Robarts Sweeps Big Bike Classes in WMRRA Round 2
May 29-30, 2016
The Ridge Motorsports Park – Shelton, WA
Memorial Day Weekend is a time to thank our fallen soldiers that have paid the ultimate sacrifice for all of us to enjoy our freedoms in this country. They’ve eschewed the shackles of tyranny for our country and blessed us with individual liberty beyond measure. WMRRA would like to send our deep felt gratitude to their families and loved ones; we so appreciate their service. The WMRRA tribe celebrated those privileges by doing what they do best; racing motorcycles at the beautiful Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton, WA over the holiday weekend. Riders weren’t sure what to expect for weather conditions, and as usual, the bi-polar weather of Washington’s Mother Nature showed her psychotic tendencies by terrorizing riders with hard rain and wind Saturday, only to reward their bravery with gorgeous, sunny skies and mid 70 degree temperatures for Sunday’s races.
Redline Motorsports FS2 racer Adam Robarts wasted no time adding to his overall points lead from last round. In one of the first races of the day on Saturday, Robarts dominated in the wet conditions for the win on his Yamaha R1 in the Sol Performance Open SS class, beating out Yamaha R1 mounted Sam Verderico supported by SuperBike Underground for 2nd and Big Mama Racing’s Chase Glidden putting his Yamaha R6 on the box in 3rd. Glidden hounded Verderico for the entire race, providing quite an exciting battle for the weather hardened fans. However, the veteran Verderico kept his wits, riding smart and kept the 2nd podium spot securely in his grasp in the end. SpeedDealer Motors 750 SS class was up a few races later only to see 2Fast Track Days’ Mark DeGross walk away with a massive margin for the win, with Chris Sarbora earning a solid 2nd finish and Zac Smith taking 3rd aboard his Arlington Flight Services Suzuki GSX-R750. Young Gun Jack Stevens on his Wildwood homes KTM RC390 took a slippery victory in the Track Side Massage Open Singles class beating KTM RC390 rider and veteran Sik Werks racer Sean Galt for 2nd and 12-year-old RS125 rookie sensation David Kohlstaedt who placed 3rd. GP Suspension 600 SS race was another flag to flag victory for Mark DeGross on his Dunlop shod Yamaha R6 wining over Big Mama Racing’s Chase Glidden aboard his R6 in 2nd and Micah Kudo in 3rd, also a Dunlop wearing Yamaha R6. Anticipation heightened near the end of the day when the Brothers Powersports Formula Ultra race was up in worsening conditions with many talented wet weather riders entered for the bout. 2Fast Track Days’ DeGross pulled the early lead over Redline FS2’s Robarts with SuperBike Underground’s Sam Verderico & SpeedDealer Motors’ Allister MacKinnon in pursuit. On lap 3, Robarts saw DeGross’ feet shoot up in the air and eyes look at him through his own windscreen after having a big moment trying to drive out of T5. Adam jumped on the opportunity to take the lead and never made a mistake the remainder of the race. DeGross tried to apply pressure, but Robarts stamped his name and Yamaha R1 in the record books as the victor, with DeGross on his Suzuki GSX-R1000 in 2nd and MacKinnon aboard his Yamaha R1 to round out the podium.
As Saturday wound down, there were many riders in their pits, fixing the bike they just crashed, and hustling to prepare for what was supposed to be a much nicer day on Sunday. Ric Clements, the WMRRA crash truck driver was kept busy all day long Saturday with many bikes going down in the wicked conditions. Ric has been running crash retrieval for more than 20 years with WMRRA and has been there for it all. WMRRA would like to make a special thanks to him and his ongoing service to the club. “It’s days like Saturday with the nasty track conditions that you really appreciate fantastic volunteers like Ric,” stated race director Damon Wells, “he’s a rare find!”
When dawn broke on Sunday morning, Mother Nature must have taken her Prozac because the skies were clear, the sun was warming the air and the atmosphere was drying out. Conditions looked promising for the NW racers to go fast and have fun. After brief morning practice sessions, the 2Fast Track Days Novice races were up. The Novice 1 race winner was Alex Liu on his Yamaha R1M followed by John Gebbers in 2nd and Steve Steinman finishing the podium on his Ducati Panigale S. In Novice 2, Jamin Pak eeked a win out on his Honda CBR600RR over 2Fast Track Days’ Michael Coates on his Suzuki GSX-R600 in 2nd and James Sledziona finishing 3rd also riding a Suzuki GSX-R600. The Fluid Suspension Science Open SB race finished just before lunch, with Redline’s Adam Robarts again taking the win on his Yamaha R1 over Sam Verderico’s SuperBike Underground Yamaha R1 and Allister Mackinnon’s SpeedDealer Motors Yamaha R1; an all R1 podium with some fantastic battles.
After the lunch break, the speeds came down a bit as the age of the machinery on track went up. It was time for the Legal Shield Vintage 160 class which has one of the bigger grids of the weekend. These bikes are gems; repaired and maintained with parts manufactured by the riders themselves. Many are like they’ve been developed in a medieval laboratory with the mad scientist also being the rider. They are not much bigger than a bicycle with an engine that carries on the nostalgia of the early years of road racing. In race 1, Daric Cheshire riding his Honda CL175 took the win with Larry Buck riding his Larry B’s Honda CL175 earning the 2nd spot over 3rd place Tim O’Mahony on his Group W Racing Honda CL175. A few races later in Legal Shield Vintage 160 Race 2, Daric Cheshire did the double and won again over Larry Buck in 2nd and Arash Nadershahi on his Honda CL160 completing the podium in 3rd. Idahoan, Wes Stults took his first win of the season aboard his Yamaha R6 in the Smarty Pants 600SB race beating Ryan Doherty on his EDR Yamaha R6 in 2nd and 2Fast’s Mark DeGross aboard his Yamaha R6. Wes is as humble as they come, but as gritty as can be, probably because he comes from a family of flat track racers. Wes was right back out there shortly after to do battle in the Jimmy Boyle State Farm Insurance 750 SB race where he finished a tough combat 2nd to Allister MacKinnon mounted on his Suzuki GSX-750 prepped by SpeedDealer Motors who took the win. MacKinnon humorously reminded Wes it was a 750 SB class and his bike was “super” making it harder for Stults on his Supersport legal R6. Completing the podium was Premium Rush’s Phil Melnyk on his Yamaha R6. The largest grid of the whole weekend was the Mad Hatter Clubman Qualifier race with 27 bikes on the grid; an Olympic scored class that also raced on Saturday, with a few bragging rights for the up and comer’s in this class. Sean Cresap took a flag to flag victory in the class on his Cresap Orthotics & Prosthetics Suzuki GSX-R750, yet he was hounded and harassed by the charging Mark Szilveszter aboard his Triumph 675 the entire race who finished a mere 0.29 seconds behind him for 2nd place. Earning the final spot on the podium was Shawn Johnson riding his Suzuki GSX-R750. The Ultra Lightweight SS class sponsored by Triumph of Seattle is quite the class to race for the small bore bikes. Long time flat tracker Kurt Hawk on his Bellevue Kawasaki Ninja 300 made a nice pass on Wildwood Homes racer Jack Stevens for the lead on lap 2 and slowly kept putting in solid laps, building a nice gap to earn the win in this hotly contested class. Jack Stevens on his KTM RC390 held on to 2nd and finished with a comfortable margin over his sponsor and Dad, John Stevens, also riding his Wildwood Homes KTM RC390. The final race of the day was the Brothers Power Sports Formula Ultra race with an expectant crowd to watch the riders clash and be witness as to if Robarts could pull the sweep of the open classes for the weekend. Robarts had a different goal in mind. From the drop of the flag, his body language screamed attack. By lap two he had a solid gap while other racers were banging bars for the remaining podium spots. When all was said and done, Robarts took a commanding flag to flag victory and accomplished his goal of a track record of 1:38.845, beating the previous record of 1:38.892 by a mere 0.047 seconds set almost exactly a year earlier on the new configuration. Finishing out the podium was SuperBike Underground’s Sam Verderico on his Yamaha R1 in 2nd and earning the last spot on the box was 2Fast Track Days’ Mark DeGross riding his Suzuki GSX-R1000. When finally cornered for a brief interview, Adam kindly gave his whole team their due. Robarts proudly shared “The entire buyredline.com Yamaha team worked hard to prepare this year and it’s paying off. Crew Chief Dave Alexander of Fluid Suspension Science (FS2) has the bike dialed, Pirelli tires are giving me all the grip I could ask for, and 2 Wheel Dyno Works is pulling every bit of horsepower out of the bike. I am excited about the rest of the season!”
And excited Adam Robarts should be. Not only did he sweep the whole weekend in the Open Classes, he also set a track record, and most importantly, extended his lead in the overall WMRRA championship with a points total of 381, leading Mark DeGross with 343 and Sam Verderico with 322.