Great Clips West Coast Moto Jam Recap: AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com
SuperSport
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.
(May 11, 2012) - With 54 riders signed up for the AMA Pro
Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport race at Infineon Raceway, the field was
large and competitive. Unlike Road Atlanta, where James Rispoli
and Jake Lewis ran away, a trio of riders challenged in
Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport Race 1 on Saturday and no less than five
riders battled at the front in Race 2 on Sunday.
Dustin Dominguez
(Castrol Latus Motors Racing Triumph) and Rispoli (Orient Express Celtic Racing)
split the victories in Sonoma, Calif., trading the first two spots on both days.
Some of their competitors were much closer than at the previous race at Road
Atlanta, however. On Saturday, a red flag came out
on lap 4 when Cameron Gish (Z2 Racing) crashed in front of a
helpless Hayden Gillim (RoadRace Factory/Red Bull). The
on-track incident injured Gish, who was transported to an area hospital for
evaluation. According to a team representative, the young standout
was diagnosed with multiple pelvic fractures and minor injuries to his
foot, knee and hands and is currently recovering at Santa Rosa Memorial
Hospital.
After the restart, Dominguez
trailed Rispoli and Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki's Jake Lewis. Dominguez made a
nifty double pass on lap five to take the lead, but could not split from his
rivals until three laps from the end. He eased a slight gap, which evaporated
with a wild celebratory wheelie over the stripe. Dominguez was glad to be able to
challenge his rivals in California after disappointment in Georgia, showing that
he and his Triumph could best Rispoli and Lewis. "At Road Atlanta, I got terrible
starts," Dominguez said. "I think I was like 11th going into turn one and just
happened to work up through all that traffic. By the time I got there they were
pretty much gone. We got a good start today and just being in that league pack
gives you momentum to keep going and I think that was the key."
James Rispoli #1 leads Tomas Puerta #12 and Jake Lewis #85 during AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport Series action over the Infineon Raceway round weekend. AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Tomas Puerta
took fourth place. The RoadRace Factory/Red Bull Yamaha pilot wasn't pleased
with his setup, but promised to do better on Sunday. Garrett Willis
(GWR Leo Vince Honda) came out on top after a hot fight for the top five. After
taking a couple of seasons off from road racing, Willis returned to beat out
young rider Wyatt Farris (Mach 1 Motorsports), Stefano
Mesa (Kneedraggers.com Yamaha) and Travis Ohge (Meen
Motorsports).
Corey Alexander
(National Guard Fairhills Group Celtic Racing) finished in ninth position
despite a five-second penalty for anticipating the start. Gillim's bike was repaired during the red flag with no
time to spare and he managed to pass 37 riders on the track to take one of the
hardest-fought top ten finishes on record.
For Sunday, Rispoli wasn't to be
denied, and neither were the red flags.
The first red flag stoppage
came on lap 5 when Nadr Riad (Meen Motorsports)
and local rider Nick Hayman (Munroe Motors) came
together. Hayman was transported to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, where he is
listed in critical condition. Team representatives have set up a status update
page for those wishing to offer support for Hayman at http://www.munroemotors.com/service
The second red flag situation led
to a ten-lap showdown. Puerta led the early stages
just like he had on Saturday but was passed, first by Rispoli and then by
Dominguez five laps later. Rispoi rebounded to earn his
third win of the year and has established a 44-point lead in West points over
Elena Myers (Suzuki Scoop Fans Sportbiketrackgear.com M4
Suzuki). After the race, James (sporting a platinum blonde hairstyle for the
event) said he could hear the Triumph triple of Dominguez closing in on him. "It was like 'Jaws' out there,
getting louder and louder. I could here him out there. I just tried to run my
own pace and if he came by, he came by," said Rispoli. "I only made a couple of
mistakes and it was really good."
Domiguez was pleased with second
and a great weekend. The Triumph ride collected the brand's first win of the
year along with a second on Sunday. "It was a little chaotic with the red flags
and I didn't really get a good start in any of the starts," he said. "I had to
put my head down and make some pretty aggressive passes to get up there. I
caught up with James with two to go but he was on rails. I'd used up my tires
and it started spinning up. Hats off to him for the win."
Puerta was 14 seconds closer to
the front on Sunday and the former AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport
race winner said his 2012 season was finally on the right track. "We made a lot
of changes for this race. The first red flag helped me a lot, too." said Puerta.
"We made a couple more changes that were really good. We're a new team and
working really hard. We struggled the first two races but now we're on the
podium." Lewis passed Gillim for fourth on
the last lap. The top five finished within 2.65 seconds of the winner. Mesa was
6th on his Yamaha ahead of Alexander. Willis was 8th on Sunday ahead of Ohge and
Gearzy Yamaha's Colter Dimick.
AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com
SuperSport, the AMA Pro series for up-and-coming riders and fast local club
racers, will return at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah later this month
at a more wide-open circuit that offers a different challenge than Infineon
Raceway.
Top 10 Finishers from
Infineon Raceway:
AMA Pro
Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport West Division Point Standings After Round
3
Year-End Award Updates
With a total of 659.93 miles and 243 laps completed so
far in the 2012 AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport season, Stefano
Mesa leads the Sunoco "Go The Distance"
Award.
Current Sunoco "Go The Distance" Award Standings After Round 3
Next
Event
AMA Pro Road Racing will next head west for Round 4 with a stop at Tooele, Utah. The BigM Weekend will take place at Miller Motorsports Park in three weeks time, May 26-28. For tickets and event information, please visit http://www.millermotorsportspark.com
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AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional
motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of
events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more
about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.
For additional information
contact:
AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com
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