CCS Race of Champions 2011 is now complete,
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| Chris Boy on Daytona's famous 31 degree banking | |
and Motocorse Performance riders and machines took home more than their share of National Championships, podiums, and top 10 finishes.
Conditions at Daytona International Speedway were ideal. Only a few drops of rain fell on the high banks of Daytona during the Thursday afternoon Team Hammer practice session, leaving nothing but blue skies and temperatures in the low 80’s throughout the weekend. Track map
Friday
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| Chris Boy on his NCR Millona out front early in The Battle Of The Twins |
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| Fernando Ferreyra in the pits | |
The action kicked off on Friday with
AHRMA Battle of the Twins Formula 1. Fresh from his victory at Barber Motorsports Park, Chris Boy rode his #84 Motocorse Ducati 848/1000 Hybrid to a 4th place finish against the much faster 4-valve 848’s and 749’s. In Battle of the Twins Formula 2, Boy used his Motocorse NCR Millona to dominate the early laps, before suffering a mechanical issue that forced him to retire early.
In
CCS Team Challenge GT Lights, the early stages of the race were dominated by the #4 team of Kevin Mendez and Chris Boy. Mendez rode the first stint on his Motocorse Bimota DB5, and with lap times as low as 1:59, was able to stretch the class lead to over two laps and a position of 5th overall before a chunked rear Pirelli, damaged rear sprocket and the ensuing 11 minute pit stop cost the team multiple positions. Meanwhile, brothers Walter and Fernando Ferreyra rode a clean race and brought their Motocorse Performance Ducati Paul Smart 1000 home for the Team Challenge GT Lights victory.
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| Fernando Ferreyra and brother Walter Ferreyra on podium | |
Saturday
Saturday morning brought more sunshine and the beginning of the CCS timed GT races.
GT Lights ran for the full 25 minutes, and #3 Charlie Mavros rode his Motocorse-prepared Ducati Paul Smart 1000 to a 4th place finish. #230 Gino Angella lost a drafting battle to finish 6th on his Motocorse Ducati 1000DS. Two hotly contested positions back in 8th was #282 Chris Sullivan on another Motocorse-prepared Ducati 1000DS. Other notable finishers on Motocorse-prepared machines included #86 Kat Zimpel on her KATRA sponsored Bimota DB5, and #76 Jeff Puleo, also on a Bimota. #4 Kevin Mendez used the GT race as a practice session to set up his Bimota DB5 sprint machine, and led the race early on before retiring on lap 5 of 11.
In
Amateur GT Lights action, #755 Walter Ferreyra dominated the race on his Motocorse Ducati Paul Smart 1000, bringing home his first CCS National Championship of the weekend. #443 Lee Farmer rode his Motocorse Ducati 1000DS to a third place finish in his first Daytona appearance, and #189 Phillippe Touya and #301 Bernard Arapoglou rode their Motocorse Ducatis to 7th and 11th place finishes.
The
Expert GTU grid was awash with AMA regulars such as Dane Westby, Elena Meyers, Santiago Villa, and numerous other club champions from around the country. #88 Jason Edmonds put his Dunlop-equipped Motocorse Performance Ducati 848 consistently in the top 5 in free practice. At the green flag, Edmonds launched hard from the third row and worked his way through to second place on lap 1, before a late braking duel between Edmonds and #5 Yamaha of Jim Cohrs caused both riders to overshoot turn one and crash, along with several others including #21 Elena Meyers and #32 Santiago Villa, bringing out the red flag. Edmonds suffered a fractured clavicle, ending his weekend.
CCS Thunderbike was a battle between #369 Rob Buroker on his Motocorse-prepared Ducati 748 and #4 Kevin Mendez on his Bimota DB5. Buroker was able to use the big horsepower of his 4-valve machine to outrun Mendez to the line for the win. #282 Chris Sullivan brought his Ducati 1000DS home 7th, ahead of top 10 finisher #76 Jeff Puleo on his Motocorse DB5.
Amateur CCS Thunderbike was again dominated by #755 Walter Ferreyra on the Motocorse Paul Smart. #443 Lee Farmer finished 4th, followed by #189 Phillippe Touya, with both riders on Motocorse-prepared Ducati 1000DS machines. #301 Bernard Arapoglou also brought his Ducati Paul Smart home 9th.
#3 Charlie Mavros rode a flag to flag victory in
Expert Lightweight Supersport on his Motocorse-prepared Ducati Monster 1100. A poor start left #230 Gino Angella in 6th entering the international horseshoe, but Angella pushed hard to work his way through to second by the end of lap 1. Despite running a faster pace, Angella was not able to reel in Mavros and brought his Pirelli-shod Motocorse Ducati 1000DS home in second.
Sunday
#4 Kevin Mendez powered away to a commanding victory in Sunday morning’s
Expert Lightweight GP race on his Motocorse Bimota DB5. #230 Gino Angella made some critical mistakes to lose the drafting battle once again and was relegated to 6th, followed by #282 Chris Sullivan, both on Ducati 1000DS machines.
Motocorse riders continued to dominate in
Amateur Lightweight GP, with #755 Walter Ferreyra finishing second, followed closely by #443 Lee Farmer. Two positions back was #189 Phillippe Touya, and coming home 8th was #301 Bernard Arapoglou on his Ducati Paul Smart 1000.
ASRA Thunderbike was a hard-fought three-way battle between #4 Kevin Mendez, #369 Rob Buroker, and #71 Ray Hoffman. The three jumped out to an early lead, until Hoffman attempted to stay with Mendez braking into turn one and overshot the corner. Hoffman then crashed exiting the International Horseshoe on the same lap. Mendez rode his Motocorse Bimota DB5 incredibly hard through the infield to try and offset the horsepower advantage of Buroker’s 4-valve Ducati, often leading through the infield and on to the west banking. Despite lap times that would have placed him in the top 5 in middleweight races, Mendez was unable to overcome the horsepower deficit of Buroker’s highly tuned 748 and finished a close second. Mendez was later disqualified due to being underweight per the ASRA rulebook.
#4 Kevin Mendez won another decisive victory in
CCS Lightweight Superbike on his Motocorse DB5. #230 Gino Angella jumped the start, ran off in turn one attempting an outside pass, and fought back from a ride through penalty to finish 6th on his Motocorse Ducati 1000DS, followed by #76 Jeff Puleo on his Bimota DB5. #282 Chris Sullivan crashed his Motocorse-prepared 1000DS on lap one when his front Dunlop lost grip exiting the international horseshoe.
The
Amateur Lightweight Superbike National Championship went to #755 Walter Ferreyra on his Paul Smart, his third of the weekend, followed by #189 Phillippe Touya in 5th and #301 Bernard Arapoglou in 7th, all on Motocorse-prepared Ducatis.
#4 Kevin Mendez was again victorious in the
Expert LW Formula 40 race, winning his 3rd CCS National Championship of the weekend on his Bimota DB5. #76 Jeff Puleo worked his way to 7th in the 13 rider contest on his Motocorse Bimota, and #282 Chris Sullivan retired from the race due to mechanical issues following his crash in the previous race.
Summary
By the time the sun set on the high banks Sunday evening, Motocorse riders and machines took home 7 CCS National Championships, 7 poduims, and 20 top-ten finishes. Motocorse would like to thank all of the riders, crew, and fans who stopped by the garages to offer their support- We will see you at Homestead December 3rd and 4th!
Your reporter,
Gino Angella