As we went into the second round of the AFM season, again (like round one) the grid for Formula Pacific was the largest it's been in many years and the level of competition was stacked with lots of talented riders on extremely fast bikes.
We had a good setup for the race and our RCR Performance Yamaha YZF-R1 is now making more horsepower than ever thanks to Graves Motorsports' world class racing parts combined with RCR Performance racing engine builds. We were also able to fine tune some better chassis geometry and Dunlop Racing Tires as usual provided us with the best rubber available.
"I gridded up in the Formula Pacific race on pole position knowing that Jeremy Toye was going to be the rider to beat. He showed a fantastic pace earlier in the day in the Open Superbike race. In the Formula Pacific race the green flag dropped and I was able to get the hole-shot and led through the first three turns but Toye was fast to pounce and made a fantastic block pass on me into turn four on the first lap. At this point I decided to follow him for a couple of laps to get a better idea of where his strong and weak points were. On lap four I used the power of my RCR Performance Yamaha R1 to get beside Toye going up the back straight and make a block pass into turn seven for the lead.
I was able to pull slight advantages here and there but Toye fought back hard and remained within striking distance. Toye then made a pass attempt on me braking into turn seven but was unable to get it done and contact was made between his front tire and my rear tire. This stood him up and made him run wide giving me the advantage starting the final lap. I had felt him hit my rear tire and knew he had lost some time but I was unaware that he had only lost a little over a second.
I took it easy on the last lap thinking I had a good lead and could just cruise in for the win, but as I backed off slightly, Toye had turned up the heat and caught up to me going into the last turn on the last lap. I was completely unaware that he was within striking distance at this point and he again attempted a block pass on me but instead I turned into an asphalt berm for Toye enabling him to get the better drive out of the last corner and take the win.
I have to give a huge thanks to all of the AFM staff and turn workers for putting on another safe and flawlessly run race weekend, to my family and girlfriend for always being there and supporting me, to Axial Video for the amazing onboard video and live coverage, to Corey and Son's Paving, San Jose Yamaha, Accu-Products, Graves Motorsports, Brake Tech, Ferodo, Zooni Leathers, ERC Racing Fuel, Dunlop Racing Tires, Sharkskinz, GP Frame and Wheel, and Techtronics USA.'' Said RCR Performance owner and rider Ricky Corey.
RCR is also competing for the 2013 AFM Open Superbike Championship. "Similar to the Formula Pacific race I was able to get the hole-shot in Open Superbike but was unable to maintain the advantage over Jeremy Toye for very long. Toye stretched out his lead and took the win, RCR took second and Chris Siglin was third."
Ricky Corey Racing
Ricky Corey Racing is a professional motorcycle road racing team based in Northern California
RCR competes at the highest level of professional road racing in the United States, bringing our sponsors international, national and local exposure to hundreds of thousands of fans.
RCR Performance is a division of RCR Yamaha and provides high quality engine builds for professional racers.
