XTRM/AMA Supermoto Championship Series Round #2 Race Report
Rosamond, CA - The weather at Round #2 of the XTRM/AMA Supermoto Championship Series at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California was hot, and so was the four rider CHM Supermoto Racing Team!
After an impressive first round at California Speedway where new addition to the team, French National Champion, Sylvain Bidart, rode to an impressive second place finish in the Premier/450 class, accompanied by teammates Micky Dymond in fourth and Jason Conlon in 9th, improving on that impressive day would be the focus, and the CHM Supermoto Racing Team did just that!
Timed practice: A set of timed practice sessions set the grid for the two Premier class heat races, as well as one for the 250/Lites, and one for the Unlimited class. Sylvain Bidart again rode fast, immediately, without ever having seen the track before, and would start next to pole sitter Mark Burkhart in his heat race along with teammate Micky Dymond on the front row. In the other heat race, Jason Conlon would be right behind polesitter, Jeff Ward. Dustin Hoffman would start on the second row of his Lites heat race, having set the fifth fastest time in practice.
Heat Races: Lites First up would be Dustin in the Lites Heat race and young Dustin ran in the lead pack most of the race until pushing it a little too hard in the fast right hander leading to the final turn and fell in the dirt and grass off track, luckily he was able to re-start and his finish put him on the second row.
Premier 1: In the first heat race for the Premier/450 class it would be Jason Conlon starting behind Jeff Ward on the pole. Jason rode a hard and smart race to finish fourth behind Heat 1 winner Brandon Currie, Jeff Ward and Supercross/Arenacross convert and early race leader, Derek Costella.
Premier 2: The final Heat race of the day featured Sylvain Bidart and Micky Dymond both on the front row alongside Mark Burkhart. Sylvain got the hole shot with Burkhart right behind him and Micky right behind Burkhart. Sylvain battled hard with the 2007 AMA Champ and at the flag it was Sylvain 2nd and Micky right behind him in 3rd.
Main Events: Lites. Dustin was very disappointed with his late crash in his heat race that relegated him to the second row starting position but he was confident and determined to make amends for it with a good start and race in the main. The good start was not to happen as the clutch in Dustin’s CRF250R was dragging just enough to bog the motor as he waited for the flag to drop. Riding maturely though, Dustin made his moves and picked off rider after rider and then finally getting past Jeff Wards son, Brandon Ward, for third and then stretching a gap and holding it to the end. After the race, Dustin almost turned around as he rode to the podium area, not sure if he had actually finished in the top three. On the podium, Dustin’s champagne experience was a little lacking and it took a little bit to get the cork uncovered and into spray mode, but after getting completely drenched by winner Danny Casey, he returned the favor with his own Champagne spray. After his difficult heat race, the jubilation was like the champagne….overflowing!
Dustin Hoffman 3rd:
Premier/450 Main: With three very fast and talented riders in the Premier class of the XTRM/AMA series, the main event was highly anticipated by the team and the drama of the race turned out to be both good and bad. The front row of the grid had Sylvain on the outside with both Micky Dymond and Jason Conlon on the second row of the 24 rider grid. With the drop of the checkered flag it was Sylvain getting the holeshot from the outside of the front row with Derek Costella and Mark Burkhart right behind him. Jason Conlon had a great start in 5th and Micky was right behind him in 6th. Sylvain held the lead for the first lap with Mark Burkhart right behind him the whole time after passing Costella. Burkhart would get past and Sylvain who would then run second for three laps before a mistake in the dirt section handed second to teammate Micky Dymond with the third CHM 450 rider, Jason Conlon, now in 3rd! Sylvain re-started but was caught behind a pack of fast riders and it took him 3 or 4 laps to dispose of them. In the meantime, 3 time AMA Champion, Jeff Ward, had gotten by Jason and but it was still CHM with 2nd and 4th spots. Micky was riding flawlessly and looked to have 2nd spot in the bag when a lapper blocked him accidentally going into the tight first turn at the end of the front straight. Micky had to take to the dirt to avoid him and dropped the bike in the process. While he re-started, Jason assumed 3rd place behind now second place Ward. Behind all the mayhem that was taking place with Micky, Sylvain was riding like a Frenchman possessed and along with Burkhart was the fastest rider on the track. Hitting his marks and making aggressive and clean passes, Sylvain caught Jason and then Ward to move into second spot just two laps from the finish of the race. What could’ve been a 2,3,4 finish was for the second race in a row a 2, 4 finish. With his second place finish again, Sylvain is now part of a three way battle for the Premier Class Championship, trailing both Ward and Burkhart by just one point!
Sylvain Bidart: 2nd Jason Conlon: 4th Micky Dymond: 6th
Team manager Roger Hensley was obviously thrilled with two of his four riders making the podium, and once again the team had an excellent and very successful race weekend. Said Hensley “I’m extremely happy for Dustin and Sylvain putting our bikes on the box today, and very satisfied with the way all four of our boys rode. We are anticipating a fifth rider to join us at Vegas who is a countryman of Sylvain and we should be even MORE of a force then. I’m really really looking forward to the next round, I want to see us fill that podium again!”
It’s now less than two weeks to Round #3 of the XTRM/AMA Supermoto Championship Series which will take place at the SouthPoint Casino in Las Vegas May 29-31.
The “heat” wasn’t confined to the weather report this past Sunday in Sonoma, California, as the CHM Exhaust/Pro Honda Oils/Sunoco Race Fuels Supermoto Racing Team once again lit it up, and are the team to beat in Pro Supermoto in the USA!
The CHM Team would like to thank their sponsors: CHM Exhaust, Pro Honda Oils, Sunoco Race Fuels, Supermoto Engineering/SME, Alpinestars, Dunlop.