Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

GFI Racing Winter Series South Round 2: Perris Raceway .....-Ir· Canada returned to do battle in the 60cc Expert class but had to play second fiddle to a strong Blake Wharton, who tallied a perfect 1-1 score. Chris Plouffe finished third with a pair of thirds, over Blake Baggett and Michael Hall. eN (Left) Ryan Hughes and his Red Bull KTM were untouchable in the 125cc Pro class at round two of the GFI Racing Winter Series South. Perris Raceway Perris, California Results: January 5, 2003 [Round 21 (Right) Steve Mertens finished fifth in the 125cc Pro class at Perris Raceway but came back to top the 250cc Pros. overtook Eide for the lead after a couple of circuits, while Mertens overcame a midpack start to climb up into third at about the same time. Mertens dropped Eide back to third a lap later and set out after Maier. Mertens took control of the point position halfway through the 13-lap affair, while Maier shadowed his every move. Mertens was finally able to shake Maier and walk away with the win. Third went to Eide, just a few seconds behind Maier. Daton Beavers put in an excellent come-from-behind effort after a fall on lap one to finish fourth, ahead of Allen, Matt McCrummen and Milstead. • KTM pilot Tyler Duncan got the holeshot in the opening 125cc Intermediate moto, only to go down and hand the lead to fellow orange-bike rider Cale Wallace, who turned his gift into an uncontested victory. Second place went to yet another KTM rider, Eric McCrummen. Micky Griffin charged from out of the pack for a close third, with Justin Eide and Dennis Ewing rounding out the top five. Duncan duplicated his first-moto start and led Wallace for slightly more than a lap before he made the pass. Wallace easily took the win over Duncan, and Griffin went 3-3 for second overall. Eric worked up through traffic STORV AND PHOTOS BV GREG ROBERTSON PERRIS, CA, JAN, 5 ith the holidays out of the way and with better weather conditions, the rider turnout for round two of the GFI Racing/Goat Eyewear/Pro Circuit/Maxima/Wiseco/Fox - sponsored Winter Series South, held at Perris Raceway, more than doubled that of the opener of a few weeks prior. Upcoming AMA 125cc outdoor National competitor Ryan Hughes looked right at home on his Red Bullbacked KTM as he quickly made his way to the front of the pack and then proceeded to disappear with the 125cc Pro win, The 250cc Pro victory went to YZF-mounted Steve Mertens, who finally fought his way into the top spot near the halfway point of the race. Steven Haughelstine got things started off in the one-shot, 20-minute 125cc Pro race by taking the holeshot ahead of Hughes, Mertens, series opener winner Craig Decker, and the rest of the field. Hughes was around Haughelstine after a lap and immediately started to pull away. Haughelstine came under fire from both Decker and rookie Pro Teddy Maier; Decker made the pass for second on lap four. Up front, Hughes was reeling off one flawless lap after another, ending up with a comfortable 15-second cushion at the checkers. Decker finished all by himself in second place. Haughelstine and Maier went at it over third for the entire race; Haughelstine prevailed by just a couple of bike lengths in the end. Mertens crossed the line a fairly close fifth, followed by Rory Sullivan, Branden Milstead and Austin Squires. Jeff Eide used the power of his MidCities-backed CRF450R to abscond with the holeshot over Maier, Milstead, Bryan Allen and Decker when the gate dropped for the single 20-minute 250cc Pro race. Maier W 50 FEBRUARY 5, 2003' cue to salvage third overall on a 2- 7 day, topping Cas Swift (7-6) and Ewing (5 8). Cody Hertel led the charge in the first 250cc Intermediate race, but Griffin went from fifth to first within a lap of the redesigned Perris layout. Griffin steadily pulled away from Duncan to greet the checkers first. Justin claimed third, ahead of Hertel and Jason Larson. Hertel was again quickest out of the gate in moto two, while Griffin gave chase. Griffin hounded Hertel for a couple of laps before the two made contact in a corner; Hertel stalled his CRF. Griffin motored away on his Yamaha Support/Applied/ Acerbis/ Maxxis-backed YZ250 for a sweep of the field. Duncan was around 10th off the start but managed to work his way up into third and then slip past Larson just 50 feet from the finish to go 2-2. Larson's 5-3 tally edged out the 3-5 finishes of Eide for third overall. Mike Alessi had a perfect day on his HRCA/ AlloyjVarner-sponsored Hondas. Alessi consistently nailed holes hots en route to a decisive eight-for-eight moto-win streak in the 80cc Expert, 80cc Open, Supermini and Schoolboy classes. Alessi's main competition on the day came from the Kawasaki-mounted duo of Ryan Villopoto and Justin Keeney. Robert Memoli also got in the middle of things to mix it up. Eric McCrummen went 2-2 behind Alessi in the Schoolboy class, while Ricky James went 5-3 to top the 4-4 score of Jared Minor for third in the final standings. Jake Canada aced both 60cc Open motos aboard his KX65. Max Ladieu was runner-up in both outings, while Jordan Booker used 4-3 rides for third. Yamaha-mounted Micky Griffin was the runner-up in the 250cc Intermediates but won the 125cc Intermediate class in Perris, Califomia. I e n e _ s Perris 50 FIT: 1. Kyle Miller (KTM); 2. Daniel McBride (KTM); 3. Rookie White (Cob). 50 STK (4·6): 1. Wyatt Marsau (Lem); 2. Blake Green (KTM); 3. C111yton Cooke (Cob); 4. Cole Gardner (KTM); 5. Maxwell Tedder (KTM). 50 STK (7-8): 1. Brandon Scharer (Cob); 2. Darrell White (Cob); 3. Jacob Pischke (Lem); 4. Brian Taylor (Pol); 5. Trent Frank (Pol). 50 OPEN: 1. Darrell White (Cob); 2. Brandon Scharer (Cob); 3. Jacob Pischke (Lem); 4. Cody Baker (Pol); 5. Blake Green (KTM). 60 BEG: 1. Chris Cuero (KTM); 2. Shane Post (KTM); 3. Gage Brown (Kaw); 4. Nick Newman (Kaw); 5. Connor Green (Suz). 60 NOV: 1. Ty Irwin (KTM); 2. Robert Wilson (KTM); 3. Austin Politelli (Kaw); 4. Dakota Tedder (Kaw); 5. Jordan Bums (Kaw). 60 INT: 1. Max Anstie (Kaw); 2. Jordan Booker (KTM); 3. Max Ladieu (KTM); 4. Kaye Corfman (KTM); 5. Armando Aguilar (KTM). 60 EX: 1. Blake Wharton (Kaw); 2. Jake Canada (Kaw); 3. Chris Plouffe (Kaw); 4. Blake Baggett (Kaw); 5. Michael Hall (Kaw). 60 OPEN: 1. Jake Cenedl!l (Kaw); 2. Max Ledieu (KTM/; 3. Jordan Booker (KTM): 4. Kyle Corfman (KTM ; 5. Robert Wilson (KTM). 80 FIT: 1. Vincent Garza (Hon); 2. Joaquin Vesquez (Yam). 80 BEG: 1. Brennan Towle (Kaw); 2. Preston Tilford (Kaw); 3. Nick Tokarski (Yam); 4. David Wolfinbarger (Hon); 5. Chelsea Candido (Hon). 80 NOV 0·1: 1. Austin White (Yam); 2. Richard Sterling (Kaw): 3. Austin Eitel (Hon); 4. Travis Baker (Yam); 5. Mitch Alcorn (Han). 80 NOV 0·2: 1. Justin Hommel (Yam); 2. Connor Penhall (Kaw); 3. Chadd Cole (Suz); 4. Myles Tedder (Yam); 5. Ryan StrZlusbaugh (Yam). 80 INT: 1. Joshua Huerta (Kaw); 2. Blake Wharton (Kaw); 3. Tyler Wharton (Kaw); 4. Hunter Hewitt (Kaw); 5. Trevor Reis (Yam). 80 EX: 1. Mike Alessi (Hon); 2. Robert Memoli (Hon); 3. Justin Keeney (Kaw); 4. RyZln Vi1Iapoto (Kaw); 5. Brady Sheren (Kaw). 80 OPEN: 1. Mike Alessi (Han); 2. Ryen Villopoto (Kaw); 3. Justin Keeney (Kaw); 4. Jeff Alessi (Han); 5. Trent Pugmire (Kaw). S/M.INI: 1. Mike Alessi (Han); 2. Justin Keeney (Kew); 3. Robert Memoli (Han); 4. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw); 5. Jeff Alessi (Hon). 125 BEG: 1. Randy Adair (Hon); 2. Chris Noble (KTM); 3. Zach Fullmer (Vam): 4. Karson Kavanagh (KTM); 5. Philip Dowell Jr. (Yam). 125 NOV 0·1: 1. Ricky James (Yam); 2. Curtis Malins Jr. (Yam); 3. Garrett Henderson (Suz); 4. Austin Ingalls (Yam); 5. Tommy Ramirez (Yam). 125 NOV D·2: 1. Tyler O'Neil (Vam); 2. Bryan Carr (Yam); 3. Jeff Page (Yam); 4. Ricky Briggs (Kaw); 5. Jesse Drake (Yam). 125 INT: 1. Cale Wallace (KTM); 2. Micky Griffin Yam); 3. Eric McCrummen (KTM); 4. Cas Swift Kaw); 5. Dennis Ewing (SUl). 125 PRO; 1. Ryan Hughes (KTM); 2. Craig Decker (Kaw); 3. Steven Haughelstine (Yam); 4. Teddy Maier (KZliw); 5. Steve Mertens (Yl!:lm). 250 BEG: 1. Dave Lemke (Yam); 2. Jonathan Weaver (Kaw); 3. Phil Schaben (Yam); 4. Redsta.ker Snow (Kaw); 5. Taylor Peters (KTM). 250 NOV: 1. Tyler O'Neil (Vam); 2. Brett Moscrop (Kaw); 3. Lester Vernum (Yl!lm); 4. Bryan Carr (Vam); 5. Mark Desch (Suz). 2501NT: 1. Micky Griffin (Vam); 2. Tyler Duncan (KTM); 3. Jason Lerson (Han); 4. Justin Eide (Hon); 5. Dennis Ewing (Suz). 250 PRO: 1. Steve Mertens (Yam); 2. Teddy Ml!:lier (Kaw); 3. Jeff Eide (Han); 4. Daton Beavers (Su,); 5. Bryan Allen (Hon). 4-STRK PRO: I. Derrick Kain (Hon). SCHBY: 1. Mike Alessi (Hon); 2. Eric McCrummen (KTM); 3. Ricky James (Yam); 4. Jared Minor (KTM): 5. Cody Gilmore (Kaw). 25+ BEG: I. Don Wiser (Yam). 25+ NOV: I. Milton Mize (Han). 25+ INT: 1. Jason Larson (Hon); 2. Eddy Jay (Hon). 25+ EX: 1. Eddie Ray (Han); 2. Todd Mitchell HOn); 3. Erik Burkholder (Han); 4. Craig McCall Han). 30+ BEG: 1. Mike McGregor (Yam): 2. Mike Frank (Han); 3. Mike Miller (KTM); 4. Daigo Miyazaki (Su,). 30+ NOV: 1. Jim Pilg (Yam); 2. Milton Mize (Han); 3. Jason Dallas (Hon). 30+ INT: 1. Eddy Jay (Hon); 2. Kelly Pichel (Kaw); 3. Patrick Trowbridge (Yam). 30 ... PRO: I. Todd Mitchell (Han); 2. Austin Squires (Suz); 3. Erik Burkholder (Han); 4. Craig McCall (Han); 5. Phil Dowell (Yam). 35+ NOV: 1. Jim Boren (Yam); 2. Jason Dallas (Han); 3. Allen Grant (Yam). 40+ NOV: 1. Danny Lee Jones (Yam); 2. John Pappas (Suz); 3. Allen Grant (Yam); 4. Terry Varner (Su,). 40+ INT: 1. Milton Mize (Han); 2. Bob Shimp (Yam); 3. Carl Gazafy (Hon); 4. Gary Thompson (Yam). 40+ EX: I. Matt Tedder (Han); 2. Tony Schuler (Yam): 3. Brian Otto (Kaw). l l

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