Round two of the AFM schedule took place on Sunday at Infineon Raceway. In the premiere “Run what ya brung, go fast or go home” Formula Pacific event, it was Arclight Racing’s David Stanton who took the victory, taking possession of the championship points lead on his 2005 GSX-R1000. “I was struggling to stay in front, as the back end was doing things that it wasn’t doing in practice,” Stanton stated. “Mike was riding great – I could hear his motor in every turn, which was a great motivator. My new GSX-R1000 is working a lot better than it was during the first round – when I get it just the way I like it, it should be really good!” Second place went to Pacific Tracktime’s Michael Earnest, who challenged Stanton for the length of the race despite the last minute preparation of his machine. “I felt really lucky, considering we just got the shock for it yesterday,” Earnest recalled. “Last night, we ended up putting a set of forks on it off of my buddy’s 750 talk about last minute! My lap times in practice weren’t so great, but it kind of came together for FP. I mean, I couldn’t believe it, I was behind Dave! How cool is that?” Third place went to TagTeam Racing’s Eric “Gogo” Gulbransen, on a Munroe Motorsports tuned Ducati 999R. Gulbransen, a championship-winning racer from the east coast LRRS series before migrating to California, was kept honest by fourth-place finisher Rob Mesa. Some notable faces were absent from the grid, with Ken Hill crashing out on the warmup lap after experiencing mechanical problems on his CBR1000RR. Jeff Tigert winner of the Formula Pacific event at Buttonwillow chose to run the Fontana AMA national, which also took place that weekend. Riding a borrowed Suzuki SV650, Earnest also took the 650 Twins win, exchanging the lead numerous times with second-place finisher Felipe Cabezas before taking the checkered flag. “It was fun with Mike – where I’m normally stronger than other riders, he’s every bit as strong,” Cabezas stated afterwards. “That’s one of the best races I’ve had so far – we swapped places so many times! In four, five, entering the carousel, in the middle of the carousel – it was fun!” Earlier in the day Cabezas won the Zoom Zoom Trackdays Formula IV race on his BARF Racing SV650, taking lead from Spears Racing’s Brian Long with a strong braking move into the Turn 9 chicane on the first lap. Tim Wheeler finished in second place on his GPC Moto ZXR400, taking the position from Long at the beginning of the second lap before breaking away from the rest of the pack in pursuit of Cabezas. Andy Carman crossed the line in third place in his one-off ride on a Twin Works Factory SV650, but was later protested and disqualified for passing under a yellow flag. Carman put in a number of strong performances on the day, running away with the 600 Production win after Grant Riggs crashed out of second place in Turn 11, lowsiding unharmed on his Jelly Belly Yamaha R6. Carman also took the win in the 600 Superbike race, making his way past the CBR600RR of Tim Kamholz after early leader Berto Wooldridge highsided his GSX-R600 in Turn 3. Grant Riggs came sliced his way through the crowd from the back of the pack to finish third. “I got a terrible start, heading up into Turn 1 in third behind Timmer and Berto,” said Carman. “Berto took the holeshot He was on fire, and looked like he was going to show up something! But then he spun it up in three and, and BAM – highside! I was wondering if Timmer was going to pull something similar, as I haven’t seen him lead before. Eventually I made it past, but then we had to deal with those lappers and the yellow flags. Lappers usually aren’t an issue – but with those yellow flags preventing you from passing them, stopping you up. I thought for sure Timmer was going to have another shot at me!” David Stanton took the victory in Open Superbike, starting from the back of the grid after his DNF at Buttonwillow due to a thrown chain. Second place went to Rob Mesa, with Jack Pfeifer third, opting to skip the Fontana AMA national in favor of the AFM event. Jove Shapiro continued his perfect season in 250 Superbike, taking the win on his TZR250 after defending champion Tommy Okuhira highsided out of Turn 11. Shawn Herrera finished second on another TZR250, with Dylan Benjamin third on a Honda NSR250. The Formula Singles race looked like more of a Supermoto event, with five of the six starters on Supermotard style machines. With Chris Keane on the sidelines after a mechanical failure on his CRF450 powered RS125 in Formula 4, it was Billy Ray and his yellow plated CRF450 motard who took the win, with the XR650 motard of Charles Statman in second. AFM Round 1 May 1, 2005 Infineon Raceway Unofficial Results Mach 1 Motorsports Formula Pacific 1. David Stanton (Suz 1000) 2. Michael Earnest (Suz 1000) 3. Eric Gulbransen (Duc 999) 4. Rob Mesa (Suz 1000) 5. Jack Pfeifer (Apr 1000) 6. Jon Bawden (Suz 750) Scuderia West Formula I 1. Jon Bawden (Suz 750) 2. Jack Pfeifer (Apr 1000) 3. Garry Combs (Suz 750) 4. John Davis (Yam 250) 5. Tim Kamholz (Hon 600) 6. Craig wierman (Suz 750) Mazda Technologies / Shawn Herrera Formula II 1. William Morton (Hon 250) 2. John Davis (Yam 250) 3. Jeffry Hanford (Hon 250) 4. Phillip Torres (Yam 250) 5. Richard Denman (Hon 250) 6. Eric Bateman (Yam 250) Formula III 1. Carlos Neves (Hon 125) 2. Michael Jarrard (Hon 125) 3. Dave Heinricks (Hon 125) 4. Mark Goodrich (Hon 125) 5. Stephen Bowline (Hon 125) 6. Steve Magri (Hon 125) Zoom Zoom Trackdays Formula IV 1. Felipe Cabezas (Suz 650) 2. Tim Wheeler (Kaw 400) 3. Kurt Spencer (Suz 650) 4. Michael Lohmeyer (Hon 400) 5. Shawn Reilly (Bue 1200) 6. John Daker (Suz 650) Open Grand Prix 1. David Kunzelman (Suz 1000 2. Rob Mesa (Suz 1000) 3. Kim Nakashima (Yam 1000) 4. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 5. Correy Sarros (Suz 1000) 6. David Guy (Kaw 1000) Hare Racing Open Superbike 1. David Stanton (Suz 1000) 2. Robert Mesa (Suz 1000) 3. Jack Pfeifer (Suz 1000) 4. David Kunzelman (Suz 1000) 5. Harley Barnes (Suz 1000) 6. Martic Szwarc (Suz 1000) Dial It In Tracktime 750 Superbike 1. David Stanton (Suz 750) 2. Jon Bawden (Suz 750) 3. Robert Campbell (Suz 750) 4. Garry Combs (Suz 750) 5. Jeremiah Grant (Suz 750) 6. Craig Wierman (Suz 750) Pacific Track Time 600 Superbike 1. Andy Carman (Yam 600) 2. Tim Kamholz (Hon 600) 3. Grant Riggs (Yam 600) 4. Eric Bateman (Yam 600) 5. John Turmell (Suz 600) 6. Matthew Weathers (Hon 600) 450 Superbike 1. Tim Wheeler (Kaw 400) 2. Michael Lohmeyer (Hon 400) 3. Ross Wells (Yam 400) 4. Paul Yoshimune (Hon 400) 5. Richard Moore (Hon 442) 6. Kenyon Kluge (Hon 400) Kilowatt Bar 250 Superbike 1. Jove Shapiro (Yam 250) 2. Shawn Herrera (Yam 250) 3. Dylan Benjamin (Hon 250) 4. Joe Rust (Apr 250) 5. Steven Lee (Yam 250) 6. Cliff Farrar (Yam 250) Open Production 1. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 2. Kim Nakashima (Yam 1000) 3. Mike Mullin (Suz 1000) 4. James King (Suz 1000) 5. Correy Sarros (Suz 1000) 6. Joey Hrenko (Yam 1000) Strictly Sport 750 Production 1. Robert Campbell (Suz 750) 2. Craig Wierman (Suz 750) 3. Don Rudolfs (Suz 750) 4. Paul Rick Williams (Suz 750) 5. Alex Flores (Suz 750) 6. Liko Miles (Suz 750) Keigwins@theTrack 600 Production 1. Andy Carman (Yam 600) 2. Berto Wooldrige (Suz 600) 3. Kenny Carlotta (Suz 600) 4. Michael Judkins (Yam 600) 5. Kenyon Kluge (Yam 600) 6. Pete Demas (Suz 600) 450 Production 1. Ross Wells (Yam 400) 2. Dave Norgard (Yam 400) 3. Douglas Goldman (Yam 400) 4. Peter Licht (Yam 400) 5. Joe Rust (Yam 400) 6. Dylan Wood (Kaw 500) Aftershocks 250 Production 1. Jay Kinberger (Kaw 250) 2. Bob Simmons (Kaw 250) 3. Rick Cramer (Kaw 250) 4. John Anner (Kaw 250) 5. Richard Lesher (Kaw 250) 6. Thomas Hicks (Hon 250) Desmoto Sport Open Twins 1. Eric Gulbransen (Duc 749) 2. Jack Pfeifer (Apr 1000) 3. Craig McLean (Duc 749) 4. Brian Long (Suz 1000) 5. Scott Schwanbeck (Hon 1000) 6. Bud Anderson (Hon 1000) 650 Twins 1. Michael Earnest (Suz 650) 2. Felipe Cabezas (Suz 650) 3. Kurt Spencer (Suz 650) 4. Brian Long (Suz 650) 5. Jason Butler (Suz 650) 6. John Daker (Suz 650) 500 Twins 1. Bobby Lee Broussard (Suz 500) 2. Jon Forman (Suz 500) 3. Jay Jacobson (Suz 500) 4. Joe Sickle (Suz 500) 5. Josuf Zobairi (AND 500) 6. Lynn Smull (Suz 500) Formula Singles 1. Billy Ray (Hon 450) 2. Charles Statman (Hon 650) 3. Guy Tolomeo (Tig 500) 4. Greg Creech (KTM 598) 5. John McCoy (Vor 503) 6. Patrick Blackburn (KTM 576) Super Dinosaur 1. Ross Wells (Yam 400) 2. David Worthington (Suz 750) 3. Dave Norgard (Yam 400) 4. Ed Yoast (Yam 400) 5. Paul Kieffer (Hon 600) 6. Douglas Goldman (Yam 400) Formula 40 1. Mike Thompson (Yam 1000) 2. Greg Davis (Yam 1000) 3. Pete Demas (Suz 600) 4. Gary Stewart (Yam 1000) 5. Bud Anderson (Hon 1000) 6. Thomas Bolles (Suz 1000) More, from a press release issued by Munroe Motors: MunroeMotors/TagTeamRacing put Ducati on top of the box. AFM Round 2, Infineon Raceway, Sonoma CA. May 1st 2005. (San Francisco, CA May 2nd, 2005) Sunday marked round two of the AFM Championship Road Race series at Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, California. The team from MunroeMotors/TagTeamRacing built on their great results from round one at Buttonwillow four weeks ago by running even stronger this weekend at Infineon with their Ducati 749R and 999R. From the first practice sessions on Saturday morning, Munroe Motors/TagTeamRacing’s 2005 Ducati 749R went to work, setting hot laps faster than many of the open-class bikes in the club. Even during the congested practice laps, the nimble 749R sliced through traffic like an NFL linebacker at a Las Vegas all-you-can-eat buffet. Fitted with a new 57mm full exhaust system and matching ECU from Ducati Performance, the bike had more grunt in the tight sections of the Infineon racetrack and more top-end down the straights. The team’s 2005 Ducati 999R has also been massaged to improve power delivery and handling. “Since round one at Buttonwillow, we’ve focused on smooth production of the awesome torque and power of this deep-sump short-stroke 999R engine. We also have been fine-tuning the chassis and suspension characteristics of the bike for the technical layout of Infineon Raceway”, commented Nick Hayman of Munroe Motors. “We made significant adjustments to both the rear suspension and the steering geometry on the big bike and based on our results this weekend, these modifications appear to suit Eric’s riding style.” For the Open Twins race, MunroeMotors/TagTeamRacing’s rider, Eric Gulbransen, challenged the big 1000cc twins class again on the middleweight 749R. “From the green flag, that bike did everything right” remarked Gulbransen, “Every time I line up on the Open Twins grid with the little 749R, I’m worried we’re going to get eaten alive by the bigger bikes… but then the flag drops, the bike comes to life like fireworks on the fourth of July, and it’s straight to the business of going fast”. Eric took the holeshot, and proceeded to dominate the race from flag to flag. AMA privateer and 2004 Daytona 200 4th place finisher, Jack Pfeiffer, ran in second place on an Aprilia RSV Mille, but couldn’t get close enough to even show Eric a wheel. Another 2005 Ducati 749R ridden by Craig Mclean and sponsored by Munroe Motors, came in a strong 3rd place putting two Ducati’s on the podium. In AFM’s premier race, Formula Pacific, Gulbransen and the team’s 999R were lined up on the outside spot of the front row. At the start, thanks to Yoyodyne’s great slipper clutch, Gulbransen nailed the launch and cut into third place from the outside line through turn one. Lap times were fast and furious as some of the very best riders in the state fought for position on this sunny Sunday afternoon. Gulbransen held firm in third spot and didn’t put a wheel wrong. “By mid-point, I began to understand what it means to hang a bike out there” Gulbransen noted. “To go from spinning up out of a turn, then immediately to a heavy braking zone where your rear tire is trying to drift past you, then to pushing the front tire through the next turn “¦is an amazing thing to do just one time, let alone lap after lap! I know in my heart if we weren’t on Dunlops, we wouldn’t have made it onto the box today”. Gulbransen finished an inspiring third place, and made a little history by putting a Ducati on the box for the first time at the most important regional road race on the West Coast.