Rispoli Wins Supersport Thriller

Paul Carruthers | July 28, 2012

MONTEREY, CA, JULY 28 – James Rispoli and Hayden Gillim fought hard for 16 laps of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with Gillim sitting on Rispoli’s tail for the duration. Then came the final lap.

Gillim made his move in turn five to lead for the first time on the 16th go-around and he held that lead into the all-important Turn 11. Trying to protect the lead, Gillim got into the slow left-hander too fast and drifted wide on the exit. It was the mistake Rispoli needed and the Celtic Racing/Orient Express/National Guard-backed Suzuki GSX-R600 rider was able to draft past at the line, winning today’s Supersport final by a scant .035 of a second.

And if that wasn’t close enough, the battle for third was even closer with GWR/Leo Vince-backed Garrett Willis chasing down and beating Riders Discount/Vesrah Racing’s Jake Lewis to the line by just .001 of a second.

Rispoli’s teammate Corey Alexander finished a lonely fifth by comparison, some 2.6 seconds ahead of Kneedragger.com’s Stefano Mesa. Mesa, in turn, was 3.4 seconds ahead of Elena Myers.

Tomas Puerta, Sebastiao Ferreira and Travis Ohge rounded out the top 10.

Pole sitter Dustin Dominquez crashed out of the race on the warm-up lap on his Latus Racing Triumph and did not make the start.

Supersport Final
1.              James Rispoli (Suzuki)
2.              Hayden Gillim (Yamaha)
3.              Garrett Willis (Kawasaki)
4.              Jake Lewis (Suzuki)
5.              Corey Alexander (Suzuki)
6.              Stefano Mesa (Yamaha)
7.              Elena Myers (Suzuki)
8.              Tomas Puerta (Yamaha)
9.              Sebastiao Ferreira (Yamaha)
10.           Travis Ohge (Yamaha)