Willow Springs Raceway - RR

Willow By: David Stark / etechphoto Springs i Raceway April 23-25 i

2021 Bridgestone Tires AHRMA National Historic Cup Roadracing Series

Regardless of the size or age of your motorcycle, Willow Springs will test you. On paper, the 3.2 mile, nine-turn track isn’t intimidating. But AHRMA doesn’t race on paper. It races on pavement. It races against the wind. It races through uphill, downhill, off-camber, and decreasing radius corners. It races on half-mile long straights. It races, throttles pinned, across rippled, bouncy pavement.

Did I mention the wind? The wind hits you from the front, scrubbing speed, it hits you from the side, pushing you offline, it hits you from behind, going downhill and everything gets quiet, and you go really, really fast. This is racing at “Big” Willow. 25 years ago, Yoshi Kosaka had a vision to bring AHRMA to the Fastest Road in the West. That vision turned into an annual reality that has included the Motoclassica bike show, a swap meet, priceless machines turning race-pace parade laps, and even Jay Leno once arriving on a gas turbinepowered motorcycle.

Kosaka was honored as the Grand Marshal during the event April 23 and 24 at Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, CA. His involvement was more than ceremonial. Kosaka also raced his vintage superbike hard, earning podium finishes.

Highlights from each event showed how racers managed the wind and the competition. Race 1

The weekend got off to an inauspicious start as an incident with a Class C Footshift racer during the first lap brought out the red flag. The second iteration launched without incident. Four laps later, there was less than five thousandths of a second between 200GP race winner Gabriel Droetti and Christopher Akaydin, while Damian Doffo took third. In what may be a new AHRMA record, there were four other Doffos in 200 GP: Marcello, Maria, Brigette, and Samantha. The Sunday podium featured the same Droetti, Akaydin, Doffo podium.

In Formula 125, Laf Young from Maui, Hawaii, on his 175cc Husqvarna held off Michael Enns and his 1972 Yamaha CS5 two-stroke twin during Saturday’s race. On Sunday, the victory came down to Young winning a drag race with Enns to reach the checkers first by just over a halfsecond.

Race 2

Vintage Superbike Heavyweight was a brawl on Saturday. Race winner Curtis Adams initially had his hands full with Mark Miller who had to retire on the second lap. Carry Andrew moved into second place after dicing with David Crussell. In the midst of the melee, Darrin Gauvin moved past Crussell and found his way onto the podium in third with Crussell fourth. Slightly off the box, Peter Hokenstad had words with track announcer Scott Fabbro before taking sixth. On Sunday, Miller rebounded for the victory with Adams second and Andrew third.

On Saturday, Sound of Singles 2 winner Damian Doffo stormed away from Marc Rittner and Ted Kasparian. But Sunday’s race ended with a photo-finish. Kasparian used a one-thousandth of a second lead to take the victory over Doffo.

Race 3

Nathan Kern, on a BMW R9T, grabbed the holeshot in Sound of Thunder 2 on Saturday. But four laps later, Gary Orr, also on a R9T, tracked down Kern then checked out for the win. An incident resulted in Wyatt Vandergeest out of the race with a badly damaged bike. But his weekend wasn’t over yet.

Sunday’s race was almost the same. Almost. Kern had the holeshot, and four laps later Orr took the lead and the win. A heroic effort by the Cretins Motorcycle Club retuned Vandergeest’s Honda NT650GT Hawk to race condition and carried him to a third-place finish. There was more drama just off the podium as David Crussell aboard his vintage Yamaha TZ700 tracked down Clint Austin on a modern BWM to take fourth while further back in the pack, noted moto journalist John Ulrich on a 250cc GP bike, stalked Nathan Jessup to eventually take ninth.

Grant Spence did his own disappearing act in Sportsman 750 to take the win over Cameron Crockett and Thomas Pillsbury on Saturday. On Sunday, the podium was the same after Pillsbury was able to hold off a hard-charging Gary Swan.

Brigitte Doffo Photo: etechphoto

Stephen Hipp stalked by his son, Kevin Hipp

Race 4

Willow Springs favors long sidecars with the motor in the back as proved by the Juchli and Kautzky team who took the holeshot on their Yamaha R1-powered rig and won Race four overall on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, in the US F2 sidecar class, Stull and Corona diced with Lindauer and Boyd before easing away for the win. Stull and Corona used an inter-class battle with Juchli and Kautzky to help them win again on Sunday. The action in Lost Era Sidecar on Saturday was for second place as the Becker and Joyce team sped away for the win. The Coleman and Carlin team pitted BWM power against the Yamaha-motored McEwen and McEwen rig and took second. Race 5

Saturday’s 200GP was a race full of races. In the early laps, eventual winner Gabriel Droetti was occupied with Christopher Akaydin before achieving a small gap and the win. Meanwhile, Damian Doffo had to earn his third-place finish during a last-lap drag race with Stephen Gillen. Off the podium, Dennis Donahoe needed his own last-lap sprint to hold back Mitchell Barnes with less than a half-second between fifth and sixth places. Allen Siekman fended off two-stroke Bridgestone-mounted Paul Piskor to take seventh. On Sunday, the podium was the same as Doffo once again had to fend off Gillen to take third.

Race 6

Nathan Jessup on a, 20-year-old Suzuki SV650, took the holeshot in Sound of Thunder 3 but it was Chuck Burnett on a 30-year-old Honda Hawk who took the win on Saturday. Mike Root returned to AHRMA racing, and the podium, taking third on his Hawk. On Sunday, Wyatt Vandergeest launched his resurrected Hawk into the hole shot, checked out on the competition, and rode to victory besting fellow Hawk racer Burnett with Nathan Jessup third.

In Formula 500 it was Yamaha RDs against the world—or at least Jeff Elings on his Patton replica. On Saturday Elings used the Italian four-stroke grunt to hold off Mark Morrow and Mark Atkinson who were both on the venerable Japanese two-strokes. Sunday’s podium was similar with Elings and Morrow tangling while Daniel Bergeron, also on an RD starting to close on Morrow but still third at the finish. 350 Sportsman is a reliable source of close racing, especially when the Hipps are involved. On Saturday, Kevin Hipp held off his father, Steven Hipp, for a photo-finish win while the affable Pacific Northwest Cretin, Simon Brown completed the podium. On Sunday, Stephen Hipp held the lead until Kevin passed him on the third lap. Drama ensued with another last-lap drag race and another Kevin Hipp win. Brown was again on the podium in third on Sunday.

It was a little less close in Vintage Superbike Lightweight on Saturday, as Ed Milich, on a Moto Guzzi, stormed off to win by more than 20 seconds. On Sunday, Connally Field motored away for the win while Lewis Leonard had a fun inter-class dice on his Honda Ascot against Sportsman 500 racer Luke Sayer.

Dave Kaechele (Driver) and Jason Vaden Morning Tech Photo: Daniel Bergeron

Race 7

Battle of the Twins 1 was dominated on Saturday by BMW R9Ts as Gary Orr, Nate Kern, and Kevin Madigan rode the German sportbikes to podium finishes. Just off the podium was Anthony Sollima on a Harley-Davidson touring bike specially prepared for “bagger” class racing.

Sollima’s Team Speed Merchant bike was based on a 2020 Harley-Davidson Street Glide and a combination of other Harley-Davidson models and aftermarket parts. The forks were adapted from a Harley “Fat Bob” with a GP cartridge kit added, while the rear suspension was upgraded to racespec remote-reservoir shocks.

Asked how it feels to put the Harley up against more traditional road racing motorcycles, Sollima said, “To me it feels like being out in the canyons except we’re chasing a flag and it’s on a racetrack. There are guys who are faster than me and guys who aren’t. Either way, I go out and have a good time.” On Sunday, Sollima picked up the pace to take third.

A new twist on the “David vs. Goliath” story played out in Open Two-Stroke on Saturday and Sunday. More specifically, David Crussell, on a Yamaha TZ700 was the “Goliath” and the winner, beating Paul Sainthon on an Aprillia RS250 Challenge Cup bike while Stephen Gillen tried to play “David” on a Honda RS125, dicing with Sainthon and eventually taking third against the larger machines.

Race 8

On Saturday, John Miles built an early race-winning lead in Nex Gen Superbike leaving Jim Barker on his unfaired Yamaha to dice with Susan Hiraoka on a tired GSXR. Hiraoka coaxed enough speed from her aging Suzuki to take second. On Sunday, Hiraoka found more life in the GSXR to take victory over Miles by less than a half-second.

Saturday’s race winter Pat Wilkening started to check out on his 1991 Ducati 900ss in Battle of the Twins 2, but Clint Austin narrowed his lead to about a half-second at the finish. Austin took the win on Sunday with Mirgliotta second.

On Saturday, Michael Root, in Next Gen Superbike 2, and Brian Filo, in Formula 750, had a few things in common: both were on twin-cylinder race bikes, Root, a Honda Hawk and Filo, a Yamaha XS650, and both won their classes by a comfortable margin.

Sunday was a different story for Next Gen Superbike 2. Shawn Woolery took the checkers by less than three tenths of a second over Cameron Crockett with Root still on the podium in third.

Sunday’s Philip Island Challenge had a dramatic turn of events mid-race. Curtis Adams had a comfortable lead over Scott Fabbro until an audible explosion, smoke and flames erupted from his bike just as he crossed the start/finish line. Adams was able to safely exit the track without leaving any debris. That left the victory to Fabbro who also diced with Formula 750 racers Mark Morrow and Brian Filo. In that duel, Filo took the Formula 750 win by just over a halfsecond.

Race 9 Gary Orr was back on his BWM R9T to win Sound of Thunder on Saturday by a 15-second margin over Steve Metz on his lurid orange and black Ducati. In a duel between Suzuki SV650s, Matthew Morse used his fraction of a second lead on Nathan Jessup to take third. On Sunday, Orr picked up another win while Metz took second with Jessup third again.

Race 10

Ed Milich stormed off, again, this time on a Ducati Pantah, to win Vintage Superbike Middleweight by more than 50 seconds.

On Saturday, David Crussell and Peter Hokenstad took first and second in Formula Vintage but the crowd favorite was the event Grand Marshal, Yoshi Kosaka who rode his vintage Superbike to third. (Gary Swan noted he hadn’t seen Yoshi run that hard in a long time.) Just off the podium, newly minted racer Mitsuhiro Kiyonaga held off Hans Hellfritsch to take fourth by less than a thousandth of a second. On Sunday, Kosaka snagged the holeshot and hung on to take second as Crussell had caught him and then sailed away for the victory. Kiyonaga completed the podium.

Andrew Mauk and Jeff Elings split wins in 500 Premiere, the AHRMA 2021 Vintage Cup featured class. Reflecting on his first visit to Willow Springs “big” track, Mauk said, “This is one of my favorite tracks. I love going fast and going technical at the same time and this track has both of those.”

Elings has decades of experience racing at Willow Springs that he didn’t keep to himself. “I was trying to show Andrew around because he’s here for the points and he’s a super-nice guy so I took him around the Omega and we came around the back and I was showing him how you can hang onto the gas until the last turn.”

Prior to Sunday’s race, Elings shared his thoughts about Mauk, “He said he actually wins Barber so I have mad respect because I can’t even get tenth at Barber. (Today) I’m going to try to beat him and maybe just show him around. He’s excited about the track.”

Mauk led Sunday’s race until Elings pounced at halfdistance and then led until the checkers.

Alan Siekman from Ben Lomond, CA, raced his Honda 450 Jimmy Odom replica, to third place on Saturday and Sunday. Reflecting on Saturday’s race, Seikman said, “The bike is handling really well, it feels good and has lots of smooth power. It dealt with the wind pretty well. I t was pushing me sideways a little bit coming around turn eight.”

Race 11

The Next Gen Superbike 2 podium on Saturday was filled with racers on a couple of big, slightly out-of-date, twins and a mature Yamaha. Brian Herzfeldt rode his 2003 Aprilia Mille R to victory with Pat Wilkening on a Honda RC51 taking second. Jim Barker was back after his AHRMA debut at Streets of Willow the previous weekend to finish the podium on his 1985 Yamaha FZ750. On Sunday, Herzfeldt left the scene quickly, Wilkening repeated his second-place finish while Susan Hiraoka got one more race out of her GSXR and took third.

With a dozen bikes on the grid, Sound of Singles 3 was one of the largest classes of the weekend. It pitted the popular KTM 390 against older, smaller 125cc pure-bred GP bikes—close racing ensued. On Saturday, the four-stroke KTMs easily beat the entire field of two-strokes off the line. Six laps later, four of the top-five were two-strokes. Damian Doffo eked out victory on his KTM over Stephen Gillen on a Honda RS125 by just over a tenth of a second. Dr. Jeff Henise was third on his Yamaha TZ125. On Sunday, Doffo had another great start, but Gillen had plans: defend the two-stroke honor. The pair eased away from the field, locked in what appeared to be a repeat of Saturday’s results. The finish came down to another drag race and this time it was Gillen arriving at the checkers just over a halfsecond before Doffo. Race 12

Walt Fulton apparently decided he had enough close racing in 350GP during the Streets of Willow round the weekend before. On Saturday, He checked out early on his Aermacchi Sprint leaving Brian Filo and Jim Neuenburg to figure out who was on the fastest two-stroke. At the finish it was Neuenburg on his Bultaco besting Filo on a Kawasaki A1R. Fulton repeated his excellent launch on Sunday and spent his race dicing with Formula 250 winner Jeff Elings. Filo struggled to get up to speed but by halfdistance he had reeled in Neuenburg and was able to take second.

Race 13

Filo was back in Saturday’s Race 13 aboard a hybrid Honda CB160/350. Gary Swan, who created the beast, shoehorned a Honda 350 motor into a Honda CB160 frame. The combination, referred to by some as “Franken-60,” had some growing pains but Filo was able to track down Kurt Hipp for a thirdplace finish. At the front of the race, Stephen Hipp lightly spanked his son Kevin, by taking the win by less than twotenths of a second. By Sunday, Filo had tamed Swan’s monster to take the win while the Hipps had yet another squabble. This time it was son Kevin besting father Stephen at the line for second place. Postscript:

This was the 25th straight year AHRMA has competed at Willow Springs Raceway, the longest running event in AHRMA Roadracing history, (Grattan and Daytona both endured for 23 years). Scott Fabbro, Jim Neuenburg and Gary Swan have ridden in all 25 events and podiumed in all 25 events.

Gary Swan said he was in his shop one day with a CB160 frame and CB350 engine lurking within close proximity. A “you don’t suppose” moment birthed an idea that turned into the aforementioned “Franken-60” experiment. It fit. It worked. It won, even with one of Gary’s B motors. Gary figures the 160 frame is nearly 20 pounds lighter than the 350 frame. This might catch on.

Brian Filo