From a press release issued by Team Oliver Yamaha:

Team Oliver Yamaha’s Rich Oliver and Robert Ward brought home a victory after their most challenging race to date. Starting from pole position, Rich jumped into the lead over Chuck Sorensen, Simon Turner and Perry Melneciuc but a few turns into the first lap, Rich’s fate was in question.

As he entered turn four, he heard a sharp cracking sound and felt an impact underneath the seat. “At first, I thought a wheel weight must have flown off of the rear wheel and smashed into the seat,” said Rich, “but after a few more turns, I was wondering if the rear tire had started to come apart because I was chattering terribly on all of the right-handers. Then, I thought maybe it was a wheel weight after all and it was just making the wheel bounce in all the right-handers because of the nature of the track or the way I was riding. Then, I realized it may not have anything to do with the wheel because the seat was flopping all around as I changed direction. After processing through all of these different possibilities, I found myself still steadily pulling away from second place so I decided to not worry about it anymore and ride as hard as I could with the bike I had underneath me.

“To compensate for the bike, I changed my body position, my acceleration points, slowed down my cornering speed and decreased all of my braking distances. This kept the chatter to a minimum and the lap times as quick as possible.

“I finally found the problem when I dismounted the bike in victory circle. All that had happened was one of the sub frame bolts that holds the seat on had snapped, dropped into the spinning rear wheel and had been shot back out into the seat underneath me. So, it wasn’t the wheel weight, it wasn’t the tire, it was just a simple bolt that changed the weight bias by dropping the seat down and moving me too far back on the bike, overloading the rear tire.

“I can honestly say that the training I do in the Rich Oliver Mystery School helped me adapt quickly to a difficult situation and still grind out relatively quick lap times on a bike that was not up to par.”

The final 250 AMA series will conclude at Barber in September. It’s your last chance ever to see the blue missile streak around the course! We hope to see you there and encourage you to visit www.richoliver.net for more information on our Championship season and Mystery School.



More, from a press release issued by No Limit Motorsports:

The No Limit Motorsports team was hit with more injuries during Round 10 of the AMA Superbike Series at Virginia this past weekend. Jason Curtis crashed his Honda CBR954RR during the final laps of the rain-delayed Formula Xtreme race on Monday. He went down in a fast turn three and slid all the way to the Airfence. His injuries include some road rash, and a rather serious injury to his left hand.

He is currently traveling to a surgery session with Dr. Ting in Northern California, where Ting will try to repair tendon damage to the little finger of his left hand, and then graft some skin in place to try and replace what was lost in the slide. With any luck it looks as if Jason will ride at the final round at the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.

Lance Isaacs was at the Virginia round to assist the team, but could not ride. He is recovering nicely from a badly broken right leg sustained at the Mid-Ohio round. Another patient of the famed Dr. Ting, Issacs had a rod placed in his broken leg, and that has hastened his healing. He is planning to race at the Alabama race in September as well.


More, from a press release issued by Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki:

ANOTHER TOP TEN FOR RAPP IN VIRGINIA

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki spent Labor Day racing at Virginia International Raceway, with Steve Rapp scoring another top-10 finish in the Superbike race. The second Superbike National was held on Monday morning in overcast conditions, shortened from 28 laps after an oil spill and rains forced the AMA to postpone the race for one day.

“We used the shortened Superbike race as a bit of a test,” said Crew Chief Keith Perry. “It turned out pretty well for us. We needed the track time. It was a fairly odd situation with the delay yesterday. Twenty laps was okay with us. We were actually prepared to run in the rain with our bike and the Michelin rain tires (on Sunday), but we made the best out of the situation.”

Steve Rapp was 10th on his GSX-R750 Superstock machine, a change from his usual Superbike — a Suzuki GSX-R1000. “We tried a new Michelin tire in the race and I liked it,” Rapp said. “I ran by myself for most of the race, and my lap times were pretty much what I thought they would be going into the race.”

Chris Ulrich finished 20th, racing his Superstock GSX-R750 bike as well. “I was faster than the racers in front of me. Unfortunately, they were riding 1000s,” Ulrich said. “VIR is a tight course and I wasn’t able to get past them when I needed to, before my shoulder faded.”

The AMA finale could be considered a “home race” for the team since it will be held at nearby Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. “It’s only an hour and a half from the shop,” Perry added. “We’re looking forward to getting some more good results at the first AMA National held there.”



More, from a press release issued by Proforma:

LEE ACREE CARDS STRONG FINISHES AT VIRGINIA

Lee Acree went up against some of America’s most talented roadracers as a privateer this weekend at round ten of the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship, and came away with two strong finishes in the AMA Supersport and Superstock classes on his Triad Powersport Yamaha R6.

In the Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock event on Saturday, Lee qualified 14th and finished 15th against a field of more powerful 750cc machines. Tire issues kept Lee from taking advantage of the more nimble handling R6 that he was riding. A poor start didn’t help his effort. “My start was at least a tie for career worst,” joked Acree. “My original plan of getting a good start and using turn one to get with the lead pack turned into go to the outside for damage control and try and get back as many people as just went motoring by me on the start. I went by a couple of guys in turn one on the outside and went by a couple more here and there. First, Ciccotto got by me and then Chris (Ulrich). I tried to get by him on the last lap. I got within striking distance and actually got up beside him, but to make the pass would have been potentially detrimental at least to him if not both of us, and I figured where we were in the pack it wasn’t worth punting either one of us. As far as the tires, the rear was a compund that I hadn’t run all weekend and the rear grip wasn’t there. The front was great.”

Lee qualified in seventh position for the Pro Honda Oils Supersport race on Sunday, giving him a second row start. However, rain delayed the start some four hours and the tires that Acree chose did not perform as well as expected. Lee fought with both Roger Lee Hayden and Marty Cragill over tenth place, with Cragill passing Lee on the last lap and pushing Lee to 11th at the checkered flag. “I got an okay start and got down to turn one in about 14th, then tried to get past a couple more exiting turn one, but had to back off because they couldn’t see me. At the end of the first lap is where my progress ended. I was able to go by Roger the first time and was behind Duhamel and just couldn’t match the grip coming off the corners. I finally got Roger and then Cragill came by once and I went back by him. I had some steam on him, but once again, I just didn’t have the grip in the rear. Marty passed me on the last lap going into turn four and I had a chance to pass him back going into seven, but we came up on a lapper and Marty went to the right, which made me have to back off and killed my drive and passing opportunity there. At that point in the race, the right side of the tire just wasn’t there, and coming on the front straightaway I had it as sideways as I cold get it without it throwing me off. The tires were consistent, they were just never great.”


More, from another press release issued by Proforma:

HANER FIGHTS TO EIGHTH PLACE IN AMA SUPERSTOCK AT VIRGINIA

HAS/Shogun Racing rider John Haner finished eighth in the Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock race at Virginia International Raceway at round ten of the AMA Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship. Haner had qualified seventh on Friday afternoon, putting him on the second row of the grid.

“I got a good start and had a plan of going down to turn one in third gear so I didn’t have to make extra downshifts, and that went well,” said John. “About the fourth lap, my tires didn’t seem to hold up like I originally planned for them to. I almost crashed on the fast downhill and (Steve) Rapp got around me. I stayed behind him, and then I lost the front and the tires were going away pretty bad. Then Jason (Disalvo) got by, and he got a little gap and got up to Vincent (Haskovec), and I just didn’t have the tires to get by Vincent. Considering everything, we finished where we did and I can’t really complain too much.”

John’s teammate Heath Small elected not to race in Sunday’s Pro Honda Oils Supersport race after the tendons in his hand became too painful to ride. Small is still recovering from surgery to his left hand after crashing at Pikes Peak Raceway in June. Heath rode throughout practice on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.


More, from a press release issued by 1-888-FASTLAP:

1-888-FASTLAP’S CAYLOR FINISHES 11TH IN SUPERSTOCK AT VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL
RACEWAY; SUPERMOTO RAINED OUT FOR WRIGHT

ALTON, Va.- Opie Caylor put the 1-888-FASTLAP/Team EMGO Taiwan Suzuki GSX-R600 on the front row for the Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock race at Virginia International Raceway on Saturday, August 30, eventually finishing 11th after his tires wore out early.

Caylor qualified fourth with a time of 1:28.037. His time was quicker than the pole time set in 2002 for the Superstock class, and allowed him to get a front row start.

As the race progressed, Caylor dropped back to 11th as his tires began to degrade and slide. He finished the race in that position.

“We tested some different tires this weekend, and I went with something that was a bit harder than the softest compound,” said Caylor. “We tried them in practice and they seemed to be the best choice. But in the race I started sliding around after only the third lap. I feel like we had a legitimate shot at the win, so I’m disappointed.”

1-888-FASTLAP’s Brian Stokes qualified 16th with a time of 1: 29.623 on the Team Embry/FREEWEBTOWN.com Suzuki GSX-R600. His best lap time at VIR before the weekend was a 1:31.0.

Stokes was forced to retire early from the Superstock race when his fuel pump broke. “I got a good start and got up to 11th or so,” commented Stokes. “On the third lap the bike wasn’t driving well out of the corners and I couldn’t get it to rev out on the straights. The problem got a lot worse at the end of the race and I had to pull in with only one lap to go.”

Paul Wright, owner of 1-888-FASTLAP, brought his KTM 520 to compete in the Red Bull Supermoto race at South Boston Speedway, a nearby track that had been converted into combined dirt and road course for the Supermoto event. Practice, qualifying and the race were to be held on Saturday.

Wright rode in the first heat race, a 3-lap event, and then proceeded to the semi-finals. He was ready to ride when rain began to fall and the semi-finals had to be postponed. The rain continued and the race had to be rescheduled for Monday, September 1.

Wright has been winning numerous races on his motard in CCS and WERA events, and he is looking forward to racing on the professional level in the Supermoto Series.


More, from a press release issued by The Familie:

Jake Zemke Stands Strong with Second Place Finish

Carlsbad, CA – September 2, 2003 – After rain delays and race format changes, Erion Honda professional road racer Jake Zemke finished second in the tenth round of the Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Race Series. The event was held at the Virginia International Raceway over the holiday weekend.

Due to heavy rains, round ten of the series was forced to continue on Monday, September 1. The race was then shortened from 17 laps to 12, and, with the red flag, it was cut by another lap to 11.

“The race format change definitely affected me a little since I usually push harder later on in a race,” said Zemke. “But second place is commendable, given how I began the weekend.”

The threesome, Ben Spies, Damon Buckmaster and Zemke, were all racing together, but a lapped rider prevented Buckmaster and Zemke from making
the critical pass that Spies was able to execute, placing him ahead of the rest. Zemke passed Buckmaster on lap eight to take second place in
the race.

Paso Robles resident Jake Zemke is currently in third place overall in the Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Race Series, with a total point
standing of 249.