From a press release issued by Proforma:

BLAKE YOUNG PUTS IN STRONG PERFORMANCE AT BRAINERD

Sixteen-year-old Blake Young put in another solid performance this weekend at round seven of the AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship at Brainerd International Raceway. Riding his Madison, Wisconsin-based Young America Suzuki GSX-R600s, Blake made a calculated last-lap pass to finish seventh in Saturday’s Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme race. On Sunday, Blake ran a strong race to finish 15th in the competitive Pro Honda Oils Supersport final.

Saturday’s Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Final – 7th Place Blake qualified 11th for the final, and ran in eighth position for the latter half of the 13-lap race, passing Larry Pegram in the last corner on the last lap and beating him to the finish line by 0.065 seconds. “It was a good race,” said Blake. “Larry (Pegram) gapped us a little bit when we got in the oil (Mike Ciccotto’s Buell blew a motor on the third lap) and I kind of fell back a little bit. I had the front tire wash out in the oil going into turn two. I saw some smoke right away, but it was little puffs, and then they started getting bigger and bigger. I think it let go in turn one, and I started seeing the line of oil. I tried to stay away from it, but I think he tried to get off the race line and made this big weave and that’s when I hit it. Larry went around me and I got back in it and followed him for the last few laps. Larry went into the last turn a little deeper than he had been going, but I think I had a little more for him in the last two turns. In turn nine, I closed up to him, got a good drive coming out, and going into ten here I just held it on a little longer and took the inside line. It was close.”

Sunday’s Pro Honda Oils Supersport Final – 15th Place The Pro Honda Oils Supersport race was red-flagged on the sixth of 13 laps, with Blake running in the 14th place spot. On the re-start, Young slotted in with the same group of young guns as in the first portion of the race, including Danny Eslick, Nicky Moore and Chris Peris. “I was up to 11th place on the re-start, in front of that group,” said Blake. “About two laps into the re-start, I was leading them into turn two and Peris came up the inside and bumped me a little bit and I got launched out into the marbles. I got it back on and rode behind them for a while and tried to run them down, but I just didn’t have enough time. We changed to a little higher gearing during the red flag, because it was hitting the rev limiter in the draft way before turn one. It was better in the second half.”

More, from another press release issued by Proforma:

GOOD WEEKEND FOR HEATH SMALL AT BRAINERD

HAS/Shogun Racing rider Heath Small had a good weekend at round seven of the Chevrolet Superbike Series at Brainerd International Raceway. Heath had a season-best ninth-place finish in the Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme and a strong 17th place finish in the Pro Honda Oils Supersport class.

Saturday’s Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Final – 9th Place “It’s a good finish, I’m happy with it,” said Heath. “I was in eighth, going into turn three, when I passed (Blake) Young. I came out of three, and the shifter stayed down. I hit it a couple of times and it wouldn’t shift. I was like ‘Well, I gotta pull it up’, so I put my foot underneath it and it went into a false neutral. By then, I was deep into the corner on the brakes, trying to figure out how to get through it. I just pulled the clutch in and went to a higher gear. That’s when they (Blake Young and Larry Pegram) got around me. I had a good race, I just hit my marks every lap. The crew worked really hard to get the bike set up for me. It was one of those races where everything just clicked.”

Sunday’s Pro Honda Oils Supersport Final – 17th Place
“On the second start, I just didn’t have the motor to get around a couple of guys into turn one,” said Heath. “Unlike at Barber, running off the track fighting for position, I was gonna be a little smarter about it and sit back and get around them on the brakes, which I did in turn three. The bike handled great, but I had a couple of problems with the shifter, popping out of gear on upshifts. All in all, it was a good race!”

More, from another press release issued by Proforma:

HIGBEE AND ESLICK HAVE MIXED RESULTS AT BRAINERD

Millennium Technologies Suzuki teammates Shawn Higbee and Danny Eslick had mixed results at round seven of the AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship at Brainerd International Raceway. A good result for Danny, who battled with other up-and-coming riders for a 13th place finish in the super-competitive Supersport class, while Shawn had a good run going in the Superbike race, but the uncertainty of a vibration from the rear of his motorcycle forced him to pit during the race to check it out. Shawn re-joined the race and worked back up to 19th by the end of the 21-lap race.

Shawn Higbee
Sunday’s Chevrolet Superbike Final – 19th Place
Shawn was running in 10th place when he felt a shudder from the rear of his Suzuki GSX-R1000. He continued for several more laps, but it continued to vibrate and Shawn made a quick pit stop on lap 12 to have it checked out by his crew. “I felt a shudder from the rear end on about lap five,” said Higbee. “I came in and Owen (Garnet, crew chief) looked at it. It looked like it spun on the rim, the marks didn’t line up. I went back out, put my head down, and actually went a little better, once I knew what was going on with the tire. We had made some changes to the suspension before the race, and they turned out to be good. Too bad we had that little problem.”

Danny Eslick
Sunday’s Pro Honda Oils Supersport Final – 13h Place Danny qualified 15th and finished 13th after a race-long battle with fellow young-guns Chris Peris, Nicky Moore and Blake Young, in both parts of the red-flagged race. Danny ran as high as 11th in his battle with the other teenagers. “I got a good start on the second start,” said Danny. “Chris Peris and (Nicky) Moore got by me in the infield, we went back and forth, Moore would stuff me and I would stuff him back. We hurt each other as much as we helped each other. We’d change positions four or five times a lap in the infield. It was good, it was a lot of fun.”

More, from yet another press release issued by Proforma:

GEOFF MAY HAS SUCCESSFUL FIRST WEEKEND AT BRAINERD

Newlywed Geoff May had a good weekend of results for his first time at Brainerd International Raceway, round seven of the AMA Chevrolet Superbike Series. Since the last round two weeks ago, Geoff and wife Jodi managed to squeeze in their wedding in Wisconsin and a honeymoon in Mexico, flying back just the day before the Brainerd event started. With the Superstock event and only one Superbike race at this round, both on Sunday, Geoff was forced to find a set-up that he would end up using in both races.

Sunday’s Repsol Superstock Final – 12th Place
“Not bad for my first time at Brainerd,” said May. “I had a crappy start, I picked a few guys off, started feeling good. I haven’t had that much time with the set-up, but the Ohlins guys have been great. We’ve made a lot of improvements. I’m still new at this track, trying to sort it all out, and my chassis faded a little on me. It wasn’t set up for the end of the race. It was great at the beginning, but it kind of went off on me. Towards the end I just tried to hold the lap times I was running at the beginning, and a few guys got back around me.”

Sunday’s Chevrolet Superbike Final – 10th Place
“I’m happy,” said Geoff. “It was a good weekend. Everything went well. Everybody did what they could do to get me up to speed and learn the track as quick as possible. We struggled with a set-up at the beginning of the weekend, we were just behind, but it all paid off when the race came. We had something for ’em. We ended up running the 17s (17-inch Pirelli tires versus the 16.5″ tires he usually runs in the Superbike class), they were great.” With his string of top-ten Superbike finishes unbroken, Geoff continues to hold down fifth place in the Chevrolet Superbike point standings with a healthy 31-point lead over Ben Bostrom.


More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing:

Temperature: 22 degrees C
Climate: Cloudy
Crowd: 6000

Hondas One-Two in Minnesota

Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke earned his first career AMA Superbike win with a last lap pass of American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel under a light drizzle at Brainerd International Raceway.

“Brainerd’s a pretty special place for me,” Zemke said. “I won my first Formula Xtreme race here, I won my first 600 race here, and now I’ve won my first Superbike race here.”

Duhamel’s second place allowed him to close within six points of championship leader Mat Mladin (Suzuki), third today, with seven rounds remaining.

The race was fought among Duhamel, Zemke, and Mladin, with the Bostrom brothers, Eric (Ducati) and American Honda’s Ben at the tail end of the lead quintet. Zemke led the first lap and again on laps six through nine. Then the lead trio began going back and forth. It was on the 15th of 21 laps that Duhamel asserted himself, leading to the final lap.

The French-Canadian veteran began the final lap in the lead, but he made a rare mistake in turn two, running off the side of the track and giving Zemke an opening. For the rest of the lap, Duhamel probed, and was briefly past toward the end of the lap. But Zemke came back and was back in the lead in the final corner where a pair of slower riders had crashed on the wet track. A caution flag meant the battling Honda riders couldn’t advance their positions and Zemke had a clear run to the flag.

The race ended literally and figuratively under a cloud, one certainty being that Hondas were one-two for the second race in a row and fourth time this year. The checkered flag flew for the Hondas but a red flag was soon displayed and the spots behind the leaders were temporarily in question.

One that wasn’t was American Honda’s Ben Bostrom in fifth. Despite choosing the wrong rear wheel width, a problem which hampered his drives, Bostrom was having his best race of the year, right at the tail end of the lead pack and threatening to make it a Honda sweep of the podium. But traffic just over two laps from the end, and the wet final lap, caused Bostrom to lose touch.

On Saturday, Duhamel added to his portfolio by winning his ninth race at BIR. This time it was Formula Xtreme, a hard-fought win over Zemke. The two are the runaway championship leaders, Duhamel at 250 points and Zemke at 235, with Erion Honda’s Alex Gobert at 193.

Jake Zemke, First Place
I think I might need to quit racing pro and come here and race club races, having a perfect win streak maybe. I really like the lay-out in the infield because it leaves you the opportunity to change your lines a bit. It’s wide enough in the way the corners fit together that you can use a little bit different lines to try things out. Miguel (Duhamel) made a little mistake there coming out of two. I was actually lining him up and that’s where I was going to try to pass him anyways. And when he did that, that just opened the door wide open. I was trying to peek in and then all of a sudden someone kicked the door through. Then just came around to the finish; the last two corners were awfully wet.

Miguel Duhamel, Second Place
Turn two I just carried a little too much speed and went a little wide, a bit wider than I thought. Just sliding a bit and Jake (Zemke) jumped on the chance and passed. Then I was pretty much on him and coming out of the tight right-hander, the bus stop, it was raining pretty bad. He got a slide and I got a good drive on him. And you crossed the bridge and it was just pouring rain. I got in front of Jake and going through the corner I just rolled off and he went for it. I just braked a bit and ran wide. It’s a heartbreaker, I understand that, but they’ve got to do what they’ve got to do. It’s safety. And that’s what it’s all about. And they should have just called it. That’s my opinion. If you saw what was out there, there’s nothing else to say. They pushed it and pushed it. It rained like three laps before, two laps. We just rode really hard everybody. For me it sure was a heartbreaker to lose the race, but I don’t there’s a guy there’s a more deserving guy in the paddock.

Ben Bostrom, Fifth Place
I was on a six inch rim and I found out everybody else was on a 6.25. Maybe I just made a poor mistake. In this case we had a bike that almost steered too good. I could put it anywhere, but I couldn’t get off any corners. It was hard to get off turn two and the last corner I was just getting pulled real bad. When I caught up I thought I’d hang and cool off the tire. But the longer I was behind them the harder it was to stay there. What I noticed, though, is that my entry speed is coming back. It’s where I used to make time on everyone. I see that coming back. Even though I was really angry I was smiling when I was out there.

SUPERBIKE:
1. Jake Zemke (Honda)
2. Miguel Duhamel (Honda)
3. Mat Mladin (Suzuki)
4. Eric Bostrom (Ducati)
5. Ben Bostrom (Honda)
6. Josh Hayes (Kawasaki)
7. Aaron Yates (Suzuki)
8. Pascal Picotte (Yamaha)
9. Jacob Holden (Suzuki)
10. Geoff May (Suzuki)

SUPERBIKE STANDINGS:
1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 358
2. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 352
3. Jake Zemke (Honda) 348
4. Eric Bostrom (Ducati) 262
5. Geoff May (Suzuki) 241
6. Ben Bostrom (Honda) 210
7. John Haner (Suzuki) 200
8. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 189
9. Eric Wood (Suzuki) 181
10. Cory West (Suzuki) 167

FORMULA XTREME:
1. Miguel Duhamel (Honda)
2. Jake Zemke (Honda)
3. Vincent Haskovec (Suzuki)
4. Alex Gobert (Honda)
5. Pascal Picotte (Yamaha)
6. Michael Barnes (Buell)
7. Blake Young (Suzuki)
8. Larry Pegram (Yamaha)
9. Heath Small (Yamaha)
10. Nicky Moore (Suzuki)

FORMULA XTREME C’SHIP POINT STANDINGS:
1. Miguel Duhamel (250/5 wins)
2. Jake Zemke (235/2)
3. Alex Gobert (193)
4. Vincent Haskovec (162)
5. Larry Pegram (139)
6. Jacob Holden (121)
7. Nathan Hester (118)
8. Perry Melneciuc (116)
9. Michael Barnes (111)
10. Heath Small (107)


More, from another press release issued by Proforma:

PRIDMORE HAS HORRIBLE WEEKEND AT BRAINERD

Jason Pridmore and his STAR Motorcycle School crew had a dreadful weekend at round seven of the Chevrolet Superbike Series at Brainerd International Raceway. Mechanical gremlins and unusual problems plagued the team in every race they started.

Saturday’s Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Final – DNF/17th Place
Jason qualified in fifth position and was running fifth in the Formula Xtreme final when the cam timing sensor on his GSX-R600 malfunctioned. “I was trying to get fourth,” said Jason. “Trying to stay with Alex (Gobert), just keep running consistent lap times. The bike was cutting out, and the last time it did it I was over by the bus stop, it just died, and I coasted back to the pits. It started flashing all these codes at me while I was riding, I was like ‘Whoa, what’s going on here’. It’s a shame, because the bike’s the best it’s been, by far. Now, at least we have a baseline.”

Sunday’s Repsol Superstock Final – 21st Place
Jason was running in eighth place when he hit a false neutral entering turn three, causing him to run off the track. Jason re-entered, but felt a vibration from the rear of his GSX-R1000. “I ran off and got back on,” said Pridmore. “I felt this vibration, I wasn’t sure what was going on, you know, maybe something with the tire, so I pulled in to have it checked out. There wasn’t anything we could see, so I went back out, but I was a lap down. It turns out I bent the rim in my little off-road excursion.”

Sunday’s Chevrolet Superbike Final – DNF/28th Place
Pridmore ran as high as eighth place on his Superstock-legal GSX-R1000, when the engine had a mechanical failure on the 12th lap. Jason said, “I was coming out of turn one, I backshifted to fifth, I was rolling on the throttle in fifth, everything was fine. Right as I got to turn two to do my downshift to fourth, something broke, it just died, so I just coasted to turn four.”



More, from another press release issued by Proforma:

HANER PICKS UP POINTS AT BRAINERD

Hooters Suzuki’s John Haner rode his Superstock-spec Suzuki GSX-R1000 to two personally disappointing finishes at round seven of the AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship at Brainerd International Raceway. Set-up woes plagued Haner and his crew throughout the weekend, but they kept working and found solutions by race time.

Sunday’s Repsol Superstock Final – 13th Place
John got another strong start, running in ninth position on the first lap, then slowly slipping down the order as the race wore on. “We were just lacking top end speed down the front straight, I’m not sure why,” said Haner. “We went back to a fork set-up that was better, so that helped in the infield, but I was just getting killed on the front straight.” Haner is 11th in season point standings in the Repsol Superstock class.

Sunday’s Chevrolet Superbike Final – 14th Place
“I ran a different rear tire than I did before (in the Superstock event), and the bike was getting in a big headshake down the front straight,” said John. “It was weird, I’d have to roll out of the throttle in sixth gear, unless I was in the draft. It was better if I was in the draft, so I just tried to stay behind them. I was gonna set up Jeremy (Toye) and Cory (West) on the last lap, but it started raining. I sat up when Jeremy crashed on the last lap, then I got ahead of Cory, and he got me at the line. I sat up and he kinda looked at me and he just rolled over the line before me.” John continues to hold down seventh place in Chevrolet Superbike points, with an 11-point lead over Aaron Yates.


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

RAPP IN THE HUNT FOR BRAINERD SUPERSPORT WIN

Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki concluded their trip to Brainerd International Raceway with a pair of top ten finishes in Sunday’s finals to augment yesterday’s podium finish. Following Vincent Haskovec’s third place result in Saturday’s Formula Xtreme final and Chris Peris’ impressive form in the weekend’s Supersport practice sessions, today was Steve Rapp’s day to shine.

The 30-year-old Californian ran in the 60k Supersport final as a member of the leading freight train aboard his Michelin-shod GSX-R600. Rapp started from the third row and completed the opening lap down in thirteenth position but quickly started picking his way up through the tight pack.

The race was red flagged six laps in due to rainfall, but the former Superbike star picked up his game even further in the second half of the event. He ran as high as fifth in the huge fight for the lead and eventually took seventh, within sight of the win at the conclusion of the 13-lap race. He was just 2.916 seconds behind the race winner.

“There were a lot of good things that happened today. Steve rode hard, the tires worked great, the bike was very good. We learned a lot of things about the kind of set-up we need at the pace the leaders are running.” said team Crew Chief Keith Perry. “Without a doubt, we would have liked a podium finish but it was still a pretty darn good one.”

Peris didn’t enjoy as stellar a day as his teammate, but it was a memorable one nonetheless. The Canadian up-and-comer smashed into some cones positioned along the straight at triple-digit speeds on the opening lap, badly damaging his motorcycle. Still, he continued on and fought his way up from fifteenth to eleventh at the checkered flag, just missing out on a career-first AMA top ten result.

“The bike was really torn up pretty badly,” said
Perry, adding that the cones smashed the Suzuki
GSX-R600’s fender, windscreen, fairing, and radiator. “Considering all that happened on the very first turn, he rode as well as you could have expected anyone to. He had a good race. He and some other riders were racing aggressively down to the end.”

Rapp also picked up a top ten finish in the Superstock class. Despite suffering down the long Brainerd straight in comparison to the potent 1000cc machines of their rivals, Rapp and teammate Vincent Haskovec were able to take advantage of their nimble-handling GSX-R750s on the back section of the Minnesota circuit. Rapp came home in tenth, just a second in front of the Czech Republic-born racer who took eleventh.

The squad will test at Mid-Ohio next. In two weeks time, Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki will be back on track at Laguna Seca for the combined AMA/World Superbike racing weekend.


More, from a press release issued by Mat Mladin Motorsports:

MLADIN CONTINUES TO LEAD AMERICAN SUPERBIKES AFTER PODIUM FINISH AT BRAINERD

Brainerd, Minnesota, USA – One of the closest and hardest fought races of the season saw defending American Superbike champion Mat Mladin battle for the race lead for the full 21-laps with arch rivals Miguel DuHamel and Jake Zemke, before a shower of rain hit the Brainerd International Raceway circuit on the final lap of the race.

Mladin crossed the line in third position, trailing Zemke and DuHamel by 1.763 seconds, with race officials showing both the red and chequered flags to the leaders. The red flag was shown after rain fell at the Turn 10 section of the circuit, with a number of riders falling at that corner as a result of the slippery conditions. Being the final lap of the race and the leaders being shown both flags, the win was given to Zemke, ahead of DuHamel and Mladin.

With eleven rounds of this years American AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship now complete, Mladin leads with a total of 358 points, six clear of DuHamel (352), with Zemke closing in third with 348.

Starting from the front row of the grid after setting the second fastest time during qualifying, Mladin and his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 were quickly away, along with Zemke and DuHamel. Mladin led the field for laps three, four and five, before Zemke worked his way to the front. Mladin then regained the lead on laps 13 and 14, before being passed by DuHamel. DuHamel made a mistake on the wet final lap, allowing Zemke to squeeze by for his first AMA Superbike win, with Mladin trailing the pair home after a frantic final few laps through the traffic and then rain.

“It was a good race for us, even though we did get third, we were right in there with them,” said Mladin. “With two laps to go, I got into some traffic and got held up a bit and that allowed them to get away from me and I couldn’t get back to them on the last lap to have any chance of making a move.”

“There was light rain at the back of the circuit on the second last lap that turned a lot heavier on the final lap. The race should’ve actually been stopped when the rain did start and not wait an additional lap. What made it worse was that they then showed the red and the chequered flag at the same time. Jake stood on top of the podium so I assume that they gave him the win after that.”

“We led some laps, but it’s unfortunate that we are missing some speed. We were hoping to win here, but unfortunately it didn’t happen. I couldn’t break away from them at all because they were just drafting me down the front straight and that was that.”

“I’ve still got the points lead as we head off to Laguna Seca for the next round and see what we can do. You’re powering up hills out of tight turns there. So it won’t be easy again, but we’ll be trying our best as we always do and will be chasing the win there for sure.”

The series now heads to Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, where the AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship will feature in a double header alongside competitors in the World Superbike Championship on the weekend of July 10 & 11.

RESULTS

Rd 11, 2004 AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship / Top 10
1. Jake Zemke (Erion Honda) 34:00.779 mins
2. Miguel DuHamel (American Honda) +1.195 seconds
3. Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki) +1.763 secs
4. Eric Bostrom (Ducati Austin) +4.315
5. Ben Bostrom (American Honda) +11.331
6. Josh Hayes (Attack Kawasaki) +20.057
7. Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki) +27.967
8. Pascal Picotte (Yamaha Canada) +72.033
9. Jake Holden (Lion Racing Suzuki) +75.151
10. Geoff May (Prieto Suzuki) +97.373

2004 AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship (Points after 11 of 18 rounds)
1. Mat Mladin (358, 5 wins); 2. Miguel DuHamel (352, 4 wins), 3. Jake Zemke (348, 1 win), 4. Eric Bostrom (262, 1 win), 5. Geoff May (241); 6. Ben Bostrom (210), 7. John Haner (200), 8. Aaron Yates (189), 9. Eric Wood (181), 10. Cory West (167).


More, from a press release issued by Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin:

BOSTROM JUST MISSES BRAINERD PODIUM WITH STRONG 4TH PLACE PERFORMANCE

Brainerd (Minnesota) – June 27, 2004: Eric Bostrom finished a strong fourth in today’s Trofeo Ducati U.S. Superbike AMA Championship race at Brainerd, an event which saw a strange ending as rain began falling on the closing lap.

Starting from sixth position on the grid, Bostrom immediately put his Ducati 999R into the third spot as the field headed into turn one. The 27-year-old continued to race in the main pack, where the lead group was separated by less than a second for much of the race. The Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin rider was in contention for a podium spot until lapped traffic in the closing stages put him just out of touch. Rain on the final lap brought out the red flag, but not until race winner Jake Zemke (Honda) had already cross the line and received the checkered flag.

“Things went well in the fact that we stayed with the lead group throughout the race,” said Eric. “I found that in the last turn, turn ten, I was losing quite a bit of time to the other guys but I was making it back up in the other sections. We never quite got turn ten figured out this weekend, which is too bad because if we had, I think we could’ve put the Ducati on the podium today. We were that close with our set-up.”

“Eric would drop back for a few sections of the track and then he’d catch up,” commented Racing Manager Tom Bodenbach. “We’re happy that we were closer and improved this weekend, even though we all really wanted a podium finish. Eric was in the fight and rode hard. The lapped traffic seemed like it was a little worse for us today. We’ll go to Mid-Ohio to test this week, and also prepare for Laguna Seca in a couple of weeks.”

The next AMA Superbike round will be held in conjunction with the World Superbike Championship event at Laguna Seca in Monterey, California on July 9-11.


RACE: 1. Zemke (Honda); 2. Duhamel (Honda); 3. Mladin (Suzuki); 4. E Bostrom (Ducati); 5. B Bostrom (Honda); 6. Hayes (Kawasaki); etc.

POINTS: 1. Mladin 358; 2. Duhamel 352; 3. Zemke 348; 4. E Bostrom 262; 5. May 241; 6. B Bostrom 210; etc.


More, from a press release issued by Corona Extra Suzuki:

THRILLS AND SPILLS FOR CORONA EXTRA SUZUKI AT BRAINERD

It was an up and down weekend for Corona Extra Suzuki rider Ben Attard and struggles for second weekend replacement, Scott Greenwood. Scott finished fourteenth in SuperStock and Ben crashed out unhurt in SuperSport.

SuperStock saw 2003 Formula USA champion Scott Greenwood again on the seat of the Team’s Suzuki GSX-R 1000. In only his second time on the 1000, Scott worked on trying to get the right setup on the super fast Brainerd track where the 1000’s were reaching speeds close to 200 MPH. Scott qualified fifteenth still not being completely happy with the bike set-up. In the race Greenwood got a good start and quickly moved up to twelfth and in with the lead pack. As the race wore on, his tire choice started to slow his progress and he lost a couple of positions by the finish. Scott said, “We made the wrong choice going for the soft rear compound. The bike worked great at the beginning and just as I was getting comfortable going after the leaders the back-end started to slide about and just got worse. I couldn’t push it at all!”

In SuperSport, Ben Attard rode the wheels off his Corona Extra Suzuki GSX-R 600, qualifying on the second row. The Suzuki’s have a well-recognized power disadvantage against the Yamaha’s and Kawasaki’s, which was particularly evident in a track with a nearly mile-long straight! In the race, Ben got a great start and was in the lead pack when rain brought out the red flag. In the restart, Attard was absolutely on fire getting into the thick of the leaders and certainly fastest in the twisty back section of the track. Pushing it, perhaps, a bit too hard, Ben high-sided massively in turn seven, a flat-out third gear corner. On returning to the trailer Ben said, “This is another horsepower track. I was faster then everyone on the backside, but they just blew by me on the straights. I really had to ride the wheels off the bike to make it up. The bike spat me off when I lost the back end – it was the gnarliest get-off I’ve ever had!” Fortunately, Ben was unhurt and remains 10th in the SuperSport points standings.

Superbike rider Marty Craggill is still recovering from his surgery and missed the event.