Larry Pegram, the rider and owner of the Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing team, says the reason he sold off the BMW S1000RR Superbikes he had been developing for two years and decided to lease a factory Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike was based primarily on the amount of support he could get. “I switched because I got a great deal of support from Yamaha,” Pegram told Roadracingworld.com. “They’re helping me out as much as they can. We’ve got a great bike. We’ve got technical support. We really are getting great help from them, and BMW didn’t want to do anything. So it was a pretty easy decision. Not only do I think the bike is leaps forward in terms of development compared to the other bike, BMW didn’t want to do anything. They flat out said there’s absolutely nothing we can do to help you. That was kind of it. “Now I have a motorcycle that’s already been developed thanks to those guys. The team and Josh [Hayes] have that thing developed to the tee. Now I just have to get on it and ride it. It’s been a long time since I just got to get on a motorcycle and ride it and not try to have to develop it on my own.” Getting to race a Yamaha YZF-R1, arguably the best bike in AMA Pro Superbike racing, built to the exact same specification as those of three-time and defending Champion Josh Hayes and his Monster Energy Graves Yamaha teammate Josh Herrin cold be a double-edged sword for Pegram. On one hand, he should no longer have to worry about whether his motorcycle is going to be good enough, but at the same time, a lot more focus will be put on Pegram’s ability as a rider. But Pegram doesn’t see it as a double-edged sword. “I don’t know that there’s any bad [part] to it,” said Pegram. “I’m getting on a better motorcycle with a better package. The only bad [part] to it is if you don’t win they’re going to look at you and say, ‘You suck,’ and how do you not agree with them. The only bad thing is added pressure, but I would rather have added pressure and a bike that I know that I can win on than no pressure and be able to say, ‘Well, it’s the bike.’”