|
07/17/02
Ben Carlson……Again!
SuperBikers2 - Motard Challenge Series
Round 4
July 14, 2002
Briggs&Stratton Motorplex
Road America
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
By Glenn Curtiss
Photos by David Curtiss
"I finally got the holeshot," is what Ben
told the interviewer after the race. He got the holeshot
and the convincing win to make it 3 Premier Class wins
in a row for Carlson.
The 4th round of the SuperBikers2 Motard Challenge
Series was again held at the very picturesque setting
of the Briggs & Stratton Motorplex inside of the
even more famous Road America road-course in Elkhart
Lake, Wisconsin. The sun and some warm temperatures
actually made an appearance and stayed for the day.
Throwing in a large contingent of spectators, along
with some exciting supermotard action, made for a very
hot day of racing.
Ben Carlson stayed true to form, taking the Premier
Supermotard class final win by a margin of over 25 seconds.
Carlson was riding his First Concrete Cutters of Wisconsin/Strobel
Oil/Orca Investments/4&6 Racing/Two Brothers Construction/Torque
Center/MotoMasterUSA/Glenn Curtiss sponsored Husqvarna
NOX at a very quick pace. At the start of the heat race,
Jesse Janisch, rode his Pro Plates, DGTR Metal Works,
Torque Center, Southeast Sales, Mid-Cities Motorsports
sponsored Honda CR250 to the front of the field. He
led the pack up the hill with Carlson, Shane Myers,
John Altmann, and Jeremy DeRuyter close behind. Carlson
made a couple of moves early in the first lap as the
leaders came through the off-chamber, downhill section
of the track. Janisch had him covered until they hit
the infield portion. Carlson made a move stick and started
to pull some distance on the pack of riders battling
for the second spot. Carlson never looked back and took
the victory with Janisch holding on for the second position.
Altmann grabbed the third spot with Scott Diedrich taking
4th and Myers, riding his new Husqvarna TE570, took
the 5th spot.
The Premier Supermotard final saw a lot of the same
riders doing battle at the front of the field. This
time it was Carlson jumping out to grab the lead at
the start with Janisch, DeRuyter, Diedrich, and Altmann
following behind. It was apparent that Carlson was on
a mission. He had a 10-bike gap back to the second place
rider after the fist lap. That grew to a 20 second lead
at the finish of the 12 lap final event.
The fight for the second spot was a little more interesting.
Janisch had his hands full as DeRuyter put on an awesome
show of his dirt-track abilities. The hard charging
rider took his Innovative Technologies/Cedar Creek Motorsports
sponsored Honda CRF450 to an eventual 5th position.
This was after many laps of long lurid sideways action
both going into and coming out of many of the tracks
tight turns. For four laps he was working Janisch. And
the harder he tried, the farther back he slipped. Diedrich
made it by on lap 5 and Altmann, with his Fuel Café/SB
Construction sponsored KTM, slipped past on lap 6. And
it stayed that way to the end of the race. Final order
was Carlson, Janisch, Diedrich, Altmann and DeRuyter.
The Middleweight Supermotard Class saw a change in
winners. Ron Zastrow was the man in the right place
at the end of the 12 lap main…in front. But believe
me, he worked for it.
The heat race saw Yamaha mounted Jim Thompson and Ron
Zastrow jump to the lead as Honda mounted Scott Diedrich
and Matt Jensen follow in pursuit. The first five laps
were some of the closest racing in Middleweight competition
yet, as Thompson, Zastrow and Diedrich diced it up at
the front of the pack. Diedrich, on his Caolle Bros.&Diedrich/Pro
Motorsports sponsored CRF450, moved into the second
position on the 4th lap. He got past Thompson for the
lead on the 6th lap. He managed a gap of about 10 bike
lengths back to the 2nd place rider at the checkered
flag. Thompson, Zastrow, Jensen and Yamaha mounted Andy
Mauk filled out the top 5.
The Middleweight Supermotard class final even more
exciting then the heat race. The start of the race had
both Zastrow and Diedrich running side by side going
into the first turn. Neither rider looked like they
were going to let up. A couple of bumps and some leaning
on each other led to Diedrich getting by to lead the
group up into the hairpin. Zastrow would not give up.
The Fuel Café/The Shop sponsored rider knew that
his 17" shod Yamaha YZF was easier to ride then
the 19" dirt-track tired racers in the tighter
infield section. He kept working Diedrich, looking for
that way to slip past him. He patiently watched him
for 10 laps to see where he could make his move. On
the 11th lap, he struck. Going into the chicane, he
stayed on the throttle just a little bit longer, out-braked
him into the first right-hander and moved into the lead.
He then used a few lapped bikes to keep the lead to
the end. The final finish was Zastrow, Diedrich, Thompson,
Mauk and Jensen.
The combined race action of Sport Motard and Lightweight
Supermotard made another tight, action filled event.
Newcomer Sven Bley grabbed the holeshot and led the
group into the chicane for the first lap. Sport Motard
racer Shane Myers moved to the overall lead on the 2nd
lap, with Lightweight competitor Steve Reinke stalking
his every move. Bley, William Rowe, and Steve Johnson
were making up the fight for the 3rd spot, until Rowe
had an untimely get-off in the last turn. Steve Reinke
then grabbed the lead from Myers on lap 7 and was never
headed. Myers, knowing he was winning the Sport classes
and that he still had to compete in the Premier class
final, stayed it the second overall position to the
end. Bley, Johnson, and Rick Goldberg filled out the
overall top five.
Results
Premier Supermotard 1.Ben Carlson (Hus) 2. Jesse Janisch
(Hon) 3. Scott Diedrich (Hon) 4. John Altmann (KTM)
5.Jeremy DeRuyter (Hon)
Middleweight Supermotard 1. Ron Zastrow (Yam) 2. Scott
Diedrich (Hon) 3.Jim Thompson (Yam) 4.Andy Mauk (Yam)
5.Matt Jensen (Hon)
Lightweight Supermotard 1.Steve Reinke (Hon) 2. Sven
Bley (Hon) 3. Rick Goldberg (Yam) 4. Jason King (Hon)
5.Matthew Michalski (Hon)
Sport Motard 1. Shane Myers (Hus) 2. Scott Johnson
(Hon) 3. Alex Bub (Hsb) 4.William Rowe (Hon) 5. Michael
DeWalt (Yam)
Sport Mini-Motard 1. James Bach (Hon) 2. Brett Boyd
(Hon) 3. Mark Zahlke (Hon) 4. Matt Jensen (Hon) 5. Lindsey
Mauk (Hon)
Premier Mini-Motard 1.James Bach (Hon) 2. Brett Boyd
(Hon) 3. Keith Summers (Kaw) 4. Mitch Pimental (Yam)
Derbi Cup 1.William Rowe (Derbi) 2. George Vuckovich
(Derbi)
|
