CALABOGIE, Ont. – May 27, 2008 Hamilton Ontario road racer Ross Millson achieved a personal best as a Pro at Round one of the 2008 Parts Canada Superbike Championship with a sixth place finish in the Superbike class. Millson was also one of ten riders to compete for the new Pirelli Superpole. Millson’s weekend began with Thursday’s Superbike test in the rain, aboard his #39 Summit Gearworks sponsored Suzuki GSX-R1000. Millson was one of a handful of riders to venture out on the slick 2.81-KM (1.74 miles) Calabogie Motorsports Park circuit, where he was second fastest with a time of 1:25.388. Friday’s dry test saw Millson drop his time from a 1:14.840 in the morning to a 1:13.731 in the afternoon. The team continued to struggle with set-up issues and Millson struggled to find his pace. “Overall the bike was good for our first time at this track. We knew we had to get more grip from the rear tire.” said Millson.” We needed to make some adjustments to the suspension to get the balance and tire wear we were looking for.” Saturday morning’s qualifying saw Millson nail-down a time of 1:11.978 positioning him for the final Superpole slot, where the fastest 10 competitors faced-off to determine the starting order for Sunday’s feature race. RMP Racing’s Millson was the first rider ever to roll through the Pirelli Superpole arch in Canada during Saturday afternoons Superpole qualifying. Each rider got one flying lap alone on the track to establish their final qualifying time. Carrying TSNs onboard camera, Millson put his #39 Suzuki tenth on the grid with a time of 1:12.311. Sunday’s Superbike feature saw the highest temperatures of the weekend. Millson took to the grid confident in the setup of his Suzuki GSX-R1000. After a slow start Millson made his way past several riders finding himself in the tenth position. As the race progressed Millson maintained consistent lap times and continued his push towards the front. After well fought battle, Millson found himself in the 6th position, his best National Superbike finish to date. For additional information and to learn more about the sponsors that support the team please visit the soon to be launched team website at www.rmpracing.ca. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Ian Lowry put his GSX-R600 Relentless Suzuki on the top step of the podium at Donington Park after a titanic battle with World Supersport riders Jonathan Rea and Andrew Pitt. It was a welcome return to the front of the pack for Lowry who spent the entire race mixing it with the Ten Kate duo, crossing the line in third place. Due to an infringement with the rules, both Ten Kate riders were subsequently disqualified, giving Lowry the win – nothing more than he deserved after a masterful performance. In the Superbike class, Michael Laverty was unlucky to stall his machine on the line at the start of the sighting lap in race one. And having been forced to start the race from pit lane, the Toomebridge rider came from last place in turn one, to take a fine ninth place at the chequered flag. In race two Laverty was as high as third place before a fuel starvation problem forced him back into the midfield runners. He eventually retired to the team garage with a faulty fuel pump. Ian Lowry: “I’m over the moon with that and to be mixing it with top World Supersport riders is great. When I was in the lead I felt pretty comfortable but got a false neutral into the chicane and lost a bit of ground. I used the best of my tyre to get back onto Pitt and Rea. I was able to dice with Pitt but Johnny gave himself a bit of tyre for the end of the race and made a break for it. I shut it off with three laps to go as I wasn’t going to fall off trying to be a hero just because it was Andrew Pitt I was chasing. All the boys are over the moon and I want to thank them for the big effort this weekend. I think we showed that the GSX-R600 Suzuki is a capable package, even in top company. In the end we got the win, so it worked well all round.” Michael Laverty: “I was a bit stupid to stall the bike in the first race, but ninth was ok and the result gave me confidence for race two. After qualifying well in the wet, I was hoping we might get a bit of rain for the second race. We had changed a few things on the bike and I was really comfy. I definitely had the pace to lead the race but after about six laps I started to struggle with grip and by lap ten I’d dropped back a bit. That’s down to me: I just need to work my set up to get the best out of the tyres for a full race distance. I ended up pulling out with a faulty fuel pump, and at first I thought we had a traction control problem, so I flicked a few switches but obviously nothing happened. It was a frustrating weekend, although it was awesome to see Ian up there mixing it with the Ten Kate boys.” Philip Neill – Team Principal: “Ian’s ride was phenomenal today. He just proved how competitive the GSX-R600 Suzuki really is, and also how strong the British Supersport class can be, by running alongside two of World Supersport’s top riders. Rea and Pitt brought a bit of prestige to the series this weekend but all credit to Ian for mixing it with them. It’ll be a real confidence booster for him and he also proved all is not lost in the championship chase. “Michael was a bit unlucky today with fuel starvation problems in race two and being held back to start in pit lane in the race one after stalling his bike. On the first few laps of race two, he was superb and showed that we are nearly there with this bike – a podium can’t be too far away. He also showed grit and determination in race one coming from dead last and his lap times were good enough for top five. Again we can take a lot of positives from this weekend.” More, from a press release issued by Team Toyota Yamaha/Fast Company: LACOMBE SUPERB SECOND AT CALABOGIE Fast Company rider also claims Pirelli Superpole BRESLAU, Ont. Kevin Lacombe scored an excellent second place finish on the Team Toyota Yamaha / Fast Company Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 at the opening round of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship at Calabogie Motorsports Park last weekend. After claiming pole position during a dramatic Pirelli Superpole session on Saturday, the Granby, Que. rider hounded eventual winner Jordan Szoke in Sunday’s race until a scare just past half-distance forced him to back off and lose ground to the defending champion. “I thought something went through my front fender,” Lacombe explained. “It took me a corner or two to make sure everything was OK with the bike and I lost contact with Jordan. It is unfortunate but it was really important for us to get some good points in the first round.” Lacombe trails Szoke by seven points after the opening round of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship with 46 points to Szoke’s 53. Lacombe picked up maximum points in qualifying with his spectacular run to the Pirelli Superpole, in which the top 10 qualifiers from the Saturday morning qualifying period each get one flying lap to set a time. Lacombe was the final rider to take his lap in the session and had his work cut out for him after Szoke scorched around the 2.81km Calabogie Stadium Track in one minute, 8.446 seconds. The 25-year-old responded to the pressure, however, beating Szoke’s time with a 1:08.440 to claim the $500 Inside Motorcycles Pole Position Award and a critical four points towards the Parts Canada Superbike Championship. “It was exciting for sure,” said Lacombe. “Out of turn 1 I had a wobble but I kept it wide open, and everything else was pretty good until I got sideways through the last turn.” The time stood up as the best of the weekend, and as this was the series’ first visit to Calabogie, it established a new track record for the national series. Lacombe also finished fourth in the Yoshimura Pro 600 Sport Bike race at Calabogie riding the Team Toyota Yamaha / Fast Company Racing Yamaha YZF-R6. Lacombe had qualified on the front row with the Scott Miller-tuned bike but a poor start left him fifth after the opening lap and he hounded Matt McBride most of the way. Lacombe lies fourth in the Pro 600 Sport Bike standings with 33 points, 21 behind race winner Szoke. The Parts Canada Superbike Championship continues at Calgary’s Race City Motorsport Park June 27-29. More, from a press release issued by Birchall Racing: A TOP FOUR FINISH FOR BIRCHALL RACING AT DONINGTON PARK Mansfield based sidecar racing brothers, Ben and Tom Birchall, came away from a saturated Donington Park at the weekend with a top four finish, just missing out on a podium place. Unfortunately, whilst lying in third place, they spun off the track on their Mitchells of Mansfield LCR Suzuki, during the opening round of the FIM Superside World Championship. Saturday’s first qualifying session was dry and went well for the brothers, moving them into second place for a while, but during the second session they experienced an electrical problem which slowed their progress. Ben and Tom completed their qualifying in fifth place, for a second row start in Sunday’s race, alongside Richard Gatt and Paul Randall. “Qualifying was going well for us until an electrical fault developed, causing a misfire,” said Ben. “We now have some adjustments to make before tomorrow’s race, which Tom and I are looking forward to, when hopefully we’ll be in contention.” Sunday’s race got underway in extremely cold, wet and windy conditions with the Mansfield brothers lying in fourth place for the first few laps, gradually closing in on the Hegartys, until passing them and moving into third place. Unfortunately, due to the atrocious conditions and a greasy wet surface, the brothers spun off the track whilst lying in third position, losing them a crucial eighteen seconds. This allowed both the Hegarty brothers and Gatt and Randall to pass them, after which time, the Birchalls dropped back into fifth place for the next four laps. Ben and Tom managed to pass Gatt and Randall during the penultimate lap, where they remained until the chequered flag, finishing in fourth place and gaining thirteen hard-earned points for the team. Afterwards, Ben said, “The weather played havoc with everyone during Sunday’s race, the track was very wet and slippery and the electrical problem hindered our progress, but we were pleased to come away with thirteen valuable points. “We would like to thank our sponsors and also our friends and family for coming along to our local circuit to support us in such atrocious conditions! Tom and I now look forward to our next round on June 20-22 at the 3.67-mile Sachsenring circuit in Germany.” Link to the new Birchall Racing website: www.birchallracing.com More, from a press release issued by AFM Round 3 at Infineon Raceway At Infineon Raceway, James Randolph extended his lead in the Kal Gard Formula Pacific Championship, taking his second win in three races on his Pirelli-shod Santa Cruz Cycle Imports Suzuki. Just before the halfway point, Randolph made his move on the Mach 1 Motorsports Yamaha of David Stanton, taking the lead before going on to win by just over four seconds. “We had some fun the first couple of laps with Cory Call going off track,” said Randolph. We all went different ways for a moment, with him, Leonardo, and Earnest coming by, I knew I needed to get by them if I wanted any chance of catching David. I can’t say enough about how good this Cycle Imports Suzuki and the Pirelli Tires are working. It’s just awesome, and really hooked up right now.” On the podium for his second consecutive event, Stanton seemed content with his second place finish while wondering when he would be able to score his first Formula Pacific win of the season. “Kenny Norman and KC of BRG Racing tuned this thing, but it’s still a stock engine just like it was last weekend,” said Stanton. “Every weekend we seem to get a little bit better, a little bit closer. Who knows next time maybe we can give these guys a run for their money. This Mach 1 Motorsports Yamaha just handles so well if we could just make it a little faster, I think it would be a different ballgame.” Cory Call had a difficult race, recovering from an off-track excursion in Turn 9 early in the race to finish third, his third Formula Pacific podium of the season on his Dunlop-shod MDK Motorsports Suzuki. “I was having some issues, it just wasn’t my day,” said Call. “Without the horsepower, I had to make my time in the corners and on the brakes, then the brakes started to go off. I came in contact in Turn 9 with my buddy Mike Earnest man, I was just all over the place. I don’t even know, everything was just a blur that last race.” Two new Honda CBR1000RRs were on the Formula Pacific grid at Infineon, with Honda R&D rider Jeff Tigert and Pacific Track Time’s Michael Earnest on a Mach 1 Motorsports machine, and Honda R&D rider Jeff Tigert on another. Riding a motorcycle still equipped with its stock exhaust and suspension components, Tigert began to close the gap on Call late in the race, threatening to take the final podium position. A mistake in Turn 9 forced Tigert to settle for fourth, with Earnest finishing 6th, just behind the San Jose BMW ridden by Brian Parriott. In the Pacific Track Time 600 Superbike race, Tigert worked through some fuel injection problems on his CBR600RR to take a close win over second place finisher Garrett Willis. “We had the Formula Xtreme motor in there, but something wasn’t running right the off-on throttle was really notchy,” said Tigert after the race. “It was good enough to take the win, but even Garrett said that my bike didn’t seem that fast, that he was catching me up into 7. It was a close one, with that waving yellow flag in Turn 10 on the last lap. The incident was in Turn 11, so we were just stuck cruising behind a lapper until we got past it. I could hear him behind me, and I knew what he was going to try to do, but I got a pretty good jump too.” The rider with the most wins on the weekend was David Anthony, who followed up his recent 10th place finish in AMA Superstock just a week earlier by taking three wins at Infineon. Riding a pair of Pirelli-shod Wyotech Suzuki GSX-Rs, the Australian took first place finishes in the Foremost Insurance Open Superbike race, the Keigwins@theTrack 600 Production race, and the 750 Production race. “It was an uneventful weekend, which is good we’re just going to Miller next weekend, then Wisconsin the weekend after that,” said Anthony. “Hooters Suzuki lent me some bikes to use for the year, they hooked me up with these 1000s and have been helping me out a bit.” Brian Parriott also took home multiple first place trophies on the weekend, with wins in the Desmoto Sport Open Twins race and the R Tech Fuels 750 Superbike race on his Pirelli-shod BMW HP2. In the winner’s circle after the 750 Superbike race, Parriott addressed some comments made about him by former AMA Superbike champion Mat Mladin at the national just one week earlier. “Ya know, I have a challenge for him,” said Parriott. “I want to go out to a racetrack and put down some laps on my BMW, and he can put down some laps on his Yosh Suzuki. Then, we swap and see who gets closer to the other’s lap times. Then we’ll see who the professional is!” The next round of the 2008 AFM championship takes place July 5-6 at Thunderhill Raceway. AFM Round 3 May 25, 2008 Infineon Raceway Unofficial Top 6 per Class Kal-Gard Formula Pacific 1. James Randolph (Suz 1000) 2. David Stanton (Yam 1000) 3. Cory Call (Suz 1000) 4. Jeffrey Tigert (Hon 1000) 5. Brian Parriott (BMW 1170) 6. Michael Earnest (Hon 1000) Foremost Insurance Open Superbike 1. James Randolph (Suz 1000) 2. Cory Call (Suz 1000) 3. David Stanton (Yam 1000) 4. Jeffrey Tigert (Hon 1000) 5. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 6. David Bell (Suz 1000) R Tech Fuels 750 Superbike 1. Brian Parriott (BMW 1170) 2. Peter O’Sullivan (Suz 750) 3. Christopher Clark (Yam 600) 4. Billy Scott (Yam 600) 5. Craig McLean (Duc 850) 6. Stan Riner (Suz 750) Pacific Track Time 600 Superbike 1. Jeffrey Tigert (Hon 600) 2. Garrett Willis (Hon 600) 3. Scott Gilbert (Yam 600) 4. Christopher Clark (Yam 600) 5. Neil O’Reilly (Suz 600) 6. Tony Meiring (Yam 600) Alpine RV 450 Superbike 1. Michael Lohmeyer (Hon) 2. Mark Elrod (Hon) 3. Erick Crabtree (Hon) 4. Jonathan Forman (Suz) 5. David Wallis (Hon) 6. Ed Haazer (Yam) 250 Superbike 1. Robert Black (Hon 450) 2. Martin Ayala (Hus) 3. Joe Rust (Yam 250) 4. Mohammed Kahium (Kaw 250) 5. Rob Drury (Yam 250) 6. Jim Hoogerhyde (Hon) The Track Club Open Production 1. David Anthony (Suz 1000) 2. Cory Call (Suz 1000) 3. James Randolph (Suz 1000) 4. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 5. Sam Verderico (Suz 750) 6. Jose Flores (Yam 1000) 750 Production 1. David Anthony (Suz 600) 2. Brian Parriott (BMW 1170) 3. Christopher Clark (Yam 600) 4. Liko Miles (Suz 750) 5. Craig McLean (Duc 850) 6. David Glenn (Suz 600) Keigwins@theTrack 600 Production 1. David Anthony (Suz 600) 2. Garrett Willis (Hon 600) 3. Scott Gilbert (Yam 600) 4. Christopher Clark (Yam 600) 5. Berto Wooldridge (Yam 600) 6. Matt Eccleston (Suz 600) 650 Twins Production 1. David Raff (Suz 650) 2. Allen Erkman (Suz 650) 3. Mark Elrod (Hon) 4. Alex Florea (Suz 650) 5. David Wallis (Hon) 6. Stanley Chan (Suz 650) 250 Production 1. Kelly Winkelbauer (Kaw 250) 2. Charles Leca (Kaw 250) 3. Lisa Mazurkiewicz (Kaw 250) 4. Craig Farless (Kaw 250) 5. Rich Weidenbach (Kaw 250) 6. Shandra Crawford (Hyo) GP Frame and Wheel Open Grand Prix 1. Mike Thompson (Suz 1000) 2. David Bell (Suz 1000) 3. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 4. Justin Mastalka (Suz 1000) 5. Craig Smith (Suz 1000) 6. Jose Flores (Yam 1000) Scuderia West Formula 1 1. Liko Miles (Suz 750) 2. Neil O’Reilly (Suz 600) 3. Peter O’Sullivan (Suz 750) 4. Billy Scott (Yam 600) 5. Greg McCullough (Yam 600) 6. Andy Allen (Yam 600) Formula 2 1. Carlos Neves (Hon 250) 2. Jeff Leggitt (Yam 250) 3. Richard Denman (Hon 250) 4. Kelly Winkelbauer (Yam 250) 5. Brian Hoffman (Hon 250) 6. Erik Kolstoe (Yam 250) Formula 3 1. Carlos Neves (Hon 125) 2. Phillip Krenn (Hon 125) 3. Marcus Henderson (Hon 125) 4. Peter Watson (Yam 125) 5. John Kreidle (Hon 125) 6. Peter Le Duc (Hon 125) Race-Oil.com AMSOIL Formula 4 1. Dan Sewell (Suz 650) 2. David Raff (Suz 650) 3. William Fox (Suz 650) 4. Rick Ford (Suz 650) 5. Jason Lauritzen (Suz 650) 6. Michael Lohmeyer (Hon) Desmoto Sport Open Twins 1. Brian Parriott (BMW 1170) 2. Matthew Green (Duc 749) 3. Craig McLean (Duc 1098) 4. Scott Schwanbeck (Duc 749) 5. Patrick Blackburn (Duc 1098) 6. Mario Gonzales Jr (Duc 1098) 650 Twins 1. William Fox (Suz 650) 2. Jason Lauritzen (Suz 650) 3. David Raff (Suz 650) 4. Rick Ford (Suz 650) 5. Jay Avansino (Suz 650) 6. Dan Sewell (Suz 650) 500 Twins 1. Jonathan Forman (Suz 500) 2. Thomas Dorsey (Suz 500) 3. Robert Clifford (Kaw 500) 4. Charles Leca (Kaw 250) 5. Michael Hickey (Kaw 500) Formula Singles 1. Jim Hoogerhyde (Hon) 2. Martin Ayala (Hus) 3. Mike Lawrence (Hon) 4. Edward Lloyd (Hus) 5. Geoff Osterman (KTM) 6. Clay Hassinger (ATK) Super Dinosaur 1. Michael Boyer (Hon) 2. Guy Hyder (Hon) 3. Mark Woodlief (Kaw) 4. Dave Grace (Hon) 5. Ed Haazer (Hon) 6. Brian Mitchell (Duc) Teresa McKinney Realtor Formula 40 1. Mike Thompson (Suz 1000) 2. Peter O’Sullivan (Suz 750) 3. Jeff Hagan (Suz 1000) 4. Patrick Blackburn (Duc 1098) 5. Pete Demas (Tri 675) 6. Ron Bunten (Suz 1000) Vintage 1. Richard Haas (Duc) 2. Richard Carmody (Hon) 3. Timothy Silva (Yam) 4. Jim Hoogerhyde (Hon)