| Author | Message | ||
     Dtx |
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/cgibin/discus/show.cgi?tpc=37&post=678539#POST67 8539 I made it out to Heartland Park Topeka yesterday for the ASRA races and to catch up with some Buell racers. Sorry if I didn't make all the rounds to meet everybody. Here is a link to my pictures as posted in the KCLW section of the Storm Fronts. Enjoy! | ||
| José_quiñones |
From a press release issued by Buell Motorcycle Company: ESTOK AND BUELL DOMINATE ASRA THUNDERBIKE RACE AT TOPEKA TOPEKA, Kan. – Veatch Motorsports rider Dave Estok rode a Buell Firebolt XB12R to set the pole position, lead every lap and win the American SportBike Racing Association (ASRA) Thunderbike National at the Heartland Park Topeka road course. Ed Key finished second on a Suzuki, followed by Blue Springs H-D/Buell rider Walt Sipp, also aboard a Buell Firebolt. Estok, the defending National Thunderbike champion, was top qualifier for the event with a lap of 1:48.335 on the newly repaved 2.5-mile Heartland Park Topeka Grand Prix Course. At the start of the 10-lap Thunderbike National, BMW rider Nate Kern grabbed the lead with Estok in pursuit. Estok passed Kern to lead the first lap and then rode away from the field. Behind Estok, however, a fierce battle was waged by Hal’s H-D/Buell-Hal’s Speed Shop rider Dan Bilansky and H-D/Buell of Frederick rider Bryan Bemisderfer, both on Buell Firebolts, plus Kern and Key, as the four riders swapped positions for seven laps. Bemisderfer overcooked the entrance to Turn 1 on the second lap, rolling onto the paved run-off area, and then battled back through the field to rejoin the group racing for second position. Bilansky dropped out on lap seven with a mechanical problem, and Kern left the race on lap eight, also with a mechanical problem. On the ninth lap, while in second place, Bemisderfer crashed and fell at the entrance of the backstretch chicane. He managed to pick up and ride his Buell out of the muddy infield and get back on the track to finish the race in fifth. “All the action was behind me today,” said Estok. “After the first lap, I just put my head down, and when I finally looked back, nobody was there. I really want to win this championship for Veatch Motorsports. And I feel like we’ve got some momentum going into VIR.” Hal’s Speed Shop/Spyder Leatherworks.com rider Paul James rode a Buell Firebolt to fourth. Buell riders Greg Avello (Badger Motorsports/Hal’s Speed Shop), Sam Rozynski (Sound Waves/Hal’s Speed Shop) and David Myers (Delta Dist./Wynn’s Pro Products) finished sixth, seventh and tenth respectively. Buell racers also took four wins and 8 podium finishes during the Championship Cup Series support races at Heartland Park. Estok nabbed a win in CCS Expert Thunderbike, while Bemisderfer won in CCS Expert SuperTwins. Racine Harley-Davidson/Buell rider Thomas Michels won the CCS Amateur Lightweight F40 and Amateur SuperTwins classes with his Buell Cyclone M2. And on Friday, in the ASRA Team Challenge endurance event, Team Fat Boy riders James and Avello won the GT Lights class and finished seventh overall on a Firebolt XB9R. With his fifth-place finish, Bemisderfer takes over the lead in Thunderbike season points from Kern. After four of eight races, Bemisderfer has 100 points, followed by Kern with 95, Estok with 94, and Bilansky with 85. The next race on the eight-round ASRA Thunderbike National schedule is June 24-25 at Virginia International Raceway near Alton, Va. |
