From a press release issued by American Honda:

Red Rider Weekend Race Report:
Mid-Ohio Formula Xtreme
AMA Superbike Rounds 13 and 14
Troy Motocross National.


Formula Xtreme
Round 9
July 24, 2004
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio

Duhamel takes sixth win of season in Formula Xtreme at Mid-Ohio

A big weekend of racing for the Red Riders kicked off on Saturday with the Mid-Ohio Formula Xtreme race. A huge crowd and perfect Spring weather combined to make for a wonderful day of racing, especially for Miguel Duhamel. The Honda veteran claimed his sixth win of the season aboard his CBR600RR, and his 78th win of his celebrated career.

Duhamel set the tone in qualifying, claiming his third Xtreme pole of the season with the time of 1:28.731. Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke was second in the grid with a 1:29.383 while his teammate Alex Gobert started seventh for the day.

“It was just incredible,” said Duhamel. “I went out there with a really hard race tire and went super fast, and then we put on a softer race tire. I’d be curious to see what we could do on a qualifier on that bike.”

At the start, Zemke grabbed the holeshot followed by the CBR600RR of Duhamel, both machines charging to the front of the field and opening an early gap on all other racers. Zemke held the lead for the first six laps before Duhamel took over and never looked back. “We were riding hard and set a really fast pace,” said Duhamel. “We’ve been putting a lot of pressure on each other all year.” Shortly after Duhamel took the lead, Zemke lost the front end in the extremely slippery Keyhole section of the track, and ended the day with a DNF.

Duhamel’s sixth win of the season gave him a 45-point lead over Zemke for the championship going into round 10 at Road Atlanta on Labor Day weekend.

AMA Formula Xtreme Results
1. Miguel Duhamel-Honda
2. Jason Pridmore-Suzuki
3. Vincent Haskovec-Suzuki
4. Larry Pegram-Yamaha
5. Heath Small-Yamaha
7. Alex Gobert-Honda

AMA Formula Xtreme Points
1. Miguel Duhamel-Honda-320
2. Jake Zemke-Honda-275
3. Alex Gobert-Honda-244
4. Vincent Haskovec-Suzuki-217
5. Larry Pegram-Yamaha-189


AMA Superbike Championship
Round 13
July 24, 2004
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio

Ben leads, Miguel takes second at Mid-Ohio

In the early laps of the first Superbike race at the Mid-Ohio double-header, it was Ben Bostrom who chased down early break-away leader Mat Mladin. Bostrom made up nearly three seconds to catch and pass Mladin for the lead. In the end, however, it was Miguel Duhamel who nearly scored another Superbike win, but instead came up just .337 seconds short at the line.

Qualifying put all three Honda riders on the front row. Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke took his CBR1000RR to a new track record of 1:26.376, taking the pole for the first race of the double-header. “Credit goes to the team because the bike was a lot better than it was yesterday (Friday) for sure,” said Zemke. “The bike is definitely doing what I need it to do now.” Duhamel qualified second with a stellar time of 1:26.515. “I’m happy Jake got pole and not Mat,” said Duhamel. “We’re going to make very minor changes; the bike’s pretty good. Just get a good start and hang on, and go out racing Mid-Ohio style. It’s going to be very tight.” Finishing out the front row in fourth was Honda’s Ben Bostrom.

The hills of the Mid-Ohio course were lined with a capacity crowd to witness round 13 of the AMA Superbike Championship. The spring-like weather added a nice element to a weekend of competitive racing. As the field shot off the line, it was Eric Bostrom who led followed by Mladin and Ben Bostrom. The running order quickly reshuffled, and by lap seven Ben was challenging Mladin for the lead. On lap eight Ben surged to the front and he led the next five laps-only to have Mladin re-take the lead in traffic.

As the battle in the front heated up, Zemke and Duhamel were locked in their own race, maneuvering their CBR1000RRs through traffic. Zemke would later admit to making the wrong front tire choice and paying the price with a shortage of grip. Not so Duhamel: On lap 17, Miguel passed Jake for third and set his sights on his teammate Bostrom. “I just got a good drive coming out of turn one,” said Duhamel. “Ben was looking back, and I just kind of flew on the inside of him.”

Once past Bostrom, Duhamel began a steady march toward Mladin. Diving through lapped traffic, Duhamel closed to within striking distance of Mladin with two laps to go. Unfortunately, on the last lap Duhamel was blocked by a lapped rider in the infamous Keyhole turn. The incident cost him more than a second, and any chance he had of passing Mladin for the win. “I was right on Mat until that point,” said a somber Duhamel. “And then I had to make that back up.” With only a few turns remaining, Duhamel managed to close to within .337 seconds of Mladin, and finish second for the day. Ben Bostrom would finish fourth with Zemke following him across the line in fifth.

“The bike was working really good,” said Duhamel. “I put my head down, and to me it seemed I was the fastest guy out there. I was able to reel in Mat, and on a few occasions through even lapped riders. Even though he would break away, I’d run back in. So things are looking good for tomorrow. It was a fun race. It was definitely greasy. I was spinning up everywhere and sliding.

“It’s hard when you start sixth, seventh, and you’re fighting with guys you don’t even see just to get back up to the lead group. Thank God our bike is really fast and works real good. I’m pretty highly motivated for tomorrow, I can tell you that.”

AMA Superbike Results
1. Mat Mladin-Suzuki
2. Miguel Duhamel-Honda
3. Aaron Yates-Suzuki
4. Ben Bostrom-Honda
5. Jake Zemke-Honda



AMA Superbike Championship
Round 14
July 25, 2004
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, OH

Zemke takes his CBR1000RR to victory at Mid-Ohio

With the threat of rain in the forecast, there was plenty of drama for round 14 of the AMA Superbike Championship, the second race of the Mid-Ohio double-header. Jake Zemke set the bar high by breaking the qualifying record on Saturday with a lap time of 1:26.376. On Sunday, he controlled the race from start to finish, scoring the second Superbike win of his career and moving into second place in the championship chase behind Mat Mladin. Honda’s Ben Bostrom finished second and moved into fifth in the points standings.

Miguel Duhamel’s quest for the Superbike championship took a dramatic turn at the Mid-Ohio racetrack on Sunday. Duhamel, a close second in points for the title as of Saturday, crashed during the weekend’s second race on one of the track’s many slick concrete sections due to a suspected mechanical problem. Though unhurt, he was unable to finish the race and slipped back to third in points.

Making changes from Saturday’s race, Zemke chose to run a slightly different set-up and a different front tire in Sunday’s event, and the impact was immediately apparent. Jake gapped the field by nearly a second in the first lap, and rode flawlessly to the checkered flag, winning by a whopping 12.723 seconds. “It worked out pretty good,” said Zemke. “I had a really good start today, and that was definitely an improvement over yesterday. Yesterday, I chose the wrong front tire. We had no hope but just to bring the thing home. Today, we had a new front tire and the setup was a hair different. Not much. Just a little bit here and there. But everything came out a lot better. The guys gave me a better bike than I had yesterday. Hats off to my crew. Everybody’s been working hard all weekend long.”

Ben Bostrom got a good start and settled his CBR1000RR into a lonely second place, where he would finish well clear of Mladin in third. “I was riding, but Jake was flying,” said Bostrom. “I didn’t know where Miguel was. So I just continued my pace, trying to haul down Jake.”

The day was less then perfect for Duhamel. From the very beginning of the race, Duhamel found himself down on power, and then came the crash in the Keyhole section on lap 11. “We’re still looking at the data,” said Duhamel after the race. “It could be rider error, but in my experience, I seem to think it was a mechanical. I downshifted as usual and the rear tire locked up and the engine went dead. I saved it with the clutch, popped it up again, and I thought, ‘I’m gonna keep on going.’ Then it locked up again.”

As he struggled to re-start his machine in the gravel pit, the field passed him by. Finally, he managed to make his way back to the pits, where the crew worked franticly to repair his CBR1000RR. He rejoined the battle, but was soon parked trackside with smoke pouring from his machine. Duhamel’s travails would drop him to third in points, with a 45-point deficit behind the leader.

The Road Atlanta double-header in Braselton, Georgia is next on the schedule. Will Miguel be able to gain back some much-needed points? Will Jake Zemke once again set the pace, and close the gap in the championship points chase? Will Ben Bostrom repeat his Laguna Seca performance and score another runaway win? Tune in over Labor Day weekend.

AMA Superbike Results
1. Jake Zemke-Honda
2. Ben Bostrom-Honda
3. Mat Mladin-Suzuki
4. Aaron Yates-Suzuki
5. Josh Hayes-Kawasaki

AMA Superbike Overall Points
1. Mat Mladin-Suzuki-457
2. Jake Zemke-Honda-436
3. Miguel Duhamel-Honda-413
4. Eric Bostrom-Ducati-336
5. Ben Bostrom-Honda-306


More, from a press release issued by Safety First Racing:

Safety First Racing enjoyed continued success with young rider, 16 year old Jesse Janisch, at Mid Ohio this weekend. In speaking with team owner, Kevin Hanson, he was quite pleased with Jesse’s progress and this weekends results. “Every race weekend Jesse continues to progress and get faster and faster.” “In Jesse’s first AMA weekend we were 8 seconds off the pace, now in our fourth race weekend we are only 3 seconds off the pace.” stated Hanson. “Everytime Jesse goes out on his GSX-R 1000 he looks more comfortable riding it and letting it move around underneath him. He also getting a lot better at riding it like a 1000 instead of a 600,” replied Hanson. We’re going to do some testing before Road Atlanta to give Jesse some more seat time. Jim Rashid from 4 & 6 Performance continues to do a great job on the bikes. We simply roll the bikes out of the truck and they’re 95% there and Jim makes just a couple of adjustments the rest of the weekend. It’s really nice not walking around scratching your head all weekend trying to figure out which direction to go,” commented Hanson. The nice thing about the next two races are Jesse has been to Road Atlanta, where he won a Suzuki Cup race last year, and has also been to VIR.

In Superstock, Jesse finished 16th after having a race long battle with Alex Gobert and J.J. Roetlin. Regarding the race Jesse commented, “It was a fun race, but frustrating at the same time. Alex would gap J.J. and I down the back straight and then be really good on the brakes going into turn 5. However, we would catch back up to him in the infield and get held up. Alex kept protecting his line where it was tough to try and get underneath him in the infield.”

In Superbike, Jesse finished a very respectable 18th in his first weekend competing in Superbike. During Saturday’s race, Jesse suffered a DNF when the clutch went out on lap 8. During the interview, Hanson took responsibility for the incident. “Clutches last forever when I’m riding, however Jesse uses the clutch a lot more than I do. I simply overlooked not having it changed. It’s my fault and I know not to make that mistake again,” replied Hanson. During Sunday’s Superbike race, Jesse got a good start and moved up two rows going into turn 1 and rode a consistent race to finish 18th. “I got a good start off the line, however going down the back straight on the first lap I got into a big tank slapper and had let out of it. Unfortunately, almost all of the people I passed going into turn 1 went back by.” stated Janisch. When asked what he thought of his first Superbike race, Janisch replied, “It was a lot of fun and my Dunlop tires held up really well the entire race…oh and my mouth got a little dry there at the end.” “Also, Kevin and Jim kept joking with me that if I finished in the top 15 I had to buy dinner…I told them there was no way because I still owe my parents $800 for car insurance!”


More, from a press release issued by Corona Extra Suzuki:

CRASH-FEST AND GREMLINS FELLS CORONA-SUZUKI AT MID-OHIO

This weekend’s event at Mid-Ohio can best be described as forgettable with crashes for Scott Greenwood and Ben Attard putting them out of the SuperStock and SuperSport races respectively and mechanical problems dropping Marty Craggill from contention in race one and out in race two of SuperBike. The weekend saw numerous crashes on the very slippery and rough track surface with much rider criticism of the track conditions.

In SuperBike, Craggill, who has been working back up to fitness for this weekend’s event, had repeated mechanical gremlins handicap his progress in qualifying and race one and put him out in race two. His Suzuki GSX-R 1000 Superbike developed glitches that caused it to intermittently jump out of gear in race one which prevented him making a charge. He finished fourteenth. An engine out gearbox rebuild fixed that problem for race two but a vibration and misfire caused him to pull in the second of the Doubleheader SuperBike events.

In SuperStock, Greenwood qualified fifteenth, not being able to get a good set-up for the bumpy track. In the race he started well and was in the lead group when he lost the rear-end and high-sided at “Thunder Alley” on lap two. He said, “The back-end was sliding around a lot and it just let-go, then caught and threw me over the high-side!” Scott was unhurt.

Ben Attard was going well in SuperSport, qualifying in ninth position. He got a great start and was quickly up to sixth as riders started falling left and right, one of which brought out the red flag. On the restart, gridded in sixth, he again got a great start. Dicing for fifth more riders went down and again out came the red flag. In the second restart he was again up in the lead pack when he went down in the following lap. Ben said, “I must have got my front tire in a rut (the track had just been leveled by grinding the concrete), it just tracked away and down I went on the low-side. I’m really bummed. The bike was working well and I was looking for a good result!” Attard is ninth in the SuperSport Championship.

In the second Superbike race Craggill got a good start and setting up to attack the riders in front when a vibration and misfire set in. To avoid a possible catastrophic engine failure, Marty decided to pull in.


More, from a press release issued by Michael Barnes’ publicist:

BARNES FINISHES FIFTH IN MID-OHIO SUPERSPORT ACTION

Lexington, Ohio – Michael Barnes rode to a fifth place finish in eventful AMA Pro Honda Oils Supersport action at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this weekend. Despite a qualifying crash on Saturday in which he was uninjured, Mike’s first crash in Supersport this season, he was able to secure sixth position on the grid ahead of all other non-factory entries. After the red flag plagued race was finally called Mike had nailed a strong fifth place finish on the championsonline.com Prieto Racing Yamaha YZF-R6.

“My starts just were not as good as I usually get”, said Barnes. “The one after the second red flag was especially disappointing for me, I had to work pretty hard to get back through the guys that I had been in front of. Tommy was riding conservatively, so with better starts I think I would have been able to have finished higher. Things were pretty exciting out there at times – I just missed DiSalvo when he crashed in front of me. Overall, I’m very happy with the finish and the points that we picked up.”

The fifth place finish allowed Mike to edge one point closer to his nearest competition in the championship, and to also make a major move in the standings on Jason DiSalvo, who suffered a DNF. With just two races remaining, Mike is now only three points out of fifth place overall.


More, from a press release issued by Lion Racing Suzuki:

Another strong performance from Jake Holden and the Lion Racing Suzuki GSX-R

Jake Holden continued to show himself asa “Young Lion on the prowl.” Lion Racing’s twenty-one-year-old had another pair of top-ten finishes in the AMA Chevy Trucks Superbike Double Header at Mid-Ohio, including a sixth place on Sunday ahead of Superbike star Eric Bostrom on the factory-supported Ducati. Saturday’s race was a good one for Jake who crossed the line in 8th, after an awful start. Jake qualified in eight to nab a second-row grid position for the weekend.

“I tried something a little different at the start of race two and I was lucky enough to hang onto Eric. Then on lap four, I put my head down and got by him. The Pirellis were working great, which really raised my confidence in the traction, which can sometimes be a problem with the changing surfaces at Mid-Ohio. The Dynojet guys and Carry had the engine spot-on. The morning adjustments by Carry, Paul, Danno, Jim and Ken really paid off big-time. I knew Eric wouldn’t give up, so I had to keep my head down for the whole 26 laps. My new NJK leathers worked great for me and their comfort level made the physically demanding Mid-Ohio layout seem much easier to negotiate.”

Holden was elated, saying, “It just shows the potential of the GSX-R 1000, even in Supersport trim. Jim Lindeman has been tweaking the suspension for us and we’re finally getting close. Not bad for a Superstock bike with an Ohlins shock, EBC pads and a Yoshimura pipe, even pitted against really great competition. I’m really happy for Lion Racing, since we’ve been working hard all season.”

Jake also had another top-ten finish in the Repsol Superstock class in 8th place when the red flag ending the race was shown. He is 9th in overall championship points, just nine points behind Attack Kawasaki’s Josh Hayes.

Nicky Moore, the newest addition to Lion Racing, was injured in a club event, breaking his collarbone in a nasty crash, and missed his usual 600cc rides for Lion. Nicky’s last race at Laguna he enjoyed his personal best finish of the season in an 8th place finish in the FX class.


More, from a press release issued by Marcus McBain:

A Typhoon hits Mid Ohio.

Ty “Typhoon” Howard hit his stride at the 9th round of the AMA Superbike Series. Since parting with Annandale Honda at the close of the 2003 season, Howard has been working to put together a capable group of sponsors and equipment to resume AMA Supersport and Formula Extreme competition. His unquestionable talent was rewarded with an 11th place in the FX class at Laguna Seca in his first race back. At Mid-Ohio, Howard was ready to storm to the front.

AMA Formula Extreme

Howard looked ready for action immediately in FX practice. With Ty posting top 10 practice times and only a few seconds off the pole position, he turned to GP Tech’s Geoff Maloney for a few extra HP and Racing Performance Services’ Marcus McBain for some custom shock valving for more grip. With everything in place and qualifying starting, Howard suffered a catastrophic wheel/tire malfunction. The new team did not have a backup front tire mount and with minutes winding down on the qualifying clock, Howard struggled to turn 1:42’s. This would put him out of the show. In a last gasp effort; RPS changed the geometry to give the most stability to handle the terrible situation. In an incredible display of talent, Howard put in a 1:38.752 lap with the GP Tech GSXR-600 wobbling horribly on the track with only 8 seconds left in qualifying to claim the last starting position!!!

With the stress of qualifying over and a new wheel and tire installed, Howard used the Sunday morning practice to re-gain confidence that was lost during the qualifying excitement. Howard finished the Saturday morning session 7th fastest with a 132.944. Knowing that he would have to charge through no less than 20 riders to make a run at the box, Howard chose a soft rear to help quickly dispatch riders in the opening laps with hopes that he could manage the rear tire for the remainder of the race or change to a new rear if a red flag should appear. From the 23rd starting position, Howard put in a flyer of a start and put the GP Tech GSXR-600 in 14th position after one lap. By the sixth lap, Howard was coming up on Erion Racing’s Alex Gobert. With a huge HP advantage on his side Gobert was able to hold off the aggressive Howard for 2 laps. On lap 9 Howard put Gobert behind him for good and looked to quicken the pace. The 2 laps it took to dispatch the Erion Racing rider took its toll on Howard’s rear Michelin and the mad pace set at the beginning of the race could not continue. Ty Howard finished the Formula Extreme race in 6th place after starting 23rd!!!

AMA Supersport

The Supersport practice on Friday started well for Howard. Posting times that put the Texas rider 11th fastest, Howard realized something was lacking still. RPS and Howard worked through Saturday practice to get the best setup possible. After discussing the situation, RPS reworked the Penske Shock’s valve stack to gain Howard as much drive as possible on the track while working with the forks to provide the best front end feel. Howard again amazed his pit crew by qualifying 10th fastest with a 1:31.318. Although qualifying went well, the Texas rider wasn’t done. He knew that to be the top privateer and possibly be even in the top-5, it would take a setup that would run in the 1:30’s every lap. Again, RPS and Howard worked on the solution.

With raindrops teasing the Mid-Ohio facility, Howard’s strategy was to avoid any problems the weather and competition would present until the race unfolded. This left the Texas rider in 11th place after the first green flag lap. As Howard began to move up, the first of three red flags fell and Howard felt confident that his 9th place position on the track would only improve. Howard commented that the front end of his Motion Cycle Sports Yamaha R-6 felt very planted even in the tricky conditions. He would work to use this during the remainder of the race as an advantage against his competition. The second restart quickly turned into a 3rd restart as another red flag dropped. On the third and final restart, Howard put his nose down and moved by Valvoline Suzuki’s Chris Peris with several laps to go and Steve Rapp in sight. The third red flag ended the Texan’s hope for a top 5 spot as AMA officials called the Supersport race complete. The Texas rider was rewarded for his excellent riding and team’s hard work with a 7th place finish.

Ty Howard and his team are very pleased with their first efforts together. More importantly, the Texan’s incredible talent amazed the team and fans. Ty Howard thanked GP-Tech’s Geoff Maloney for his tremendous help in providing machinery and assistance as well as Racing Performance Service’s Marcus McBain for putting both 600’s “on rails” for the main events.


more, from a press release issued by Proforma:

HOTBODIES RACING TEAM RESULTS FROM MID-OHIO

Several Hotbodies Racing Team riders participated at round nine of the AMA Chevrolet Superbike Championship at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course over the past weekend, July 23-25. Riders flying the Hotbodies Racing colors at Mid-Ohio included Michael Barnes, Ty Howard, Geoff May, Giovanni Rojas and Blake Young.

Michael Barnes
Michael had an unfortunate mechanical DNF in Saturday’s Formula Xtreme final while running fifth, but battled with the factory riders to a fine fifth place finish in Sunday’s Supersport event.

Ty Howard
Ty had a good week at Mid-Ohio, with several top finishes in the mid-week AMA Sport Grand Championship amateur events, as well as a sixth place in Saturday’s Formula Xtreme final and seventh in Sunday’s Supersport race.

Geoff May
Geoff had an uncharacteristic off weekend at Mid-Ohio, with 12th and 13th place finishes in Saturday’s and Sunday’s Superbike races, respectively. This was the first time this season that Geoff has finished outside of the top ten in Superbike results.

Giovanni Rojas
Gio as he is called at the track, had a great weekend at Mid-Ohio, finishing eighth in the Formula Xtreme race on Saturday, and 16th in Sunday’s Supersport event on his Yamaha R6s.

Blake Young
Sixteen-year-old Blake had a good start at Mid-Ohio with several strong finishes in the AMA Grand Championship amateur events on Tuesday and Wednesday, but his luck went away on the pro weekend. Blake was unable to start the Formula Xtreme final after a mechanical problem on Saturday, then he crashed unhurt two laps into the Supersport race on Sunday, the bike unable to be ridden in for repairs.

Look for the big red and white Hotbodies Racing tent at the two remaining rounds of the AMA Chevrolet Superbike Series at Road Atlanta, September 3-5, and Virginia International Raceway, September 17-19.

For more information, please contact Hotbodies Racing at 1-800-555-2805 or visit www.hotbodiesracing.com