Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

GFI Racing Fall Series S out h Round 2 : Racetown 395 PHOTOS BY GREG ROB ERTSON Villopoto Steps It Up By GREG ROBERTSON ADELANTO, CA, SEPT. 19 M ulnttme Mini National Champion Ryan Villopoto chose round two of the GFI Racing Fall Series South to make his big. bike debut. Villopoto looked right at home on the h igh-speed Racetown ]95 track as he easily dominated both the Four-Stroke Open and I25cc Intermediate classes aboard his KX250F. Josh La Fontaine exited the right-hand first turn with the le ad in the first Four-Stroke Open moto, with Villopoto railing around him on lap one to ta ke over at the point . By lap two, Villopoto had a comfortable 10 -second lead on La Fou n ta ine , who w a s an equal distance ahead of Mike Lo pe z and Jake Oswald . Villopoto w as long gon e when the checkers came out. with La Fountaine a safe second over Lopez and Oswald. t-toto two was a carbon copy of the first. as La Fountaine got the holeshot and Villopoto got around him on lap one and ran away. Not oofy did Vil/opeta dom inate the class in mete two , he also caught a nd passed the entire 12Scc Pro field - doing so fro m the second gate in just eight short laps. Lo pez ran in third place fo r the entire mota, and Oswald put on a lastlap charge fo r a close fourth . Both 12 5 c c Intermed iate ra ce s were p retty much more of the sa me, as Villopoto t urned a couple of holeshots into decisive wi ns wi th huge lead s. De rre ck Murphy ne w his Thousand Oa ks Yamaha/FM F-backed YZ2S 0 F to a pair of convincing runner-up finishes . The only tight racing was fo r third in mota one, among Joey Bitt o , Anthony Charette and Curtis Malins, with Bitto prevaili ng in the end . Charette worked his way up into a t hird-place finish in mota two for third overall, topping t he 5-4 score o f Malins and the 6 -5 finishes of Jared Minor. Tim Weigand literally came fro m the back trail slick but with no d ust . Chancey and Bobbitt matched sco re s in sectio n o ne, w it h e igh ts . Welborn went n ine , and th e re m ain ing AA riders and top A riders all dro pped 10. Secti on two was longe r and more techn ical: lots of off-ca mb ers, roots and mud . Chancey dropped I I, as d id Bobbitt. Wellbom w ent 12, with And rew Kend rick, Mike Grizz le and Allen Gra vitt all dropp ing 13. T he top A rider s dro pped 14. Section th re e was a 7-m ile r, and the section before the gas . Bobb itt dropped e ight po ints , and while that was good , Chancey did seven; that's wh at co st Bobb itt. Wei ba m faltered but manage d a 10 . The remaining AA r ide rs d ropped nine apiece . Russell Epley, co nte st ing the Four-Stroke A class, dro pp ed nine , a nd 250cc A riders Alex McRee and Mike Melton both dro pp ed nine , wit h match ing scores at eve ry sectio n. Afte r t he gas was another short. but fast er, sectio n of about 7 miles. Bobbitt, Chancey and Welborn all dropped six. The remaining AA ride rs - Grizzle, Gravitt. Doby Leonard and Kendrick all dr opped seven. as did McRee and Melton . of t he pac k to p ull off the first 250cc Pro mota w in with a pass on Mike Sleeter just before the whi te flag was shown. Mic ky Griffin battled with Sleeter over the lead early in the mota and ended up third , over Jeff Eide and Dennis Ewing. Sleeter got off to a great start in mota two , w ith W eigand buried in t he pack . We igand made his way up into second place , but a couple of minor bobbles allowed Sleeter to earn the first-place payback unch allenged th is time out. Griffin was again third , o ve r Eide and Ewing. Ho nda-mo unted Trent Pugmire was the top Mini rider on the day, as he swept both the BOcc Open/Expert and Supermini classes . Pugm ire had his hands full w ith Drew Gosselaar in t.he first. motos o f both classes , but Gosselaar's failure to make the gate fo r either of the second motes gave Pugmire easy w ins. Everett Holcomb went 4-2 fo r se con d in the Open class, over the 6 -4 score of Kevin Weisbruch. Myles Ted de r used a 4-2 tally for ru nner-u p honors in the Sup erminis, topping Bryce Stewart and Dakota Tedder. eN RACETOWN 395 ADELANTO, CALIfORNIA RE SULTS: SEPTEMBER 19, 2004 (ROUND 2) 5 0 S T K ( 4 -6): I. Bla ke Gre e n (Cob); 2 . Maxwell Tedd er (Co b). 50 ST K (7 -8): I. Mike VICtorian (KTM); 2. De smo nd Spe ars (KTM); 3. Ryan Surratt (KTM); 4. Dave Fullmer (KTM); S. Nathan Hamlin (Cob) . 50 MO D (7-8) : I. Dave Fullme r (KTM); 2. Ryan Bambager (KTM); l . Lane Gardner (KTM). 50 OPEN: I. Mike Victorian (KTM); 2. Brandon Jone s (KTM); 3. Blake Green (Cob ); 4. Kyle Smith (Lem) . 60 FIT: I . Cortney Roe we r (SUI) ; 2. H ayden Grego ry (KTM). 60 BEG: I. Desmond Spears (KTM); 2. jessie Huntley (Kaw); 3. Ashton McMillan (Kaw): 4. Kyle Brakebill (Kaw): 5. Raymond Eckenrod (SU 1). 60 NOV : I. Colby RaN (Suz); 2. Cody Roewer (SU 3. Mike VICtorian 1); (KTM); 4. Jacob Partridge (KTM); S. Michael Rucker (KTM). 60 INT: I. Jake Gagne (KTM); 2. Joey Savatgy (KTM). 60 OPE N: I. Joe y Savatgy (KTM): 2. Col by Raha (SU1): 3. Jacob Part ridge (KTM); 4. Cody Roewer (Suz); S. Kyle Brake bill (Kaw). 80 FIT: I. Michael Gangi. 80 BEG: I. Brett Bussey (Y am); 2. Adam Zilla (Ha n); 3. Shane Staab {Yam); 4. Kyl e Bra keb ill (Kaw); S. Garre tt Wallace (!

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