Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

GFI Racing Winter Series Round 4: Perris Raceway Townsend brought his Bill's Pipes/Fasst Co.jRG3/Renthal-sponsored Honda across for a close third, with Kaga and Sato claiming fourth and fifth, respectively. Perris local Bryan McGavran stole the holeshot in the 250cc Pro class and ran out front the entire race up until the final lap, when he got caught napping and Corder was able to pass him and take the win. Sleeter pretty much ran third the entire race, and that was where he finished, with Townsend and Bullfrog Newcomer rounding out the top five. Chase Meneke got along with the mud just fine, as he dominated the 125cc Novice class from start to finish on his YZ 125. Daniel Nelson finished a few seconds ahead of Kevin Holmes for second place, with Brandon Norton sliding his way up into fourth, ahead of Mike Bentley. Thousand Oaks/Smith/Fox rider Mike Alessi nearly won all four classes he entered. Alessi topped the 60cc Open, 60cc Expert and 80cc Open/Expert classes. Alessi slid out in the first turn of the last race of the day, the Superminis, but managed to climb back up to finish third, behind runaway winner Jessie Casillas and Kevin Breid. CN Turbo Reif (311) leads Gustav Ribers (98), Jake Elkins (258) and the rest of the 250cc Intennediate field on his way to the class win. Reif also won the 125cc Intennediate class at round four of the GFI Racin9 Winter Series, held at Perris Raceway in California. Perris Raceway Perris, California Results: February 20, lOOO (Round 41 By GREG ROBERTSON PERRIS, CA, FEB. 20 urbo Reif went home with a nice chunk of Yamaha and Honda factory contingency money after winning both the 125cc and 250cc Intermediate classes during round four of the GFI Racing/Goat Eyewear/Noleen/76/ FMF/Fox-sponsored Winter Series. The usual Perris Raceway layout was turned into a slippery, slimy mess as a steady rain fell throughout the day. The regular two-moto format was dropped, and all the classes ran just a single, longer moto on the soaked track, which seemed to please the majority of the riders. When the gate dropped for the 125cc Intermediate class, it was none other than holeshot artist Sean O'Connor sliding through the first turn in the lead. Reif settled into second place, followed by Cody Randall, Gustav Ribers and Steven Haughelstine. By the end of lap two, both Reif and Randall had closed to the back door of O'Connor, making for an interesting race for the lead. For the next three laps, O'Connor managed to keep his Yamaha upright and out front as Reif and Randall did their best to avoid the flying roost. O'Connor started getting the hang of things, and he put a few seconds on Reif, while Randall fell off the pace slightly but still held on to third. With just over a lap remaining, O'Connor hit a nasty rut just before the finish-line jump and went down hard. O'Connor was shaken, but he T managed to get up and complete the final lap for a 15th-place finish. Meanwhile, Reif inherited the lead and easily took the win with 10 seconds to spare over Randall. Haughelstine crossed the line for third, with Jake Elkins and Nathan Jones rounding out the top five. Reif jumped out to the early lead in the 250cc Intermediate class on his R&R Sportcenter/Noleen/Goatbacked CR250, ahead of Corey Macomber and Randall. Jones made his way around Randall for third and then double-jumped past Macomber on lap two for second place. Jones went down in the mud a short time later and handed the runner-up position back to Macomber, who was having a good ride in the slop - he was actually closing in slightly on Reif in the final laps, but he couldn't find that extra drive needed to make a bid for the lead. Reif collected his second win on the day, with Jones claiming third over Randall. In 125cc Pro action, Dusty Walters absconded with the holeshot for a lead that would only last a couple of turns before Michael Sleeter took over. "I heated my back tire up really good on the start to try and get it dry," said Walters, explaining how to get a good start in the rain. "I tried to stay smooth off the concrete, and as soon as I hit the dirt, I leaned way back and started clicking off gears. Sleeter got me right after the second turn, going into the whoops. He got a little better drive out of the turn. I tried to get him back at the end of the first lap but my front end washed out." Sleeter was the only 125cc rider attempting the big double along the hill, which was allowing him to quickly pull away from the others. "I think with doing that jump, you save about five seconds every lap," said Sleeter afterward. "I think because I was going slower over the roller before it, you could gain the momentum and get on the back fender, and then, with the help of my Tom Morgan Racing motor, I could get over it no problem." Sleeter continued on, leading every lap to take the first-place money on his NCY/TMR/Maxima/ Dunlop/Applied-backed Yamaha. KX 125-mounted Mike Corder held down second place for much of the race until a crash put him out of contention. Kevin Townsend inherited second place and had his hands full with Walters. Shinichi Kaga controlled fourth place, with Mike Scheel and Eigo Sato next in line. With the white flag out, Walters was able to slip past Townsend to earn second place. "It was hard to get around him [Townsend]," said the Shift/Auto Depot/John Burr/Cryolabs/Noleenbacked Walters. "It was hard to see, and we were catching up with the back of the Intermediates, so it was a little tough to make the pass. I'm happy with second place, especially since I crashed on the first lap." eye I e P/W STK BEG: 1. Bryon Briley (Cob). 50 STK (4-6): I. Cody Hall (Cob). 50 STK (7-8): 1. Austin Bollard (Cob): 2. Dylan Schmoke (Cob). 50 OPEN: 1. Dakota Garner (Cob): 2. Ronnie Goodwin (Cob); 3. Garrick Noble. 60 BEG: I. Terren O'Dell (Kaw); 2. Curtis McLellan (KTM): 3. Scott Noble (Kaw); 4. Bret Downey (Kaw); 5. Ryan Rowell (KTM). 60 NOV: I. Webb Mllssey (KTM); 2. Michael Hall (Kaw); 3. Trevor Ries (Kaw); 4. Blake Harber (KTM); 5. Andrew Johnson (Kaw). 60 INT: 1. Bryce Huffman (KTM). 60 EX: 1. Mike Alessi (KTM); 2. Bruce Rutherford (KTM). 60 OPEN; 1. Mike Alessi (KTM); 2. Dana Drier (KTM); 3. Bloke Harber (KTM): 4. Scott Noble (Kaw); 5. Terren O'Dell (Kaw). 80 FIT: I. Kyle Smith (Yom). 80 BEG: 1. Randy Hill (Yam); 2. Ryan Magdenovski (Kaw); 3. Chris Sampson (Kaw); 4. Taylor Kelham (Yam); 5. Cameron Keidel (Suz). 80 NOV: 1. Kenneth Brewer (YlIm); 2. LlIrry Reese Jr. (Kaw); 3. Nathan Salgado (Yam); 4. Kyle Foltz (Kaw); 5. Andrew Petrie (Kaw). 80 TNT: 1. Jeff Alessi (Yam); 2. Brett Rothas (Kaw). 80 OPEN/EX: 1. Mike Alessi (YlIm): 2. Jesse ClIsillas (Yam); 3. Cas Swift (Suz): 4. Kevin Breid (Yam): 5. Chris Nihan (Suz). S/MINI: 1. Jessie Casillas (Yam); 2. Kevin Breid (Yam): 3. Mike Alessi (YlIm); 4. Justin Jenson (Yom): 5. Cas Swi~ (Suz). SCHBY: 1. Donnie Gritton (Yam): 2. Jason Ciarletta (Yam): 3. Patrick Terry (Yam). 125 BEG: 1. Brandon Kerr (Han): 2. Chris Collas (Han): 3. Brian Burns (Yam): 4. Dennis Van AHa (Kaw): 5. Andrew Penrose (Kaw). 125 NOV: 1. Chase Meneke (Yam): 2. Daniel Nelson (Yam): 3. Kevin Holmes (Suz); 4. Bnmdon Norton (Yam): 5. Mike Bentley (Yam). 125 tNT: 1. Turbo Reif (Yam); 2. Cody Randall (Suz); 3. Steven Haughelstine (Yam); 4. Jake Elkins (Yam); 5. Nathan Jones (Han). 125 PRO: I. Michael Sleeter (Yam); 2. Dusty Walters (Yam); 3. Kevin Townsend (Han); 4. Shinichi Kaga (Suz); 5. Eigo Sato (YlIm). 250 BEG: 1. Aaron Bjork (Hon). 250 NOV: 1. Joe Rempp (Hon). 250 INT: 1. Turbo Reif (Han); 2. Corey Macomber (Yam); 3. Nathan Jones (Hon): 4. Cody Randall (Yom). 250 PRO: 1. Mike Corder (Kaw); 2. Bryan McGavran (Yam): 3. Michael Sleeter (Yam); 4. Kevin Townsend (Hon); 5. Bullfrog Newcomer (KlIw). 25. BEG: I. Michael Ryer (Suz); 2. Tflkeyuki Suzuki (Kaw). 25. INT: 1. Jon Levey (Yam): 2. Geoff Walters (Yam): 3. Todd Flaming (Yllm); 4. Tim Konkol (Suz). 25. EX: I. Dustin Evans (Hon). 30. BEG: I. Ron Goodwin (Kaw), 30. NOV: J. Anthony Rose (Hon). 30. (NT: I. David Johnson (Yam); 2, Jon Levey (Yam); 3. Tim Konkol (Suz). 35. NOV: 1. Anthony Rose (Han). 40. NOV: 1. Daniel Smith (Yam); 2. Alan Miller (Suz). n e vv s MARCH 15. 2000 33

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