From a press release issued by West Coast GP Cycles: Five Wins, and an Old Man Gets a New Lap Record for West Coast GP Cycles at WSMC. West Coast GP Cycles-backed riders continued their winning ways in the 2008 Willow Springs Motorcycle Club season, taking five wins at the February round and celebrating as one of the team’s “senior” riders set a new class lap record. Riding a Pirelli-shod, Track Daz-backed Suzuki SV650, West Coast GP Cycles’ Drew Price, who recently turned 17, won the 550 Superbike and the Formula Twins Lightweight races by narrow margins over shop co-owner Andy Palmer, who was racing a backup bike after his primary ride experienced transmission problems. And in the Middleweight Twins race, Price and Palmer finished second and third, with only a Ducati 749 able to beat the SV650-mounted pair. “Everyone on the team is going faster on the new Supercorsa DOT race tires and is thrilled with the great trackside support from Tigershark Racing, our Pirelli vendor,” Palmer says. Tony “Too Tall” Moniz started his class title defense in style, winning the 660cc Singles and Formula Singles races aboard his West Coast GP Cycles-tuned, Pirelli-shod KTM supermotard. Moniz took both class championships last season. And Michael Gougis, riding a Twin Works Factory-created, West Coast GP Cycles-developed, Dunlop-shod Suzuki SV500, set a new lap record for the Battle of the Twins Lightweight class on his first flying lap of the race and re-set the record twice more en route to the win in the six-lap sprint. “I can’t say enough about the effort, time and support West Coast GP Cycles has put into developing my SV500 into the finest race motorcycle I’ve ever owned,” said Gougis, who at the creaky old age of 45 owns socks older than Price. “I kept pushing harder, lap after lap, because I wanted very much to nail down the record and reward everyone at the shop for all their faith in me and their support. This is for them.” West Coast GP Cycles is located at 11900 W. Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles, 90064, and offers performance tuning and accessories for street and race motorcycles. For more information, contact the shop at 310.477.0997. More, from a press release issued by CCS/Roadrace Southwest: A very sad event for CCS Southwest The paddock at the second round of CCS Southwest’s 2008 season would have seemed a very jovial place to any of the on-lookers, with nearly every one of the racers and staff wearing very loud Hawaiian shirts. But the happiness was tinged with a great sadness; the shirts were being worn in remembrance of Jeff Slavik who died suddenly earlier this month. He was the starter with CCS Southwest for over 23 years; he was known and liked by everyone involved with the CCS organization. His trademark at every event was his Hawaiian shirt, he was a huge asset to our region and to everyone who raced with us, and he will be greatly missed by us all. Unlimited GP As the flag dropped Rick Bucher #31 took the holeshot riding a Honda CBR600. Bucher managed to hold the lead for a lap and a half before the pack of 1000’s in pursuit of him became more than he could cope with. Patrick Bertinelli #93 got his trademark poor start, but as usual blazed through the field to take the lead. Joe Dawson #888 and Tom Savoca #751 also got poor starts by their high standards. Both had to work hard to make their way to the front, picking off very talented riders Scott Bergen #319, and James Joyce #320 along the way. Dawson moved into second and slotted in behind Bertinelli for two laps. Dawson was obviously sizing up the much improved Bertinelli and deciding where to make his pass. Dawson eventually made his move on the outside exiting turn 4 entering into 5, and immediately turned up the heat to pull a lead on Bertinelli. Savoca nursing an injury which was keeping him below his usual pace, tried hard to catch Bertinelli for second, but as the laps wound down and his pain increased, Savoca settled for a respectable third. In the post race interviews Dawson commented on Bertinelli’s much improved speed since the last time they raced together and Bertinelli vowed to improve his starts. If he does, then there’s going to be some work to do for the rest of the field in the Unlimited GP class. 1st Joe Dawson #888 Fastest lap = 00:56.361 2nd Patrick Bertinelli #93 Fastest lap = 00:56.499 3rd Tom Savoca # 751 Fastest lap = 00:56.572 Middleweight GP Visiting rider Tommy Aquino #142 definitely woke up the local guys as he took a huge holeshot into turn one, followed by Ray Thibedeau #1, David Siminski #10, and Will Harfert #181. Aquino attempted to drop the rest of the field with a very fast pace, but the seasoned Thibedeau managed to keep in touch. Siminski and Harfert had to push hard to try and stay in touch with the leaders. But on lap 3 exiting turn 10 Harfert, on the gas as early as he dared, got very out of shape and his bike broke loose. The very talented rider went lock to lock several times and almost saved it, but he ran out of asphalt and the grass run off claimed its victim. Thankfully Harfert was okay, and Siminski could try and push for the leaders unhindered. On lap 7, Thibedeau made his pass for the lead going into turn 1 hard one the brakes, using his local knowledge to force Aquino into giving up first place. Reigning Champion Thibedeau then ran three very clean fast laps to break Aquino, and settled into his rhythm to keep the lead. Thibedeau obviously knew Aquino had the pace, as he shoulder checked regularly to make sure the visiting Californian didn’t have any surprises for him. Rory Palmer #2 on his new Euromotorsports Ducati 848 had been working his way through the field after a poor start. Palmer, whose lap times were dropping all day as he got the 848 dialed in, eventually caught and passed Siminski for 3rd on lap 8. By that time, the leaders were in a different Zip code, so Palmer ran a safe 3rd to pick up as many points as possible during the 848’s development phase. In the post race interview, Thibedeau commented that he used to race Tommy Aquino’s dad, and that Tommy’s dad was one of the first fast guys that he’d ever beaten. I’m sure Thibedeau will have his work cut out for the win next time, if Aquino returns to the valley of the sun to race with CCS SW in the future. 1st Ray Thibedeau #1 Fastest lap = 00:56.163 2nd Tommy Aquino #142 Fastest lap = 00:56.266 3rd Rory Palmer #2 Fastest lap = 00:57.373 Lightweight GP Matt Hartlieb #100 has been dominating this class on a stock SV650. The groans could be heard from the rest of the field as Hartlieb gridded up riding a new extremely tricked out SV for the Lightweight GP. Hartlieb, recently signed by new sponsors Snapple Beverage and Hughes & Kettner Amps obviously had some money to spend, and did so with a very well prepared machine. As the flag dropped Hartlieb took the holeshot and easily checked out, running over a second a lap quicker than the rest of the field. Ted Rich #62 tried to hang on, but Hartlieb’s pace was just too quick and Rich settled into his groove for second place. The best battle of the race was between Jamie Bubeck #13 riding a Honda CRF 450, and a new addition to CCS SW series Joshua Mosley #120 riding a Yamaha YZF450. The two riders were very evenly matched, and set a quick pace on their class under powered Motards. The two put on a great show battling for 3rd place, and never seemed to be more than a bike length apart for the entire 12 laps. Eventually, Mosley got around Bubeck for the final time on lap 9, and managed to hold on to third place. There seems little the rest of the Lightweight field can do to stop Hartlieb; his step down from the Middleweight class seems to have reignited his desire to win and to ride hard. I’m sure there’ll be a target on Hartlieb’s back for round three, and the rest of the pack will be desperately trying to find a way to hit it. 1st Matt Hartlieb #100 Fastest lap = 00:59.818 2nd Ted Rich #62 Fastest lap = 01:01.542 3rd Joshua Mosley #120 Fastest lap = 01:01.543