AFM Round 7 at Buttonwillow By Mike Solis With injuries, waning finances, and mechanical attrition each taking their toll on the AFM community, the grids looked a little thinner than usual at Buttonwillow Raceway last weekend. Despite the relatively low entry numbers, the action at the front was no less intense, as a number of AFMers put on a fantastic show for those who made the trek out. In the Mach 1 Motorsports Formula Pacific race, former AFM number one plate holder Jeff Tigert returned to form by taking the win, coming out on top of a three-rider battle with Arclight Suzuki’s David Stanton and Pacific Tracktime’s Michael Earnest. Tigert methodically worked his way forward on his fast CBR1000RR, taking the lead from Stanton with a bold outside pass on in the fast Riverside corner. Stanton managed to hang onto Tigert, looking for a chance to counterattack when a red flag flew, bringing the race to an early end. With 6 of 8 laps completed, the results were finalized with Dunlop riders taking each of the podium spots, as Tigert was awarded the win, with Stanton second and Earnest third. “Dave was riding really well I knew it was going to be a long race, so I just did what I could to conserve myself.” said Tigert. “As I started to feel a little better, I tested the waters by showing him a wheel in the Bus Stop and then in Riverside, eventually making my way around him there. I can’t say enough for this Honda it really came together for this weekend!” Tigert added to his collection of first place trophies on the weekend by taking the win in the Keigwins@theTrack 600 Production race, finishing just ahead of the Yamaha of second place finisher Andy Carmen. 16-year-old Bobby Fong won a hard-fought battle with Berto Wooldridge to finish third. Stanton, who is just starting to settle into his new career as the owner of the Oakland Suzuki motorcycle dealership, also took home a pair of wins on the day, taking home first place finishes in both the Hare Racing Open Superbike race and the Dial It In Tracktime 750 Superbike race. “I could hear Ken back there in Open Superbike,” explained Stanton, “but it wasn’t as loud as Jeff’s bike was in Formula Pacific! With two wins and a second, I’m pretty happy, that’s the most fun I’ve had out there in a while! I may have to have some more work done to my bike for next year Tigert’s bike is soooo fast, it’s in-sane!” Tigert and Stanton weren’t the only multiple race winners, with Brian Long taking home victories in 650 Twins and the Zoom Zoom Trackdays Formula 4 on his Spears Racing SV650. In both races, Kurt Spencer did his best on his Twin Works Factory SV650 to challenge Long, but could only manage a distant second place finish in each instance. With Jack Pfeifer recovering from a start line crash at Thunderhill and Eric Gulbransen on the sidelines because of the infamous AFM crash rule, the Desmoto Sport Open Twins race boiled down to a three rider battle between the Honda of Bud Anderson, the Ducati of Simon Williams, and the Scuderia-sponsored Aprilia of Scott Schwanbeck, with Anderson coming out on top for his first ever AFM victory. Despite some mechanical gremlins, Anderson wrapped up a career-best weekend for himself by taking the win in the Teresa McKinney Realtor Formula 40 race as well, moving into the lead on the last lap by capitalizing on an error made by second-place finisher Mike Thompson. “In Formula 40, Mike Thompson and Tom Bolles kinda smoked me early on those 1000cc four-cylinder bikes, it took me a little while to get around them,” Anderson explained. “In Open Twins, Scott and Simon made me earn it! My clutch was slipping really bad out there – thanks to the guys here from Pacific Tracktime, we managed to get it back together with a wing and a prayer. The sucker was just slipping in fifth and sixth gears, but I was able to make it back in Riverside and into Turn 1. Still, I turned my best lap times ever with a 1:53.4 and scored my first ever AFM victories this weekend – I don’t think that’s too bad for an old fart! Corey Sarros initially appeared to be another double-race winner on the day, as the first rider across the line in both the Powerstands Open Grand Prix and the Take It To The Track Open Production races. Unfortunately, Sarros was stripped of his Open Production win due to a rule violation, when his GSX-R1000 was discovered to be equipped with a non-OEM front brake master cylinder. As a result, Martin Szwarc was awarded the win, with second going to James J. King. Jon Bawden, who usually runs away with the Scuderia West Formula 1 victory, found himself with his hands full at Buttonwillow, challenged by both William Morton and Garry Combs over the course of the race before going on to a narrow victory. Campbell went on to finish second with Morton third, the latter of the two putting in an impressive ride on his 250cc Honda against the bullet-fast 750s of the opposition. “I wasn’t surprised by Wil early on,” said Bawden after the race. “He’s super smooth and really rides the wheels off of that thing! Unfortunately, the right side of my tire went off early, and this place is all about right handers! On the last lap, Garry almost got me going into the right-handed Sweeper but I just held my line, keeping him wide. As the only turns after that were left handers, I knew I’d be okay if I could just hold him off that one last time!” Some new faces finished at the front at Buttonwillow, with Richard Moore taking his first ever AFM victory in 450 Superbike on his 442cc Yamaha. In the Aftershocks Suspension 250 Production race, David Crone also managed to take his first AFM win a rare first place finish for a Honda in a class dominated by 250cc Kawasakis. The battle of the day took place in the Pacific Tracktime 600 Superbike race, where Chris Siglin launched his Arclight Suzuki GSX-R600 into the early lead, followed closely by the Yamaha of Andy Carman and the Honda of Jeff Tigert. After making his way past Carman, Tigert appeared to have his hands full with Siglin, who held a healthy lead of over 10 bikelengths throughout the race until the start of the white flag lap. Miraculously, on that last lap Tigert was able to step it up a notch, closing the gap on Siglin in half a lap before making his way past on the brakes into Lost Hills. Siglin counterattacked and retook the lead heading into the Sweeper, holding the lead through the esses towards the final left hander with Tigert glued to his rear wheel. The two came together on the exit of the corner and headed for the checkered flag side by side, with Siglin crossing the line with less than a wheel on Tigert. “I kind of underestimated Jeff on that last lap I didn’t think he was that close!” Siglin explained. “We both ended up going for the big move on the last corner, and I think we both overshot it, going for the same bit of property. My ankle actually got pinched between our two bikes when we came together there! I hope there are no hard feelings with Jeff, my hat’s off to him. He rode a great race!” The next round of AFM action takes place on October 2nd at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. AFM Round 7 September 11, 2005 Buttonwillow Raceway Unofficial Results Mach 1 Motorsports Formula Pacific 1. Jeff Tigert (Hon CBR1000RR) 2. David Stanton (Suz GSX-R1000) 3. Michael Earnest (Suz GSX-R1000) 4. Jon Bawden (Suz GSX-R750) 5. Correy Sarros (Suz GSX-R1000) 6. Rob Mesa (Suz GSX-R1000) Scuderia West Formula 1 1. Jon Bawden (Suz GSX-R750) 2. Garry Combs (Suz GSX-R750) 3. Wil Morton (Hon RS250) 4. Robert Campbell 5. Peter O’Sullivan 6. Ryan Texeira Mazda Technologies Formula 2 1. Wil Morton (Hon RS250) 2. Sean Case (Hon RS250) 3. Dan Cook (Yam TZ250) 4. Shawn Herrera (Yam TZ250) 5. Jove Shapiro (Yam TZ250) 6. Tyler Reiswig (Yam TZ250) Formula 3 1. Carlos Neves (Hon RS125) 2. Tyler Reiswig (Hon RS125) 3. Michael Jarrard (Hon RS125) 4. Mark Goodrich (Hon RS125) 5. Jeffrey Lim (Hon RS125) 6. Ryan Corey (Hon RS125) Zoom Zoom Trackdays Formula 4 1. Brian Long (Suz SV650) 2. Kurt Spencer (Suz SV650) 3. JOhn Daker (Suz SV650) 4. Jason Butler (Suz SV650) 5. Michael Metcalf (Suz SV650) 6 Ian Gillies (Suz SV650) Powerstands Open Grand Prix 1. Corey Sarros (Suz GSX-R1000) 2. Martin Szwarc 3. Garry Combs 4. Mike Thompson 5. Michael Lohmeyer 6. Kim Nakashima Hare Racing Open Superbike 1. David Stanton (Suz GSX-R1000) 2. Ken Hill (Hon CBR1000RR 3. Robert Mesa (Suz GSX-R1000) 4. James Randolph 5. Martin Szwarc 6. Garry Combs Dial It In Tracktime 750 Superbike 1. David Stanton (Suz GSX-R750) 2. Jon Bawden (Suz GSX-R750) 3. Garry Combs (Suz GSX-R750) 4. Robert Campbell (Suz GSX-R750) 5. Peter O’Sullivan (Suz GSX-R750) 6. Dan Sewell (Suz GSX-R750) Pacific Tracktime 600 Superbike 1. Chris Siglin (Suz GSX-R600) 2. Jeff Tigert (Hon CBR600RR) 3. Andy Carmen (Yam YZF-R6) 4. Berto Wooldridge (Suz GSX-R600) 5. Ryan Texeira (Kaw ZX-6R) 6. John Daley (Yam YZF-R6) 450 Superbike 1. Richard Moore (Yam 442) 2. Paul Yoshimune (Hon 400) 3. Ross Wells (Yam 400) 4. Mike Lohmeyer (Hon 400) 5. Jose Quintanar (Yam 400) 6. Kenyon Kluge (Hon 400) Kilowatt Bar 250 Superbike 1. Shawn Herrera (Yam 250) 2. Jove Shapiro (Yam 250) 3. Dylan Benjamin (Hon 250) 4. Andrew Duafala (Yam 250) 5. Joe Rust (Apr 250) 6. Val Kotyza (Kaw 250) Take It 2 The Track Open Production 1. Martin Szwarc (Suz GSX-R1000) 2. James King (Suz GSX-R1000) 3. William Scott (Kaw ZX-10R) 4. Chris Weiss (Suz GSX-R1000) 5. Kelly Barnett (Hon CBR1000RR) Strictly Sport 750 Production 1. Robert Campbell (Suz GSX-R750) 2. Danny Yamasaki (Suz GSX-R750) 3. Craig Wierman (Suz GSX-R750) 4. Don Rudolfs (Suz GSX-R750) 5. Liko Miles (Suz GSX-R750) 6. Patrick Flora (Suz GSX-R750) Keigwins@theTrack 600 Production 1. Jeff Tigert (Hon CBR600RR) 2. Andy Carmen (Yam YZF-R6) 3. Bobby Fong (Yam YZF-R6) 4. Berto Wooldridge (Suz GSX-R600) 5. Pete Demas (Suz GSX-R600) 6. Matt Eccleston (Yam YZF-R6) 450 Production 1. Ross Wells (Yam FZR400) 2. Douglas Goldman (Yam FZR400) 3. Dylan Wood (Yam FZR400) 4. Gwyn Lewis (Yam FZR400) Aftershocks Suspension 250 Production 1. David Crone (Hon 250) 2. Jay Kinberger (Kaw 250) 3. Kelly Winklebauer (Kaw 250) 4. Bob Simmons (Kaw 250) 5. Val Kotyza (Kaw 250) 6. Chris McGrail (Hon 250) Desmoto Sport Open Twins 1. Bud Anderson (Hon 1000) 2. Simon Williams (Duc 998) 3. Scott Schwanbeck (Apr 1000) 4. Patrick Blackburn (Duc 998) 5. Conrad Price (Duc 996) 6. Patrick Corcoran (Duc 996) 650 Twins 1. Brian Long (Suz SV650) 2. Kurt Spencer (Suz SV650) 3. Jason Butler (Suz SV650) 4. Michael Metcalf (Suz SV650) 5. John Daker (Suz SV650) 6. Aaron Tulchinsky (Suz SV650) 500 Twins 1. Jay Jacobson (Suz GS500) 2. Bobby Lee Broussard (Suz GS500) 3. Jon Forman (Suz GS500) 4. Kevin Smith (Gib 500) 5. Boris Clifford (Kaw EX500) 6. Josuf Zobairi (AND 500) Formula Singles 1. Chris Keane (Hon 450) 2. Greg Creech (KTM 598) 3. Charles Statman (Hon 650) Teresa McKinney Realtor Formula 40 1. Bud Anderson (Hon 1000) 2. Mike Thompson (Yam 1000) 3. Tom Bolles (Suz 1000) 4. Pete Demas (Suz 600) 5. Dan Cook (Yam 250) 6. Don Rudolfs (Suz 750) Super Dinosaur 1. Ross Wells (Yam 400) 2. David Worthington (Suz 750) 3. Peter Blum (Yam 400) 4. Paul Keiffer (Hon 600) 5. Andrew Boehm (Suz 750) 6. Robert Blum (Hon 750)