Kolkman & Bonsey Take Wins in Round 1&2 of Gene Romero's West Coast Flat Track Series in Vegas

Kayl Kolkman muscles his #42E Kawasaki Simi Valley/MEH Corp/Troy Lee Designs/Barnett-sponsored KX450F during practice for round 14 of the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship Series at the Peoria TT on August 21.  The California resident missed the cut for the National main after qualifying 34th out of the 39 riders on hand, and 10th place finishes in his heat and semi race that kept him out of the 19 rider main event.  He did however qualify for both the Salinas TT and the Springfield Short Track to earn himself a full National number for the upcoming 2012 season, so he will be able to drop the 'E' from his number plate.

Kolkman started the 2012 season off strong by winning his heat and the Open Class 'A' Main over the weekend at the South Point Casino rounds of Gene Romero's West Coast Flat Track Series, taking home the win in round 1 on Friday the 13th over a field that consisted of both Halbert Brothers and Brad Baker out of Washington State, Mikey Rush, Brandan Bergen and '10 AMA Pro Flat Track Pro Singles Champion Jeff Carver.

You can check out some video action below of Kayl taking home a heat race win over the weekend at the South Point rounds thanks to Miriam Deitcher and her Flat Track Live from Facebook and YouTube.
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Steve Bonsey on the George Mack-prepped #80 MDR Racing/Alpinestars/Arai/Rod Lake-sponsored Honda CRF450R starts to clear out in front of a pack of riders during the National main event of round 7 of the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship Series at the Springfield TT in late May.  Bonsey sailed home to a 4th place finish on the day in only one of six National main appearances on the season while running a limited schedule.  Trying to keep the former AMA Pro Flat Track Rookie of the Year in sight are #49 Chad Cose, #28 Shaun Russell, #39 Matt Burton and #20 Matt Weidman.

Bonsey was another National number holder who made the trip to Las Vegas over the weekend to take part in the WCFTS rounds at the South Point Casino.  Riding a Dave Zanotti-prepped Zanotti Racing Honda CRF450R, Bonsey missed the main on Friday night after coming home 3rd in the Trophy Dash behind Sammy Halbert and Friday's 'A' main winner, Kayl Kolkman. 

But he turned it around with a win in the 'A' main on Saturday, besting Kolkman, Mikey Rush, Jethro Halbert and Brad Baker.  Congrats to the Salinas, CA. resident for turning it around on Saturday night!
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Brad Baker is shown just before rider intros at round 7 of the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship Series at the Springfield TT on May 30, as former National #23 Kevin Atherton rolls the soon-to-be Rookie of the Year's #12 EBC Brakes/Arai/CP Carillo-sponsored Honda CRF450R out to the starting line.  Baker would go on to bring home a 9th place finish on the day after a third row start. 

The Bullet made the trip to Las Vegas for the first two rounds of Gene Romero's West Coast Flat Track Series at the South Point Casino, and came away with a 2nd place finish on Friday the 13th and a 5th place finish on Saturday night.  His bike broke in the heat race on Saturday, so Baker was forced to qualify for the 'A' main by racing the semi, LCQ and 'B' main in order to make the field.
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Round 1/Friday January, 13-Open Class 'A' Main results

1. Kayl Kolkman, Ventura, CA
2. Brad Baker, Chehalis, WA
3. Mike Rush, Gilroy, CA
4. Sam Halbert, Graham, WA
5. Jake Mataya, Blaine, MN
6. Jethro Halbert, Graham, WA
7. Jimmy Monaco, Modesto, CA
8. Brandan Bergen, Caruthers, CA
9. Smokin Joe Winston, Laguna Hills, CA
10. Ryan Foster, Sunnyvale, CA
11. Brady Mueller, Port Orchard, WA
12. Bailey Fox, Graham, WA
13. Kris Bunch, Fresno, CA
14. Jeff Carver, Alton, IL
15. Eric Rickman, Orting, WA

Round 2/Saturday, January 14-Open Class 'A' Main results

1. Stevie Bonsey Salinas, CA
2. Kayl Kolkman Ventura, CA
3. Mike Rush Gilroy, CA
4. Jethro Halbert Graham,
5. Brad Baker Chehalis, WA
6. Brady Mueller Port Orchard, WA
7. Bailey Fox Graham, WA
8. Sam Halbert Graham, WA
9. Jimmy Wood Redlands, CA
10.  Brandan Bergen Caruthers, CA
11.  Shawn Raggio Stockton, CA
12.  Jeff Carver Alton, IL
13.  Scott Baker Eatonville, WA
14.  Jake Mataya Blaine, MN
15.  Ryan Foster Sunnyvale, CA


Vintage Flat Tracker (VFT.org) posted some pictures from Friday and Saturday's rounds 1&2 at the South Point Casino in Las Vegas.  As of this posting on 1/16/12 they were right at the top of the page.  You may have to scroll down as time goes on to get to them, but they are marked clearly for this first round of events for the WCFTS 2012 season:

http://www.vft.org/

Miriam Deitcher who runs the Facebook Flat Track Live page, posted a few videos from the weekend's festivities at South Point in Vegas.  Check them out below on YouTube!

Steve Bonsey's 'A' main win for round 1 of Gene Romero's West Coast Flat Track Series from Saturday, January 14:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EixKhzhO_4

Kayl Kolkman's heat race win at South Point in Vegas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXqayhmWmtM&context=C36e5742ADOEgsToPDskKc8swkXGJ5TqOFF-8OH7VI

(Note-there are a few other videos that Miriam has posted from Vegas on YouTube that you can check out along the right side column.)

And you can keep up with what is going on in the world of flat track racing here via Miriam's Flat Track Live on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/FlatTrackLive

And here is Gene's official site for the WCFTS:

http://wcfts.com/
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