Chris Fillmore (#55) led nearly every lap at the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course for his third win of the season.
Bruce Rossmeyers Daytona Racing’s Chris Fillmore claimed his third win of the 2011 Vance & Hines XR1200 series on Sunday at Mid Ohio. The 24-year-old piloted his
Harley-Davidson XR1200 machine to victory more than six seconds ahead of J&P Cycles’ Michael Beck, with Fillmore’s teammate Kyle Wyman rounding out the podium just 0.400 seconds behind Beck. Fillmore currently leads the series by 30 points after adding another 14 points to his total in Lexington, Ohio.
Fillmore had a great start from pole position to get an early jump on the rest of the field. Meanwhile Parts Unlimited’s Steve Rapp, Wyman and Beck were all vying for spots on the podium as Fillmore recoded the fastest lap of the contest on Lap 5. Despite having excellent speed at the start of the 11-lap battle, Rapp fell off the pace near the end as he suffered tire problems.
“I took a look back and didn’t see anyone there,” said Fillmore.“I expected him (Rapp) to be there, so I took a couple more glances then put it on cruise control from there. I got a good launch, got through Turn 1 real well, and was kind of switching up my gearing through the race. I tried some different stuff, but pretty much had figured it out by the third lap.”
Fillmore (#55) getting a great start from pole postion at Mid Ohio.
But there was no looking back for Fillmore as he dominated the competition throughout the remaining laps. On the final lap Beck managed a pass on Rapp to take the final podium position. Beck continued to push to the end, eventually passing Wyman also for runner-up at the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course.
"I caught Steve and was holding on to him, and I noticed his tires were going off dramatically," Beck said. "I felt like my bike was rolling, and all three of us had a pretty big battle -- it was really great. Then both of them made a mistake in the Keyhole, and I was able to take advantage of it and ended up second today.”
GP Bike Parts’s Tyler OHara rounded out the top-five finishers in fifth, the 24-year-old crossing the line more than 11 seconds off the pace of Fillmore. Drag Specialties’ Michael Barnes, RMR Bruce Rossmeyers Daytona Racing’s Michael Corbino and Chase McFarland recorded sixth through eighth respectively, with Michael Morgan and Gerry Signorelli rounding out the top-10 riders.
2011 AMA Vance & Hines XR1200 Mid Ohio Results:
1. Chris Fillmore (Harley-Davidson)
2. Michael Beck (Harley-Davidson)
3. Kyle Wyman (Harley-Davidson)
4. Steve Rapp (Harley-Davidson)
Steve Rapp (#5) was at the front of the pack in the beginning, but problems in the second half pushed him off the podium.
5. Tyler OHara (Harley-Davidson)
6. Michael Barnes (Harley-Davidson)
7. Michael Corbino (Harley-Davidson)
8. Chase McFarland (Harley-Davidson)
9. Michael Morgan (Harley-Davidson)
10. Gerry Signorelli (Harley-Davidson)
11. Josh Chisum (Harley-Davidson)
12. Gene Burcham (Harley-Davidson)
13. Brett Sassaman (Harley-Davidson)
14. Paul James (Harley-Davidson)
15. Jeremiah Johnson (Harley-Davidson)
2011 Vance & Hines XR1200 Championship Points:
1. Chris Fillmore, 167
2. Steve Rapp, 137
3. Kyle Wyman, 99
4. Michael Barnes, 95
5. Michael Beck, 84
6. Tyler OHara, 83
7. Michael Corbino, 79
8. Chase McFarland, 74
9. Danny Eslick, 50
10. Paul James, 50
