By Mike Solis

AFM Round 2 at Infineon Raceway

At the start of the European Motorcycle Accessories Formula Pacific Race, it was Oakland Suzuki proprietor David Stanton leading the field on his Arclight Suzuki GSX-R1000. Stanton looked well on his way to his second straight Formula Pacific victory this season until halfway through Lap 4, when Stanton highsided his Suzuki at the exit of Turn 7. While the defending AFM champion managed to escape serious injury, he was slow to get up from the fall, resulting in a red flag.

The restart was a six-lap event, with Ken Hill jumping into the early lead on his Michelin-shod Roseville Cycle Honda CBR1000RR, with James Randolph in his shadow on his Pirelli-shod Cycle Pro GSX-R1000. After successfully countering some bold outbraking moves, Hill managed to place a small gap on Randolph, while Chuck Sorensen moved his Munroe Motors MV Agusta 1000 past Rob Mesa and Michael Earnest into third. The order stood until the checkered flag, with Hill taking his first Formula Pacific win this season, with Randolph second and Sorensen third.

“I knew I wanted to lead, but I didn’t want to make any mistakes either,” said Hill. “I was able to catch James in the first race, so I had an idea about what he was going to do. My plan was to run a strong first lap, then just settle in and put my head down I think it worked out okay!”

Fans referred to the day as “Ken Hill Day”, as the popular Freddie Spencer High Performance Riding School instructor single handedly scored 4 of Michelin’s 10 wins on the day. In addition to his Formula Pacific win, Hill was able to take home victories in the 600 Superbike and 600 Production races, with young Bobby Fong scoring a pair of strong second place finishes on his Net Moto Racing R6. Hill started the day by winning the GP Frame and Wheel Open Superbike race, with James Randolph finishing second.

Also impressive was the Formula Pacific performance put on by former AMA 250cc national champion Chuck Sorensen, making his way past the 1000cc Suzukis of Pacific Tracktime’s Michael Earnest and former number one plateholder Rob Mesa to score an impressive third place finish on a 1000cc Munroe Motors MV Agusta F4.

“It was a little hairball out there, but it was super fun,” explained Sorensen. “The Munroe Motors guys have been busting their butts to get this program up to speed. It’s got a brand new front end, new brakes, and a slipper clutch we’re developing this bike very, very quickly. The motor is still stock it has a slip-on, and that’s it! It’s the same motor that Montano ran at the Isle of Man last year. We just have to get the power to the ground and stop the bike from wheelieing!”

For the second straight event, Kurt Spencer scored a pair of victories on his Twin Works Factory SV650, with wins in 650 Twins and Formula 4. In 650 Twins, Spencer took the lead early and held it to the finish, with Ian Gillies of Zoom Zoom Trackdays crossing the line six seconds back in second his first top-three finish in his four-years of club racing. Spencer had a bit of a slow start in Formula 4, getting bottled up in Turn 1 as second-year racer Everett Dittman took his second holeshot of the day. Dittman dropped back to third before crashing out in Turn 11, as Spencer slowly worked his way through the pack to take the lead and the eventual win. Jay Avansino finished second with Ian Gillies in third, completing a Twin Works Factory sweep of the top three positions.

In his first race on his new 2006 GSX-R750, Kim “The Flyin Hawaiian” Nakashima scored a first place finish in 750 Superbike win, capitalizing on mistakes by Peter O’Sullivan and holding off Robert Campbell to take his first victory in 2006.

“I thought I heard about five bikes behind me,” said Nakashima. “These voices in my head kept yelling ‘WHOOO!!! THEY’RE RIGHT THERE!!! LOOK OUT!!!’ I thought O’Sullivan was right behind me, until I saw him on the ground in Turn 4. A few laps later, I got a little deep into Turn 9, but I guess Campbell was right behind me and went even deeper, blowing the turn completely. After that, I just cruised home for the win.”

AFM President Kevin Smith put on a strong showing in 500 Twins, running at the front early on his Gibson-framed EX500 before losing the position to the Twin Works Factory SV500 of Jon Forman. Forman went on to take the win, with Smith finishing second despite a strong challenge from third place finisher Joe Sickle.

“That was a hard race, but it was a lot of fun!” explained Forman. “I worked so hard to catch Kevin when I finally caught him, I figured we had only one lap to go. When I got to the front straight, I saw the crossed green and whites I didn’t know if I had it in me to do another four laps! It was one of the best races I’ve had in quite a while.”

Zoom Zoom Trackdays instructor and guest announcer Shawn Reilly took his first win of the season in the Teresa McKinney Realtor Formula 40 class. During the race, Reilly was able to measure up Pacific Tracktime instructor Bud Anderson over the course before making his move late in the race, relegating Anderson to second place finish on his six-year-old Honda RC51.

“Bud has lost nothing to age,” said Reilly, “he gets on the gas so hard and brakes so late! I was trying to relax, hanging out behind him to see where he made mistakes. Eventually I spooked him going into turn 11, and the old man flinched, allowing me to get by for the win.”

Riding his Moto-Italiano Ducati 749 chassis with a 999 motor, defending class champion Eric Gulbransen took the Open Twins win despite pressure from Craig MacLean throughout the race. A former Isle of Man standout, MacLean finished a strong second on his Ducati 749, with Bud Anderson crossing the line in third.

“I knew someone was coming, but I thought it was Patrick Blackburn,” said Gulbransen. “I think he runs two seconds a lap faster in the early laps just to scare me! Thanks to traffic, I was able to pull away from Craig. I just threw him a guy at him here, threw him one there eventually, I was able to put a gap on him.”

Shawn Herrera took the victory in the Kilowatt 250 Superbike race on his Roland Cushway tuned TZR250, successfully staying ahead of Andrew Duafala’s TZR250 over the course of the race. Duafala crossed the line in second but was later disqualified, as one of four different riders who passed under a yellow flag. Duafala’s disqualification moved former class champion Cliff Farrar up into the second spot, with Richard Barnett finishing third.

“Andrew put a fantastic race in,” explained Herrera. “I just kept seeing the gap on my pitboard getting smaller and smaller. Unfortunately he got disqualified for passing under the yellow, by someone who wasn’t even in our race! He definitely kept me in check – that was the first time in about 7 races that anyone has done that.”

Defending class champion Wil Morton led early in the Mazda Technologies Formula 2 race, riding hard from the start with the hopes of taking his second straight victory. In his first Formula 2 race this season, recent USGPRU winner Tyler Reiswig was able to charge from his dismal starting position to challenge Morton , hounding the class champion on the brakes every lap. The race ended with a drag race to the finish, with Morton taking the win just 0.012 seconds ahead of Reiswig. Both Morton and Reiswig were on Honda RS250s built by Roland Cushway.

“Tyler actually passed me under a waving yellow flag as we came up on this school bus of lapped traffic,” said Morton, “so he rolled off the gas to let me back by. When he rolled off the gas, I tried to use it to my advantage by pinning it! Of course, it wasn’t long until he was right there with me again I think we’re going to have our hands full next race!”

The next round of AFM action takes place on May 28th at Infineon Raceway.

Unofficial Results AFM Round 2 Infineon Raceway April 23, 2006

European Motorcycle Accessories Formula Pacific 1. Ken Hill (Hon 1000) 2. James Randolph (Suz 1000) 3. Chuck Sorensen (MV 1000) 4. Michael Earnest (Suz 1000) 5. Corey Sarros (Suz 1000) 5. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000)

GP Frame and Wheel Open Superbike 1. Ken Hill (Hon 1000) 2. James Randolph (Suz 1000) 3. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 4. Kim Nakashima (Suz 1000) 5. Chuck Sorensen (MV 1000) 6. Rob Mesa (Suz 1000)

750 Superbike 1. Kim Nakashima (Suz 750) 2. Robert Campbell (Suz 750) 3. Garry Combs (Suz 750) 4. Berto Wooldridge (Suz 750) 5. Liko Miles (Suz 750) 6. Jeremiah Grant (Suz 750)

Pacific Tracktime 600 Superbike 1. Ken Hill (Hon 600) 2. Bobby Fong (Yam 600) 3. Brant Wiwi (Yam 600) 4. Grant Riggs (Suz 600) 5. Mario Bonfante (Hon 600) 6. Zenzo Tazawa (Suz 600)

450 Superbike 1. Michael Lohmeyer (Hon 400) 2. Ross Wells (Yam 450) 3. Richard Moore (Yam 442) 4. Jose Quintanar (Yam 400) 5. Kenyon Kluge (Hon 400) 6. Greg Becker (Hon 400)

Kilowatt 250 Superbike 1. Shawn Herrera (Yam 250) 2. Cliff Ferrar (Yam 250) 3. Richard Barnett (Apr 250) 4. Johnny Radavero (Yam 250) 5. Adam Klinger (Hon 250) 6. Herb Abell (Apr 250)

Take it 2 the Track Open Production 1. David Stanton (Suz 1000) 2. James Randolph (Suz 1000) 3. Cory Sarros (Suz 1000) 4. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 5. David Kunzelman (Suz 1000) 6. Andy Carman (Suz 1000)

Suzuki of Oakland 750 Production 1. James Randolph (Suz 750) 2. Robert Campbell (Suz 750) 3. Kim Nakashima (Suz 750) 4. Garry Combs (Suz 750) 5. Berto Wooldridge (Suz 750) 6. Liko Miles (Suz 750)

Keigwins@theTrack 600 Production 1. Ken Hill (Hon 600) 2. Bobby Fong (Yam 600) 3. Brant Wiwi (Yam 600) 4. Mario Bonfante (Hon 600) 5. Lenny Hale (Yam 600) 6. Grant Riggs (Suz 600)

450 Production 1. Craig Sanders (Kaw 400) 2. Greg Becker (Hon 400) 3. Mark Elrod (Hon 400) 4. Rick Cramer (Yam 400) 5. David Wallis (Hon 400) 6. Mike Barentson (Hon 400)

Aftershocks 250 Production 1. Michael Corbino (Kaw 250) 2. David Crone (Hon 250) 3. Vlastimil Kotyza (Kaw 250) 4. Adam Klinger (Kaw 250) 5. Andrew Boehm (Hon 250) 6. John Anner (Kaw 250)

PowerStands Open Grand Prix 1. Robert Mesa (Suz 1000) 2. David Bell (Suz 1000) 3. Brandon Sullivan (Suz 1000) 4. John Turmell (Suz 1000) 5. Shawn Reilly (Suz 1000) 6. Scott Schwanbeck (Apr 1000)

Scuderia West Formula 1 1. Robert Campbell (Suz 750) 2. Brant Wiwi (Yam 600) 3. Lenny Hale (Yam 600) 4. Garry Combs (Suz 750) 5. William Morton (Hon 250) 6. Jeffry Hanford (Hon 250)

Mazda Technologies Formula 2 1. William Morton (Hon 250) 2. Tyler Reiswig (Hon 250) 3. Jeffry Hanford (Hon 250) 4. Ryan Ferris (Hon 250) 5. Dan Cook (Yam 250) 6. Phillip Torres (Yam 250)

Formula 3 1. Tyler Reiswig (Hon 125) 2. Carlos Neves (Hon 125) 3. Jay Pilster (Hon 125) 4. Jeffrey Lim (Hon 125) 5. Steve Magri (Hon 125) 6. Ryan Corey (Hon 125)

Zoom Zoom Trackdays Formula 4 1. Kurt Spencer (Suz 650) 2. Jay Avansino (Suz 650) 3. Ian Gillies (Suz 650) 4. David Raff (Suz 650) 5. Jay Kinberger (Suz 650) 6. John Daker (Suz 650)

Desmoto Sport Open Twins 1. Eric Gulbransen (Duc 749) 2. Craig McLean (Duc 749) 3. Bud Anderson (Hon 1000) 4. Scott Schwanbeck (Apr 1000) 5. Simon Williams (Duc 999) 6. Michael Aron (Duc 999)

650 Twins 1. Kurt Spencer 2. Ian Gillies 3. Everett Dittman 4. John Daker 5. David Civiello 6. Jay Avansino

500 Twins 1. Jonathan Forman (Suz 500) 2. Kevin Smith (Gib 500) 3. Joe Sickle (Suz 500) 4. Leonard Barker (Kaw 500) 5. Michael Emmons (Kaw 500) 6. Robert Clifford (Kaw 500)

Formula Singles 1. Brandon Merkel (Hon 450) 2. Gerry Piazza (Yam 720) 3. Chris Keane (Hon 450) 4. Christopher Stone (KTM 625) 5. Zane Halvorsen (KTM 450)

Super Dinosaur 1. Ross Wells (Yam 450) 2. Paul Kieffer (suz 750) 3. Andrew Boehm (Suz 750) 4. Peter Blum (Yam 400) 5. David Crussel (Kaw 748) 6. Gwyn Lewis (Yam 400)

Teresa McKinney Realtor Formula 40 1. Shawn Reilly (Suz 1000) 2. Bud Anderson (Hon 1000) 3. John Turmell (Suz 1000) 4. Jeff Gruetter (Hon 1000) 5. Rick McDaniel (Suz 1000) 6. Gary Jaehne (Kaw 600)

More, from a press release issued by Cagiva USA:

Chuck Sorensen Takes MV Agusta To The Podium In AFM’s Premier Formula Pacific Series

Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, CA. – On one of the most rare and exotic sports motorcycles in the U.S., three-time AMA 250 G.P. champion, Chuck Sorensen, made an impressive return to the podium this weekend in Northern California’s most prestigious road race.

“The M.V. Agusta F4-1000 has plenty of power, even though the engine is stock. We spent the weekend working on chassis and suspension parameters to suit my riding style and I guess it paid off” said Chuck. “The new slipper clutch we put in works awesome, and this is a seriously competent sport bike”. The Munroe Motors’ M.V. Agusta he was riding had been raced already – last year at the Isle of Man by Tom Montano, who lapped at 120mph and won a Silver Replica in the Senior T.T.

The team came together a few weeks ago, shortly before the first AFM Formula Pacific round at Button Willow. Chuck started that race at the back of the grid in 45th place – having not competed in the class last season – and came in 13th place. This weekend he started in 13th place”¦ and came third.

“Chuck finished only 3 seconds off first place I believe he has every possibility of winning the class from a first or second row start” said Nick Hayman, Munroe Motors’ team manager.

“I have to hand it to M.V.” said Matt Prentiss, technical boss at Munroe’s. “The bike makes it easy to go fast and it’s been completely reliable. We got second place last September in the AFM 4-hour endurance, as well as about 1,000 ultra-high-speed miles at the Island – on this same engine with no rebuilds!”

The team plans on competing the entire season in AFM’s Formula Pacific premier class. “The AMA have yet to homologate this bike for the nationals so this is the toughest class on the West Coast we could find to race this season” quoted Nick Hayman. “With luck and planning we’ll be able to go national next year”.