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GFI Racing Winter Series South
Round 5: Perris Raceway
STORY AND PHOTOS
BY GREG ROBERTSON
PERRIS, CA, FEB. 9
CJ7he Honda-mounted duo of Daniel
U Sani and Justin Mulford made
their competition see red at the fifth
and final round of the GFI Racing/
Goat Eyewear/Pro Circuit/Fox/Motulsponsored Winter Series South, held
at Perris Raceway. It seemed like
Sani couldn't buy a good start, but
great come-from-behind rides earned
him overall wins in the 125cc Intermediate and Schoolboy classes. Mulford, on the other hand, shot out of
the gate to go three for four to top
both the 80cc Open and Supermini
ranks.
Garrett Taylor used the power of
his YZ250F to get the holeshot in the
first 125cc Intermediate moto, ahead
of Micky Griffin, Tyler Duncan, Andy
D'Arrigo and Andy Bakken. Duncan
put the lone KTM in the field into the
lead by lap three, while Taylor
dropped to third, behind Griffin. Sani
was on the move after starting 10th,
and by lap four he was fighting over
third with Taylor and Bakken. Sani
secured third and set out after Duncan and Griffin. A couple of laps
later, Duncan and Sani were trading
second place back and forth until
Sani finally made a pass stick. Sani
then outjumped Griffin on the back
straight for the lead with just a lap
remaining. Griffin made numerous
attempts to find a way back around
Sani but came up a couple of bikelengths short at the checkers. Duncan
was a close third, followed by
Bakken, Taylor and Erik Meyer.
In moto two, Griffin exited turn one
on his Yamaha Factory-supported
YZ125 to lead a sea of blue bikes that
included Jared Minor, Taylor, Ryan
Magdenovski and Michael Parker.
Sani again gated about 10th but was
quickly slicing up through the field.
Griffin held a five-second advantage
by midway, while Sani was up in second and closing. Sani outbraked Griffin at the end of a fast straight for the
lead and stayed there until the checkers. Griffin was a close second again.
Third went to Taylor. Duncan came
from even further back than Sani to
finish fourth for third overall.
Daniel Sani (168) chased
down Micky Griffin (59) for
a two-moto sweep of the
125cc Intermediate class
at round five of the GFI
Racing Winter Series South.
Ricky James led the first Schoolboy moto for the first few laps until
Sani made his way to the front after a
first-lap fall. Sani motored away for
the win. Parker held off James and
Minor for second place.
James led the opening lap of moto
two, but Jarred Browne took over on
lap two. Sani once again came up
through the pack to challenge the
leader. Browne held off Sani for a
couple of laps before Sani stuffed his
way underneath Browne with time
running out for his fourth moto win of
the day. Browne's 9-2 score earned
him fourth overall, behind James
(3-3) and Minor (4-4).
Mulford started things off with a
wire-to-wire romp in the 80cc Open
class aboard his MidCities/Troy Lee Designs/
FMF /Spy/ZLT -sponsored
Honda. Second place
was all Dana Dreier's right
from the drop of the gate.
Roberto Jiron made a
charge up through traffic
for a well-deserved third,
over Bryce Huffman and
Gunner Strum.
Moto two was a duplicate
of the first. Mulford shot out of the
gate and continued on uncontested
for the win. VZ85-mounted Dreier
easily finished second, ahead of a
great battle for third among Strum,
Travis Baker and Tanner Langham;
Strum prevailed.
Michael Hall managed to run down
the fast-starting Mulford midway
through the first Supermini moto,
made the pass, and then held off Mulford for the win. Mulford and Hall
went at it again over the top spot in
moto two; Mulford kept the KX85mounted Hall at bay for the duration.
Dreier kept the two front-runners in
his sights en route to a pair of thirds.
Jake Hulett (4-4) and Austin Eitel
(5-5) rounded out the top five.
Sean Collier, Jeff Eide and Akira
Narita kept close tabs on each other
at the front of the 125cc Pro class
during the one-shot, 20-minute race.
Collier steadily inched away on his
Honda of Houston/Twisted Threads/
TMR/FMF-backed CR125 to take first
place. Eide put a 10-second cushion
on Narita for second place. Voichi
(Above) Bryce Huffman (20), eventual
winner Justin Mulford (311), Tanner
Langham (31), Dana Dreier (2891 and
Nick Brown (877) leave the Perris
Raceway start line for the second
80cc Open moto.
(Right) Sean Collier flew to
the 125cc Pro-class win in
Perris, Califomia.
cue I
e
Takasu and Voshki Kitai finished
fourth and fifth, respectively.
Suzuki pilot George Jeffers collected both moto wins in the 80cc Novice
class, but not without a fight from
Travis Baker, who kept his VZ85
glued to Jeffers' back fender throughout both motos to make him work for
the wins. Travis Bright, Nick Brown,
Richard Sterling and Drew Weaver
mixed it up in both races; Brown prevailed to go 4-3 for third overall.
Tye Hames has been the one to
beat in the 80cc Intermediate class
throughout this series, and this day
was no exception, as the Kawasakimounted speedster split moto wins
with Hall for the overall honors. Jake
Hulett went 5-4 for third, followed by
Huffman (7-3) and Jiron (4-6).
eN
Perris Raceway
Perris, California
Results: February 9, 2003 IRound 5]
50 FIT: I. Rookie While (Cob).
50 STK (4ยท6): J. Mike Victorian (KTM\; 2.
Clayton Cooke (Cob); 3. Wyatt Marsau (Lem : 4.
Maxwell Tedder (KTM); 5. Blake Green (KTM).
50 STK (7-8): t. Michael Garland (KTM); 2.
Cody Baker (pol); 3. Brian Taylor (Pol): 4. Gunner
Biggerstaff (Pol); 5. Trent Frank (Pol).
50 OPEN: I. Brian Taylor (Pol); 2. Michztel
Garland (KTM); 3. Cody Baker (Pol): 4. Darrell White
(Cob); 5. Cody Sloan (Cob).
60 Frr: I. Mike Victorian (Kaw).
60 BEG: 1. Shane Post (K'rM); 2. Bobby Abrams
(Kaw); 3. Donnie Fish (Kaw); 4. Brandon Green
(Kaw); 5. Gunner Biggerstaff (I