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| 2011 NEWS |
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Buroker, Westby and Barnes Set Pace in Michelin Pro Series Finals at Daytona |
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Daytona Beach, FL - October 146, 2011 - Robert
Buroker, Dane
Westby and Michael Barnes took ASRA/Michelin Pro Series victories at
the world famous Daytona Internationl Speedway today, capping another
spectacular seaon for the series.
Buroker, aboard his SGT Racing Ducati 748, took the win in Thunderbike
over Douglas Fogg on the NewEngland Performance Buell 1200. Peter
Meringolo finished third on his European Cycle Service Ducati
1000.
Westby held off fellow M4 Suzuki pilot Elana Myers to take the victory
in SportBike to cap off a great weekend in ASRA sanctioned competition.
Shane Narbonne finished third on his Suzuki 600 making it a podium
sweep for the brand.
In SuperStock, Michael Barnes took his Eric Buelll Racing 1190 to the
win over Jeff Lampe's Kawasaki 1000 with Santiago Villa holding on to
the final podium position.
For complete results, click here. For final championship standings, click here. |
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Westby Tops Michelin Team Challenge Final at Daytona |
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Daytona Beach, FL - October 14, 2011 - Dane
Westby on the M4 Suzuki 600 took advantge of a strategic error by MOB
Racing to take victory at Daytona International Speedway by more than a
full lap over second place Chester Auto Repair in the final round of
the 2011 Michelin Team Challenge Championship. MOB Racing ran short of
fuel to give up the lead to the M4 machine and Westby was able to
cruise to victory over the final laps of the event.
For complete results, click here. For final championship standings, click here. |
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Bemisderfer, Jacobsen &
Kcraget Take Michelin PRO Wins |
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Alton, VA – September 25,
2011 – Although satellite images looked clear and the forecast predicted blue
sky, another heavily clouded day greeted fans at VIR Sunday as riders prepared
to settle a few 2011 regional championships. Several of the Michelin PRO
Series riders were also thinking beyond this round to the Daytona finale just
three weeks away.
Rain having fouled qualifying on Saturday, the Michelin PRO Superstock lineup
found fast riders mingled throughout the starting grid. The track was dry
with temperatures in the high 70’s at race time.
Reese Wacker was on the front row for Sportbike and took advantage immediately
by grabbing the holeshot on his Suzuki. Entering turn three Wacker had a
three length lead over Kawasaki-equipped riders Jeff Lampe and Felipe
MacLean. Moments later Tim Bemisderfer used his Vesrah Suzuki to slice
inside of MacLean and Lampe into second place.
By lap two Bemisderfer caught Wacker starting their brief dual for the lead
which Wacker would relinquish a lap later. By the end of lap three the
order was Bemisderfer from BMW rider Sean Dwyer from Wacker and Lampe.
Eric Helmbach was fifth on his BMW as they crossed the stripe. Suzuki
rider Lloyd Bayley was sixth. Local favorite and frequent champion Scott
Carpenter lay seventh.
On lap six Bayley made his move on Helmbach for fifth place as Bemisderfer
remained ahead of Dwyer and Wacker at the front. The order would remain
much unchanged as Tim Bemisderfer took the win by a margin of four tenths of a
second from Dwyer. Reese Wacker was eight seconds back in third rounding
out the podium.
In the Amateur Superstock Tony Leong’s Suzuki led early, but on lap two Jeremy
Cook snatched the top spot with his BMW 1000. Austin Burkett was third on
a Honda. Cook would maintain his pace and the order would hold to the
checkered flag with Cook taking the win. These three fellows are now
locked in the tightest points contest for a Michelin championship going into the
final round.
Thunderbike promised a battle as Brian Kcraget and Robert Buroker were both on
the grid. Kcraget’s Suzuki SV650 started from the front row with Ducati
748 mounted Buroker on row two. Veteran rider Russell Masecar aboard
another SV650 got the holeshot followed by Kcraget, Douglass Fogg and Joe
Cotterino.
By the end of lap one it was all Kcraget as he led from Buroker, Masecar and
Fogg. Kcraget and Buroker turned similar lap times throughout the
race. Buroker closed the gap a little on lap three. Kcraget
responded with his best lap of the race, a 1:34.385 on lap four to maintain his
lead. By race end Kcraget had managed a comfortable 4.9 second lead from
Buroker with Masecar 15 seconds in arrears completing the podium for Michelin
PRO Thunderbike. Jared McCoig piloted his Ducati 749 to the amateur
Thunderbike victory.
Mark Miller was looking for a win on the Del Mar Yamaha R6 in Michelin PRO
Sportbike, and he would have his hands full as P.J. Jacobsen was on hand with
another R6. Past champion Jim Cohrs, although present did not grid.
Miller started from front row, Jacobsen from row three between Joel Spalding’s
Ducati 848 and Jim Fotinopoulos‘ R6.
Miller took advantage of his grid position and got the holeshot leading down
into turn one, but by turn three Jacobsen was directly behind Miller. By
the time the field passed the flag stand it was Jacobsen from Miller with about
a one second gap. Justin Holderman who also got a nice start from row 2 on his
Yamaha was one second behind Miller. Matt Brown and Fotinopoulos were
fourth and fifth respectively.
Miller ran consistent 1:31’s. Jacobsen ran consistent 1:30’s for the
duration of the event with a best time on the last lap of 1:29.809 pulling out
a 13-second victory over Miller. Holderman was 14 seconds in arrears of
Miller rounding out the podium.
Tony Leong took the amateur Sportbike win on his GSXR 600 with Pulak Datt
second on a Honda and James McCoig third on a Ducati 749.
After this penultimate Michelin PRO Series round some scores have been
settled. Joel Spalding wrapped up the Sportbike championship on his
Ducati 848 with an insurmountable lead of 63 points as teams head for the final
round.
The Amateur Sportbike title is still up for grabs between riders Tony Leong and
Darrin Klemens. Klemens has a 34-point lead. So expect Leong to be
gunning for him at Daytona.
Ray Hofman has clenched the 2011 Michelin PRO Thunderbike title with 159 points
to his credit. David Hanig will be the 2011 Amateur Thunderbike class
champion with 93 points so far on the season and no one close enough to give
him a challenge. Second place in the class however is a dead heat at 80
points between Joey Thomas and Douglass Fogg.
Michelin PRO Superstock remains the class to watch as Tim Bemisderfer, who has barely
put a foot wrong all season goes to Daytona with Joel Spalding down by eight
points. Spalding will need everything he can muster and a little luck to
pull off this championship with Bemisderfer in the driver’s seat as we head
toward Round 8.
Amateur Superstock also promises another showdown in a three-way points battle
that has Jeremy Cook with a three-point lead over Austin Burkett who leads Tony
Leong by just six points. No doubt there will be a lot of pressure on
these three riders as they prepare to dual it out in the final sprint of the
season.
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Decouto, Cotterino &
Brown Top Michelin PRO Series Qualifying |
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Round Six Michelin
Pro Series Qualifying
Virginia International Raceway
September 24, 2011 -
Showers hampered ASRA practice and Michelin
PRO Series qualifying at Virginia International Raceway Saturday. The wet
track protected any lap records.
Ducati pilot Paul Decouto took the Michelin PRO Superstock pole with a time of
1:49.758. Suzuki rider Reese Wacker, Felipe MacLean on a Kawasaki and BMW
rider Eric Helmbach filled out the front row. In Superstock Amateur,
Austin Burkett qualified his Honda 1000 on the pole for Sunday’s Superstock
race.
Joe Cotterino put his Ducati 1000 took the Michelin PRO Thunderbike pole with a
lap time of 1:51.886. Buell rider Douglas Fogg, Brian Kcraget and Russell
Masecar, both on Suzuki’s, completed the Thunderbike front row.
Kawasaki rider Matt Brown took the pole in Michelin PRO Sportbike with a lap
time of 1:54.280. Yamaha riders Jim Cohrs and Mark Miller Jr. placed
second and third. And Pulak Datt put his Honda on the Amateur Sportbike
pole.
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Micheliin Team Challenge at Summit Point Summer Cyclfest - Defending Champion Regains Championship Lead |
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Michelin
Team Challenge Series
Sanctioned by ASRA
Auguat 28, 2011
Summit Point Raceway
Summit Point, West Virginia
Summit Point, WV - August 28, 2011 – After Round 6 of the Michelin Team
Challenge the points race looked as exciting as the races
themselves. In the Overall points only eight points separated Scotty and
Meghan Ryan's Stiles' Racing Yamaha R6 from Eric Helmbach's BMW, with
another eight points back to Tim Ivanoff's Buell. Even tighter was the
GTO points chase with Helmbach and Ivanoff deadlocked at 182 points each.
As riders poured into Summit Point for Round 7 the weather on Friday was
excellent. Saturday weather had its wet spots with the spillover from
Hurricane Irene, but Sunday was clear again with blue skies, a steady breeze
and not a drop of moisture to be found. Summit Point's track length is
2.02 miles, so the two-hour time limited event Team challenge was set for 75
laps.
From the green flag Eric Helmbach used the power of the Chester Auto Repair BMW
S1000RR to motor away from the field and led at the end of lap one by two
seconds over Lloyd Bayley on the LB Athletics Suzuki 1000 and Walt Sipp aboard
Tim Ivanoff's Thrashed Bike Racing Buell 1125RR.
By lap four Scotty Ryan had driven the Stiles Racing R6 out of the field and
past Sipp to grab third place. Helmbach continued to lap the circuit in
the mid 1:17's building a gap to Bayley of 7 seconds by lap five.
By lap seven Ryan was nose to tail with Bayley looking for a way to move into
second position. Bayley was equally determined not to let him by.
Still Ryan prodded for eight laps until Bayley's shift linkage failed sending
him off course in turn one. As Bayley nursed the Suzuki back to the pits
for repairs Ryan set his sights on Helmbach. Bayley never retired from
the race, electing to find parts and get back on track and score as many laps
as he could muster.
By lap 19 the gap from Helmbach to Ryan was 11 seconds and from Ryan to Sipp 20
seconds. Rick Beggs was in fourth place although 19 seconds behind
Sipp. This order continued for some time. On lap 30 Helmbach had
lapped much of the field and caught Beggs, still running in fourth.
On lap 31 pit stops commenced with the Hawaiian Racing Suzuki 750 coming in for
fuel. On lap 33 Martinez Motorsports ZX10R came in for fuel and a rider
change. On lap 35 Premier Racing's Yamaha R6 came to the pits for repairs
after an agricultural incident in turn one. Also pitting on lap 35 were
the leaders Helmbach and Ryan. Helmbach made quick work of his stop
taking on fuel. Ryan took a little longer as his scoring transponder had
to be replaced having come off sometime in the early laps of the race.
Sipp also pitted for fuel on lap 35 putting all the front runners on equal
footing to finish the race.
After pit stops Helmbach was on autopilot as lap after lap he guided his BMW
ever closer to checkered flag.
On lap 63 Walt Sipp exited turn eight and the front end of the Buell 1125RR
just kept pushing. Sipp hung on all the way to the grass trying to bring
the bike's front tire back up, but it was no use. The crash dislodged the
clutch controls. Sipp brought the bike into the pits and the crew set to
work replacing the parts. They would not return to the race before the
final flag dropped, but had enough of a cushion to rescue third place in
GTO. Team owner Tim Ivanoff remarked, “we didn't have enough time in
practice with this new bike to really determine how hard the front end setup
would allow us to push. We just found the limits of front tire adhesion
during the race.”
On lap 64 and at the time with a solid lock on second place Scotty Ryan's R6
gave up the ghost. Ryan exited Turn 10 as the motor let go. Said
Ryan, “I was coming up through the final corner and everything felt good, but as
soon as I was fully onto the front straight the motor popped and I
instinctively pulled the clutch in and got off the racing line.” It was
not readily apparent from the debris in the belly pan what the cause of the
failure might be, but there were precious few piston parts to be found.
Said team chief Marc Stiles, “we're still leading the (GTU) class points, but
this may put the overall championship out of reach for us unless something
happens to Eric.”
The exit of Ryan's R6 moved RNR Racing's Rick Begg's up to the number two
overall podium spot and first in GTU. Beggs would hold onto second,
finishing behind Helmbach. Calvin Martinez rounded out the Overall Podium
and was second in GTO with Jim Barry on a Yamaha R1 pulling down third in GTO.
Finishing behind Beggs in GTU were Daniel Dougherty on the Premier Racing R6
and Justeen Cicio on her Moto Medusa Honda CBR. In GT Lights Dennie Huff
continued his winning ways topping the podium with Colin Lieby and Frank De La
Renta finishing second and third repectively.
For complete results, click here. For current points standings, click here.
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Blake,
Meringolo and Bemisderfer Earn Michelin Pro Series Pole Positions at New Jersey
Motorsport Park |
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Round Six Michelin
Pro Series Qualifying
New Jersey Motorsports Park-Thunderbolt
August 13, 2011
Millville, NJ – Under sunny skies and warm temperatures the
ASRA/Michelin Pro Series competitors took to the track to start the Saturday
action at the NJMP Thunderbolt Course. Opening the qualifying sessions was the
Sportbike class and Blake Kelly held off fellow Yamaha riders Jin Cohrs and 2010
ASRA SuperBike Champion Mark Miller Jr to capture his first Michelin Pro Series
pole position and the point that goes with it.
For Michelin Pro ThunderBikes it was Peter Meringolo who
took the pole position with his final lap of 1:31.919 to set a new qualifying
record for the course. He was followed by Joey Thomas, the former record
holder, then David Zylberberg. All three were on Ducati 1000’s and Meringolo’s qualifying
effort made it two riders taking their first Michelin Pro Series pole positions
this weekend.
In Michelin Pro Series SuperStock qualifying was down to the
wire as Timothy Bemisderfer and Lloyd Bailey took their Suzuki 1000’s to the
final lap of qualifying before Bemisderfer was able to pull out the pole
position for Sunday’s final event. It was Bemisderfer at 1:26.665, edging Bailey
by .382 seconds with Blake Kelly in third .568 seconds behind Bemisderfer.
For complete qualifying results, click here.
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Hall, Ortega and Sipp Take Michelin Pro Series Wins at Blackhawk Farms Raceway |
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Michelin Pro Series
Sanctioned by ASRA
July 24, 2011
Blackhawk Farms Raceway
South Beloit, IL
Brian Hall took a solid win in Michelin Pro Series SuperStock but it
was Joel Spalding who increased is point lead in the class for 2011.
Spalding, by his third place finish, moved to a 29-point lead
over Tim Bemisderfer and a 36-point lead over Hall in his quest for a
second straight title in the class.
Dan Ortega took advantage of the rain that dampened the track during
the Michelin Pro SportBike race and took his first win in ASRA
competition over Dave Ebben. Ebben took off from the field in the dry
but the change to rain tires was just enough to allow Ortega to pullout
the victory. Joel Spalding finished third but Ortega's performance
narrowed his point lead to just 14 points over Ortega and 16 over
Scotty Ryan in the 2011 Michelin Pro SportBike title chase.
In ThunderBike Walt Sipp continues to chip away at Ray Hofman's lead by
taking his second win of 2011 and narrowing the point lead to 59 in the
Championship. Todd Evans helped fellow Buell rider Sipp by
finishing second and pushing Hofman back to third on his Suzuki 650.
Iowa's Craig Davis took his second win of 2011 in Amateur SuperStock
and now leads Austin Burkett from Virginia by 22-points
with three rounds remaining in the series.
For complete results click here. For current point standings click here. |
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Martinez Motorsports Stages Comeback
at Blackhawk Farms Raceway
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In the early part of the Michelin Team Challenge sanctioned by ASRA at
Blackhawk Farms Raceway it looked like the Martinez Motorsports Team was headed
for disaster as they found themselves slipping further back in the field with
each passing lap. By the 25th lap the D2 Cycles team of Michael Garner and Ricardo
Valdez had put former National Champions a full lap down and mechanical woes
threatened to sideline Calvin Martinez and Martinez Motorsports teammate Jason
Farrell. It was that point of the event the defending National Champion Chester
Auto Repair with Eric Helmbach and Alex Shaw who took the lead when D2 Cycles
stopped for the first time.
With a pit stop at lap 34, Martinez Motorsports swapped riders and
completed repairs to bring their machine back to life but left the pits a full
3-laps down to Chester Auto Repair. To add insult to injury, one of the Martinez
crew was not dressed appropriately to work on the machine during the stop so
Farrell was black flagged for a stop and go penalty the next lap. As Martinez Motorsports was exiting
the pits from the penalty, Chester Auto came down pit road and handed the lead
to Thrashed Bike Racing with Walt Sipp and Joel Spalding on lap 40 and allowing
Martinez Motorsports to regain the first of the three laps they needed to
challenge for the win. At this point The D2 Cycles machine developed an oil leak
that ended their day, leaving only Thrashed Bike Racing and Chester Auto Repair
as the only two machines on the lead lap and Stiles Racing, the current Overall
Championship leader, one lap behind and Martinez Motorsports two laps down.
Things got interesting from lap 40 on as Farrell dropped into the 1:10
range while the race leaders continued their consistent 1:15 pace trying to
complete the 75 laps before the Martinez Motorsports machine could recover. On
lap 47, Thrashed Bike stopped for their rider change and fuel, putting Chester
Auto back into the lead for the final time and allowing Martinez Motorsports to
gain the second lap they need to get to the front. Now only one lap down with
27 laps to the finish it became a race of speed versus team strategy between
Chester Auto Repair and Martinez Motorsports. On lap 57, Martinez Motorsports
passed Chester Auto to move to the tail end of the lead lap and set sail trying
to make up the nearly 2-miles they were behind before the checkered flag.
While everyone was watching the progress of Martinez Motorsports, Stiles
Racing had quietly gotten themselves back on the lead lap too, so now the top
four overall were on the same lap looking for the win. On lap 59, Stiles Racing
with husband and wife team Scotty and Meghan Ryan, were the first to fall to
the 1:10 pace Martinez Racing continued to run. On lap 67 it was the Thrashed
Bike Racing team that watched Martinez Motorsports move past and set sail after
the race leader, Chester Auto Repair who was 9 seconds ahead with 8 laps to go.
While Shaw tried to up the pace on the BMW of Chester Auto, the Martinez Motorsports
juggernaut made short work of the lead and made the pass for first place on lap
71 then cruised to the victory, first Overall and first in GTO. Chester Auto
Repair finished second Overall and second in GTO while Stiles Racing took third
Overall and the class win in GTU. Thrashed Bike Racing held on for fourth
Overall and third in GTO.
With the solid performance of Stiles Racing, they continue to lead the
2011 Michelin Team Challenge Overall Championship by 8 points over Chester Auto
Repair, 167 to 159, with Thrashed Bike Racing in third with 151points and two
rounds to go to decide the Overall championship.
The Old Glory Speed Shop team captured its first National Championship in
the GTL class with another win and a 93 point lead over runner up Saddlebaum
Racing with only 70 possible points remaining.
For the GTU Championship, Stiles Racing opened up a 27 point lead over
2010 Champion RnR Repsol Racing and a 69 point lead over third place Premier
Racing.
The battle for the GTO Championship is going down to the wire as
Thrashed Bike Racing is now tied with defending champions Chester Auto Repair
with 182 points each, while Martinez Motorsport moves into third at 93 points
with 2 rounds remaining. The 89 point lead insures that either a BMW or a Buell
will be the 2011 Michelin Team Challenge GTO Champion.
For complete results click here. For updated Michelin Team Challenge points click here.
The next round of the Michelin
Team Challenge Series sanctioned by ASRA will take place on August 29 at Summit
Point Raceway during the Summer Cyclefest.
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Chester Auto Repair Returns to Victory Lane at VIR
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Virginia International Raceway
Alton, VA
June 19, 2011
After a tough start to the season, Eric Helmbach brings the Chester
Auto Repair BMW back to the topof the podium at the 11th Annual VIR
Festival of Speed
Check out the complete final results for the ASRA sanctioned Michelin Team Challenge at VIR here!
Updated Championship Standings can be found here! |
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88th Annual Loudon Classic Featuring Michelin Pro Series Closes Out Laconia Bike Week 2011 |
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New Hampshire International Speedway
Loudon, NH
June 19, 2011
Laconia Bike Week 2011 is winding down and the Michelin Pro Series
racers are wrapping up the 88th Annual Loudon Classic as part of the
oldest motorcycle racing event in the USA,
Check out the complete final results for the ASRA sanctioned classes at the 88th Annual Loudon Classic here!
Michelin Pro Series Qualifying from Sunday June 19th! Click here for the rundown.
Updated Championship Standings can be found here!
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Summit Point Cyclefest Rocks Memorial Day! |
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Summit Point Raceway
Summit Point, WV
May 30, 2011
With over 895 entries for the Summit Point Cyclefest things were really
cooking at the Summit Point Circuit this Memorial Day. Check out
qualifying and final results from Monday afternoon's Michelin Pro
Series races along with the curren championship standings.
Check out the complete final results from the Memorial Day Cyclefest here!
Michelin Pro Series Qualifying from Sunday May 29th! Click here for the rundown.
Updated Championship Standings can be found here!
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Stiles
Racing Puts Mark on Championship Chase |
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Round Four Michelin Team Challenge Series
New Jersey Motorsports Park
May 13, 2011
Millville, NJ – For those that are superstitious, Friday the
13th never works out well and it seemed the Stiles Racing Team was
falling into that category. With clutch problems nagging their Yamaha R-6, the
team decided to do a fast swap shortly before the start of the 200km race, only to
have problems reassembling the unit and installing the cover. With just minutes to go before the green flag,
it looked like they would be working to
salvage a points-paying finish, instead of setting the pace for the Michelin
Team Challenge event at New Jersey Motorsports Park on May 13. Well Lady Luck
smiled on the team as they sealed the cover just as the final call went out for
the event and lead rider Scotty Ryan took off to make the start with the other
26 competitors for the 69 lap race.
The holeshot belonged to the Plenty Money Racing GSXR 750
and the Hatfield PA based team held off Stiles Racing for the first two laps
but Scotty Ryan pushed their R-6 to the front on lap 3 and took off like a man
possessed. Once things settled down, the Plenty Money team of John Palmer and
Ryan Manotti spent the next few laps getting up to the pace set by Stiles
Racing and made their move to regain the lead on lap 11, leaving the Stiles
team to follow their lead for the next 20 laps.
On lap 31, Stiles Racing made their only scheduled stop for
fuel, sending Scotty Ryan back out in less than 30 seconds. On lap 34 the
Plenty Money machine came down pit road handing the lead over to the Trashed
Bike Racing Buell with Walt Sipp at the controls. While Stiles Racing finished
their stop in near record time, the Plenty Money crew took nearly 90 seconds to
complete their service, change riders and get back out into the fray. That
extra time was all Stiles Racing needed to put them into position to take the
Overall win from Plenty Money, and now they set their sights on the Thrashed
Bike Buell.
It took 6 laps for Stiles Racing to track down the Thrashed Bike
machine and resume the lead on lap 42. With Stiles Racing in the lead it was
time for Sipp to bring the Buell down pit road. Thrashed Bike’s lightning fast
stop would prove to be a problem just 20 laps later when the low fuel light
would come on, forcing another stop just two laps shy of the end for a splash
of fuel to finish the race.
With that second stop by Thrashed Bike Racing, the Stiles
Racing crew knew that the Overall victory was theirs to lose and cruised on
home for another win in the Michelin Team Challenge Series and the point lead
for the Overall Championship by 9 points with 4 rounds left.
In
the GTL class, it looked like Saddlebaum Racing was on
the way to another class win when mechanical difficulties sidelined
their
Suzuki after 41 laps. That opened the door to the Old Glory Speed Shop
team to coast to victory by 2 laps over runner-up M&M Racing and 4
laps over the
third place Team Dangerous.
Click here for complete event results from Round 4 at NJMP.
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ASRA Michelin Team Challenge Celebrates 10 Years |
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Celebrating its 10th year, the ASRA Michelin Pro Team Challenge
endurance series heads to New Jersey Motorsports
Park this weekend, May 13-15, for its 4th round on Friday at 3:45pm.
This event also marks the first running of the Atlantic Team
Challenge, a new endurance series established this year by New Jersey
Motorsports Park, with the same rule set. It will run in conjunction with the
Michelin Pro Team Challenge race.
"The first year of the 200mi/250K Team Challenge was 2001 when
it was introduced by the former National RoadRace Series (sanctioned by
FormulaUSA), then under the regime of Clear Channel Motorsports, who I worked
for at the time." said Kevin Elliott, owner of ASRA and CCS. "The overall
structure of this endurance series hasn't changed much since the beginning, and
its popularity continues to grow."
"Our endurance series is unique because both Amateur and Expert
riders can participate on the same team, racing on a single machine." Elliott
said. "A degree of mentoring develops between the pros and novices which is
unparalleled anywhere else that I'm aware of. Because of the experience gained
during the Team Challenge, I've seen many riders improve their racing skills by
leaps and bounds."
He added, "But, I've never seen the competition this fierce in
the history of the series! The Overall Championship points spread for the top 5
spots is only 9 points now. Literally anything can happen during the last half
of the season."
After Round 3 (of 8), the Overall Championship Points for the
Michelin Pro Team Challenge are:
76 pts - Stiles Racing - Meghan Ryan,
Team Captain
72 pts - Thrashed Bike Racing - Tim Ivanoff, Team Captain
71
pts - Premier Racing - Daniel Dougherty, Team Captain
68 pts - Chester Auto
Repair - Eric Helmbach, Team Captain
(defending champions)
67 pts -
R'n'R Repsol Racing - Rick Beggs, Team Captain
- All Points as
of 4/2/2011
The action doesn't stop there! You won't want to miss Saturday
and Sunday when the Championship Cup Series riders and SideCar machines take to
the track in 29 thrilling races.
Gates are scheduled to open at 7:00am Friday, Saturday and
Sunday.
Click here to download the tentative event schedule
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Hall Sets Record-Farrell Doubles |
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Round Two Michelin Pro Series
Heartland Park-Topeka
April 24, 2011
Brian Hall set a new lap record in SuperStock of 1:41.763 breaking a
record held by Robert Jensen for three years. Jason Farrell won
SuperStock and SportBike on his Speed Tech Kawasaki ZX10 and ZX6
respectively.
For complete results, click here!
For up to date championship standings, click here!
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Martinez Motorsports Weathers the Storm at
Heartland Park-Topeka |
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Round Three Michelin Team Challenge Series
Heartland Park-Topeka
April 22, 2011
Just before sunrise on Friday morning, the Topeka area was
inundated by powerful thunderstorms with hail and lightning that had the
competitors wondering if there was any hope for the days on track activities.
But for once the weatherman was right and by 9:00am the rain had stopped and
the drying process began with Heartland Park-Topeka officials putting in a
herculean effort to get the facility ready for the 3:30pm start time. While
most of the practice was done on a wet or damp surface, the track was clean and
dry for the start of the Michelin Team Challenge final.
Once again the first bike off the line was the Thrashed Bike Racing Buell 1125R
followed by Cyclepath Racing and both of the Martinez Motorsports entries. After
the first revolution of the 2.5 mile road course, it was the Martinez
Motorsports Kawasaki ZX10 leading the way with the D2 Cycles #2 ZX 10 right on
their heels, but that would hold for just 2 laps. On lap 3 the D2 Cycles team of
Mike Garner and Ricky Valdez took
the lead with Jason Farrell on the Martinez Motorsports machine right on their
heels. D2 Cycles joy was short lived as Martinez Motorsports regained the lead
on lap 8 then an unscheduled pit stop for mechanical problems one lap later
took the D2 team out of contention.
With the D2 team gone it may have seemed that Martinez
Motorsports would have an easy time of it but the Valdez Racing Yamaha R6
quickly replaced D2 as a serious threat for the Overall win by taking the lead
on lap 13. The two front-runners continued to swap the lead until Valdez
Racing made their scheduled pit stop on
lap 22, the halfway point of the contest, and their lengthy stop left them
nearly 1 minute behind Farrell.
Martinez Motorsports pitted for a splash of fuel on lap 31
handing the lead over to the Thrashed Bike Racing Team Buell, who returned the
favor by pitting on lap 35, leaving the Martinez Motorsports Kawasaki out in
front to cruise to the Overall victory. Valdez Racing held on for 2nd
Overall and 1st in GTU followed by
Thrashed Bike Racing in 3rd Overall and 2nd in GTO.
Defending GTO and Michelin Team Challenge Champion Chester Auto Repair finished
3rd in GTO to stay in the hunt for a second straight class
championship.
The GTU class was a study in contrasts as Valdez Racing took
off like a rabbit while Stiles Racing set the a measured pace to insure they
made up for their misfortune Carolina Motorsports Park two weeks prior. Stiles
used their pit road experience and consistent laps to keep themselves within
striking distance of the class leader, ready to take advantage of any mishap
that may befall the Valdez team, while keeping an eye on the larger picture of
the championship chase. At the end of the race it was Valdez Racing by 51
seconds over Stiles Racing in 2nd followed by Huff Racing in 3rd
place. With the GTL point leader Saddlebaum Racing a no-show at
Heartland Park, they opened the door for Old Glory Speed Shop and Dennie Huff’s
team wasted no time in trying to capitalize. Old Glory took the holeshot and led
Tank Slappers Racing for the first 4 laps, then Tank Slappers moved to the
point for the next 9 laps before relinquishing the lead back to Old Glory. With
a pit stop on lap 15, Tank Slappers slipped in 3rd place as G-Baby
Racing swept past while they were servicing their Suzuki SV650 on pit road. It looked like the battle was on when Tank
Slappers moved past G-Baby back into second but that was short-lived when a
crash in turn 5 ended Tank Slappers day on lap 17. With Tank Slappers gone and
G-Baby on a 2 stop pit strategy Old Gory Speed Shop cruised to a easy victory in
GTL. The victory gives Old Glory a 21 point lead over Saddlebaum Racing in the
class with 5 rounds left in the Michelin Team Challenge GTL championship for
2011.
For complete results, click here!
For up to date championship standings, click here!
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Michelin Team Challenge Conquers Carolina! - Helmbach Holds off Attacks
from Sipp and Ryan for Win |
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Carolina Motorsports Park,
Kershaw, SC -
April 10, 2011
Warm, sunny weather on Saturday gave way to Sunday's cool temps
and a damp start for riders in Round 2 of the Michelin Team Challenge.
The series returned to the heart of the Palmetto State as perennial favorites
and newcomers prepared to vie for the lead in the 2011 points race. The
action got started just after noon and though the cool temperatures might have
helped with tire preservation, it did nothing to dampen the racing action.
The holeshot belonged to Walt Sipp aboard Tim Ivanoff's Thrashed Bike Racing
Buell 1125R. Trailing Sipp into the first corner were the Chester Auto
Repair BMW S1000RR entry ridden by Eric Helmbach, Dustin Young on the Martinez
Motorsports Kawasaki ZX10R and GTU favorite Scotty Ryan on the Team Stiles
R6. By the time the leaders reached the back straight kink Helmbach had
the lead from Sipp and Ryan was third. For the first ten laps Sipp
literally rode the tires of the Buell staying right with Helmbach's BMW before
the Buell back tire started to heat up. Sipp backed off tying to get a
little heat out of his rear tire thus letting Ryan's Yamaha close in.
By quarter distance Helmbach held the lead by about 3 seconds as the leaders
circulated through the kink. Sipp and Ryan were nose to tail and two laps
later Ryan got by Sipp on the backside of the track and started to stretch the
R6's legs. Helmbach, though riding a conservative pace to make up for
lost points in the Turn 5 incident in the last round at Roebling Road, was
showing the field what the big BMW could do as he built his gap on the field to
over 8 seconds by half distance.
As Walt Sipp started to work his lap times down again, and for no reason he
could discern, he lost the front end on the Buell in Turn 4. The spill
sent rider and bike skittering up the race surface all the way into Turn
5. Sipp gathered up the damaged machine and clutching the detached left
clip-on in his hand, lever still intact, limped the Thrashed Bike entry back to
the pits for extensive repairs.
At the end of lap 26 Ryan pitted for fuel. On the very next lap Helmbach
was in for fuel and successfully returned to racing without relinquishing the
lead. Martinez Motorsports rider Dustin Young, running fourth pitted
around Lap 34 to add fuel and put Calvin Martinez aboard. But within three
laps corner marshals were reporting the Martinez Motorsports Kawasaki
smoking. Martinez was flagged and returned to the pits, ending his team's
run in the GTO class.
At two-thirds distance Nick Hansen returned the Thrashed Bike Buell to the
race. The team would soldier on for third in class behind returning
endurance racer Jim Barry on his Yamaha R1. The order at the front was
Helmbach from Ryan, then Premier Racing's Dougherty and Horton followed by
Rachel Sasse on the RNR Repsol Kawasaki, and Mark Miller on the Saddlebaum
Racing SV650. But the complexion of the race was about to change.
Scotty Ryan seemed to be willing his Yamaha onward, narrowing the gap to
Helmbach. For nine straight laps Ryan worked on the gap knocking off a
half second here and a second there, showing Helmbach a wheel between twelve
and thirteen, trying to work his way inside at turn eleven, until on Lap 54 the
pair were only 0.07 seconds apart at the stripe. Ryan could close in over
the slower sections, but Helmbach used power and smoothness to keep Ryan from
closing the deal.
On Lap 57 Ryan pitted for his final fuel stop. Upon exit from the pits he
was down 38 seconds to Helmbach who would stop two laps later for his final
splash of fuel. When the final shuffle was done Ryan had dropped from
trailing by a mere 0.1-second gap to a 12-second gap with five laps to
go. Scotty Ryan had to push and push hard to make up the deficit.
On lap 59 the push came to an end as approaching Turn 12 Ryan's front brake
faded sending him off track, ending his day and dashing his hopes for the
overall or the GTU class win. Helmbach cruised home for the Overall and
GTO class victory. Rachel Sasse showing a lot of grit and skill brought
the RNR Repsol Kawasaki ZX6R home for the GTU class win and Mark Miller nailed
the top GT Lights spot on the Saddlebaum Suzuki SV650 ahead of the Old Glory
Speed Shop Buell, whose team worked through the afternoon and evening before
the enduro swapping out a blown motor..
For complete results, click here!
For up to date championship standings, click here! |
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2011 Michelin Pro Series Round 1 - Battle of the Tim's |
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March 13, 2011
Bloomingdale, GA – Beautiful weather at Roebling Road welcomed Round One
of the Michelin Pro Series 10-lap sprint races. Temperatures were in the
mid seventies with a variable breeze. The ASRA riders couldn't have asked
for a better day for the start of their 2011 season.
In SuperStock Tim Hunt and Tim Bemisderfer both started from the front row, but
while Bemisderfer's start looked a little choppy, Hunt launched cleanly and by
turn one Hunt had the advantage. At the end of the first lap Hunt and
Bemisderfer started to pull away a little from Jason Farrell and Nate
Kern. It looked like Bemisderfer would give Hunt everything he could
handle by lap three as the pair were almost inseparable as they crossed start
finish.
Lap after lap Bemisderfer stayed within three bike lengths of Hunt's Suzuki,
and in the closing laps started showing Hunt a wheel at the end of the front
straight. Hunt worked on setup prior to the race, but felt it could be
improved. In the end Hunt's setup handed Bemisderfer an opportunity to
move ahead for the win, and he took it. Nate Kern pushed past Farrell in
the closing laps to round out the podium. Said Tim Hunt after the race,
“I knew he (Bemisderfer) was setting me up. On the last lap my front end
was chattering in turn five and he got past me. I tried to set him up
coming onto the front straight, but the BMW had too much motor.”
In ThunderBike Trey Yonce got the hole shot on his Suzuki SV650 and although
Ducati rider Joey Thomas started from the last row on the grid, by the end of
lap one he was only five seconds behind Yonce. If Thomas had any hopes of
catching Yonce those soon faded as lap after lap Trey Yonce added a second to
his gap on the field. By the end of lap five the gap had stabilized at
seven seconds as Yonce backed off a little.
The final Michelin Pro class of the event was Michelin Pro SportBike. Jim
Cohrs on an R6 snatched an early lead and separated himself from the pack, at
one time leading by more than six seconds. Jason Farrell aboard his
Kawasaki fought back from an early deficit to close the gap down to about 3.5
seconds by the last lap. Cohrs hung on, winning decisively and capping a
win-filled weekend. Cohrs knocked down nine victories in all.
For complete results click here.
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2011 Michelin Team Challenge Opens With Win by Stiles Racing |
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March 11, 2011
Bloomingdale, GA – Perfect weather at Roebling Road
welcomed Round One of the Michelin Pro Series and Michelin Team Challenge. With
temperatures hovering in the low seventies, a cloudless sky, and a light
breeze, the weather was flawless for the start the 2011 ASRA season. Saturday's
Team Challenge race was punctuated by two red flags during the course of the
event, neither resulting in major injuries. The second restart was flawless for
rider Meghan Ryan who not only showed perfect timing and speed, but also
carried her starting advantage for the full lap and set the tempo for Team
Stiles in their final dash to the GTU class and Overall victories aboard their
Yamaha R6.
Team Stiles comes into the season off a good result in
2010 having finished runner up to RNR Repsol by only four points. In this first
round the team expected a good finish in GTU. They did not expect the overall
win according to team owner and manager Mark Stiles, “The GTU class win was
what we wanted today; the Overall win was just a bonus. We're out to win the
GTU championship this year. Meghan's restart after the red flag was just
awesome. That's the best start she's ever done. She ran her quickest laps after
that restart and Scotty was his usual fast self. It was everything I expected
from him.”
Team Stiles took the GTU class victory and the Overall
top spot as perennial Overall and GTO favorite Eric Helmbach tucked the front
and took a tumble in turn three. Helmbach, riding solo for Chester Auto Repair,
managed to get back to the pits and get his front master cylinder repaired, but
in so doing pulled the bike behind the wall and was forced back to lap zero
according the the rules. Thus Helmbach handed the overall win to Team Stiles
and the GTO top spot to Tim Ivanoff's Thrashed Bike Racing. Ivanoff commented
on the class win aboard their Buell, “Our expectations were a top three finish
overall and we bettered that, finishing second. And we expected to finish
second in GTO, but with Eric's mishap we were gifted with the opportunity for
the GTO class win and took full advantage. Walt Sipp performed as expected. I
am so pleased that he volunteered to come help us. He and Joel Spalding put in
an excellent effort for out team.”
When asked about the incident that played to Thrashed
Bike's GTO victory, 2010 Team Challenge Champion and BMW rider Eric Helmbach
said, “I was looking forward to the race and defending my number one plate from
last year. The bike felt great. I took off at the beginning of the race and got
a good lead, but at about the quarter way point in the race I tucked the front
over here in turn three. I salvaged a third place in GTO and it was good for
the points despite the problems. It was a pretty good turnout for the event, so
we'll see what happens at Carolina.”
The Michelin Team Challenge frequently attracts CCS and
ASRA champions as new teams start up in the chase for the title. 2011 is no
exception in this regard. In GT Lights we see a new team for 2011, Saddlebaum
Racing, comprised of 2010 Michelin Pro Champions Jim Fotinopoulos, Mark Miller
and Jim Cohrs. On the way to the track they all decided to familiarize
themselves with Roebling Road by entering Fotinopoulos' training bike, an
SV650, in the Team Challenge event They had no idea they'd get hooked on the
format. They had so much fun on the bike and just running as a team that
they've made a pact to try and run the remainder of the Team Challenge series
for 2011. Said Fotinopoulos, “We were just on the way down to Roebling and said
why don't we run the Michelin Team Challenge to get a little more time on this
track because it's our first time here. We thought it would be very good
learning tool to slow things down a bit on a slower bike and really learn the
layout of this race track. And its beautiful, flowing track. We had no
expectations except to have fun. But by the tenth lap or so Mark had a huge
lead and it looked like we could win this thing.”
For complete results click here.
For current points standings after Round 1 click here. |
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Michelin Pro Series Updates for 2011 Season
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There are some major changes in store for the Michelin Pro Series
sanctioned by ASRA for the 2011 season, both in class structure and
format, targeting greater participation across the series.
Gone is the old ASRA Superbike class. While it gave some riders the
opportunity to increase their winnings, the redundancy with SportBike
had brought participation down to unsustainable levels. By eliminating
this class, the Michelin Pro Series now has three main classes,
SuperStock, SportBike and ThunderBike.
With the demise of the Pirelli Diablo Challenge at the Championship Cup
Series events, Amateur ranked riders no longer had a cash contingnecy
offering in any class, so the Michelin Pro Series has decided to add
Amateur classes to the program for 2011. While they will share the
track at the same time as the ASRA Experts, ASRA Amateurs will be
competing against other Amateurs for their own cash contingency.
Amateurs will be gridded in SuperStock, SportBike and ThunderBike by
qualifying times whenever possible and start as a second wave behind
the Expert field. Just like the Experts, Amateurs will be competing
over the 8 race series for ASRA National Championships, with the
championships to be awarded at the 28th Annual Race of Champions in
Daytona Beach on October 16, 2011.
We look forward to seeing alll of you at the races in 2011! |
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Championship
Cup Series - Fort Worth, TX 76121 - Phone: 817-246-1127 - Fax:
817-246-2977 - 9-5 Mon-Thu (Central)
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