PBM Leave USA Empty Handed Following a month’s break, round ten of the MotoGP World Championship took place at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the USA this weekend but for the Penrith-based PBM MotoGP Team, it was another disappointing weekend at the Red Bull US Grand Prix. After a run of poor results at Sachsenring in Germany and then at the previous round at Laguna Seca, Colombian Hernandez and Ulsterman Michael Laverty were hoping to add to both their own World Championship points scores and to improve their CRT and Manufacturer placings. Hernandez, from Medelln, on the Rapid Solicitors and Minxflix.com-sponsored Aprilia ART started well with another 14th place in FP1 and was never outside the top 20 in all sessions. Laverty meanwhile, from Toome in County Antrim, on the Rapid Solicitors and Minxflix.com-sponsored PBM machine gradually improved to post a best placing of 18th in FP4 and in qualifying, Laverty was placed eighth with Hernandez in 11th. In the race, both Hernandez and Laverty got reasonable starts with Yonny up to 16th in the early stages as Michael gave chase inside the top 20 but with ten laps to go, Hernandez suffered a technical problem which caused him to retire leaving Laverty to bring the machine home to a safe 18th place at the end of the 27 lap race. Hernandez dropped to 20th overall in the MotoGP World Championship standings as a result although Laverty maintained his 23rd place in his debut season. In the Claiming Rules Teams (CRT) class, Hernandez now holds seventh with Laverty in ninth whereas PBM occupy eighth in the Constructors Championship and 12th in the Teams Championship in their debut season with their brand new British-built machine. Michael Laverty: “Indy was difficult, I struggled in the early laps again following a good start, my pace got better mid race when the fuel load came down but the guys in front had pulled too big a gap. It was a lonely race in the end to finish 18th. We have some ideas following the information we gathered this weekend on how to take some steps forward with our base chassis settings. I know the circuits coming up so fingers crossed it should make things easier.” Yonny Hernandez: “I am unhappy not to have finished the race as I felt good all weekend and had a good pace. The bike was working OK in the beginning of the race but seemed to lose power and then stopped. I am now thinking only about Brno where I hope to have a strong race.” Phil Borley, Technical Director: “It has been a difficult weekend here at Indianapolis that for Yonny finished with a DNF and Michael an 18th place. We are still diagnosing the reason for Yonny’s bike stopping and expect to have an answer and solution for next week’s Brno race. Michael did not have a front end set up that gave him the confidence to push at the limit so we will test some different settings in Brno.” Paul Bird, Team Owner: “We seem to be having a bit of a hard time in MotoGP over these past few rounds and things certainly haven’t gone our way. We always knew this year would be tough and I’m taking some consolation that at least we haven’t any crashed motorbikes to repair this weekend! We need to start bouncing back soon as Brno and Silverstone are two very important races for us and we need to be up with the leading CRT riders.” Round 11 of the MotoGP World Championship takes place this forthcoming weekend at Brno. For more information, please visit the team’s brand new website www.pbmuk.net and www.motogp.com. More, from a press release issued by Kyle Wyman Racing: Frankfort, Ind. (August 20) — KWR rider Hafizh Syahrin rode his PETRONAS XR1200 to a convincing win Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, drafting veteran Steve Rapp to the line and besting him by a scant .039 seconds to follow his impressive third place result on Saturday. Syahrin came into the Indianapolis having never ridden the track nor a Harley-Davidson XR1200, but the 19-year old Malaysian made quick work of the unfamiliar circumstances to triumph over a number of AMA Pro Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Series regulars. “I am very happy to have a 3rd place in the first race and a win in the second race,” Syahrin said of his debut race in the United States. “The XR1200 is a fun bike to ride. The bike is very heavy but the power is very smooth and I am thankful for the support from PETRONAS and Kyle Wyman to have an opportunity to race.” Sunday’s contest quickly turned into a 10-lap game of cat and mouse when Syahrin and Rapp broke away from the field early, uncharacteristically gapping the large-pack draft that has become all too familiar in XR1200 racing. “With two laps to go I gave Steve Rapp a little gap so I could make a last lap push,” said Syahrin. “I didn’t want to pass him before the last lap, so as to make him think he could win. Then I passed him in the slipstream to the flag and I am so happy to have the win.” Reigning AMA Pro Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Series champion and teammate to Syahrin, Michael Barnes, finished the weekend with 7th and 5th place results in races one and two, respectively. Barnes now sits 3rd in this year’s championship points standings, the XR Showdown, which awards a $60,000 year-end points fund to finishers in the top 10. “My qualifying crash had us off course a little with our setup,” Barnes said, “But after Saturday’s race laps we found a better setup for race two and came away with a top five. I’m not happy with missing the podium both races to start out the XR Showdown, but with the wild card riders that came in and stole points from some of the other guys I feel good about sitting in third and putting in a final push in the last two rounds on my Spyke’s Harley-Davidson.” Young Arkansan Hayden Shultz, another Spyke’s/KWR rider, found his way into 6th-7th results in each race during his Indianapolis debut. “We had some bad luck in practice and qualifying,” said the 16-year old Shultz. “We had a couple miscues that took away some valuable track time. Since I was new to the circuit, it was tough learning the track under those circumstances, but luckily my Spyke’s/KWR crew was able to turn it around for us and riding across the Brickyard is something that I will never forget.” AMA Pro Harley-Davidson Race 1 results from Indianapolis: 1. Jeremy McWilliams 2. Tyler Ohara 3. Hafizh Syahrin (KWR) 4. Steve Rapp 5. Travis Wyman 6. Hayden Shultz (KWR) 7. Michael Barnes (KWR) 8. Shane Narbonne 9. Gage McAllister 10. Eric Stump 15. Sam Rozynski (KWR) 19. Shelina Moreda (KWR) 22. Nadieh Schoots (KWR) 25. Dave Rhinehart (KWR) 30. Mike Henao (KWR) AMA Pro Harley-Davidson Race 2 results from Indianapolis: 1. Hafizh Syahrin (KWR) 2. Steve Rapp 3. Travis Wyman 4. Benjamin Carlson 5. Michael Barnes (KWR) 6. Shane Narbonne 7. Hayden Shultz (KWR) 8. Gage McAllister 9. Eric Stump 10. Barrett Long 16. Mike Henao (KWR) 17. Sam Rozynski (KWR) 20. Shelina Moreda (KWR) 21. Nadieh Schoots (KWR) 24. Dave Rhinehart (KWR) The AMA Pro Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson series will continue at New Jersey Motorsports Park, September 14-15, 2013. For XR1200 leasing opportunities with Kyle Wyman Racing, please contact [email protected] About Kyle Wyman Racing: KWR was established in 2011 by Kyle Wyman as a racing operations corporation focused on sustainable motorcycle racing ventures in the AMA Pro Road Racing Series. KWR currently operates the Millennium Technologies Triumph Daytona Sportbike Team, KWR/Spyke’s H-D XR1200 Racing Team and the KWR XR1200 Rental Program. About PETRONAS: PETRONAS, the acronym for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, was incorporated on 17 August 1974 and is vested with the ownership and control of the petroleum resources in Malaysia. Fully-owned by the Malaysian government, PETRONAS operates like a multinational petroleum corporation with sound business management practices and principles guided by a complementary set of mission, vision and values. Engaged in a wide spectrum of oil and gas operations domestically and internationally; its activities include exploration and production (E&P) to downstream oil refining; marketing and distribution of petroleum products; gas processing and liquefaction; gas transmission pipeline network operations; marketing of liquefied natural gas (LNG); petrochemical manufacturing and marketing; trading; shipping; and property investment. Over the years, PETRONAS has grown to become a fully-integrated oil and gas corporation with expanding business in Malaysia and overseas. Ranked among FORTUNE Global 500® largest corporations in the world, PETRONAS has presence in more than 30 countries worldwide in its aspiration to be a leading oil and gas multinational of choice. More, from a press release issued by BMW of San Diego: San Diego BMW Motorcycles BMW S1000RR Tops 224 Miles Per Hour At Bonneville During SCTA Speedweek Event Andy Sills of Hunter Sills Racing piloted a San Diego BMW Motorcycles-built BMW S1000RR during its debut appearance to an average speed of 224.190 miles per hour across the timed mile on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Wendover, Utah, on Friday, August 16, 2013, at the famed SCTA Speedweek. This achievement made this S1000RR the world’s fastest BMW motorcycle. San Diego BMW Motorcycles teamed up with Shane Kinderis, owner of Alpine Performance in Australia, and crew chief for the Australian Superbike team Next Gen Motorsports, to tune the engine to 220 horsepower while still conforming to SCTA 1000cc requirements. The bike also employed a new style fairing design created by Mike Verdugo of Catalyst Composites in Escondido, CA. Hunter Sills Racing was chosen to pilot the bike, as their riders Erin Hunter and Andy Sills are avid high speed riders with a combined 21 years of Landspeed Racing competition. Together, Hunter and Sills have achieved 20 world and national landspeed records on a wide variety of motorcycles, ranging from a custom-built 50cc streamliner to the 215-horsepower, over 220 miles per hour fully faired BMW S1000RR. Shane Kinderis shared this, “We are coming to Laguna Seca to race the World Superbike event in a month, so the engine development was good for us. This was a good proving ground for R & D for the World Superbike program and to test the technology we’ve been developing.” Andy Sills of Hunter Sills Racing shared this, “BMW has always been our first choice manufacturer for land speed racing bikes. Having set records with the K1200S in 2005 and the S1000RR in 2010 and 2011, it was the logical platform for our 2013 season.” Gary Orr, owner of San Diego BMW Motorcycles said, “This was our first opportunity to test the Alpine Performance-tuned motor and new Catalyst fairing design for the S1000RR, and were delighted by the results. We worked with both companies while road racing the S1000RR and we knew we could work together to make the S1000RR fast….really fast. Our senior race technician, Curtice Thom, worked alongside Shane Kinderis assembling, testing and tuning the engine to bring out the best performance in this bike. After just nine passes on the unusually difficult Bonneville salt course, we set a new SCTA record and Andy earned a spot in the coveted 200 mile per hour Club. We owe a great amount of the success of this project and thanks for the help we received from our technical partners: ARP (Automotive Racing Products) Fasteners were used exclusively in this engine to ensure it stayed together under the incredible stresses. Maxima Oils: The Maxima 530RR was our insurance policy against excessive friction and heat. The full line of Maxima products were used to protect the bike from one of the harshest environments on the planet. Catalyst Composites, maker of all kinds of motorcycle racing bodywork. Alpha Racing, providers of high performance specialized engine parts. Sprint Filter, suppliers of the world’s finest air filters.” The team will be racing this bike again along with a more traditionally faired BMW S1000RR at the International Motorcycle Speed Trials by BUB, August 24– 29, 2013 held at Bonneville Salt Flats. Their goals are to bring home two international FIM records and multiple national AMA records for the San Diego BMW Motorcycles and Hunter Sills team. About San Diego BMW Motorcycles: San Diego BMW Motorcycles is San Diego’s premier motorcycle dealer and one of the largest volume BMW dealerships in the U.S. Enthusiasts serving Enthusiasts in the sport of motorcycle racing. For more information, go to: www.sdbmwmc.com, San Diego BMW Motorcycles on Facebook, or call (858) 560-2453. About Hunter Sills Racing: In addition to their multiple world and national landspeed records, they also hold two Guinness World Records and in 2011 became the only pair ever to race “two-up” at a sanctioned landspeed racing event, taking a production BMW to a two-way average of 183 and alternating as pilot and pillion for the required two attempts. Erin Hunter and Andy Sills can be followed on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/HunterSillsRacing.) More, from a press release issued by Brammo: Victory for Team ICON Brammo at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Ashland, OR, August 20th 2013 – Brammo, Inc. a global leader in the electric vehicle industry makes motorcycle history at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. From the drop of the green flag, team ICON Brammo riders Shane Turpin and Eric Bostrom got busy getting G-O-N-E! EBoz gave a more than valiant effort trying to chase down “Tornado” Turpin, but wasn’t totally comfortable with the set-up on his bike. Shane was on a mission and feeling extra confident in the changes made to his no.14 Empulse RR13 since qualifying that allowed him to push the bike harder than he ever had. At the checkered flag Brammo were there – beating all comers and establishing the first ever electric motorcycle (and vehicle) lap record at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Meanwhile Brammo rider Shelina Moreda, the first woman to ever ride a motorcycle at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, took home a well-deserved 5th place on the eSuperstock Empulse TTX, drafting and then passing Ted Rich down the straight just before the start/finish line. Team Manager, Brian Wismann, had this to say about the historic victory; “After a tough round for the team at Laguna Seca Raceway last month, it was a great relief to get the result we wanted here at Indy. We’re excited to now be a part of the history of one of the world’s great tracks. I can’t say enough about the warm reception the “e-bikes” received from the fans, event staff, and organizers here. I would love to see this event continue and grow in the future.” Motorcycles were the first motorized vehicles to race at the Indy track. The “modern age” of motorcycle racing at the track began in 2008 when they added a new infield section to allow the MotoGP world championship to race there. Brammo motorcycles are the first electric powered vehicles to race at the track and now hold the lap record for electric motorcycles and electric vehicles at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. About Brammo Brammo, Inc., is a leading electric vehicle technology company headquartered in North America. Brammo designs and develops electric vehicles including the award winning Enertia and Empulse motorcycles. Brammo is the current TTXGP eGrandPrix World Champion. Brammo is an OEM supplier of its innovative Brammo Digital Drivetrain systems including the Brammo Power battery pack and Brammo Power vehicle management system. Brammo has vehicle distribution and marketing operations in North America, Europe and Asia. To learn more, visit www.Brammo.com