Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

MB Motorsports co-owners Frank Strohman and Matt Blashfield have decided to end their two-year partnership and concentrate on their separate businesses.

“He’s got to concentrate on his sign business (Blashfield Signs/Communications),” Strohman told Roadracingworld.com Wednesday from his shop in Fayetteville, North Carolina. “He has a lot at stake there, and he’s been real busy this past year and hasn’t had much time to devote to MB Motorsports, as he would like to. So he basically just wanted to get out.

“Basically our philosophies were a little bit different,” continued Strohman. “I was more racing oriented and wanted to do the racing and the R&D (research and development) through the racing, and I think Matt wanted to go in the direction of more marketing for parts and stuff like that. So you know, just a little bit of difference of philosophy, but more than anything else he had to have the time to concentrate on his business.

“He does a lot of military work (for the U.S. Army post, Fort Bragg). He hasn’t had the opportunity to travel with the team and help like he kind of wanted to. So he just needed to back out. I think he’s going to do some of the little regional races, he teaches at that Learning Curves school and I think that’s about all he has time for right now.”

With several National road racing Championships as a rider and a tuner to his credit, Strohman plans to continue doing engine building, chassis tuning and race-prep work for lightweight Twins under a new company name, Twin Works Factory, and says he will start expanding into big-bore Twins. “I figured that we’d go ahead and start another company and have that company carry the race team through next year and so on,” said Strohman. “So nothing’s really changed except the name, and it will be a sole proprietorship. We’re busy getting a website together to put up right now.

“Nothing’s really changed except for one less partner. Everything else, all the services remain the same, same race team, same people on the race team, nothing’s changed, except the name. Bradley (Champion) will be riding. Bobby Fisher is coming back next year; so he’ll be back. So between Bradley and Bobby and backing them up with Zoran and Bernie Huntt, we ought to be pretty damn good to go.”

MB Motorsports won the 2002 SV650 Suzuki Cup Championship with Bradley Champion and the 2001 CCS Lightweight Superbike National Championship with Robert Fisher, also on a Suzuki SV650, as well as many other Championships. For more information on Twin Works Factory, call Strohman at (843) 665-9255.

Reached by phone and asked to comment, Blashfield said, “Until my legal representation has completed the dissolution process, I have been advised not to comment on the situation.”