AFM Results, Sears Point, April 6th.

[dd...@crl.com]

The American Federation of Motorcyclists made its first trip of the
season to their home track, Sears Point Raceway and played host to a
packed house with a large number of Willow Springs regulars making the
trek north to participate in the California Championship Series. The
turnout was exceptional, with several of the CSC classes featuring
wait lists and almost every grid packed with bikes.

Rob Mesa returned to the front of the Formula Pacific grid for the
first time in over a year, taking a narrow victory from early leader
Ken Hill. Hill made an early break from the pack and lead past the
halfway mark on his GSXR750 and, with reigning champion and first round
winner Steve Rapp pursuing contingency money at Buttonwillow, looked to
be building an insurmountable lead. Mesa, however, was quickly cutting
through the pack and began closing the distance on Hill. Mesa looked
to be back on the form that earned him the number two plate for the
1995 season, catching and passing Hill. Hill was unwilling to take
runner up for the second round in a row and kept Mesa from building a
lead, making up for a horsepower deficiency with hard braking. As the
pair headed into Turn 11 on their way to the white flag Hill made a
move to retake the lead, pulling along the inside of Mesa under
braking. Mesa had the faster outside line and held the lead, only to
nearly loose it as he glanced back exiting the chicane to see Hill
right behind him and driving hard. Hill swung to the right and began
to slip past Mesa on the outside as they headed into Turn 1 but Mesa
held his ground on the inside and kept the lead up the hill. With Mesa
still leading as the pair came down through the esses for the last
time, a move by Hill under braking seemed imminent, and he did not fail
to deliver. The braking from the previous lap seemed extreme, but Hill
went even further in his last ditch effort at victory. Mesa has always
raced under the philosophy of running his own line and not deviating to
try and block pursuers, letting them try and make the pass if they are
able, and so once again allowed Hill to pull even on the inside at the
entrance to Turn 11. Unlike the previous lap, they were still even as
they reached mid corner and Mesa began laying down the power. Hill got
on the gas as well, but his inside line and more extreme lean angle
kept him from being as aggressive as he needed to stay alongside Mesa,
who dove down for a late apex and forced Hill to bobble momentarily,
giving Mesa the half second of breathing room necessary to take the
victory. Mike Nissen came across the line in third, followed by a trio
of GSXR750 riders in Jeff Short, Cory Call and Tom Aquino.

Brian LeFevre won his second straight Formula II race, outdistancing
Willow Springs regular Michael Montoya as he took the first
championship points in what should be one of the most competitive
classes of the CSC series. Mark Ingalls led a trio of the AFMs fastest
250 riders following Montoya, with defending champion Dan Cook and
former champion Jeff Leggitt in tow. Formula III featured national 250
rider Bobby Keith, riding a borrowed RS125, in a battle with the class
championship favorite Carlos Neves. Starts can make or break the race
in Formula III where the competition is fierce and evenly matched, and
Keith was lucky to launch well from his starting position on the third
row and set off in pursuit of Neves, leading from his position on
pole. Every time across the line, Keith had drawn closer to Neves and
finally made a pass for the lead, going inside of Neves in Turn 10 with
both riders ripping along at speeds of over 100mph. Neither rider was
willing to back off and they accelerated out of the corner together,
staying even until Neves wobbled, thrown off balance by Keith, and lost
valuable ground. Keith pulled away from there, taking a convincing
victory. Neves held on to second ahead of another 250 national rider,
Mark Foster. Fourth place looked to be Max McFarland's for the taking
until he clipped a bale in the chicane and crashed, leaving the
position to Peter Femenia with Thomas Alldredge in fifth.

The 600 races were both won by Thomas Montano in a pair of events
featuring two of the fastest 600 riders to race with the AFM in the
past few seasons. Brian Parriott pursued Montano in both events,
starting mid pack in the crowded grid, and finishing second in 600
Superbike after both he and Montano caught and passed quick starting
Timothy Kamholz. The Suzuki GSXR once again dominated the 750 classes,
taking the top six places and eight of the top ten in 750 Superbike,
lead by Anthony Lupo, Ken Hill and Jeff Short.

Formula Pacific
1. Rob Mesa (Yamaha)
2. Ken Hill (Suzuki)
3. Mike Nissen (Honda)
4. Jeff Short (Suzuki)
5. Cory Call (Suzuki)

Formula III
1. Bobby Keith (Honda)
2. Carlos Neves (Honda)
3. Mark Foster (Yamaha)
4. Peter Femenia (Yamaha)
5. Thomas Alldredge (Yamaha)

Open Grand Prix
1. Mike Nissen (Honda)
2. Rob Mesa (Yamaha)
3. Jim Fife (Suzuki)
4. Roque Torres (Honda)
5. Dean Perry (Suzuki)

Formula II
1. Brian LeFevre (Yamaha)
2. Michael Montoya (Yamaha)
3. Mark Ingalls (Yamaha)
4. Dan Cook (Yamaha)
5. Jeff Leggitt (Honda)

Formula I
1. Jeff Short (Suzuki)
2. Cory Call (Suzuki)
3. Gregory Prinze (Ducati)
4. Zoran Vujasinovic (Suzuki)
5. Joe Brett Williams (Honda)

Formula Singles
1. Craig McLean (Ducati)
2. Brian Brown (Spondon)
3. Stuart Knigge (Yamaha)
4. Joe Abeyta (Yamaha)
5. Ivan Thelin (KTM)

Formula Twins - Open
1. Gregory Prinze (Ducati)
2. Paul Orlandi (Ducati)
3. Kurt Mund (BMW)
4. James Coda (Ducati)
5. Joe Carillo (Ducati)

500 Twins
1. Brian Long (Kawasaki)
2. Alan Kelso (Kawasaki)
3. David Chowenhill (Kawasaki)
4. Bret Whitman (Kawasaki)
5. Arthur Ferdinand (Kawasaki)

450 Superbike
1. Ross Wells III (Yamaha)
2. Dennis Presicoski (Yamaha)
3. Brian Long (Kawasaki)
4. Dave Norgard (Yamaha)
5. Gary Hatfield (Yamaha)

600 Superbike
1. Thomas Montano (Yamaha)
2. Brian Parriott (Honda)
3. Timothy Kamholz (Suzuki)
4. Donald Greene (Yamaha)
5. David Wasson (Suzuki)

750 Superbike
1. Anthony Lupo (Suzuki)
2. Ken Hill (Suzuki)
3. Jeff Short (Suzuki)
4. Dan Thorsen (Suzuki)
5. Cory Call (Suzuki)

Open Superbike
1. Nike Nissen (Honda)
2. Scott Bigley (Honda)
3. Chris Voelker (Honda)
4. Jim Fife (Suzuki)
5. Jim Groshong (Honda)

250 Superbike
1. Joe Carillo, Jr. (Yamaha)
2. Ken Cohen (Yamaha)
3. Joshua Scott (Honda)
4. David George (Honda)
5. Philip Torres (Yamaha)

Formula 40
1. Mark Ingalls (Yamaha)
2. Michael Summers (Suzuki)
3. Dennis Doherty (Yamaha)
4. Gary Jaehne (Honda)
5. Bob Siebenhaar (Honda)

SuperDinosaur
1. Enzo Ferrara (Yamaha)
2. Russ Meagher (Yamaha)
3. Jesse Dolan (Honda)
4. Ivan Thelin (KTM)
5. Joe Abeyta (Kawasaki)

Vintage 0-450cc
1. Chris LaCruze (Ducati)
2. Jim Nevengburg (Bultaco)
3. Charles Sexton (Bultaco)
4. Tupper Robinson (Bultaco)

Vintage 451-Opencc
1. Jove Shapiro (BMW)
2. Brian Filo (Yamaha)

650 Twins
1. Chris Voelker (Honda)
2. Shawn Reilly (Honda)
3. David White (Honda)
4. Dean Welder (Honda)
5. Shaun Brady (Honda)

250 Production
1. Francis Mazur (Kawasaki)
2. Thomas Dorsey (Kawasaki)
3. Erik Wenneker (Kawasaki)
4. Brian Bartlow (Kawasaki)
5. Antonio Rocha (Kawasaki)

450 Production
1. Dennis Presicoski (Yamaha)
2. Ross Wells III (Yamaha)
3. Gary Hatfield (Yamaha)
4. Dave Norgard (Yamaha)
5. Doug Pitcock (Yamaha)

600 Production
1. Thomas Montano (Yamaha)
2. Mark Foster (Honda)
3. Brian Parriott (Honda)
4. Donald Greene (Yamaha)
5. Timothy Kamholz (Suzuki)

750 Production
1. Jacen Puerta (Suzuki)
2. Peter Moran (Suzuki)
3. Lee McKenna (Suzuki)
4. Brian Shannon (Suzuki)
5. Joseph Zifcak (Suzuki)

Open Production
1. Gary Jaehne (Honda)
2. Fabrizio Palazzo (Honda)
3. James King (Honda)
4. Michael Wong (Honda)
5. Lamar Potts (Honda)

Phone & Fax: (510) 796-7005
email: a...@afmracing.org
Website: http://www.afmracing.org
--
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Clarence A Dold - do...@network.rahul.net
- Pope Valley & Napa CA.

[Larry I. Wallerstein]

Good for Jove Shapiro. Hadn't seen his name lately. Neat guy. Good
to see him winning in vintage.