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 |
