NCR Victorious in Round 1 of Canadian R.A.C.E. Heavyweight Championship! The new NCR MILLONA ONE SHOT 07 was the weapon of choice for the first round of the Canadian R.A.C.E. Heavyweight Championship at Shannonville, Ontario Canada. Following a great win at Daytona by Walter Bartolini in the Sound of Thunder, the motorcycle jewel went up to Canada to compete in the regional championship. The motorcycle was ridden by Derek Vammus who had ridden the 06 version to a big win in the last race last year. In the Heavyweight Class, the track record was 0:57.12 in this tight demanding track and Derek was able to qualify in the front row with a best of 0:57.30. During the race, Derek took the lead from the first lap and never gave it up except for a brief moment in the second last lap where former champion Jim Proulx on his 4 cylinder Kawasaki superbike passed him in one turn but Derek quickly leaped ahead and stayed there after a hard fought battle. In the process. Derek turned a best of 0:55.93 which was more than 1.1 seconds faster than the previous lap record!!! Congratulations Derek !!! Stay tuned because round 2 is on May 18-20!!! More, from a press release issued by Road Race Southwest/CCS: Road Race Southwest Racers turn up the heat in Phoenix The last round before the summer break saw many riders step it up in the 100+ degree temperatures this weekend at Firebird East in Chandler, Arizona. The battle of the day came from the Middleweight GP class, and the King of Firebird was nearly dethroned in a California coup. The Expert Unlimited GP saw a near surprise from California rider Tim Knutson. Off the start, the reigning King of Firebird, Mark Ledesma, put his North Valley Honda CBR1000RR into the lead by about 4 seconds. Racer’s Edge rider Dale Kieffer started in second but immediately had Tim come by him just two laps into the race. Dale, having not raced in over six months could only watch, as the Californian chased after Ledesma as the laps counted down. Knutson caught Ledesma, who is not used to being challenged in the premier class. Tim Knutson was a man possessed on the brakes, and made the pass in spectacular fashion to jump into the lead. He got out to a second and a half lead before making a mental mistake going into turn one hitting the bumpy section. The incredible speed he carried through that turn left the suspension wanting, causing Tim to low side out of the race thankfully uninjured. In good spirits back in the pits, Tim vowed to be back to challenge Ledesma again. Mark inherited first and went unobstructed to claim the win. Kieffer held on for second with an Unlimted GP new comer taking the last podium place on his Honda 600. Rick Bucher, also sponsored by North Valley Honda, dedicated his 3rd place podium spot to his dear friend ‘Gator’ who was killed in a street riding accident the day before. The Middleweight GP presented by Cirrus Aviation saw a large grid, and even larger battles throughout the field. Hitting the top of the box was Euromotosports rider Rory Palmer on his Triumph 675. Rory commented on the importance of the win. “We started on this bike with no baseline for building a race bike and we’ve struggled a little this season. We finally found a map that increased horsepower thanks to my crew, and we’re looking forward to improving other things throughout the season.” Second place went to Nick Terrell who also had a breakthrough weekend on his Evan Steel Performance Kawasaki. A new motor and new paint job usually spell disaster for most riders, but Nick actually stepped it up and showed much more confidence than in his previous riding. “I have to thank ESP for staying up and building my motor until 5 a.m., it really helped me get up here today” remarked Nick who was obviously pleased with his 2nd place finish. Third was taken by John Blaylock on his North Valley Honda 600 right at the end with a last turn pass and drag race to the finish over the steadily improving David Siminski, also on a Honda. Blaylock made some minor mistakes on his way back from a racing hiatus, but made the smart move in turn 10. John said in his post race interview, “On the last turn David went inside to block me so I just hung outside, squared up and it was a drag race to the checker.” John took third by a wheel and felt this was a great race to inspire him back to his old form. The Lightweight GP once again proved that smaller bikes do not mean smaller excitement. The combined class (experts and amateurs) has two different colored number plates, but the results were definitely color blind with Amateurs finishing second and third behind the race winner, seasoned Expert Aron Weiss. Mark Kochman, a first year amateur got an amazing holeshot from the start, leading Aron Weiss and Joe Devine into turn one. Kochman held the lead putting in 3 very impressive laps. Weiss followed, and was obviously stalking his prey as he made a good clean pass into turn one at the start of lap 4. Weiss then pushed hard, and although Kochman could stay with him, he didn’t seem to have the pace to challenge. As the laps wound down, Weiss started to pull a slight gap, and Kochman settled for a safe ride in 2nd. The last podium spot was taken by Joe Devine, another very fast Amateur, who did a great job holding off Matt Hitchon for the entire race. Hitchon, riding a Motard prepared KTM 525 was seriously under powered for this class, but pushed Devine hard every lap from start to finish. After the race Devine said ‘I could hear that thing behind me the whole way, I knew Matt was quick as he came under me into10, I just pushed as hard as I could and I’m very happy to be on the podium’. With another 14 new riders taking the new racers clinic this weekend, it looks like the grids will continue to increase at Road Race Southwest. The next new riders clinic will take place on September 23rd, immediately after our summer break. For more information and full race results, check out roadracesw.com Top three results of GP Races: LW GP presented by Mongrel Racing 1 Aron Weiss Suzuki SV650 2 Mark Kochman – Suzuki SV650 3 Joe Devine – Suzuki SV650 MW GP Expert presented by Cirrus Aviation 1 Rory Palmer – Triumph 675 2 Nick Terrell – Kawasaki 600 3 John Blaylock – Honda 600 UNL GP presented by swroadracing.com 1 Mark Ledesma – Honda 1000 2 Dale Keiffer – Suzuki 1000 3 Rick Bucher – Honda 600