Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
Team Embry/Freewebtown.com’s Brian Stokes won two races and finished second in a third event Thursday during the AMA Grand Championships hosted by WERA at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
In (600cc) Supersport, Stokes battled right down to the wire with Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s 18-year-old Matt Furtek. Furtek passed Stokes on the brakes at the end of the back straight on the final lap, but Stokes had a move planned for the last corner.
“I knew there were two spots where he was weak,” said Stokes. “He was defending the line in the last turn and thought he would get a good drive out, but I got a better drive.” Stokes did get a better drive out of the final corner. Furtek weaved right-to-left to block Stokes’ line. The two riders brushed fairings, but Stokes was able to get his wheel over the line just ahead of fellow Mid-Ohio first-timer Furtek. “Just inexperience,” said Furtek. “I took the line to block him, not to get the drive out.”
Lucky Racing’s Darren Luck, who started on the seventh row, finished third, completing a Suzuki GSX-R600 sweep of the podium. Row-14 starter Blake Young, Texan Michael Sanchez, Canadian teenager Chris Peris, dirt-tracker-turned-road-racer Nicky Cummings, veteran Reuben Frankenfield, Houston, Texas’ Logan Young and Yamaha-mounted Jason Temme filled the rest of the top 10 positions.
Stokes came back an hour later to race with Team EDR Suzuki’s John Dugan in the eight-lap Formula Xtreme sprint. Dugan, riding a GSX-R1000, looked to have the measure of Stokes, who was riding a Suzuki GSX-R750, but one of Dugan’s ram air tubes came loose during the race, slowing his drive off corners. Dugan’s problem combined with Stokes’ line through the last corner resulted in Stokes taking another dramatic, come-from-behind victory, passing Dugan in the run from the final corner to the flag.
Behind the lead pair, Greg Moore came from the 12th row of the grid to finish third over J.J. Roetlin, Jake Holden, Luck, David Duprey, John Haner, Tom Wertman and Troy Green.
Stokes got another great start in the (750cc) Superbike race from the pole position and led into turn one. Moore, who had never seen the track before Thursday morning, stumbled off the line but recovered quickly enough to pass Stokes for the lead in turn six. From there, Moore turned some of the fastest laps of the week (1:32.55) on his Michelin-shod Suzuki GSX-R750 and won the eight-lap race by five seconds.
Stokes settled for second place after his tires started to slide around mid-race; Stokes used the same tires in the Superbike race as he did in the earlier Formula Extreme sprint.
Former Horizon Award winner Doug Duane finished third over Roetlin and Dugan, who passed both Furtek and Luck on the last lap to score fifth. Luck, Furtek, Haner, Jeff Muskopf and Sanchez rounded out the top 10.
All-American Home Inspections’ Chris Pyles won the eight-lap 250cc Grand Prix race on a Honda RS250R over GP Tech’s Geoff Maloney, who rode a Yamaha TZ250, and Yamaha-mounted teen Barrett Long. Maloney started on row three but took the lead on the first lap. Pyles passed Maloney under braking for turn six on lap three, never looked back and won the race by five seconds. Maloney held on for second. Long passed Shawn Murray for third on lap three, rode the rest of the race alone and finished 15 seconds behind Maloney. Murray held off a late-race challenge from Sandy Noce to secure fourth. Mark Stiles, Ed Marchini, John Long, Glen Christianson and pole sitter Bryan Hoelzer rounded out the top 10.
Thursday’s Race Results From Mid-Ohio:
Supersport Expert:
1. Brian Stokes, Suzuki GSX-R600
2. Matt Furtek, Suzuki GSX-R600
3. Darren Luck, Suzuki GSX-R600
4. Blake Young, Honda CBR600RR
5. Mike Sanchez, Suzuki GSX-R600
6. Chris Peris, Honda CBR600RR
Supersport Novice:
1. Joe Hayes, Yamaha YZF-R6
2. Ben Lingel, Honda CBR600
3. William Stranahan, Yamaha YZF-R6
4. Chris Kessler, Suzuki GSX-R600
5. Jeffrey Agnes, Yamaha YZF-R6
6. Keith Koeppen, Yamaha YZF-R6
250cc Grand Prix Expert:
1.Chris Pyles, Honda RS250R
2.Geoff Maloney, Yamaha TZ250
3.Barrett Long, Yamaha TZ250
4.Shawn Murray, Honda RS250
5.Sandy Noce, Yamaha TZ250
6.Mark Stiles, Yamaha TZ250
250cc Grand Prix Novice:
1.David Celento, Yamaha TZ125
2.Rebecca Henn, Yamaha TZ125
Heavyweight Twins Expert:
1.J.D. Hord, Honda 1000
2.David Podolsky, Aprilia RSV1000
3.Josh Guyer, Aprilia RSV1000
4.Michael Hausknecht, Ducati 853
5.Christian Smith, Aprilia RSV1000
6.Mark Hatten, Ducati 996
Heavyweight Twins Novice:
1.Bentley Squires, Honda 1000
2.Scott Sheehan, Honda 1000
3.Mark Biletnikoff, Suzuki SV650
4.Scott Beckley, Suzuki SV650
5.Jesse Nunn, Suzuki SV650
6.Jerry Van Horn, Suzuki SV650
Formula Xtreme Expert:
1.Brian Stokes, Suzuki GSX-R750
2.John Dugan, Suzuki GSX-R1000
3.Greg Moore, Suzuki GSX-R1000
4.J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R750
5.Jake Holden, Suzuki GSX-R750
6.Darren Luck, Suzuki GSX-R1000
Formula Xtreme Novice:
1.Jeff Agnes, Suzuki GSX-R750
2.Joe Hayes, Yamaha YZF-R6
3.Ben Lingel, Honda CBR600
4.Larry Glaze, Honda CBR929RR
5.Brian Logan, Yamaha YZF-R6
6.David Garrison, Suzuki GSX-R750
Lightweight Twins Expert:
1.Jeff Caco, Suzuki SV650
2.Scott Evans, Suzuki SV650
3.Michael Graham, Suzuki SV650
4.Bradley Martin, Suzuki SV650
5.Wes Swain, Suzuki SV650
6.Shawn Romano, Suzuki SV650
Lightweight Twins Novice:
1.Jerry Van Horn, Suzuki SV650
2.Robert Breeden, Suzuki SV650
3.Mark Biletnikoff, Suzuki SV650
4.Alan Radar, Suzuki SV650
5.Andy George, Suzuki SV650
6.Joel Hammond, Suzuki SV650
Superbike Expert:
1.Greg Moore, Suzuki GSX-R750
2.Brian Stokes, Suzuki GSX-R750
3.Doug Duane, Suzuki GSX-R750
4.J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki GSX-R750
5.John Dugan, Suzuki GSX-R750
6.Darren Luck, Suzuki GSX-R750
Superbike Novice:
1.Jeff Agnes, Suzuki GSX-R750
2.Joe Hayes, Yamaha YZF-R6
3.Brian Logan, Yamaha YZF-R6
4.Bentley Squires, Honda 1000
5.Scott Collins, Yamaha YZF-R6
6.Erik Kauffman, Suzuki GSX-R600
Lightweight Superbike Expert:
1.Jason Temme, Yamaha FZR400
2.Scott Evans, Suzuki SV650
3.Wes Swain, Suzuki SV650
4.Brett Sampbell, Suzuki SV650
5.Robert Campbell, Suzuki SV650
6.Joseph Ball, Kawasaki EX500
Super Moto:
1. Jerry Shirley, Yamaha YZ450