AFM Round 1: Buttonwillow Raceway
Kenny Carlotta
We arrived at Buttonwillow on Friday the 23rd for the first round of the AFM season. We unloaded the gear, bikes and started to set up our pits getting everything ready for the next day of practice. I woke up at 7am Saturday morning with the first task to get our bikes to tech for inspection. I got suited up and went on the track for practice. I rode the Net-Moto 2007 Suzuki GSXR 600 all day working on the set up. I was only able to get down to 1:54 on it on Saturday. I knew I needed to at least get to a 1:51 to be competitive. There is a lot of talent on the AFM grid and being three seconds off I knew we still had some work to do to battle up front.
The next morning we went out for practice and I set the fastest lap of practice in my group. That brought my confidence up a lot. I was feeling better and the crew went to work to get my bike ready for 750 Production. We decided to race my 600 against the 750 bikes because it gave me a shot at more Suzuki money. It was not going to be easy though as I was almost last on the 40 rider grid due to no points in the class from ‘06. The race would start in two waves with the big bikes getting to start first. I knew that meant we would end up fighting traffic and getting as far towards the front before we got to the traffic was a key. I got a good start and immediately started to move forward. I was into the top ten when we hit the traffic and working by a 1000 on my 600 was difficult at times because of there speed advantage.
750 PRODUCTION Pos Pts AFM # Lic Name Mk/Yr Best Lap 1 74 488 E "SIGLIN, CHRIS" S07 1:51:667 2 67 115 E "WOOLDRIDGE, BERTO" S06 1:53:093 3 61 105 E "CALL, CORY" S06 1:53:031 4 56 83 E "COMBS, GARRY" S06 1:53:262 5 51 160 E "PARRIOTT, BRIAN D." BMW07 1:52:910 6 46 47 E "WILSON, SCOTT" S06 1:53:355 7 42 847 E "CARLOTTA, KENNY" S07 1:52:884 8 39 88X E "NAKASHIMA, KIM" S06 1:55:990 9 36 208 E "SEWELL, DAN" S06 1:54:735 10 34 93 E "MILES, LIKO KEOLA" S06 1:56:329
I got a decent start and the run to Turn One is always exciting. Working my way around the Buttonwillow track I found I was still having suspension trouble. The pace in this class was actually faster than the 750 Production race and a little more intense. The guys up front were railing with several dropping into the 1:49’s. I decided it was better to stay where I was than push harder and have a chance of tossing my bike.
I ended up 7th in that race also. I was only able to do a low 1:53. I am going to ride a track day soon and I hope we can sort out my suspension problems. Phil from Aftershocks is going to help me out and we are going to be changing fork springs and shock springs and mess with the chasse to make my bike work the way I would like it to. I will then be flying out after that practice to Alabama for the AMA race at Barber Motorsports Park on the 18th of April. I will keep you posted on that! Congrats to Ricky for his 2nd place finish in a really stacked field. I am looking forward to the next AFM Round at Infineon and bettering my results.
600 PRODUCTION Pos Pts AFM # Lic Name Mk/Yr Best Lap 1 75 91 E "TIGERT, JEFFREY" H07 1:49:421 2 68 333 E "COREY, RICHARD J." Y06 1:50:735 3 62 488 E "SIGLIN, CHRIS" S07 1:49:510 4 57 417 E "WIWI, BRANT" Y06 1:49:996 5 52 311D E "SHREVE, MIKE" Y06 1:46:733 6 47 856 E "RIGGS, GRANT" S07 1:53:015 7 43 847 E "CARLOTTA, KENNY" S07 1:53:326 8 40 138 E "TAZAWA, ZENZO" S06 1:53:290 9 37 166 E "BUTLER, JASON" Y06 1:53:450 10 35 115 E "WOOLDRIDGE, BERTO" Y06 1:59:692