CAN-AM CHALLENGE SERIES Sponsored By Infinity GP Racing Round #6 and Final Report

The John’s have taken over; Dempsey and Crook are the 2005 Champs”¦

The Can-Am Challenge series held its final of the season at Shannonville Motorsports Park this past weekend, in conjunction with the Parts Canada Superbike final round. John Dempsey had secured the 125 championship 2 weeks ago at Mosport, but, the first Can-Am 250 Championship was still up in the air. Friday practice times for both the 125 and 250 classes were hampered somewhat by strong gusts of wind, as riders struggled to keep their bikes from being thrown too far off line. Out of four practice sessions that day, topping the 125 group was 16 year old Ryan Ferris of California, with 1:55.648. Ferris, mounted on an Infinity GP Racing sponsored RS125, wasted no time in figuring out the Long track circuit, making it obvious on his first day on the track that he would certainly be a front runner during the final. John Dempsey, clocked in next with 1:55.965, followed by Rick Bulmann with 1:56.375. The top three riders among the 250s were led by Alex Welsh with 1:53.155, Nick Colley at 1:54.111, and in third, John Crook with 1:54.235.

Saturday’s weather would bring some relief to the riders, as the problematic winds had died overnight, the sun was shining, and any signs of rain were nonexistent. Track conditions were favorable as the G.P. bikes took to the track for the morning’s first combined session. Welsh, riding on the Infinity TSR chassied RS125, scorched the track with a very quick 1:51.399, leading 125s and 250s alike by four seconds. John Dempsey, the series’ 2005 125 champion, followed with 1:55.032, and Ferris put in a 1:55.100 to be third in that first morning session. Andre Kipin would lead that session’s 250s with a 1:56.016, Alain Brault came next with 1:56.041, then Colley with 1:56.471.

The morning’s practice times got progressively better for everyone, however, Welsh, on the 250, would again challenge his elders by turning a 1:51.725, and claim the quickest times in both classes, leaving his competition to do some homework before qualifying.

Qualifying sessions were run separately at fifteen minutes each; 16 riders were registered for the 125s, however two riders were unable to make it on track due to mechanicals: 14 year old Brett McCormick, who was also campaigning a 600 this weekend, had his TZ suffer a seizure during practice, while Tim Harrington was forced to rebuild his motor after discovering an internal water leak.

125 G.P. QUALIFYING RESULTS 1. Alex Welsh 1:52.379 2. John Dempsey 1:52.512 3. Ryan Ferris 1:52.881 4. Rick Bulmann 1:55.282 5. Matt Cooper 1:55.411 6. J.R. MacRae 1:55.559 7. Mark White 1:56.835 8. Richard Irwin 1:59.595 9. Joe Melchionda 2:00.529 10. Mike Duffy 2:04.465 11. Don Murfin 2:04.890 12. Frank Pate 2:11.009 13. Don MacPhail 2:14.409 14. Jessica Soodeen 2:19.349

In the 250 qualifier, the usual group of entrants was left to chase down a flying Welsh, who took away pole position with a 1:50.206. Colley would next join Welsh on the first row, as well as Brault and Kipin.

250 G.P. QUALIFYING RESULTS 1. Alex Welsh 1:50.206 2. Nick Colley 1:52.674 3. Alain Brault 1:54.092 4. Andre Kipin 1:54.630 5. John Crook 1:55.484 6. Gord MacKay 1:56.160 7. Mark Jaeckle 2:01.104 8. Jerry Sadler 2:02.434 9. Laird Shingleton 2:13.095 10. Paul Rostic 2:30.689

Sunday morning practice saw John Ross MacRae lose traction at the hairpin; MacRae went to the hospital with a broken wrist, and was unable to join the others for the125 final in the afternoon.

Sunday’s final 125 race had Welsh setting a quick pace from the get-go; Dempsey, Ferris, Cooper, White and Harrington headed to the hairpin in close company behind Welsh, and the drama started early as Dempsey, with nothing to lose in this final, while challenging for the lead early tucked the front end of his RS125, leaving the rest of the front running group to continue without him. Dempsey rejoined the race, despite losing most of his upper fairing on the right side, as well as a large piece of fiberglass from the tail section a broken clutch lever, his foot peg bent down on the right hand side and the stinger barely holding on.

Welsh led the first two laps but was forced to retire early, as he pulled out of the race due to a mechanical. Young Californian Ryan Ferris took full advantage of Welsh’s bad luck, taking the lead and running with it. Cooper followed Ferris, finding himself in a comfortable second place. Harrington focused on chasing Cooper down, as White pursued the American.

A fantastic battle for fifth proved to be the race to watch in this final; Richard Irwin, piloting the four stroke Yamaha, had to deal with Rick Bulmann and youngster Brett McCormick hot on his heels.

Harrington’s RS125, unhappy with its rider’s movements on the bike, threw him down at Allen’s in the fifth lap, clearing the way for White to move up to third. Harrington rejoined the race behind the trio going for fifth, but was unable to get by them for the remainder of the race. Joe Melchionda was unable to make peace with Shannonville this weekend, and rode solitarily in eighth. Newcomer to the series Mike Duffy hung onto veteran rider Don Murfin’s tail section, the pair vying for ninth position. Dempsey with his ailing machine crossed next, then Don MacPhail and Jessica Soodeen brought up the end of the field.

125 G.P. FINAL RESULTS (Best times) 1. Ryan Ferris 1:51.527 2. Matt Cooper 1:53.298 3. Mark White 1:55.444 4. Brett McCormick 1:55.095 5. Richard Irwin 1:54.977 6. Rick Bulmann 1:55.573 7. Tim Harrington 1:54.628 8. Joe Melchionda 1:59.692 9. Don Murfin 2:03.575 10. Mike Duffy 2:02.399 11. John Dempsey 1:59.234 12. Don MacPhail 2:10.369 13. Jessica Soodeen 2:12.817 14. Alex Welsh DNF 1:52.792 15. Frank Pate DNS 16. J.R. MacRae DNS

The 250 final had all ten bikes starting on the grid; in a repeat of Michele Danese’s performance at the first round, Welsh took the same bike to the front of the pack after a DNF in the 125 final. Brault put in a valiant effort to keep up with the teenager, maintaining a safe second behind the youngster. The trio of Kipin, Crook and Colley scrapped it out for third, these three riders in close contact with each other throughout the race. Gord MacKay resigned himself to a lonely sixth, while Mark Jaeckle and Jerry Sadler had their own race for seventh. Laird Shingleton and Paul Rostic capped off the rest of the field. Welsh remained untouchable and dominated the final, ticking off 6 laps with consistent 1:50s. He was signaled to back off slightly in the final laps, the gap he had opened between himself and Brault allowing him to relax and bring the 250 safely into first. Alex’s times on the 250 his third time riding the Infinity sponsored machine were faster then the Amateur 600 times during their race. Way to go Alex!! Wait till next year. 250 G.P. FINAL RESULTS (Best times) 1. Alex Welsh 1:50.046 2. Alain Brault 1:50.752 3. Andre Kipin 1:52.154 4. John Crook 1:51.154 5. Nick Colley 1:52.473 6. Gord MacKay 1:56.789 7. Mark Jaeckle 1:59.070 8. Jerry Sadler 1:58.971 9. Laird Shingleton 2:11.269 10. Paul Rostic 2:31.107

The Can-Am Challenge Series had a great season; John Dempsey of Brampton, Ontario took home the #1 plate for the 125 class, and John Crook of Erin, Ontario claimed the series’ first 250cc championship. This season’s smaller grids proved that sometimes less is more, and the series was delighted to have young riders in their midst, such as Welsh, MacRae, McCormick, Roberts and Ferris. Cooper and White with podium finishes in the last round secured the second and third places in the Championship. Nick Colley staying ahead of Gord MacKay to round out the top three in the 250 championship.

A Special thank you to Frank Pate of Infinity GP Racing for not only his sponsorship of the series, for giving these young stars of tomorrow a chance to Race and gain experience at many different tracks and exposing them to the racing communities around North America. For more information on these future stars please visit www.adoptakidracer.com.

2005 Championship Points

Can-Am Challenge Series 125GP Pos# Plate Name Total 1 63 John Dempsey 249 2 96 Matt Cooper 173 3 60 Mark White 167 4 801 Alex Welsh 163 5 330 Joe Melchionda 152 6 901 Tim Harrington 122 7 27 John Ross MacRae 120 8 95 Rick Bulmann 116 9 59 Don Murfin 105 10 122 Brett McCormick 59 11 130 John Hjelm 53 12 4 Ryan Ferris 52 13 71 Mark Rabo 52 14 74 Adam Roberts 51 15 342 Dane Walther 44 16 20 Jim Bergey 40 17 179 Craig Johnston 38 18 24 Dave Wright 35 19 125 Don MacPhail 34 20 711 Richard Iwrin 29 21 28 Adam Bennett 21 22 201 Mike Duffy 19 23 124 Micheal Garbuio 19 24 747 Jessica Soodeen 15 25 808 Dave Monahan 13

Can-Am Challenge Series 250GP Pos# Plate Name Total 1 93 John Crook 211 2 97 Nick Colley 172 3 67 Gord MacKay 165 4 40 Alain Brault 144 5 818 Andre Kipin 123 6 250 Mark Jaeckle 123 7 98 Jerry Sadler 107 8 7 Laird Shingleton 95 9 171 Oliver Brama 81 10 801 Alex Welsh 54 11 14 Michele Danese 50 12 330 Joe Melchionda 49 13 52 Al Cane 48 14 13 Paul Rostic 34 15 62 Jeff Lowe 29 16 86 Brian Waterman 27 17 8 Marc St.Amand 25 18 115 Rosaio Tomario 23 19 45 Patrick Chartrand 21

We would like to thank our sponsors: Infinity G.P. Racing, Diablo Energy Drink, 0nbike.tv, Hjelm Motorsports, Highside Healthcare, R.A.C.E., Flair Photo, Bickle Racing, boB, and Chris Chapelle for all his help.

The Can-Am looks forward to planning next year’s series, and thanks all those who made it out to race this year. Hope to see you all again next season!

More, from a press release issued by Lindemann Engineering:

LION RACING puts TWO in the top SIX for the year!

Lion Racing teammates John Haner and Jake Holden were the only team to put 2 in the top six in AMA Superstock, in spite of Jake missing results from 2 races due to a collision at Virginia, and Haner riding injured for most of the year due to a freak wind/canopy pit incident.

They used their LE modified stock piston forks, LE spec Penske shocks, and Hypercycle motors to finish 5th and 6th in final points. Season high points were Holden qualifying 2nd at Infinean, setting the fastest race lap at Laguna, Haner passing Yates for the lead at Ohio (temporarily), and having a solid ride at Atlanta to claim 5th, and 5th for the year.

More, from a press release issued by Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki:

A SUCCESSFUL 2005 SEASON FOR MICHAEL JORDAN MOTORSPORTS SUZUKI ENDS AT ROAD ATLANTA

The Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki team of Jason Pridmore, Steve Rapp and Montez Stewart completed a successful first season together during the tenth and final round of the 2005 AMA Superbike Championship at Road Atlanta. Jason rebounded from early season injuries to put together strong top-ten finishes in the Superstock and Superbike races. Steve Rapp clinched third place in the 2005 AMA Superstock point standings with a sixth place finish, as well as two strong Superbike class results to end up eighth in the final Superbike standings. Montez Stewart continued to make progress, lapping the Road Atlanta track over three seconds faster than he did in 2004. The team is looking forward to testing during the off-season and racing for championships in the upcoming 2006 AMA Superbike season.

Jason Pridmore

Saturday’s Superbike Final – 7th Place

“I was a little bummed when the red flag came out, because I had just gone underneath Kurtis (Robert) into turn one,” said Pridmore. “I thought, ‘Now is the time to check out and go’. But then I got such a good start again in the second race. The team did such a great job for me. They changed the clutch for me right out there. I hung out with Eric (Bostrom) for a couple of laps. It’s sad that it’s the last race of the year, but on the flip side of that, it’s good because we can make some big improvements to the Superbike.”

Sunday’s Repsol Lubricants Superstock Final – 8th Place

“It went well,” said Pridmore. “Same kind of story as Virginia. Having to start from the third row, that hurts. Basically, I caught that big group that were together for a long time. Once I caught them, the guy in front of me was Aaron (Yates, championship points leader), and being a fellow Suzuki rider I didn’t want to do anything bad with him in front of me at all. I could tell he was getting antsy, wanting to go forward. On the flip side, he rode really smart. I had to make sure that if I put any kind of pass on Aaron, it was the most safe. I got lucky because he got stuck behind a backmarker and that helped me and I was able to get by him and go after Barney (Michael Barnes). Me and Barnes traded places on the last lap. First year for Michael Jordan Motorsports to put someone in the top three in the points with Steve, that’s great.”

Sunday’s Superbike Final – 7th Place

“We did good today,” said Pridmore. “We made huge changes to the Superbike last night. The reason we have Ammar (Bazzaz) here is to really go forward with our program, and we did yesterday. We had a good result today. I kept those guys in sight for a long time. Josh (Hayes) rode awesome, but I couldn’t quite get up to him. It was a good day and a good year overall.”

Steve Rapp

Saturday’s Superbike Final – 15th Place

“The bike’s been running great all year,” said Rapp. “But it seemed like in the afternoon it started getting hot and losing power. I think I was overriding the brakes to try make up the time I was losing on the straights, so they started to fade. I’ve gotten used to not having any problems, so I forgot what it was like. We’ll get it fixed.”

Sunday’s Repsol Lubricants Superstock Final – 6th Place

“The first ten laps of the race were good,” said Rapp, who ran in third place for eight laps. “I was actually running my back-up bike that I hadn’t ridden since Laguna. On the last lap of practice the clutch bearing went out on my A bike, so the crew switched the suspension and made it as much the same as possible. The Dunlop tires were awesome and the team did a great job of getting me comfortable on it. The last couple of laps we got held up by lappers, (Damon) Buckmaster and me slowed down a bit by them. All in all it was a good day, and third in the championship is great for our first year together.”

Sunday’s Superbike Final – 10th Place

“My goal in the Superbike race has been to make the bike better and be ahead of everyone else on Superstock bikes,” Rapp said, referring to riding his Superstock-spec GSX-R1000 in the Superbike events throughout the season. “Today we did that. Jason did well, so both of us in the top ten is good for the team.”

Montez Stewart

Sunday’s Repsol Lubricants Superstock Final – 27th Place / DNF

“I reached my goal of running 1:29s, and actually ran a 1:28 in the race,” said Stewart. “I’m just disappointed in myself. There was a couple of laps to go, and I held the gas a little bit too long and tried to late brake in that turn (turn 10A). I fell and went into the sand trap. I got down to some really good times, and I’m proud of that, because that was my goal.”

Superbike Results – Race 1 – Round 10 – Road Atlanta, Braselton, GA

1. Mat Mladin, Yoshimura Suzuki 2. Ben Spies, Yoshimura Suzuki 3. Miguel Duhamel, Honda 4. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 5. Eric Bostrom, Ducati 6. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki 7. Jason Pridmore, Jordan Suzuki 8. Kurtis Roberts, Honda 9. Marty Craggill, Mladin Motorsports Suzuki 10. Lee Acree, Millennium KWS Suzuki

15. Steve Rapp, Jordan Suzuki

Superbike Results – Race 2 – Round 10 – Road Atlanta, Braselton, GA

1. Aaron Yates, Yoshimura Suzuki 2. Ben Spies, Yoshimura Suzuki 3. Neil Hodgson, Ducati 4. Mat Mladin, Yoshimura Suzuki 5. Jake Zemke, Honda 6. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki 7. Jason Pridmore, Jordan Suzuki 8. Eric Bostrom, Ducati 9. Miguel Duhamel, Honda 10. Steve Rapp, Jordan Suzuki

Superstock Results – Round 10 – Road Atlanta, Braselton, GA

1. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki 2. Jason Disalvo, Yamaha 3. Geoff May, M4 EMGO Suzuki 4. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha 5. John Haner, Lion Suzuki 6. Steve Rapp, Jordan Suzuki 7. Michael Barnes, M4 EMGO Suzuki 8. Jason Pridmore, Jordan Suzuki 9. Aaron Yates, Yoshimura Suzuki 10. Jason Perez, Yamaha

27. Montez Stewart, Jordan Suzuki

2005 Superbike Point Standings (After 17 Races)

1. Mat Mladin, 536 2. Ben Spies, 514 3. Eric Bostrom, 431 4. Aaron Yates, 414 5. Miguel Duhamel, 392 6. Neil Hodgson, 384 7. Marty Craggill, 331 8. Steve Rapp, 305 9. Josh Hayes, 302 10. Lee Acree, 301

17. Jason Pridmore, 192

2005 Superstock Point Standings (After 10 Races)

1. Aaron Yates, 323 2. Jason Disalvo, 314 3. Steve Rapp, 255 4. Roger Lee Hayden, 241 5. John Haner, 222 6. Jake Holden, 195 7. Damon Buckmaster, 192 8. Geoff May, 189 9. Aaron Gobert, 187 10. Tommy Hayden, 168

19. Jason Pridmore, 120 26. Montez Stewart, 61

More, from a press release issued by Rojo Racing:

Jason Perez, a Great finish to a roller coaster year!

After an unfortunate crash in March put a stop to what could have been a great season (finishing 12th in Superstock & 6th in the 200 at Daytona). Jason managed to pull out a great end to the AMA season at Road Atlanta. Missing rounds two through five after shattering his left elbow at an AFM club event. Jason wasn’t sure how long he would be out. His arm needed to be plated around his joint, which made the break in his arm worse than first perceived. After a few titanium screws and plate were put into his arm he was good as new, oh yeah, there was also a small nominal fee of about $43,000.00. Man, talk about rising prices of steel. Rejoining the series at Road America he struggled with his endurance and especially his arm strength. This year has been long, as he’s tried to get himself back to pro level racing condition.

At Road Atlanta on Saturday after a strong run in Superstock qualifying, Jason was lapping in the top ten. “The bike’s feeling great”, he said. “the set-up is working fine, I’m having to push hard to do the times but I think and can find at least another half second”. We mounted up a new rear, sent him on his way and he did. Posting an 8th fastest time, Jason managed to put his YZF R1 on the second row. In the second Superbike qualifier while things managed to keep going our way with every change to the set-up, we had a mysterious seizure in one of the forks while trying to better his time. The seizure ended our session and his chances to improve his 5th row position (17th). The fork was removed, disassembled and inspected. Unfortunately nothing was found, that’s why we say “mysterious?” After a poor start in the first Superbike race on Saturday Jason managed to work his way forward from 23rd to a 16th place finish.

On Sunday he had a good start in the Superstock race and hung on to a tenth place finish 13.790 seconds behind the leader. “I had a decent start but I made a couple of mistakes in the beginning. I could see Pridmore just in front of me so I kept pushing hard, I was catching him until just befor the last lap when he got past two guys on the front straight that I got stuck behind in the esses. That was it; once I got past them he had pulled out a couple of seconds. I needed a couple more laps to have a go at him. Oh well, I’m happy I had a good race and I feel great”. In the second Superbike race Jason got another decent start and was running 11th when the race was stopped. “I think it was Stokes”, he said “his motor blew right in front of me and Marty, there was a bunch of smoke and oil sprayed all over me, man! I couldn’t see anything, it was like Days of Thunder, I let off a little and hung on tight as I went through the smoke. Somebody came flying by me, I’m not sure but I think it was Acree, it was crazy”. After the restart Jason came around in about 16th or 17th at the end of a group of about eight riders, working his way up towards the front of the group where he tucked in behind Haner. “I was getting them in the back, right after the first short straight away, I kept diving under them on the brakes. I was trying to get a good drive off the next turn that puts us on to the long straight, they’re killing me on the straight away, man there bikes are fast. I tried to find away around Haner but his bike is fast. I tried to get him at the end of the first straight away but I didn’t make it in time and he didn’t see me, I got bumped off into the gravel. I was trying to keep it up and save it while seeing a bunch of riders going past me. Once I got it back to the edge of the track I saw a hole so I dove in. It was Jeremy I pulled out in front of, I tried to get in as clean as I could, and I might have messed him up a little. I didn’t think I was going to catch those guys again, they were gone, I couldn’t see them at all. I was thinking man that was stupid, I had those guys. After a few laps I started seeing them again, that really got me motivated, so I kept pushing. My tires were still gripping great as the group was coming to me”. After a few more laps Jason caught the group he started out with. He worked his way back to front of the group where he finished 11th.

Not quite a podium but, defiantly a nail biter, we were excited!