Rispoli Takes 5th SuperSport Win at Laguna

2012 AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport

GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing’s first race of the weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will be a hard one to top in the excitement department.

James Rispoli won the AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport race on Saturday over Hayden Gillim by just 0.036 of a second with a thrilling last-turn maneuver. The Celtic Racing/Orient Express Racing Suzuki GSX-R600 pilot came closer to clinching the Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport West division championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, but will have to wait until the final round before he can claim the number-one plate as his strongest championship rival Gillim kept his chances alive.

Rispoli led most of the 16-lap race, but Gillim on the RoadRace Factory/Red Bull Yamaha YZF-R6 harassed him from the opening turns. Rispoli was able to just keep his fellow dirt-tracker at bay as the duo moved away from the rest of the field. Both riders had moments, with Rispoli nearly highsiding in the Corkscrew and Gillim being forced onto the astroturf in the final turn.

As the white flag flew, Rispoli knew he would encounter a move from Gillim, and it came in turn five; a bold outside pass Gillim was able to convert. Rispoli’s only chance came at getting a better drive out of the final turn and he made it happen to earn the win when Gillim went a little wide.

James Rispoli (Celtic Racing/Orient Express Racing Suzuki GSX-R 600) says: “As soon as he got by, I tried to get the run back and pass him. Through Rainey Curve, I wasn’t close enough but I thought, ‘This isn’t over.’ Once I saw him a smidge off line, I was on the gas trying to make a run.”

It was Rispoli’s fifth win of the year, and he now leads AMA Pro Motorcycle-SuperStore.com SuperSport West by 60 with just one event and two rounds to go.

Garrett Willis (GWR Kawasaki) earned his first-ever AMA Pro podium by beating out Jake Lewis (Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki) by just 0.001. Corey Alexander (National Guard Fairhills Group Celtic Racing) was fifth, ahead of Stefano Mesa (Kneedraggers.com Yamaha) and Elena Myers (Suzuki SportBikeTrackGear.com).

2012 Laguna Seca AMA SuperSport Results:

Pos	No.	Rider(s)	Sponsor	Bike	Interval	Gap	Best Lap	Points
1.	1	James Rispoli	Celtic racing ·Orient Express Racing ·Army…	Suzuki GSX-R600	16 Laps	WINNER	1:29.487	47
2.	69	Hayden Gillim	RoadRace Factory ·Bell Helmets ·Teknic Leathers…	Yamaha YZF-R6	0.035	0.035	1:29.405	46
3.	80	Garrett Willis	GWR ·Leo Vince ·Dr. David Benkle ·Rod Lake…	Kawasaki ZX-6R	7.385	7.349	1:29.556	39
4.	85	Jake Lewis	Riders Discount ·Vesrah ·MCJ Motorsports ·American…	Suzuki GSX-R600	7.387	0.001	1:29.815	0
5.	5	Corey Alexander	National Guard ·Fairhills Group ·Celtic ·Hudson…	Suzuki GSX-R600	10.045	2.658	1:29.865	0
6.	37	Stefano Mesa	Kneedragger.com ·Galfer ·Bell ·Regina ·Yamaha…	Yamaha YZF-R6	12.859	2.813	1:29.644	0
7.	21	Elena Myers	Suzuki ·SportbikeTrackGear.com ·M4 ·Arai ·Lucas…	Suzuki GSX-R600	16.359	3.499	1:30.416	26
8.	12	Tomas Puerta	Road Race Factory ·Yamaha ·American Supercamp…	Yamaha YZF-R6	19.098	2.739	1:30.409	0
9.	73	Sebastiao Ferreira	Meen Motorsport ·Life in Christ Ministry ·Doug…	Yamaha YZF-R6	20.581	1.482	1:30.182	26
10.	4	Travis Ohge	Rotobox ·Nexx ·Yamaha Graves ·Goldfren…	Yamaha YZF-R6	20.670	0.088	1:30.447	20
11.	122	Ryan Matter	Gearzy ·Shoei ·ACT Racing ·Deucebrand ·Penske…	Yamaha YZF-R6	29.847	9.177	1:30.902	20
12.	150	Wyatt Farris	Mach 1 Motorsports ·The Jon Block Group ·FMF ·CT…	Yamaha YZF-R6	31.559	1.711	1:31.250	16
13.	100	Matthew Sadowski	Topshelf Motorcycles ·Arai ·RS TAichi ·Ohlins ·EBC…	Suzuki GSX-R600	31.862	0.303	1:31.244	12
14.	606	Colter Dimick	A.C.E.S.Motorcycles.com ·Tri-City Cycle ·M1…	Yamaha YZF-R6	33.024	1.162	1:31.473	13
15.	814	Javelin Broderick	Dynojet Research ·Diablo Racing ·YAMAHA Racing…	Yamaha YZF-R6	38.038	5.013	1:31.304	14
16.	99	David Sadowski, Jr.	FleetBroke ·Castrol ·AXO ·Spy ·SBS Performance	Suzuki GSX-R600	41.524	3.485	1:31.496	0
17.	13	Charles Weaver	Weaver Racing ·EDR Performance ·Suomy Helmets…	Yamaha YZF-R6	44.283	2.759	1:31.825	5
18.	48	Tyler Linders	Rotobox ·Nexx ·Yamaha ·Cortech ·Hypercycle ·Share…	Yamaha YZF-R6	44.731	0.448	1:32.021	6
19.	250	Nadr Riad	Meen Motorsports ·San Jose Yamaha ·Galfer ·K Tech…	Yamaha YZF-R6	49.152	4.421	1:31.958	2
20.	17	Zach Herrin	Yamaha Corp. ·Graves Motorsports ·Yamaha of Byron…	Yamaha YZF-R6	51.546	2.393	1:32.384	0
21.	63	Devon McDonough	Motorcycle Superstores ·Alpinestars ·Bell Helmets…	Yamaha YZF-R6	1:04.602	13.056	1:32.986	2
22.	53	Lucas Huff	Rotobox ·Nexx ·Yamaha ·Graves ·NCompass ·Dunlop…	Yamaha YZF-R6	1:05.546	0.943	1:32.550	0
23.	161	Sahar Zvik	Vortex ·Leo Vince ·ASV ·Galfer ·Optimal Racing	Yamaha YZF-R6	1:05.637	0.090	1:32.282	0
24.	7	Roi Holster	GMAC Insurance ·Mach One Motorsport ·JPH…	Yamaha YZF-R6	1:05.797	0.159	1:32.858	0
25.	57	Thomas G. Montano	Vehicle Systems ·Arai ·Mach 1 ·SPS ·Motorex…	Honda CBR600RR	1:06.727	0.930	1:32.930	0
26.	41	Matt Schrag	Kneedraggers.com ·Motul ·FLY Racing ·TwoBrothers…	Yamaha YZF-R6	1:26.831	20.104	1:33.252	0
27.	228	Neill Herbert	Baby Appleseed ·Cycle Mall ·Act Racing	Yamaha YZF-R6	1:31.853	5.022	1:34.660	0
28.	144	Oscar Covarrubias	Kyle Racing ·Arai Helmets ·Attack Kawasaki ·Audio…	Kawasaki ZX-6R	15 Laps	1 Lap	1:36.073	0
29.	152	Loren Black	Blackout Racing ·GPR Stabilizer ·EBC ·ASV ·Leo…	Yamaha YZF-R6	1.849	1.849	1:34.074	0
30.	131	Bruce Bleecker	Catalyst Reaction Suspension Tuning ·Areln Ness…	Yamaha YZF-R6	3.531	1.681	1:35.981	0
31.	67	Michael Pond	TunedIndustries.com ·ADR ·NEXX Helmets ·Dyno-Jet…	Yamaha YZF-R6	4.988	1.456	1:35.847	0
32.	86	Danielle Diaz	La Fiesta Restaurant ·Top 1 Oil ·JB Suspension…	Suzuki GSX-R600	6.071	1.083	1:35.579	0
33.	61	JC Gibbs	Ross Brown Motorcycle Attorney ·JC Painting…	Yamaha YZF-R6	6.416	0.344	1:36.108	0
34.	321	Greg Schmidt	The S Shop ·Desmoto Sport ·Simon`s Auto Werks…	Ducati 848	8.127	1.711	1:36.420	0
35.	111	Jorge Castro	Metric Method ·CT Racing ·Trackdaz ·In House…	Yamaha YZF-R6	10.314	2.187	1:35.851	0
36.	136	Marcus Wilkerson	Outlaw Racing ·ADR ·Diablo ·Trackoholics ·Vortex…	Yamaha YZF-R6	22.484	12.170	1:36.111	0
37.	411	Nick Grice	Klen Laundry ·Powerbar ·GoPro ·Justin`s Motion Pro	Yamaha YZF-R6	29.508	7.024	1:35.695	0
38.	113	Ricky Brown	Racer 13 ·Lucky 13 ·Galfer ·Scorpion Helmets…	Suzuki GSX-R600	31.918	2.409	1:37.222	0
39.	713	Jon Appelt	R Tillery Powersports ·SBK Paint	Yamaha YZF-R6	36.485	4.566	1:37.930	0
40.	104	Ryan Haddock	Jason Disalvo Speed Academy ·Motorcycle Superstore…	Yamaha YZF-R6	54.217	17.731	1:34.833	0
41.	18	Luke Luciano	Zone 9 Racing ·KFG Racing ·Vortex ·Fuzimoto…	Yamaha YZF-R6	13 Laps	2 Laps	1:41.122	0
42.	49	Howard Crow	Ducati Seattle ·KFG Racing ·GP Suspension	Ducati 848	12 Laps	1 Lap	1:36.076	0
43.	395	Aaron Hersh	Gearzy ·Motorex ·Hotbodies ·Vortex ·STS ·Speigler…	Yamaha YZF-R6	6 Laps	6 Laps	1:36.119	0
44.	340	Jacob Brown	Five-O Racing ·SDS Performance ·Galfer ·KFG Racing…	Yamaha YZF-R6	0 Laps	6 Laps	-no times-	0
45.	68	Dustin Dominguez	Castrol ·Triumph ·GE Capital ·Freedom Road…	Triumph Daytona 675	DNS	DNS	-no times-	0
46.	428	Josh Chisum	Doug Chandler ·Scrybblade ·RS Taichi ·Troy Lee…	Honda CBR600RR	DNS	DNS	-no times-	0
47.	36	Andrew Artola	Attack Performance ·Arai ·West Coast GP Cycles…	Yamaha YZF-R6	DNS	DNS	-no times-	0