PIRELLI RACE REPORT FROM AMA TO BRITISH SUPERBIKE TO WORLD ENDURANCE Starting from the Road racing the first good news comes from the AMA Championship, in US, where May reached the first podium of the season in the Superstock series while Lynn and his Suzuki machine could reach the 5th place. Our riders raced an extremely hot race with more than 50 degrees of tarmac temperature, a very hard condition for the tyres that despite the temperature offered a great performance. Back in Europe we have to toast to the 1st position obtained in France in the Supersport 600 Open series by Lucas De Carolis with Honda, and even better was in UK: The amazing Tommy Hill had the 25,000 race fans at Snetterton jumping for joy as he barged his way to an impressive third position and podium place in the second Superbike race of the day. Not only a fantastic result for the young Virgin Mobile Yamaha squad, but an historic result for Pirelli with their first podium in dry conditions. Jubilant Tommy Hill said: “That was a fantastic weekend for me and the team, I got into a great rhythm on Friday testing and managed to keep it together for race day. The bike was strong and the Pirelli tyres more than competitive. After a weekend in hospital with food poisoning this is an amazing result. Thanks to Chunky, Kev and Ian – my techs and especially to Steffen from Pirelli, this result is great for all my team.” In the same time in Belgium on the circuit of Zolder the World Endurance Championship was offering the amazing show of the 6hrs, in which many riders had to retire due to mechanical problems highlighting once again the hardness of this races. Pirelli scored a great result by placing 6 teams in the top 10 positions, both with 16,5 and 17″ tyres. The great Pirelli rubber is also occupying great places in the Championship standings, with 4 teams in top ten places. World Endurance Championship standings: 2nd (Yamaha Austria) 3rd (Kawasaki Bolliger) 4th (Suzuki Fagersjo-El) 10th (Honda RMT21) More, from a press release issued by Team Stargel Castrol: STOKES SETS NEW COUNTER-CLOCKWISE LAP RECORD ON TALLEDEGA On Sunday June 18th, Team Stargel Castrol’s Brian Stokes could not spend Father’s Day at home with his family, so he decided to give himself a gift. Competing in the WERA Formula One race at Talledega, on a Michelin shod Suzuki GSXR1000, Stokes set a new track record. Riding the circuit in its counter-clockwise configuration, he turned a lap of 58.3 seconds, eclipsing the old record by approximately three tenths of a second. After competing in the WERA Cycle Jam at Road Atlanta, Stokes will return to AMA competition at Laguna Seca. More, from a press release issued by Buell Motorcycle Company: ESTOK AND BUELL DOMINATE ASRA THUNDERBIKE RACE AT TOPEKA TOPEKA, Kan. Veatch Motorsports rider Dave Estok rode a Buell Firebolt XB12R to set the pole position, lead every lap and win the American SportBike Racing Association (ASRA) Thunderbike National at the Heartland Park Topeka road course. Ed Key finished second on a Suzuki, followed by Blue Springs H-D/Buell rider Walt Sipp, also aboard a Buell Firebolt. Estok, the defending National Thunderbike champion, was top qualifier for the event with a lap of 1:48.335 on the newly repaved 2.5-mile Heartland Park Topeka Grand Prix Course. At the start of the 10-lap Thunderbike National, BMW rider Nate Kern grabbed the lead with Estok in pursuit. Estok passed Kern to lead the first lap and then rode away from the field. Behind Estok, however, a fierce battle was waged by Hal’s H-D/Buell-Hal’s Speed Shop rider Dan Bilansky and H-D/Buell of Frederick rider Bryan Bemisderfer, both on Buell Firebolts, plus Kern and Key, as the four riders swapped positions for seven laps. Bemisderfer overcooked the entrance to Turn 1 on the second lap, rolling onto the paved run-off area, and then battled back through the field to rejoin the group racing for second position. Bilansky dropped out on lap seven with a mechanical problem, and Kern left the race on lap eight, also with a mechanical problem. On the ninth lap, while in second place, Bemisderfer crashed and fell at the entrance of the backstretch chicane. He managed to pick up and ride his Buell out of the muddy infield and get back on the track to finish the race in fifth. “All the action was behind me today,” said Estok. “After the first lap, I just put my head down, and when I finally looked back, nobody was there. I really want to win this championship for Veatch Motorsports. And I feel like we’ve got some momentum going into VIR.” Hal’s Speed Shop/Spyder Leatherworks.com rider Paul James rode a Buell Firebolt to fourth. Buell riders Greg Avello (Badger Motorsports/Hal’s Speed Shop), Sam Rozynski (Sound Waves/Hal’s Speed Shop) and David Myers (Delta Dist./Wynn’s Pro Products) finished sixth, seventh and tenth respectively. Buell racers also took four wins and 8 podium finishes during the Championship Cup Series support races at Heartland Park. Estok nabbed a win in CCS Expert Thunderbike, while Bemisderfer won in CCS Expert SuperTwins. Racine Harley-Davidson/Buell rider Thomas Michels won the CCS Amateur Lightweight F40 and Amateur SuperTwins classes with his Buell Cyclone M2. And on Friday, in the ASRA Team Challenge endurance event, Team Fat Boy riders James and Avello won the GT Lights class and finished seventh overall on a Firebolt XB9R. With his fifth-place finish, Bemisderfer takes over the lead in Thunderbike season points from Kern. After four of eight races, Bemisderfer has 100 points, followed by Kern with 95, Estok with 94, and Bilansky with 85. The next race on the eight-round ASRA Thunderbike National schedule is June 24-25 at Virginia International Raceway near Alton, Va.