James Rispoli took his first win of the 2011 AMA Supersport season today at Barber Motorsports Park. RIspoli had relentless pressure from race 1 winner Benny Solis, but the ANT Racing rider was able to ride a near flawless race to capture the race two victory.
Rispoli and Solis had battled it out during the first race at Barber Motorsports Park, but it was the Honda rider who took the checkers in race 1. Rispoli was determined to find the top of the podium during the second race, however, and jumped off to an early lead of 1.5 seconds by the end of the first lap.
“James had more than a second on me at the beginning,” Solis said. “So I had to work really hard to close the gap, but once I was there I think I wore my front tire down. I tried passing him at the end, but I just couldn’t get it there.”
Solis rode in Rispoli’s shadow throughout the second race at Barber Motorsports Park. Solis took the lead briefly in the closing laps, but Rispoli quickly regained the advantage.
“I got a good start,” Rispoli said. “I knew it was going to be pretty hard to stay in front of Benny while keeping the tires ready for the end of the race. So I slowed down a little bit. But when he passed me, I was like ‘It’s not going to happen,' and I was able to get the lead back.”
Rispoli held the lead for 16 of the 17 laps to take his first victory of the 2011 Supersport season. Rispoli currently holds the lead in the east Supersport division over Tomas Puerta.
Hayden Gillim took the final spot on the podium. Gillim finished 13 seconds behind the race leader.
AMA Supersport Race Results
- Rispoli
- Solis
- Gillim
- Alexander
- Myers
- Dominguez
- Parker
- Puerta
- Dellinger
- Young
