Ed Haazer (Hon 400) 3. Paul Kieffer (Kaw 750) 4. Bobby Lee Broussard (Suz 500) More, from a press release issued by AIM Yamaha: Winner of the 2007 Virgin R6 Cup, B J Toal represented AIM Yamaha at the annual Sunflower Trophy meeting at Bishopscourt in Ireland on Sunday, securing a 10th place in the main race of the day and going on to complete both Supersport races in sixth position. In the main race of the day, the Sunflower Trophy event, BJ realised he would be down on power to the main contenders for the race win as they were riding Superbikes and he was on the AIM Yamaha R6 Supersport machine. But none the less he rode through to qualify in a very respectable 13th position going on to take 10th place in the overall results and being the second Supersport over the finish line. There were two Supersport races for BJ to contest and after qualifying in sixth place he went on to secure sixth in each race. BJ TOAL Practice didn’t go as well as I had hoped but apart from that everything was fine, although in the first Supersport race I chose the wrong tyre and was a bit off the pace. But in race two I took the lead from the word go and led for the first two laps. But then I had a bit of a slide and lost drive so dropped back a bit to finish in sixth once again. All in all the weekend has gone well for us and I am happy enough with the results and my intention is to come back again next year. AIM Yamaha will now return to base to prepare the R1 and R6 machines for the Macau GP, which takes place on November 17. Steve Plater will be again contesting the Superbike race, which he won for the team last year while Steve Allan, who has ridden to victory on two previous occasions in the Supersport class, will ride the AIM Yamaha Supersport bike. Practise begins on Thursday, November 15 followed by qualifying the following day with racing set over 15 laps of the Macau Street circuit for Saturday at 14.50 (7am our time). More, from a press release issued by Longevity Racing: Twenty-three year old Barrett Long won both the Factory Pro Sportbike ASRA race and the Team Challenge GTO race, teamed with Dario Marchetti from Italy. The Team Challenge 200km. race was especially rewarding because they were able to beat a host of Suzuki 1000’s with the Ducati Miami 1098. The Factory Pro Sportbike race was the most exciting of the weekend as seven riders dueled for the win. Barrett steadly moved through the pack to lead on the eighth lap, only to run into rain at the chicane. The ensuing lap proved to be the a disaster as two of the front runners crashed and the ASRA officials decided to red flag the race.Barrett was awarded the win. More, from a press release issued by Team Mojotown.com: Double AFM Championship for Team Mojotown.com Where: ButtonWillow Raceway – Buttonwillow, California When: October 21st, 2007 Organization: American Federation of Motorcycles – AFM Class: Formula III (125 GP) & Formula Singles The final round of the AFM regional series came to a close over the weekend with a double championship win for the Mojotown.com riders. Michael Aron #80 aboard his Honda RS125 (Formula III) and rookie Clay Hassinger #910 on the ATK (Formula Singles) proved that consistency can pay off. Each rider entered the season finale with a 23 point lead and both ended the season by winning their class championships. In order to secure the championship Michael needed to finish 4th or better. After a short stint up front, he settled in for a 3rd place to wrap up his first AFM title. Michael had hoped to end the season with a win, but there was just no way to catch Jeff Lim #40 who broke away early. “Jeff was on fire – but I knew I just needed to keep my head on straight and run a clean race to bring home the championship”. “The championship victories for both Mojotown.com riders is a great asset to our company. We have a long history of racing and motor sports marketing so these titles are icing on the cake for us.” More, from a press release issued by Evan Steel Performance: E.S.P. returns to their old stomping grounds at Willow Springs. Guest rider Chris Peris rode an E.S.P./Ballsac Racing Suzuki GSXR-1000 to victory in Open Modified Production, with a new class lap record, as well as winning the main event, Toyota Cup Formula One. It was Chris’s first time back to Willow Springs in more than two years, as well as his first ever race weekend on a 1000cc machine, and he performed flawlessly. With track time limited to a friday track day, due to the “breezy” conditions on saturday, Chris used his first race, Open Superbike, to become more familiar with his new ride, finishing third. Acting on advice from Gabe at Sport Tire Services, the E.S.P. crew made a change in tire pressure, and Chris was able to drop into low 1:22’s consistently and comfortably which was enough for the win and lap record in Open Modified Production. For the Formula One race, Chris went from 11th on the grid to third in the first turn, and on the next circulation passed Karl Lowry into turn one for second, then Jeremy Toye on the entrance of turn two to take the lead at the start of lap two. From there until the checkers he was able to ease away from the pack, to win by almost 6 seconds. Evan Steel: It was great to work with Chris again, and i can’t believe how fast he got up to speed on the big bike, especially at such a high speed track and as windy as it was. Last weekend I was at Road Atlanta with Ben Thompson for the Suzuki Cup races, and he was able to race with and beat Trey Batey out there, which is quite an accomplishment. To come here and race with my good friend Jeremy Toye is a very similar feeling, they don’t call him the “King of Willow” for nothing! It’s really fun for me to see the young guys challenging, hat’s off to Chris he did a great job for us. Phil Allison: I never worked with Chris before, but this was a great time. He is definitely a very talented rider to be able to accomplish what we accomplished in a very short amount of track time. Beating Jeremy at Willow, well… it might be easier to get a three legged donkey to walk a straight line.