DISALVO FINISHES STRONG AT ROAD ATLANTA Jason DiSalvo of Stafford, New York and Las Vegas, Nevada spent the Holiday weekend racing in the American Motorcyclist Association final round of the SuperBike Championship at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia. Coming into the final round, Jason was second in the SuperStock Championship, behind by 20 points and third in the SuperSport Championship. With a strong finish in both classes Jason was able to finish the season second in the SuperStock Championship and third in the SuperSport Championship. The weekend started with Jason setting the pace in practices and qualifying although he was still recovering from a racing incident a week previous at Virginia International Raceway, with the team therapist working with him throughout the weekend he was able to mount a successful bid in qualifying first in the 1000cc SuperStock class. Jason set the pole and the new track record of a 1 minute 22.923 seconds (1.22.923) this time would have placed him second on the SuperBike grid. In the 600 SuperSport class Jason was second fastest giving him a front row starting position. The 1000cc SuperStock class started with Jason leading the race and having a tremendous battle for the next 15 laps with the lead changing almost every lap, at the checkered flag Jason finished 2nd by a mere .008 thousands of a second. This classic battle proved to be one of the best races of the season. From his front row starting position in the 600cc SuperSport class Jason got a slow start putting him fifth after the first lap, during the next fourteen laps Jason was able to close on the leader and claim his second podium position with two 2nd places for the day. With the season over Jason will receive the second place championship trophy in the 1000cc SuperStock class and the third place championship trophy in the 600cc SuperSport class on November 19th at the American Motorcyclist Association Awards banquet in Las Vegas, NV. The SuperStock race will be aired on Speed Tuesday, September 6th, at 2 PM. Jason will spend the next few weeks in New York and Nevada preparing to test the new R1 and R6 Yamaha’s for the up-coming season. He will be attending the premier showing of the new Yamaha motorcycles October 1st and 2nd in New York City’s Central Park. More, from a press release issued by Pirelli North America: Pirelli Wins Two Podiums and Takes Third in the Formula Xtreme Championship: AMA Superbike Series, Road Atlanta Pirelli riders gave another notice of their competitive advantage at the AMA Superbike series final event at Road Atlanta. M4 EMGO Suzuki rider Michael Barnes took 3rd in Formula Xtreme. Finishing right behind him was Danny Eslick of MPTracing.com in 4th, earning himself 3rd in the championship and a trip to the awards dinner in Las Vegas. Barnes’ teammate Geoff May nabbed third place in Superstock, finishing the 15-lap race less than two seconds behind the race winner. Following his third place finish in the Formula Xtreme race Barnes said, “After qualifying we felt really strong going into the race. I was right there in the hunt of it for the podium. We realized we set up the bike with too much weight up front for how I ride so we now know what we need to do at this track to suit my riding style best so that we have the tires there at the end of the race.” At just 19-years old, Tulsa’s Danny Eslick has shown consistency with six top-six finishes in this season’s Formula Xtreme races, taking the top spot in the points behind two full-factory riders. Eslick said, “We started with a fourth in the Daytona 200 and then had a couple more of them. Fourth was my dirt track number so maybe it’s my lucky number. I like all of the tracks, it just depends on what weekend it is. I like how the tires have a good feel even when they’re sliding around. We had a good battle going today and I ended up again in fourth. Grant Matsushima knows how to build a fast and reliable bike.” About his third-place finish in Superstock Geoff May said, “Mike got around me and I thought, ‘I can’t let my teammate beat me.’ So I focused on where I could get him and after a while I got by. I kept hearing a bike so I rode hard hoping he couldn’t pass me back and I ended up catching Rapp. So I went by him. I kept hearing bikes again so I concentrated on holding him off. The bike had come to me. We had changed the setup this morning to make the grip and sliding more predictable. Towards the end the tires were working really well and then I caught Buckmaster and I knew that was for the podium. I got by him and I thought, man, I am not giving up this podium to anybody. And then I caught the leaders and I thought I could win it. I tried making a move but had the wrong line and then a guy in front of us looked back and he let Rog and Disalvo through and pulled back onto the racing line holding me up all the way through the new chicane. They gapped me about ten bikes because of that and it was too much to make up. I think we had the bike and tires today.” Adding to these accomplishments of Barnes, May and Eslick at Road Atlanta were John Haner taking fifth in Superstock with Michael Barnes grabbing seventh in that class, and Geoff May, Lee Acree and Blake Young took eighth-tenth in Supersport. This has been a standout season for Pirelli in AMA Pro Racing beginning with a win in Superstock by M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Vincent Haskovec at the season opener at Daytona. Lion Racing’s Jacob Holden scored eight top-ten finishes in Superstock with two fourth places, finishing the season in sixth after sitting out the final round. M4 EMGO Suzuki racer Geoff May adds to these Superstock successes with a second at Road America and his above mentioned third at Road Atlanta, finishing the season in eighth. The highly contested Superstock class also saw May’s teammate Michael Barnes, brought in mid-season to fill in for the injured Haskovec, score four top seven finishes in Supersport that includes a fifth at Pikes Peak, showing that Pirelli tires are the serious choice for talented racers. In Supersport, Geoff May claimed the top spot in the points behind the factory riders, finishing fifth and a mere three points out of fourth. In the season’s ten events May never finished lower than 11th in Supersport, with a best finish of fifth at Laguna Seca. Complementing Danny Eslick’s season in Formula Xtreme is Michael Barnes of M4 EMGO Suzuki who only competed in six events yet ended up sixth in the points due to never finishing a race lower than seventh. Along the way Barnes scored two podium finishes in FX and a fourth, fifth and sixth. Youngster Taylor Knapp had an outstanding season for a new racer with seven top-fifteen finishes in Formula Xtreme, showing himself to be a rider well on his way to a prosperous career. Through feedback from Pirelli’s many riders and the company’s policy of having an engineer at every AMA Superbike event, Pirelli has made big strides in its development of racing tires and looks forward to having an even better season in 2006. 2005 was Pirelli’s best overall season ever in the AMA national series and it is now a solid resource for developing a consistent advantage.