From a press release issued by CCS South Florida:

Martinez Sets Record at Homestead

By Lisa Theobald

Marco Martinez broke the track record at Homestead-Miami Speedway on his GSX-R1000 during the fourth lap of the Unlimited Grand Prix race with a lap time of 1:26.39. And in the next lap, he beat it again, setting a new record pace time of 1:26.37.

Scott Ritchey was gridded on the front row and won the battle for the holeshot at the start of the race. It was a three way fight for front runner going into turn one between Michael Rouleau, Ed Lis, and Ritchey. Florida’s current number one rider, Jim Pihokken, who had been experiencing clutch problems all day long, got off to a bad start and headed through the corner in fourth place. By the end of lap two, Pihokken had taken over the lead on his GSX-R1000 with Martinez in hot pursuit.

Martinez made the winning pass just before the entrance to the front straight at the halfway mark and stepped up the pace. On the next lap, he broke the record previously set by Geoff May in February, 2004, of 1:26.56 by a fraction of a second. And just one lap later, he broke his own record to become the fastest motorcycle racer around the speedway.

Martinez won seven of the nine classes he entered, making him the biggest winner of the day, yet again. At the end of the day he commented: “I’m really happy to be able to run all these races. I was really tired at the end and Jim was awesome. He was running really good, and Scott. My game plan was to stay with them for the first three laps (of the Unlimited Grand Prix) and if I was able to beat both of them, then I was going to make my move in the middle of the race. You know, I don’t know what happened. Jim gave me a little bit of room to pass him and I was able to take the lead and take it to the win.” His other first place finishes were in the GTU, Unlimited Supersport, Heavyweight Supersport, Middleweight Superbike, Heavyweight Superbike, and Middleweight Grand Prix races.

Of his record breaking pace, Martinez stated, “I can’t believe I did that. I didn’t think I was pulling fast times at all. To be able to get the track record is awesome. Geoff May is such an awesome rider. I wish I could stay with him at the AMA Nationals. I mean, the guy just smokes me every time I race with him. But, I tell you, to me it’s a big accomplishment. I knew I could do it and I just needed a little bit more practice in the AMA circuit, and hopefully I can make top ten finishes.”

Bob Fisher ruled the Lightweight classes, running undefeated on his SV650. He won all four of the races he entered, making him the second biggest winner of the day. Fisher was able to work his way to the front of the field early in all of his classes and run away from the competition. He won the GT Lights, Lightweight Grand Prix, Lightweight Superbike, and Lightweight Supersport events.