Race Report: Hotbodies Racing Honda at Laguna Seca AMA Superbike, July 8-10 Larry Pegram #72 During the combined AMA Superbike/Moto GP weekend, Larry Pegram qualified his #72 HRC-kitted Honda CBR1000RR in 17th place and finished 12th in the Superbike class. Pegram said, “The weekend started out bad with us getting little practice time and then we had a problem with the transmission. We had to tear down the engine before qualifying and this set us back a step so we only set a time putting us 17th on the grid. But the bike was all set for the race and in one lap I made up a couple places and soon was in tenth. While fighting for ninth place I ran into a lapper and went off the track. I came back on in 12th and wasn’t able to make up any positions before the race ended. So I’m sort of torn; I’m happy with how I was riding and know I could have taken more positions so I’m not that happy with how it ended up. We have really figured the bike out and have made up for our lack of testing so we’re still improving.” Pegram is now eleventh in Superbike points for the season. Jeremy Toye #57 Jeremy Toye qualified his nearly more-partially fully HRC-kitted Honda CBR1000RR in 18th for Superbike, and moved up in the race to finish 14th. Toye, the man I’m most interested in partying with, said, “Practice was really unusual. It went just as planned?! Well, almost. Prior to this event we built the engine as it should have been when the season started and we did some testing at Willow Springs and we had new suspension parts and took ten pounds off bike. So we had ten more hp and the bike worked great and everything was as it should be and it was almost overwhelming for my little brain. In the race we got up to 14th, which is nothing spectacular but we continued moving forward instead of backwards. I was focused and ready for others to add to our accomplishments but every racer had a near perfect weekend, so we only got what we earned. And that’s all you can ever expect. The cool thing was Larry and I had retro paint jobs on our bikes so they looked like 1983 Honda Superbikes. Roger Davis of Hotbodies had wanted us to do something special with the paint for this event. What made it was how three other teams had retro paint jobs too in celebration of their racing histories. I have the same number as one of Honda’s old riders and Cycle News ran a picture of the two of our bikes in a recent issue, before we even did our retro paint job.” Justin Filice #170 Competing in is first AMA Superbike event at Laguna Seca, Justin Filice qualified his Honda CBR600RR in 30th place for Supersport, finishing the race in 29th after an off-track detour. Filice said, “In practice and qualifying we struggled. The forks felt as if they were bound up. We only had an hour of practice so it was hard to make changes and have time to see how they felt. In Saturday’s practice I dropped five seconds off my times. Qualifying wasn’t until Sunday morning before our race and it went okay. I did my fastest lap up to then. At the beginning of the race gong into turn two some guy cut me off and I locked the front and by the time I got it together I was last, so I had a lot of work to do. The bike was much better for the race. I went the fastest I had gone all weekend and overall the bike was tremendously better for the race. This weekend we struggled but I like the track. It’s challenging and fun, and it’s hard to go fast here. It’s deceptive. And it was a good time; I saw Brad Pitt and met Colin Edwards, and Valentino Rossi. It was a great event.” More, from a press release issued by Team Hotbodies Racing Cory West #187 2004 Rookie of the Year, Cory West, qualified his Suzuki GSX-R1000 in 28th for Superbike, and then put the hammer down to move up ten positions to finish 18th. Due to logistics problems, West was unavailable for comment prior to deadline. Nicky Moore #28 Returning to race after recuperating from injuries suffered in a fall at the AMA Superbike event at Barber Motorsports Park, Nicky Moore qualified in 36th place for the Superbike race and finished 30th. But in Supersport, the class Moore has competed in all season long, Moore qualified 15th and finished ninth. Due to travel requirements, Moore was unavailable for comment. Taylor Knapp #38 In Supersport, Taylor Knapp put his Yamaha YZF-R6 in 26th place on the grid, proving by race time he’d solved his problems by finishing 17th. Knapp said, “We didn’t have a lot of time for practice and I’d never been here before. With the Moto GP race everything was short and I was still trying to figure out shift points during qualifying. After qualifying we tried a new gear that helped and the suspension was good so we were ready. In the race I had a good first lap. I passed a bunch of riders in the first lap. There were about ten guys doing about the same time as me and so I knew I had to work my way through them. I love Laguna’s track. It’s big and smooth and I like the elevation changes. It fits my style well. It’s a really hard track to learn but now I’ll be better for next year.” Heath Small #27 Heath Small qualified his Yamaha YZF-R6 20th for the Supersport race at Laguna Seca, and somehow in the flowing, roiling river of the race, Small finished 20th too. About his weekend Small said, “We arrived late for practice and it was our first weekend at Laguna. We had 18 minutes of practice on Friday. I dropped my lap times but had some front-end issues. The track felt real good. The next day, I don’t know why, the bike felt totally different and after a few turns I tucked the front and slid down the track. We fixed the bike but it still felt bad. We tried some changes but ran out of time. We tried to put the bike close to our baseline setting and it still didn’t fell very good. So we changed the tire pressure and it was way better. On my second lap of qualifying I pulled to the side to let some riders by and get ready for my flying lap but I missed the flag by four seconds, so we had to grid where we were. We set the bike up some more and it was better but we could never test for one long stint because they were all so short. After halfway through the race the bike went away. I wondered, am I doing something wrong? My times were consistent, but it felt like I was going slower. We did the best we could so we’ll take this and do the week prior to the AMA stuff at Mid-Ohio. All of the crew worked really hard. Maybe after my crash I rode a little differently and noticed things more. But it was awesome to ride in front of such a big crowd. I have to thank the racing fans for coming out to see us.” More, from a press release issued by Proforma: A BETTER WEEKEND FOR MILLENNIUM KWS SUZUKI Lee Acree and Blake Young of the Millennium KWS Suzuki team continued to work with the crew to improve the handling and balance of their Suzuki GSX-Rs at round seven of the AMA Superbike Championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The combined MotoGP/AMA Superbike Championship event boasted a three-day attendance of over 153,000 person. Lee was able to make improvements to the forks on both of his GSX-R1000s, which resulted in 17th and 14th place finishes, respectively, in Superbike and Superstock. Blake had his best finish ever in Supersport with a fine 10th place, and he came from a fifth row starting position to finish 16th in Superstock. Lee Acree Saturday’s Superbike Final – 17th Place “It was a little nutty at the start,” said Lee. “I ended up behind more people than I wanted to be. But I got behind Cory (West) and sort of sat on him late in the race. Cory actually came by us when they were giving Clint (McBain) and I the blue flag. There were several places that I was stronger than him, and I didn’t really have to use the strategy I’d designed for my last lap pass. He sort of did it for me. In trying to prevent me from carrying out my plan, he ran a little wide in turn six, and went past him and got a gap to the finish.” Sunday’s Repsol Lubricants Superstock Final – 14th Place “The Superstock bike felt largely like the Superbike did yesterday, so we made a little improvement,” said Lee, a little disappointed. “It’s still not doing what I need it to do. There’s guys that earlier in the season I was running with, and I don’t know if they’re figuring stuff out and I’m not, or what. I got a few positions by virtue of people crashing, and I got by a few people that had qualified in front of me.” Blake Young Sunday’s Repsol Lubricants Superstock Final – 16th Place “I tried to make up ground on the guys in front of me,” said Blake. “But I ended up getting stuck where I was. I just kept pushing and pushing, and the harder I pushed the more mistakes I made. So I just tried to relax, and about that time Lee (Acree) and Mark Miller got past me. Mark and I went back and forth a few times, passing each other, basic high/low stuff. I tried setting him up for a last lap move, but I just couldn’t put it all together.” Sunday’s Pro Honda Oils Supersport Final – 10th Place “This is my best finish ever in Supersport,” said Blake, who was pleased with his race and his finish position. “Heading into turn two off the start, I was in that group from tenth through fourteenth place. Throughout the whole race, there was passing everywhere you could. I accidentally killed the bike on the front straight while I was adjusting the brakes, so everybody went around me and I was back to fourteenth. So I worked my way back up, then Jeff Tigert crashed in turn five. Chris Siglen had to check up, Robert Jensen ran wide and I went underneath them. I sat behind Nick (Nicky Moore) for a while, then I came down into turn two and Danny (Eslick) was off in the gravel trap. He came back on track in front of Nick, and we went around him. I was trying to run Nick down, but I wasn’t making up enough ground. The bike was awesome. It was real hot out there, so I’m sure everybody’s tires were slipping and sliding around. My tires worked the whole way. It was fun.” More, from a press release issued by Team M4 EMGO Suzuki: MAY POSTS CAREER BEST SUPERSPORT FINISH AT LAGUNA SECA Team M4 EMGO Suzuki rounded out the high-profile USGP weekend at Laguna Seca on Sunday by claiming their best finish of the season in the AMA Supersport class. Geoff May rebounded from a poor launch off the line to battle in the top five throughout the 17-lap race aboard his Pirelli-shod GSX-R600. On the final lap, he held off the defending class champion by just 0.012 at the checkered flag to claim fifth place. After picking up the best Supersport finish of his career, May said, “My initial reaction at the very beginning was ‘Uh oh, this is not going to be fun.’ I got a horrible start. But it allowed me to see what was going on going into Turn 2 and I just rode around the outside of everybody. Those guys all slowed down in front there.” He continued: “I got past a couple guys and then I saw the leader go down and I realized I was in fourth. I thought at that point I might be able to get a podium, and I kept charging as hard as I could the entire race. The Pirelli tires were great the whole way — they had tons of grip — and the Suzuki worked great too.” Unfortunately, the Superstock final didn’t go as smoothly for Team M4 EMGO Suzuki. May was forced to pull his GSX-R1000 into the pits on lap five due to a minor mechanical problem. The team quickly repaired his racebike but elected not to send him back out on the track a lap down. Michael Barnes worked his way up from twelfth place on the opening lap to ninth on lap ten but crashed out of the race the following circulation. Team M4 EMGO Suzuki will be back in action in two weeks time as the AMA roadracing championships descend upon to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 22-24. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: KAWASAKI FINISHES STRONG AT LAGUNA SECA Roger Hayden scores third in Superstock and second in Supersport MONTEREY, Calif. Reigning AMA Supersport champion Tommy Hayden and series runner-up Roger Hayden had a roller coaster weekend aboard their Kawasaki motorcycles as AMA motorcycle road racing returned to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca last weekend. In the AMA Superstock race, Tommy and Roger blasted off the grid with Tommy settling into second and Roger in third by the end of the first lap. Tommy rode strong and consistent throughout the race to eventually take the lead on lap ten. However, with only three laps to go, his chance for a victory was eliminated after he was edged off the track by a lapped rider and crashed. Roger held his position to capture his first podium of the day by finishing third. Tommy was evaluated by on-site physicians immediately following the crash and released after being diagnosed with a small fracture in his right hand. He is scheduled for further evaluation later this week. In AMA Supersport action, Attack Kawasaki rider Ben Attard had his best start of the season and moved into first place before the opening lap was complete. The affable Australian held his position until lap three before he crashed in a tight turn. Attard’s mishap allowed Roger Hayden to take over the lead until the final lap where he ended up in an intense battle with Jason Disalvo. Roger rode smooth and strong until a braking duel during the last turn opened the door for Disalvo to take the win. Tommy Hayden, who also earned his fifth pole position of the season earlier in the day, started in fourth despite enduring extreme pain in his right hand and soldiered towards the lead throughout the duration of the event. The elder Hayden gave a hero’s effort to finish a respectable sixth place and collect a valuable 26 points in the process. Roger’s runner-up finish also moved him into second place in the overall point standings. During the AMA Superbike race on Saturday, Attack Kawasaki rider Josh Hayes’ weekend was unfortunately over almost as quickly as it started. After qualifying in eighth, Hayes had a respectable start but crashed during the first lap. Racing resumes when the teams head to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, July 22-24. More, from a press release issued by Proforma: MICHAEL JORDAN MOTORSPORTS SUZUKI MOVES FORWARD AT LAGUNA SECA The Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki team had a satisfying round seven of the AMA Superbike Championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, in front of over 150,000 spectators at the combined MotoGP/AMA Superbike event. Jason Pridmore did well after several races off due to injury, his body fully fit after surgery to remove a ruptured spleen and plate a broken foot. Steve Rapp jumped from fifth to third in the Repsol Superstock point standings, and Montez Stewart continued to gain confidence as his experience grows in the AMA Superbike Championship. Jason Pridmore Saturday’s Superbike Final – 10th Place “It was good,” said Pridmore. “It was nice seeing a green flag and a checkered flag in the same day. Just a lot of chaos out there. That’s what happens when you qualify on the fourth row. There were people everywhere for the first 10 laps. I didn’t want to be caught up in the drama. I was focused on running down the guys in front of me. I saw Steve (Rapp) up there and focused on him. Really, this was about getting a weekend under my belt. I’m trying to make my bike better. It feels comfortable to me, and I feel like I’m riding well, just a little bit cautious.” Sunday’s Repsol Lubricants Superstock Final – 11th Place “I got a great start again,” Pridmore said. “I just had no grip, from lap one, I had zero grip. I couldn’t do anything with those guys. I couldn’t get the bike off the corners the way I wanted. I got by Bucky (Damon Buckmaster) pretty hard in turn four, then he passed me back. I passed him back and put my head down and started catching a couple of the other boys. With like seven laps to go, I went into turn two and it wouldn’t go into second gear. A couple more laps and it wouldn’t go into gear at all. It was stuck in third gear. Even when I ran off out in the gravel, it was still in third gear. I got back on but I had to go through there in third gear for the rest of the race. We got through the weekend and learned a lot about our bike. We’ll go from here and try to do better at Mid-Ohio.” Steve Rapp Saturday’s Superbike Final – 8th Place “We switched to the back-up bike just before the race,” said Rapp. “The clutch was slipping on my A bike. The set-up wasn’t exactly the same. I hadn’t ridden the back-up bike all weekend. The race went pretty well. I think it was like five laps to go, I got through a group of about six riders. Not that I could ride any harder, but I just tried to be careful and not overshoot corners, get on the gas good and brake good. I tried to keep my pace up the rest of the race, but Kurtis (Roberts) passed me on the very last lap.” Sunday’s Repsol Lubricants Superstock Final – 6th Place “The bike itself felt good,” said Rapp. “I was just lacking traction, that was my biggest problem. It’s kind of been the same problem all year, really. I don’t think it’s tires so much, just a set-up problem. But I got a pretty good start, and I was with them (the leaders), but I couldn’t gain on them. After three or four laps, it started spinning a little bit more, and that’s when (Jake) Holden and (John) Haner passed me. It was kind of an uneventful race after that. I knew I wasn’t going to catch them, so I just really tried to diagnose what the problem was so I could tell the crew so we can fix it. Montez Stewart Sunday’s Repsol Lubricants Superstock Final – 23rd Place “I had a pretty good day, considering I got down to my goal time of 1:32s,” said Stewart, pleased with his progress at the tricky Northern California circuit. “I did five or six 1:32s, and that’s what I was shooting for yesterday. I went out this morning and had a problem with the clutch, so I went out on my B bike. I could have raced it, but of course it didn’t feel the same. They fixed the clutch on the A bike, new brake pads, and it felt good. This is only my second time here, and it went well. I ran with J.J. (Roetlin) and a couple of other guys. It was a really good weekend overall.” More, from a press release issued by Pirelli: Pirelli Race Report: Laguna Seca July 8-10 Pirelli Privateers Tops in Two Classes The first finishing non-factory riders in AMA Superstock and Supersport, at this weekend’s AMA Superbike event at Laguna Seca, Mazda Raceway, each relied on the benefits of Pirelli tires for their achievements. In AMA Superstock, Lion Racing teammates Jacob Holden and John Haner nabbed fourth and fifth, respectively, on their Suzuki GSX-R1000s. Each rider finished less than five seconds behind the race’s winner, and barely two seconds from earning a step on the podium. After 17 laps of competing against the nation’s most seasoned racers on 1000cc big-bore bikes, Holden and Haner still had the race leader in sight as the checkered flag waved. In the AMA Supersport event, M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Geoff May finished fifth, right behind four full-fledged factory riders. Including the performances of Nicky Moore and Blake Young, Pirelli riders claimed three of the top ten positions in Supersport. With Pirelli-shod racers repeatedly grabbing great results, the argument of factory advantage is being eroded. Riders don’t need to own a motorcycle company to do well, they just a set of Pirelli race-spec tires.