After his triple race wins at the opening round of the WERA West Series at the California Speedway in Fontana California on January 13th Garrett Willis backed up that performance with a podium finish and a convincing race win at the AFM season opener at Buttonwillow Raceway Park on Sunday March 23rd in Buttonwillow California.

In his first race of the day in the 600 Superbike class the 17 year-old Honda supported speedster got off to a fifth place start. He made two first lap passes to reach the leaders and then went to work trying to get around fellow Honda rider Jeff Tigert who was in second place. Willis made a small mistake while pressuring Tigert and lost some time but he recovered and set out to catch back up to the leaders who were running a quick pace at the front. Garrett was able to close up a considerable amount of the gap but it wasn’t enough to be in a position for a pass and he finished the race in 3rd place. His next start was in the Formula Pacific class where he lined up his CBR600RR in the 27th position on the last row of the grid in a field filled with 1000cc machines. Willis was passing quickly and moved forward a lot of positions in the eight lap race and ultimately finished in 11th. Throughout the first two races he gained valuable set-up information and time on the track, which he put to work in his final start of the day in the 600 Production class. This race would see a rematch with the same two riders who finished in front of him in the earlier 600 Superbike class. Looking to improve his results from the first outing Garrett came off the start line with a great start and he was in 3rd position after the first turn. He went on to pass Brant Wiwi for 2nd place and then pushed to catch up to race leader Jeff Tigert before he could open up a big lead. Tigert was determined to keep Garrett from passing but Willis rode a patient and pressuring pace, then went for the pass on the fourth lap in the West Loop portion of the track and made it stick. He held off Tigert’s charges and proceeded to build up a lead and held on to it all the way to the checkers for a win.

Post race an ecstatic Willis said “Today was another great learning experience and I was happy to progress on my bike set up and riding technique. After the first race I knew I could improve on my results and I had a lot of help from my team and my family to help me get the bike working well and it all paid off in the last race.  I especially want to thank my family and my mechanics Dave and Ray for coming out and spending a holiday at the racetrack. Without their support my racing wouldn’t be possible or as much fun.”

The other people that Garrett would like to thank are the sponsors that support his racing and help him pursue his dream of being a professional road racer:

American Honda

Pro Honda Oils and Chemicals

Honda Riders Club of America

Mach 1 Motorsports

Pirelli

Leo Vince Exhaust

Keigwins at the Track

A&A Racing

Rod Lake Racing

Jett Tuning

Dainese

Arai Helmets

Mike Wymer Performance

SuperMoto Engineering

Please visit www.garrettwillisracing.com for information and updates on Garrett Willis and his racing.

from Garrett Willis Racing