PRO GUNSLINGERS MAKE IT A SHOOTOUT AT WILLOW SPRINGS

Steve Rapp and Bryce Prince showed up to challenge the local quick-draws in one of the most intensely fought Formula 1 battles in Moto West Grand Prix history. Prince, coming off a summer full of podiums in MotoAmerica, would be a serious challenge to regular Willow Springs favorite, Chris Duran. But the youngster wasn’t Duran’s only concern: “Any time Lap Record Holder Steve Rapp comes out, you know you’ve got a fight on your hands.”

Rapp’s decision to grid up at all had been last minute. “I was already out there teaching, helping a guy that I know,” Rapp said, which led him to figuring, “As long as I’m here, I might as well race!” Using his personal ride – “basically just a stock” Aprilia RSV4 – the AMA and MotoAmerica veteran lined up dead last, alongside Prince, and awaited the drop of the green flag.

Fabrice Vilder grabbed the holeshot, followed closely by last round’s winner, Scott Tillery and Duran. But Prince got a good start and used the nimbleness of his Tuned Racing R6 to pick the leaders off through Willow’s tightest turns. “I had to do some aggressive passing,” admitted Prince. He momentarily pulled into the lead before being swallowed up down the back straight by the more powerful liter-bikes.

Pressing the advantage, Duran stormed to the front and pushed hard. “I went the fastest I’ve gone in several years, and the fastest I’ve ever gone on that bike,” he said of his Dunlop-shod BMW S1000RR. But as the laps ticked off Prince was able to reel him back in, finally making his trademark Turn 4 dive inside the Duran Racing machine. Prince then built up enough speed down the hill to keep the bigger bike at bay and went on to take victory.

Meanwhile, a bad start had left Rapp stuck at the back. He worked the Aprilia forward through the field of riders but by the time he arrived at P3 was faced with an insurmountable gap. “Once we got going I think we were all running similar lap times,” Rapp said of the leading trio, but acknowledged that in the early part of the race, “I wasn’t being aggressive enough.” The Willow veteran had to settle for third.

Formula 1 – First Place

Bryce Prince #74 — Yamaha YZF-R6

(Tuned Industries / Dunlop Tires / EFSigns.com)

“I knew that if [Duran] gapped me it would be so hard to catch him. It was even harder to pass him, it took a lot of planning. I knew I had to pass in the first half of the track then build up enough gap so he couldn’t beat me to the line. It was one of my most difficult races this season, even with all the AMA stuff. I had a blast.”

ROUND 8 — DOUBLE POINTS!

The 2015 Moto West Grand Prix season will conclude with a Double Points weekend on November 14-15 at Willow Springs International Raceway 2.5 mile road course (Big Track). Motoyard Track Days will be hosting a track day on Friday, November 11th. To request a discount code, e-mail your name and race number to [email protected].

October 10-11, 2015 @ Big Willow – Results

GT Expert Open Saturday

1. Larry Sprock (Duc 1199)

2. Henrik von Buttlar (Apr RSV4)

3. Jon Neeter (Yam YZF-R6)

Run What Ya Brung

1. Alejandro Vargas (0 0)

2. Mark Villaryo (0 0)

3. Chalee Siengthai (Suz GSX-R750)

Novice Middleweight Saturday

1. Tanner Giao (Yam YZF-R6)

2. Daniel Estey-Ang (Yam YZF-R6)

3. Thomas Babcock (Hon CBR600RR)

4. Soon Thai (Hon CBR600RR)

5. Rayme Jelski (Yam YZF-R6)

6. Kyle Cannon (Kaw ZX-6R)

Novice Heavyweight Saturday

1. Rigo Soto (Suz GSX-R1000)

2. Angelo Ghiglieri (Suz GSX-R750)

3. Ken Rose (Hon CBR1000RR)

4. Glen Tedtaotao

FX Endurance Middleweight

1. Jeremy Simmons (Yam YZF-R6)

2. Keir Leonhardt (Suz)

3. JC Gibbs (Yam YZF-R6)

Formula Lightweight Twins by West Coast GP Cycles

1. Andy Edwards (Apr RS250)

2. Andrew Yzabal (Suz SV650)

3. David Garner (Suz SV650)

4. Cody Burton (Suz SV650)

Formula Open Twins

1. Larry Sprock (Duc 1199)

2. Rob Weaver

600 Superstock

1. Jeremy Simmons (Yam YZF-R6)

2. Jon Neeter (Yam YZF-R6)

Novice Heavyweight Heat A

1. Rigo Soto (Suz GSX-R1000)

2. Glen Tedtaotao

3. Aleks Palacios (Hon CBR1000RR)

4. Ken Rose (Hon CBR1000RR)

Novice Middleweight Heat A

1. Daniel Estey-Ang (Yam YZF-R6)

2. Kyle Cannon (Kaw ZX-6R)

3. Thomas Babcock (Hon CBR600RR)

4. Soon Thai (Hon CBR600RR)

5. Rayme Jelski

6. David Kolb 

600 Superbike

1. Bryce Prince (Yam YZF-R6)

2. Zach Harrington (Yam YZF-R6)

3. Jeremy Simmons (Yam YZF-R6)

4. Mike Pond (Yam YZF-R6)

5. Keir Leonhardt (Suzuki GSX-R600)

6. Timothy Chin (Kaw ZX-6R)

Open Supersport

1. Chris Duran (BMW S1000RR)

2. Fabrice Vilder (Hon CBR1000RR)

3. Scott Tillery (Kaw ZX-10R)

4. Larry Sprock (Duc 1199)

Vintage Lightweight

1. JC Gibbs (Yam FZR400)

2. Mike Pond

Novice Lightweight Heat A

1. Rick Oliver (Suz SV650)

Formula 50

1. Rob Weaver

2. Henrik von Buttlar (Apr RSV4)

3. Rocky Caceres (Suz GSX-R1000)

Formula 40 Heavyweight

1. Aaron Ascher (Kaw ZX-10R)

2. Henrik von Buttlar (Apr RSV4)

GT Expert Lightweight

1. David Garner (Suz SV650)

2. Cody Burton (Suz SV650)

GT Expert Ultra Lightweight

1. Rafael Revelo (Kaw 300)

2. James Yu (Kaw 300)

3. Mike Ripley (Kaw 300)

4. Thomas Kearns (Kaw 300)

Formula 1 by Motoyard and Aerostar Insurance

1. Bryce Prince (Yam YZF-R6)

2. Chris Duran (BMW S1000RR)

3. Steve Rapp (Apr RSV4)

4. Scott Tillery (Kaw ZX-10R)

5. Fabrice Vilder (Hon CBR1000RR)

6. Aaron Ascher (Kaw ZX-10R)

Ultra LW Cup

1. Rafael Revelo (Kaw 300)

2. James Yu (Kaw 300)

3. Mike Ripley (Kaw 300)

4. Thomas Kearns (Kaw 300)

5. Tony Serra (Kaw 300)

Open Superstock

1. Aaron Ascher (Kaw ZX-10R)

750 Superstock

1. JC Gibbs (Yam YZF-R6)

2. Jon Neeter (Yam YZF-R6)

GT Expert Open

1. Rob Weaver

2. Henrik von Buttlar (Apr RSV4)

3. Larry Sprock (Duc 1199)

250 GP

1. Andy Edwards (Apr RS250)

BOTT Lightweight

1. Andrew Yzabal (Suz SV650)

2. David Garner (Suz SV650)

3. Cody Burton (Suz SV650)

Novice Heavyweight Heat B

1. Rigo Soto (Suz GSX-R1000)

2. Angelo Ghiglieri (Suz GSX-R750)

3. Glen Tedtaotao

4. Ken Rose (Hon CBR1000RR)

Novice Middleweight Heat B

1. Daniel Estey-Ang (Yam YZF-R6)

2. Kyle Cannon (Kaw ZX-6R)

3. Soon Thai (Hon CBR600RR)

4. Thomas Babcock (Hon 600RR)

5. Rayme Jelski

6. David Kolb

750 Superbike

1. Jon Neeter (Yam YZF-R6)

Open Superbike

1. Scott Tillery (Kaw ZX-10R)

2. Fabrice Vilder (Hon CBR1000RR)

3. Aaron Ascher (Kaw ZX-10R)

4. Zach Harrington (Yam YZF-R6)

Novice Lightweight Heat B

1. Rick Oliver (Suz SV650)

650 Lightweight Twins

1. David Garner (Suz SV650)

2. Cody Burton (Suz SV650)

Bracket B (1:29:999)

1. Jon Neeter (Yam YZF-R6)

More, from a press release issued by Tuned Racing:

Prince Wins Again at Big Willow

Fresh off winning the final MotoAmerica Superstock 600 race at New Jersey Motorsports Park last month, Bryce Prince showed up at Willow Springs feeling confident. Although the winner of last year’s Moto West Grand Prix’s Overall Championship last season, this was the first time Bryce raced at Willow Springs this season. “I only went to the track on Sunday but even with limited practice, my Tuned Racing Yamaha R6 felt great. In the first race, I grabbed the lead on the first lap and managed the gap for the win”.

The second race, Formula 1, was not going to be easy. With several of Willow Springs’ known fast guys in the field, it was going to be a real challenge. Going against the larger 1000cc machines on a 600 at Big Willow is always a tough one. In the early going, Bryce was able to keep up with, and even pass, many of the fast guys only to be outmotored down the main straightaway. With a few laps to go, Bryce was able to pass for the lead in Turn 4 and get enough of a gap to hold off the more powerful 1000s into Turn 1. Bryce stated, “That lap I pushed hard, managed to get a small gap, and was able to bring home another win”. While the MotoAmerica schedule conflicts with the Moto West GP schedule did not allow Bryce to defend his #1 plate from last season, it was very satisfying to come back to Willow and go faster than he did while winning the Overall Championship last year.

Monday saw the team reunite, with Jason Aguilar and Mike Pond joining Bryce at Buttonwillow for a Let’s Ride Track Days session. For Jason, it was a chance to recover from a disastrous final race weekend at MotoAmerica. Jason explained, “Bryce worked with me on suspension all day. At first, I was really uncomfortable on the bike the first couple of sessions. I ran my Dunlop tires from the New Jersey race all day and it was shredding at first, but we got it to clean up and by the end of the day I got down to 1:47s without really pushing hard”. Bryce added, “My bike setup was still phenomenal from Willow Springs the day before. I made minor changes and played with gearing. I feel extremely comfortable on the bike and I feel like I can put the bike anywhere I need it to be. I’m really looking forward to AFM at Buttonwillow in two week’s time!”

Tuned Racing thanks all of its sponsors:

Tuned Industries, Dunlop Motorcycle Road Racing Tires USA, EFSigns.com, PSR-USA, SBKPaint.com, Galfer Brakes, Arai, Dynojet, Big Gun Exhaust, Thousand Oaks Powersports, SuperLite Sprockets, EK 3D Chains, SpeedAngle, FT ECU, Shorai Batteries, Torco Advanced Lubricants, Optimal Racing Bodywork, Fly Street, Scott’s Plumbing, Lets Ride Trackdays, Motoyard.com, ACT Racing, and Solarmax Technology.