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Steets of Willow - RR
Small track, Big fun I @ streets of willow
The first West Coast AHRMA road racing national of 2021 The roadracing community welcomed almost a dozen new featured a new track and new racers. members who participated in the AHRMA Academy of
The 2021 Bridgestone Tires AHRMA National Historic Cup Road Racing. Kat Diamond, from Los Angeles, CA, riding an Roadracing Series almost stock Honda CB160 was new racer taking class with event April 17 and 18 at the Streets of Willow in Rosamond, her husband Mitsuhiro Kiyonaga on a 1970 Honda CB750. California, was the first time AHRMA had visited the 1.6 “Originally it was my idea,” he said, “but now she loves it.” mile-track located directly north of the “big” Willow Jim Deckert, from Long Beach, CA, was full of Springs International Raceway. “Streets” was the perfect enthusiasm, “This is my first time riding and it’s loads of descriptor as the technical course included significant fun.” Deckert picked racing with AHRMA, “Because of elevation changes and pavement quality the class, we’re on the CB160 and I felt it’s a great starting similar to a rustic, Sierra- point.” Michael Enns Nevada mountain Samantha Doffo, from Temecula, CA, said she started Photo: etechphoto road. racing with AHRMA because, “I had no choice, my Dad, my brother and the whole family race with AHRMA and if I wanted to race this was it for me. It was absolutely the right choice, and I had a blast.” Highlights from the weekend show how both new and veteran AHRMA racers responded to the Streets of Willow track. Race 1 Christopher Akaydin, Mitchell Barnes, Marcelo Doffo climbed onto the CB160 Exhibition race podium in that order on Saturday. Akaydin, from Louisville, Kentucky, said, with a grin, his secret to winning was, “To make sure I take the pass on the last turn, so I can get to the checkers first. That’s what I did on the last lap and the last turn.”
April 16-18, 2021 || By: David Stark
Same results on Sunday with just hundredths of a second between the trio.
In Class C Hand Shift, it was Ralph Wessell besting Lewis Leonard both days while Gary Roper and Grant Spence went one-two in Class C Footshift Saturday and Sunday.
Race 2
On the West Coast, 350GP is turning into a four-stroke vs. two-stroke, Aermacchi vs. Kawaski grudge match featuring winner Walt Fulton, Brian Filo second, and Ian Yater third Saturday and Sunday.
Filo found the race was full of surprises, saying, “It was a great race, I didn’t even know Ian Yater was behind me until he went by me going into the bowl. I gave Walt a look a couple times, where I got up alongside him, but I had a good drive coming out of turn four or five, I showed him a wheel but that was about it, I didn’t want to stick it in there, I can’t do that to Walt Fulton, that would be bad.”
Asked for his side of the story, Fulton chuckled and said, “There’s not much to tell. He kept sticking a wheel under me and I said, ‘stop it’ and I put an end to it.” Comparing the tight Streets of Willow track with the larger track he would race on the following week, Fulton said, “This track fits the Sprint, out there it probably favors the two-stroke and so we’ll just have to wait and see.” Formula 125 featured two racing machines that were both designed for very different missions. Michael Enns won both days on a 1972 Yamaha CS5 while his competition, Laf Young, was on an eye-popping and highly developed Husqvarna 175 dirt bike converted into a roadracer. Enns explained the secret to his victory, “Trying to figure out how to pass Laf Young who was on a much faster bike. It took two laps to find his weak spot, I finally found it and from there it was just a matter of building some distance, and it worked.” Enns commented that aside from a kill switch that was “a disaster,” his Yamaha twin ran well.
Race 3 Simon Brown and Marc Brown dominated Sportsman 350 all weekend. Simon Brown, representing the Seattle Cretins, said, “The Cretins did really well, we came down and every Cretin who entered came away with trophies because we’re an awesome motorcycle club.”
Race 4 The modern sidecar rigs put on a show with US F1 combo, Juchli and Kautzky, winning Race Four overall after a nice dice with US F2 class winners Stull and Zoeller. The quartet repeated their performances on Sunday with the F2 rig just over a second behind the F1 rig at the finish.
Marc Brown chasing Simon Brown Photo: etechphoto
Race 5
The crowded starting grid illustrated the popularity of AHRMA’s ‘80s and ‘90s sportbike
William Becker driver (Left/Below)/Daniel Bergeron passenger Pit Photo by: Daniel Bergeron / Race Photo: etechphoto
classes while also having some ‘70s flair.
Wyatt Vandergeest showed the 30-yearold Honda NT650GT Hawk is still a legitimate race bike by winning Sound of Thunder 3. Nathan Jessup took second with another noted Hawk racer, Chuck Burnett ,completing the podium. Burnett said after his race on Saturday, “It’s still fun even though I’m old and the bike’s old, we still have fun out there. It keeps me young.”
Asked what stock parts are left on his Hawk, Burnett pondered the question then said, “Not sure; it would have to be the valve covers.” About famed Hawk tuner and racer, Kiyo Watanabe, who was keeping careful watch over Burnett, he said, “Kiyo is the man, he’s the guy who builds these things to go fast.” The BOT 2 podium showcased 20 years of motorcycle tech. Eric Bracken took checkers while Pat Wilkening, who was aboard an early ‘90s Ducati 900 took second over Triumph Thruxton-mounted Mike Blankenship. On Sunday, Wilkening hustled the classic Ducati to a race win. Two very different Yamahas squared off in Formula 750. Race winner Brian Filo was aboard his highly developed, custom-framed XS650-motored machine while his competition, and AHRMA Academy of Road Racing instructor Mark Morrow, was on an equally fettled RD400.
Morrow said the weekend was, “A lot of fun, we had a great school with really polite, friendly, attentive, and amusing students, and also some of them are pretty fast. I had some good results, a little bit of drama, some mechanical issues, but overcame some stuff and I’m ready to come back next week and have more fun.”
Andrew Mauk, on an unassuming Honda Interceptor bested some exotic machinery to take victory in Next Gen Superbike Lightweight over Cameron Crockett, Shawn Woolery on Saturday and Sunday.
Scott Fabbro had a busy weekend. In addition to handling most of the announcing duties, he rode to victory in Next Gen Superbike besting new racer Jim Barker. Barker traveled from Colorado to join the AHRMA family on a rarely seen Yamaha FZ700.
Race 6 Another new, and fast, face was Saturday’s Sound of Singles 3 winner Jonathan Schendel who, along with second place finisher Stephen Gillen, showed that two-stroke GP bikes are still potent. In third place, KTM-mounted Damian Doffo proved four-strokes can make the podium, too. Another KTM showed up on Sunday with Christopher Akaydin taking the third step.
Schendel, who has raced with various organizations, said his experience with AHRMA was, ”The best time because of all the people. The people are great,
Craig Grantham Photo: etechphoto
Gary Roper Photo: etechphoto
eclectic, the differences, the family atmosphere, the environment. Everybody is just phenomenal.” About his race victories in Sound of Singles 3 and Open Two-Stroke, he said, “Peter LeDuc gave me a bike to race, and it was great to go one and one. I have my tuner and my bike provider to thank for it.”
Race 7
On Saturday, Simon Brown, fresh off his Sportsman 350 victory came back to win Sportsman 500 with Gary Swan and AHRMA Trustee Luke Sayer joining him. Kevin Hipp took checkers on Sunday with Brown and Sayer second and third.
Two California-based racers, Jeff Elings and Clinton Whitehouse, used their knowledge of the Streets of Willow course to take first and second on Saturday in Formula 500. Daniel Bergeron, who served double duty as a sidecar passenger on the winning SC3 sidecar rig, was on the third step of the podium on a Yamaha RD350. He said, “short tracks really favor the RD.” Another RD racer took the win on Sunday: Mark Morrow. Elings and Beregeron were second and third.
Race 8
BMW R9Ts in race trim are formidable as Gary Orr proved by winning BOT 1 and Race eight overall. Jonathan Schendel was back in Open Two-Stroke on a 125cc GP bike to best a field of much larger machines both Saturday and Sunday.
Race 9
On Saturday, 200GP had almost a dozen entries. After six laps, it was Christopher Akaydin topping Damian Doffo, and Mitchell Barnes. Barnes traveled from Louisville Kentucky with a contingent of racers. Reflecting on the 200GP race, Barnes said, “I had a good race but the CB160 exhibition was a better race because I finished second. I followed my friend Chris, who’s pumped up his bike, we had a lot of fun and it’s been a good experience.”
In Pre-1940, Ralph Wessell dominated Gary Roper and Lewis Leonard both days.
Race 10 On Saturday, Gary Orr was back on the BMW to win Sound of Thunder 2, while David Crussell, who borrowed his wife Lorraine’s 1989 Yamaha TZ250, took second over Nathan Jessup. Orr and Jessup repeated on Sunday while Paul Sainthon took second. Asked about which of the multiple classes he entered was most entertaining, Crussell said, “I’ve got to say it was the Sound of Thunder race that I was riding the TZ250 in. It was the first time racing that bike and I got a second, which was rather good, on a last-lap pass. It’s a great little bike.” In Next Gen Superbike 2 Eric Bracken beat Aprilla-mounted Brian Herzfeldt to the checkers on Saturday, but Herzfeld was able to take the win Sunday.
Daniel Bergeron Photo: etechphoto
Mark Muraoka (935), Ladja Sucik (102) Photo: etechphoto
Race 11 500 Premiere is the 2021 AHRMA Vintage Cup Featured Class, and Andrew Mauk won both days aboard a 450cc Honda CR 500 replica.
Asked how the half-century-old bike handled the challenging Streets of Willow track, Mauk said, “It was bumpy and the suspension on the 1969 Honda isn’t quite set up for the bumps. But, as far as the technicality of the track, and all the turns in just 1.6 miles, it was pretty impressive how I whipped it around, back and forth.”
Jeff Elings, took second both days abord a 1958 Matchless G50. Elings said, “I really like it on a tight track, it’s very narrow and just kind of cruises around the tight corners. And it takes a lot less shifting than a two-stroke.”
Alan Siekman finished third both days. The event marked his return to the track after a two-year hiatus and was the maiden voyage for his motorcycle. Siekman was aboard a Honda CR450 replica. “It’s based on the bike Jimmy Odom rode at Daytona in 1967.” The actual Odom bike is owned by a friend who allowed Siekman to study, measure and replicate every nuance. “I was able to copy the frame modifications that Honda did exactly. This bike is measured and made off one of the three original bikes.”
Race 12
Formula Thunder was a battle of the ages. Race winner Gary Orr on his modern BMW was kept honest by veteran hot shoe Curtis Adams on a vintage Honda Superbike.
Adams said he purchased the 1981 Honda 750 ready to race and his first experience on a vintage race bike was during a MotoAmerica event in 2020. While Adams is new to AHRMA, he said of the Streets of Willow course, “I’ve got a lot of laps around this place, it’s pretty comfortable for me and I know where you can go and where you can’t go.” Asked about racing with AHRMA, he said, “It’s a lot of fun, a great group, very professional, everybody is here for enjoyment and not just the sheer competition of winning.”
On racing a vintage bike, he said, “It’s a lot of fun. I started racing in 1984 so my first bike was a single-shock FZ750 or FJ1100, so I never had the opportunity to ride the twin-shock bikes. You might think they are archaic and ancient, but they’re not. They’re still race bikes, and they get around a really well and they’re a lot of fun to ride.”
Formula Lighting electrified Race 12—literally. On Saturday, Mark Muraoka, AHRMA Executive Director, Curtis Comer and Richard Illman filled the podium. On Sunday, Nicholas Ostrom took the third step.
Muroka, racing a Zero SRS, described a shocking moment, “I had a little excursion into the dirt coming out of the last turn onto the front straight, luckily I saved it. The bike felt really good; it’s basically stock and it held up for the race just fine. I was really proud to come in first for my first time with AHRMA and third overall during the Sound of Thunder and Formula Lightning race.”
Race 13
Curtis Adams was back in Vintage Superbike Heavyweight pitting his Honda against Kawasaki Z1R racer David Crussell and third place finisher Carry Andrew. On Sunday, Scott Fabbro used the entire race to plot a move that led to the third step on the podium.
“Kerry is such a great competitor, we were just measuring each other’s weak points,” Fabbro said. “He gapped me a little bit but slowly but surely I began to reel him back in. I didn’t want to show him a wheel, I figured I’d wait until the last lap, I did and dove hard out of the bowl and was able to motor past him. Symbiotically what happened is he ran a little wide and got off into the marbles and got a little wobble that allowed me to motor down the back straight and go a little deep under braking into the last sequence of turns.”
On Saturday, Damian Doffo fired up his KTM again and won Sound of Singles 2 with fellow KTM pilot Christopher Akaydin second and Ted Kasparian completing the podium. On Sunday, Doffo won again with Daniel Zoeller taking second and Akaydin third.
Thanks to all the AHRMA staff and volunteers for another spectacular weekend. The best part of the whole experience? We only have to wait a week to do it all over again.
Paul Sainthon (888), Ted Kasparian (885), Shawn Woolery (758) Photo: etechphoto
