With the continued recommendations on social distancing by the CDC as well as concern for our racing family and their families, our Officials and Corner Workers and Track Staff we will not be running the Talladega Gran Prix event scheduled for April 11/12. We do have one schedule change at Talladega which is our August 8/9 event has moved to August 22/23. We will keep you posted on any other change as they happen. It is hard to make any changes until the government let’s us know it is safe to “gather” again.
The WERA Motorcycle Roadracing office is closed presently. We are checking email everyday so if you have questions or wish to renew a license please do so via the [email protected] email. We hope to see all our race community in May! Stay safe and stay positive!
WERA Motorcycle Roadracing was founded in 1973 and remains the foremost place to develop talent in the sport of motorcycle Roadracing. The legacy of Pro riders on a National and World level is legendary. All events are run by WERA Motorcycle Roadracing with a co-sanction by the AMA and they go coast to coast offering entry level racing with the WERA Sportsman Series as well as a Pro-Am Series with the WERA National Challenge Series, WERA Motorcycle Roadracing also offer Vintage Racing and limited Endurance Racing with Track Day Partners N2 . WERA Motorcycle Roadracing was voted the 2017 AMA Track Organizer of the Year.
For more information on WERA Motorcycle Roadracing please check out our web site at wera.com
Roadracing World started this exclusive special feature recognizing the most promising young road racers as an answer to pessimists who claimed America had no new, up-and-coming young racers. This edition of the Roadracing World Young Gun Awards marks the 24th consecutive year of showcasing an abundance of new talent.
Roadracing World Young Guns have won:
FIM MotoGP and FIM Superbike races and World Championships;
AMA Pro races and Championships, including eight AMA Pro Superbike Championships;
A KTM RC Cup World Final race;
The Daytona 200 (8 times);
WERA National Endurance Championships and WERA National Challenge Championships;
ASRA/Formula USA Grand National and CCS National Championships;
AMA Road Racing Grand Championships and Horizon Awards;
USGPRU National Championships;
Many regional and local titles.
The competition has continually become more intense as more – and younger—racers with higher levels of accomplishment are nominated, and the level of achievement required to make the grade keeps getting tougher.
We’ve spent the last several months accepting nominations and evaluating road racers between the ages of 11 and 18 (as of the start of the 2020 season) who have, at a minimum, won Expert-level road races and/or Championships on a 125cc two-stroke/250cc four-stroke or larger racebike or had outstanding results as an Amateur/Novice. Most of the riders included here have done far more than the minimum.
The young riders recognized here are the most promising young road racers in North America. All have earned the title of Roadracing World Young Gun.
We will feature one Young Gun per day, presenting them in alphabetical order.
Ben Gloddy. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Ben Gloddy
Age: 14.
Current home: Northfield, New Hampshire.
Current height/weight: 5’6”/130 pounds.
Current school grade level: 9th grade.
Began riding at age: 4 years.
First road race: 2018, Canaan, New Hampshire, NESBC, Formula 300 Class, 3rd place.
Current racebikes: Kawasaki Ninja 300, Kawasaki Ninja 400.
Current tuner/mechanic: Quarterley Racing, Keith Day (stepfather).
Top sponsors: Penguin Racing School Mentor Program, American Supercamp, Quarterly Racing, Woodcraft Technologies, First Trax, Inter-Tech Supplies, Stump Racing, Arai, TCX Boots, Vanson Leathers, Dunlop
Recent racing accomplishments: 2019 season, finished 9th in MotoAmerica Junior Cup (competed in 11 of 17 races, 1 podium, 3 top-5 finishes), won 2 LRRS Championships (12 race wins), won NESBC Lights Championship; 2018 season, named LRRS Rookie of the Year (youngest to ever receive the award), won 24 LRRS races and earned 46 podium finishes, won NESBC Intermediate B Championship; 2017 season, named NJMiniGP Rookie of the Year.
2020 racing goal: Win MotoAmerica Junior Cup Championship.
Racing career goal: Make it to MotoGP World Championship.
Racing hero: Jamison Minor.
Favorite track: Barber Motorsports Park.
Favorite hobby: Downhill mountain biking.
If I wasn’t racing I would be…: Downhill mountain biking.
Speedweek and Northern Talent Cup Round 1 cancelled
Monday, 06 April 2020
Due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, the FIM, Eurosport Events and Motorsport Arena have taken the decision to cancel Speedweek, which was set to take place at Oschersleben from the 4th to the 6th of June 2020. This obliges the cancellation of the NTC Round scheduled to coincide with the event.
As of today, Round 1 of the Northern Talent Cup is therefore set to take place alongside MotoGP™ at the Sachsenring from the 19th to the 21st of June.
Dorna Sports will do everything possible to try and ensure the other six original rounds on the NTC calendar take place, as well as a pre-season test. As previously confirmed, the first NTC round will not take place before a test has been completed. This test will take place a reasonable time before Round 1 to ensure all those involved have adequate time to prepare.
Pursuant to the information from government authorities, Dorna Sports is closely monitoring the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. As the situation remains in a state of constant evolution, a new date for the test and the recently-postponed Austrian Round cannot be confirmed until it becomes clearer when exactly it will be possible to hold these events. A revised calendar will be published as soon as available.
In the light of the unprecedented global health crisis, the FIM Endurance World Championship has modified its calendar and taken steps to protect teams.
Eurosport Events, the championship promoter, together with the FIM – International Motorcycling Federation, has revised the FIM EWC calendar taking government restrictions into account.
In view of the current lockdown, with bans on public gatherings and restrictions on the movement of people, the 8 Hours of Oschersleben, scheduled to take place on 6 June in Germany, cannot be organized. The event has been cancelled and will not be rescheduled. This high-profile event was added to the Endurance World Championship calendar in 1999 and has since become a must-see for all fans of the sport in Germany.
The 2019-2020 FIM Endurance World Championship will therefore restart in Japan on 19 July at the Suzuka 8 Hours for the Formula EWC class, with the EWC and Superstock teams then converging on France for the 24 Heures Motos on 29 and 30 August 2020.
The FIM and Eurosport Events have decided to include the 2020 Bol d’Or as the fifth race of the calendar and the finale of the ongoing season. After kicking off at Le Castellet in September 2019, the 2019-2020 FIM Endurance World Championship will seal its international rankings at the Bol d’Or on 19 and 20 September this year.
Keenly aware of the difficulties that teams are currently experiencing, the FIM, Eurosport Events and the organizers of the FIM EWC races are doing everything in their power to provide cost-cutting solutions and to support the championship’s players.
The 24 Heures Motos and Bol d’Or pre-tests will be cancelled, but the free practice sessions on the Tuesday and Wednesday will be extended to give teams more time on the track.
Eurosport Events will help independent teams by allocating €1,500 per motorcycle for all the non-factory teams who have participated in the 24 Heures Motos and the Bol d’Or.
Questions for François Ribeiro, Head of Eurosport Events
– What were the priorities that led you to revise the calendar?
The world is undergoing a great tragedy, which is having unprecedented repercussions for society and for all public gatherings. There is a great deal of suffering. The lockdown has had a severe impact on the sporting world. Races can’t be held if the safety of teams and riders cannot be guaranteed, and the current public health crisis clearly makes it impossible to envisage holding the 2020 8 Hours of Oschersleben. The event will return to the calendar in 2021 from 20-23 May. After repositioning the 24 Heures Motos at the end of August, we put forward a proposal to all the championship’s players to end the season with a great race at the Bol d’Or. Following a lengthy lockdown and so much frustration for motorcycle racing fans, I’m certain that ACO and Éditions Larivière will be capable of organizing two fantastic popular celebrations at Le Mans and Le Castellet. The revision of the calendar therefore means that the Suzuka 8 Hours will no longer be the finale of the world championship. Mobilityland, the organizer of this iconic race, understands the situation and shares our priority, which is to safeguard the interests of the FIM EWC in these very particular circumstances. The next season will therefore begin with Sepang and end with the Bol d’Or.
– The Suzuka 8 Hours will therefore no longer be the finale of the FIM EWC. How will this affect the championship?
Together with the Suzuka 8 Hours organizer, we are monitoring the question of allowing non-Japanese teams and riders to compete in the race in the event of a second wave of Covid-19 cases on the archipelago. The race will not be the championship finale and, as a result, it will no longer benefit from the bonus of 150% of the points.
– Will TV coverage of the FIM EWC be impacted by the Covid-19 crisis?
The postponement of sporting events beyond summer will inevitably create a logjam of programmes on television channel schedules. Eurosport Events as a promoter produces the TV signal from the races and broadcasts it beyond the Eurosport network. We will do our maximum to offer the best possible broadcast.
– In view of the financial losses caused by the global crisis, how will Eurosport Events be able to support teams?
We are working hand in hand with ACO and Éditions Larivière to help reduce the costs for teams. The financial aid we are offering for participation in the Bol d’Or will go to independent teams, who are the most fragile and most in need of support in these difficult times.
The FIM President, Jorge Viegas, concludes by declaring “We are living in an exceptional moment, which means that we are taking measures that we never imagined we would have to take. The most important thing for us is to firmly maintain our desire to return to motorcycle competition and to resume the FIM Endurance World Championship as soon as possible. We are working hand in hand with Eurosport Events, this new structure will allow us to have a championship worthy of the name and to meet the expectations of all those who love this spectacular discipline!”
It takes more than talent to be successful at the highest levels of World Championship motorcycle road racing, and nobody knows better than American Joe Roberts.
Despite a racing resume that spoke to his undeniable talent as a rider, Roberts found himself struggling to succeed during the 2018 and 2019 FIM Moto2 World Championships.
In 2018 Roberts rode an NTS chassis using the Honda CBR600RR-based inline four-cylinder engine. For 2019, everyone in Moto2 had to switch to the new official Triumph inline three-cylinder engines. Roberts ended up on a KTM chassis, which didn’t suit him at all. Despite his best efforts, Roberts struggled to get meaningful results in 2018 or 2019, and as a result, lost confidence.
Joe Roberts (16) on his American Racing Team Kalex during the 2020 Moto2 World Championship opening round at Losail International Circuit, in Qatar. Photo courtesy of American Racing Team.
“I think after two hard seasons at the world level you start to doubt yourself and wonder if you’re even good enough to be there,” Roberts told Roadracingworld.com in a telephone interview. “I was unsure if it was me or the bike. I had never ridden anything else but the bikes that I was on, so it’s hard to know if it’s you or the bike. Then people say it’s you, and you start thinking it’s you, and your head starts to get spun up.”
When the 2019 season ended, instead of kicking Roberts to the curb, American Racing Team owner Eitan Butbul doubled down on his young American rider and decided he would give Roberts every chance to fulfill his potential.
First, Butbul switched his team from KTM to the popular and proven Kalex chassis; hired a new crew chief for Roberts, Lucio Nicastro (a former crew chief for Chaz Davies and Sam Lowes); and started looking for a rider coach.
“My team owner always believed in me and always wanted to try to get the best people,” said Roberts. “I always wanted some guy to come on board to try and help with the riding aspect; just to have somebody there that I could speak to. Somebody who could go out on the track and watch and I could really trust what they’re saying, somebody who knew the process of being an American rider at the world level.”
Joe Roberts (left) with John Hopkins (right) in the team garage at Losail International Circuit, in Qatar. Photo courtesy of American Racing Team.
Enter John Hopkins, the Anglo-American who went straight from racing — and winning – in AMA Supersport and Formula Xtreme classes to joining the MotoGP World Championship on a Yamaha YZR500 two-stroke at the age of 18. In spite of racing against more powerful four-stroke 990cc machines, Hopkins scored 58 points and finished 15th during his rookie season in the 2002 MotoGP World Championship.
That propelled him into a seven-year career in MotoGP (including five years as a factory Suzuki rider) during which he earned one pole position, two fastest race laps, and four podium finishes. He placed a career-best fourth in the 2007 MotoGP World Championship, finishing behind World Champion Casey Stoner, runner-up Dani Pedrosa, and third-place Valentino Rossi.
John Hopkins (21) during a wild card ride on a Rizla Suzuki factory MotoGP racebike in 2011. Photo courtesy of Suzuki.
Following that, Hopkins raced in the FIM Superbike World Championship, the AMA Superbike Championship, and the British Superbike Championship. Hopkins finished on the AMA Superbike podium three times (on an M4 Monster Energy Suzuki fielded by Team Hammer) in an injury-plagued 2010, one season before he finished a close second in the British Superbike Championship.
Hopkins last raced in 2017 in the British Superbike Championship, where he took two podium finishes on a Ducati Panigale R V-Twin before an injury cut his season short and inhibited him from finding a ride the following year.
“John had been following me on Instagram and had always been saying nice things and he always seemed quite positive even when I was getting bad results,” said Roberts. “Then it hit me: Why don’t we get John on board? I felt like it could be good to have him there.”
The connection was made through The W Training Facility, owned by Johnny Louch, Hopkins’ friend and longtime trainer, and after phone calls and meetings between Butbul and Hopkins, the deal was done.
“With Moto2 being such a competitive class Eitan didn’t want to leave any stones unturned. He wanted to do everything he possibly could to give Joe and the team the most competitive package,” Hopkins told Roadracingworld.com. “I hadn’t had the pleasure of getting to know Joe until this last winter. I didn’t know anything about his riding or his skill, so I had no point of reference or where he needed to improve or anything.
“I started going out to watch him at the Supermoto track, riding flat track and doing all the different forms of cross-training you do throughout the winter. Before this I had people asking me if Joe had what it took, and I honestly didn’t know. But once I saw him on a dirt track bike, on the Supermoto bike, on the mini-bikes, I immediately knew talent wasn’t an issue whatsoever.
“After that, we started chatting about what he thought were his strengths and his weaknesses on the bike. Everything he was saying — like being really strong on the brakes and at the apex, but struggling sometimes with his corner exits — were all things that I had to deal with and overcome during my career.
“There were some different exercises and drills we started to do on the Supermoto bike and the dirt track bike all through the winter to help him improve, and there was an instant improvement every time I suggested something.”
When Roberts arrived at the official Moto2 pre-season test February 19-21 at Jerez, some of the other riders had been there for two days already, but Roberts immediately got up to speed on his new Kalex. In one session he was fifth, he was 10th on the time sheets at the end of Day Two, and ended up 19th out of 29 riders – 0.975-second off the fastest time — when all of the results from the three days were combined.
Joe Roberts (16) in action during the 2020 Moto2 World Championship opening round at Losail International Circuit, in Qatar. Photo courtesy of American Racing Team.
Roberts then rolled into the final pre-season test February 28-March 1 at Losail International Circuit in Qatar, one week before the season opener and moved up to ninth on the overall time sheet and 0.546-second behind the fastest rider.
The 22-year-old American built on that again during the race weekend in Qatar, earning the first World Championship pole position by an American in 10 years and then racing for the lead until he eventually finished fourth. His best race finish prior to that was 10th, which he did at Brno in his Moto2 debut race, and his average finishing position in 2019 was 20th.
Joe Roberts celebrating his Moto2 pole position in parc ferme with his team in Qatar. Photo courtesy of American Racing Team.
Hopkins said the results during testing and the race weekend in Qatar were the combination of a lot of different elements working well together.
“I would watch Joe out on track, watch the others, shoot some video, study the lines, but I would also try to put myself mentally on the bike,” said Hopkins. “You can see when they’re pushing the front or running wide in the corners. You can see chatter. These are things as a racer you can see and point out to the crew chief.
“Qatar is a really special track with its set-up and everything. You really have to set up the bike for the long, really fast, flowing corners differently than you do for almost any other track. There were special things we did to the bike when I went there in my MotoGP days that helped me tremendously. We lengthened the bike more than we did at any other circuit. We also lowered the center of gravity to help stabilize the bike in the faster corners.
“The good thing with this and why it works so well with myself and the team and Joe is because Joe’s crew chief has been amazing so far. He’s so open to suggestions. Every time he made a change to the bike he would ask me about it, and I would give him my advice.
“I’m not going to lie. I don’t know anything about preload and this and that. I’m not a crew chief. That was never my job. My job was to feel what was going on underneath me and relay that over to my crew chief. It’s obviously their job to work on the bike and change it to make it feel like the rider wants it.
“I think that’s a very good system to have. I think when you have a rider who knows too much and is always looking for the perfect set-up on a bike they’re concentrated more on getting this perfect bike underneath them than actually going out and making the most with what they have. This is a problem with some racers.
“For Joe, with the way that he works and being so open to suggestions, it’s a really good system he’s got going.”
Joe Roberts on the Moto2 grid at Losail International Circuit with his new crew chief Lucio Nicastro (left) and John Hopkins (right). Photo courtesy of American Racing Team.
Through all of this, however, Hopkins feels the biggest difference in Roberts’ performance so far in 2020 has been simply restoring his confidence in his own ability.
“Joe’s been really hard on himself,” said Hopkins. “That was his biggest concern going into this year. He didn’t want to get back on the bike and instantly have similar things happen to him that happened last year.
“I said, ‘What happened last year is gone. Look at all the positives you have: You’ve got a new chassis, a new crew chief that you’re getting along with really well, and you’re putting in all of the work you possibly can.’ And it was just a snowball effect in building up his confidence and getting him into a high going into the beginning of this year. Fortunately, that kept accumulating and growing from Jerez to Qatar. He’s on a high right now as far as confidence goes.
“In my personal opinion, confidence is the most important element that you can possibly have in racing. I think that’s why you see Marc Marquez always so strong. Obviously, he’s talented, but when you’re a racer who is confident, you can be out there riding on the limit, tucking the front and almost crashing three or four times in a lap and it doesn’t even phase you. Those are some of the greatest moments as a racer. The trick is to keep that confidence on a high, and that’s what we intend to do with Joe.”
Joe Roberts (left) and John Hopkins (right) in Qatar. Photo courtesy of American Racing Team.
Asked what his personal feelings were like coming away from the race in Qatar, Hopkins said, “Honestly, I almost felt better about it than I ever did actually racing myself. It was really, really rewarding, extremely rewarding. Joe’s on top of the bike and he’s the one making it happen at the end of the day, and I’m just showing him that he has what it takes and helping him get to his true potential.
“Yeah, I find it hugely rewarding. Without the help that I got through my early childhood in mini road racing and from Al Lyons [R.I.P.] and during my teenage years with John Ulrich and the other people who helped me there’s no way I ever would have made it as a professional racer. So, to be able to give back and help out I find it really rewarding.”
And as further evidence of the cohesiveness within Roberts’ pit box, the young Californian says all of the attention Hopkins has been getting for their success is absolutely deserved.
“I told John, ‘I know the media has been praising you, and I want you to know that it’s actually true.’ I really do believe it,” Roberts said. “Yeah, I give a lot of credit to John. I also give a lot of credit to my crew chief for being willing to take advice from John. Everyone being able to chill and let it flow is the main thing. There’s no tension building up. Everyone’s happy to listen to each other.
“A lot of things have to work well to do well, I think. That’s my experience over the past few years. You have to have everything working well to do well, and we have that right now. I just really hope we can start racing again soon. I really do. Because it could be a really good year.”
Round Two of the 2014 GEICO Motorcycle Superbike Shootout Presented by Yamaha, the Arai Pacific Nationals, was held May 3-4 at Sonoma Raceway, in Sonoma, California. This is the broadcast video coverage of Dynojet Pro Sportbike race two, which aired on MAVTV.
The three-round televised series was set up by race team owner John Ulrich and racer Chris Ulrich, to fill an 11-week gap in the 2014 AMA Pro Racing schedule, which initially consisted of five rounds without any TV coverage, with no rounds west of the Mississippi River (the AMA Series later picked up a sixth round, at Laguna Seca, again without TV). Each Superbike Shootout round included one Superbike and one Sportbike race (along with dedicated practice and qualifying sessions for each class) dropped into an existing club race weekend run by WERA at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California; AFM at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California; and USBA at what was then known as Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah.
Teams and riders needed TV coverage to maintain sponsorship, and getting that coverage was a major goal of the series. The father/son duo started a new business unit, Team Hammer Promotions, hired Greg White’s production company to produce six one-hour TV shows, covering the Superbike and Sportbike races from each round, with White and Jason Pridmore commentating and Laurette Nicholl handling pit reporting. John and Chris Ulrich met with the president of MAVTV and reached an agreement for the network to broadcast each show, one per week, on consecutive Thursday nights, and to then repeat the series. After seeing the shows, MAVTV decided to broadcast each show an additional four times, totaling 36 hours of TV coverage for the series. Chris’ sister Natalie Ulrich was recruited to sell series and event sponsorship as well as TV commercials.
By all accounts, the series and the shows were a success, and played a part in keeping professional road racing alive in the United States. There were plans to run a 10-round Superbike Shootout Series in 2015. But when MotoAmerica was founded, bought the AMA Pro Racing series, and announced it would take over running the AMA series starting in 2015, John and Chris Ulrich decided to support MotoAmerica and go back to concentrating on running the family’s race team, known as Team Hammer, Inc. The rest is history…
When the 2020 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship begins there will be some familiar faces on the grid, but there will also be a whole lot of newness: New bikes, new teams, new crew chiefs, and new classes.
To help preview the season, we’ve enlisted the help of Josh Hayes.
Not only has Hayes won four AMA Pro Superbike Championships, he’s won a total of 83 AMA Pro/MotoAmerica races and three support class titles; raced in the Endurance World Championship; run at the front in Supersport World Championship races; and finished seventh while competing in his first MotoGP race as a substitute rider at Valencia in 2011.
More recently, Hayes won two races at the International Island Classic vintage event in January of this year at Phillip Island; raced at the front throughout the 2019 Daytona 200 and was on provisional pole position for the 2020 Daytona 200; and finished on the podium in the MotoAmerica Supersport class in 2019.
Josh Hayes (4) at speed on his MP13 Racing Yamaha during the opening practice session at the 79th Daytona 200. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
When he’s not racing, Hayes is a rider coach for top competitors, including Bobby Fong and Jake Gagne, as well as working with Garrett Gerloff.
And if these weren’t enough qualifications to preview the upcoming season, Hayes rode in place of injured Mathew Scholtz on Westby Racing’s 2020-model Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike during the official MotoAmerica pre-season test at Barber Motorsports Park in March. So, he’s had a close look at most of the field.
This preview series is highlighting one Superbike or Superbike Cup/Stock 1000 rider each day, but it will not feature every rider entered in the two classes.
Cameron Petersen, as seen ahead of the 2019 MotoAmerica season. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Cameron Petersen
Cameron Petersen, the Spanish-born South African and son of former Pro road racer Robbie Petersen, came to race in America in 2015, after having won the South African Supersport Championship in 2013 at the age of 18.
Petersen joined Danny Walker’s RoadRace Factory Yamaha team for the 2015 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship and had a good debut season with a podium appearance, four more top-five finishes, and seventh in the final Championship standings.
That performance earned Petersen a ride on an M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki GSX-R600 in 2016, and he made the most of the opportunity by taking his career-first MotoAmerica Supersport race victory plus two more podium finishes, 12 total top-five results in 16 races, and fourth in the title chase.
For 2017, Petersen moved up to the MotoAmerica Superbike class on David Anthony’s FLY Racing/ADR Motorsports Kawasaki ZX-10R, but Petersen ended up sitting out most of the season due to personal issues.
Petersen reunited with team owner Danny Walker in 2018 to ride the Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda CBR1000RR SP2 in MotoAmerica Superbike, but it was a difficult season for Petersen and his team. Petersen missed races due to a concussion and a freak foot injury, both suffered in competition, and when he was fit to ride, his Honda often had issues with its advanced electronics. In the end, Petersen could only manage 12th in the Championship with a best race result of fifth.
Petersen joined Omega Moto to ride its Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike in the 2019 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship. But it was another challenging season for the South African as mechanical issues dramatically limited Petersen’s track time and results. He ended up ninth in the final point standings with four sixth-place finishes.
For 2020, 25-year-old Petersen has linked up with the Altus Motorsports Tucker Hagerty team to race a Suzuki GSX-R1000 in Stock 1000 and the new Superbike Cup.
Superbike Cup is a new program for 2020 that allows MotoAmerica Stock 1000 competitors to also compete in Superbike races with incentives of extra purse money, free entry fee, free tires, extra TV exposure, and a Championship points fund with $25,000 up for grabs for the Champion. MotoAmerica has added the category to provide a stepping stone for Stock 1000 riders to move up to the premier class while helping enlarge the Superbike grids.
In spite of only riding a limited amount of laps on Day One during the official MotoAmerica pre-season test in March, Petersen was sixth-quickest among all Superbike and Stock 1000 riders at the test, offering another glimpse of his tremendous potential heading into the 2020 season.
“I like Cameron a lot,” said Hayes. “I was not always on Team Cameron, should I say, but last year, I feel like he really kind of won me over.
“I believe after he had a couple of bad [seasons] and really wasn’t able to finish the way he wanted he’s now found something in himself. I don’t know if it’s maturity or age. I don’t know what it is, but he’s found himself in a better place.
“Last year, when we worked together, was difficult for him at times because there were not many sessions where he got to ride without some kind of [technical] issue preventing him from doing many laps. And throughout that he was able to maintain a level head so that when [his motorcycle] did work he was able to show good progress and good things. We saw him punch above his weight in a few races and show that his talent is without question.
“The interesting thing now will be him riding a Superstock bike and it being so much more simple than a Superbike. If he’s given time to just ride and figure it out while doing a lot of laps over the course of a weekend he could do some good things.
“Having been around Cameron over the course of these last few years, I see him being quite the weapon if he’s just happy. And if he’s doing laps he’s going to be in a good place for his head, and it showed in just a very few short laps at the Barber test. He got up to speed and comfortable almost immediately.
“Let’s just wait and see. I think there’s more to come from him and that he’s only going to get better. And we have seen Superstock bikes punch with the Superbikes quite a few times in the past. Mathew Scholtz comes to mind. Bobby Fong comes to mind. If the kid’s [Petersen] happy and getting a lot of laps between Stock 1000 and Superbike races, he could be a force to be reckoned with all season.”
Featured In the April 2020 issue of Roadracing World:
“I suffered through a childhood deprived of motorsports. This hardship was offset, to some degree, with unfettered access to groaning shelves of books. At the impressionable age of 12, I came across ‘Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas’ by the late, great, Hunter S. Thompson. Consuming this tome was a highly educational experience which indelibly marked my psyche in at least three ways:
A. The adoption of Gonzo Journalism as my personal writing style.
B. That declaring “On the advice of counsel…” magically invokes indemnity for any activity.
C. The mystique of the Vincent Black Shadow …”
—The Vincent Black Shadow, Tuning For Speed, Part 1, by Sam Q. Fleming
All these years later, the Black Shadow remains a touchstone in performance motorcycling history. So much so that when Army of Darkness cornerstone Sam Fleming got a chance to buy one, he did. His lust for the machine, and the reality of living with the beast, are detailed in the latest issue of Roadracing World!
Roadracing World & Motorcycle Technology is THE definitive source for motorcycle racing, riding, and tech information.
PREVIEW the April 2020 issue of Roadracing World & Motorcycle Technology!
Roadracing World & Motorcycle Technology magazine is available in print and digital formats.
Or call (909) 654-4779, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday.
Visit www.roadracingworld.com daily for breaking news and events.
Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/roadracingworld
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com @roadracingworld
Follow us on Instagram https://instagram.com @roadracing_world
When the 2020 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship begins there will be some familiar faces on the grid, but there will also be a whole lot of newness: New bikes, new teams, new crew chiefs, and new classes.
To help preview the season, we’ve enlisted the help of Josh Hayes.
Not only has Hayes won four AMA Pro Superbike Championships, he’s won a total of 83 AMA Pro/MotoAmerica races and three support class titles; raced in the Endurance World Championship; run at the front in Supersport World Championship races; and finished seventh while competing in his first MotoGP race as a substitute rider at Valencia in 2011.
More recently, Hayes won two races at the International Island Classic vintage event in January of this year at Phillip Island; raced at the front throughout the 2019 Daytona 200 and was on provisional pole position for the 2020 Daytona 200; and finished on the podium in the MotoAmerica Supersport class in 2019.
Josh Hayes (4) at speed on his MP13 Racing Yamaha during the opening practice session at the 79th Daytona 200. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
When he’s not racing, Hayes is a rider coach for top competitors, including Bobby Fong and Jake Gagne, as well as working with Garrett Gerloff.
And if these weren’t enough qualifications to preview the upcoming season, Hayes rode in place of injured Mathew Scholtz on Westby Racing’s 2020-model Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike during the official MotoAmerica pre-season test at Barber Motorsports Park in March. So, he’s had a close look at most of the field.
This preview series is highlighting one Superbike or Superbike Cup/Stock 1000 rider each day, but it will not feature every rider entered in the two classes. Riders will be listed in the order they finished the 2019 Superbike Championship with riders who were not in the 2019 Superbike Championship listed after the returning riders.
PJ Jacobsen (right) with his crew chief, former AMA Superbike racer Scott Jensen (left) on top of the MotoAmerica Supersport podium after winning at VIR in 2019. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
PJ Jacobsen
PJ Jacobsen started out racing in America at a very young age and won many titles in flat track, supermoto and ice racing as a kid. He switched to road racing when he was 12 and won the USGPRU 125cc National Championship and the AMA Road Race 125cc Grand Championship.
In 2008, Jacobsen won the AMA Lightweight GP Grand Championship, placed 22nd in a wild card appearance in the 125cc World Championship GP at Indianapolis (making him the youngest American to ever compete in a 125cc World Championship GP), and qualified in the top 10 in two rounds of the ultra-competitive CEV/Spanish 125cc National Championship, although he suffered mechanical DNFs in both races.
That led to Jacobsen getting a full-time ride – without having to bring any sponsorship money – with the Aspar Team in the 2009 CEV/Spanish 125cc National Championship. That season, the young New Yorker placed sixth in the Championship including one podium finish when he was third behind runner-up Johann Zarco and race winner Jonas Folger. Maverick Vinales was fourth in that race.
At the end of 2009, Jacobsen did the AMA Pro Supersport finale as a wild card, earned pole position and finished eighth in the race in spite of having to do a ride-through penalty for a starting grid infraction.
For 2010, Jacobsen and his supporters felt he deserved a chance to move to the 125cc World Championship full-time, but he received no offers to do that. Aspar Team wanted Jacobsen to stay in the CEV 125cc Championship and possibly move up in 2011, so Jacobsen chose to come back to America and race in the 2010 and 2011 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Championships.
During his two seasons in AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Jacobsen showed that he had the speed to run with the established stars, but crashes, injuries and mechanical problems worked against him.
In 2012, Jacobsen got an opportunity to join Tyco Suzuki and finish the British 1000cc Superstock season, and he podiumed in each of the final three races. In addition, Tyco Suzuki entered Jacobsen as a wild card in the British Supersport race at Assen, and Jacobsen won in his class debut on an unfamiliar track. Tyco Suzuki promoted Jacobsen to its Superbike team alongside Josh Brookes for the following season, 2013, and Jacobsen earned one podium appearance and four top-five finishes.
As the 2014 season approached, Jacobsen turned down factory rides within the British Superbike Championship to accept a fully-sponsored ride with the Intermoto Kawasaki team in the FIM Supersport World Championship. Jacobsen enjoyed reasonable success, making two podium appearances, scoring four-top-five finishes, and securing sixth in the final point standings.
Jacobsen once again had options to return to the British Superbike Championship for 2015, but he opted to stay in the World Championship paddock even if it meant riding for the private Intermoto Kawasaki team in Supersport again. The Intermoto Kawasaki team, however, experienced financial problems from the start of 2015, and Jacobsen was forced to switch to the CORE Honda squad mid-season. That ended up being a blessing in disguise, as Jacobsen went from reaching the podium twice in the first five races on the ZX-6R to taking two wins and five podium finishes on a Honda CBR600RR in the final six races, leading to Jacobsen earning second in the 2015 Supersport World Championship.
Which led to Jacobsen securing a ride with the factory Honda team for the 2016 FIM Supersport World Championship, when Jacobsen claimed fourth in points with four podium finishes in 12 races. In 2017, MV Agusta hired Jacobsen to ride a factory F3 675 in the Supersport World Championship, and he earned three pole positions, three podium finishes and fifth in the final point standings in spite of mechanical problems.
That hard work and perseverance seemed to have paid off when Jacobsen was offered a ride in the 2018 FIM Superbike World Championship with TripleM Racing, Honda’s newest official satellite team. But the team was inexperienced and the Honda was not the sharpest weapon in the field. As a result, Jacobsen only scored 21 Championship points in 2018 and had a best race finish of 10th in Thailand.
With good ride opportunities on top equipment becoming harder to find, Jacobsen decided to return home to New York and reunite with long-time supporter Barry Gilsenan of Celtic Racing. Gilsenan then partnered with HSBK Racing’s Bobby Shek to field Jacobsen on a Yamaha YZF-R6 in the 2019 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship.
Expectations for Jacobsen were high coming into 2019, and once his new Yamaha got sorted out, he did not disappoint. Jacobsen claimed four victories, took seven other podium finishes, and placed second in the Championship.
For 2020, Jacobsen, age 26, is sticking with the Celtic HSBK Racing team, but the team is moving to the Stock 1000 and Superbike Cup classes with a new Ducati Panigale V4 R.
The Superbike Cup is a new program for 2020 that allows MotoAmerica Stock 1000 competitors to also compete in Superbike races, with incentives including extra purse money, free entry, free tires, extra TV exposure, and a Championship points fund with $25,000 up for grabs for the Champion. MotoAmerica has added the category to provide a stepping stone for Stock 1000 riders to move up to Superbike while also helping to enlarge the Superbike grids.
Jacobsen’s riding talent is above reproach and his confidence in himself and his determination never seem to waiver, but learning to get the most out of the potent Ducati V4 doesn’t happen overnight, as Kyle Wyman showed in 2019. If Jacobsen and his Scott Jensen-led crew can come to terms with the new machine quickly, Jacobsen will be a strong contender for the Stock 1000 and Superbike Cup Championships and a very interesting wild card in Superbike races.
“PJ has been a phenom since a very young age,” said Hayes. “He raced at a high level here. He’s raced at a high level in Europe in Spain, England, and World Supersport. He didn’t really get to show his mettle in World Superbike, and then he came back here and was competitive but not perfect in Supersport.
“I think PJ still has to put a full season together. I think that’s still missing from PJ. We’ve seen him take second in the Supersport World Championship, so he has had one good year [spread across two different teams and motorcycles]. Quite honestly, everyone here in MotoAmerica Supersport made so many mistakes last year they damn near kept me in the Championship for a long time. (laughs)
“I think in Stock 1000 he’s not going to have that option. He’s going to have to figure out how to be there week in and week out.
“I think that the Ducati V4 has shown the world over to be very, very strong in Superstock trim, and I think it will be a very difficult bike for the other guys to race against, especially with PJ at the controls.
“So, I would say right now everything is lined up for PJ to have a lot of success this season, but he’s going to have to produce the necessary results. He just can’t have too many bad days because I think there are some other guys who are going to make it difficult for him in the Stock 1000 class.”
Round Two of the 2014 GEICO Motorcycle Superbike Shootout Presented by Yamaha, the Arai Pacific Nationals, was held May 3-4 at Sonoma Raceway, in Sonoma, California. This is the broadcast video coverage of RaceFuelz Pro Superbike race two, which aired on MAVTV.
The three-round televised series was set up by race team owner John Ulrich and racer Chris Ulrich, to fill an 11-week gap in the 2014 AMA Pro Racing schedule, which initially consisted of five rounds without any TV coverage, with no rounds west of the Mississippi River (the AMA Series later picked up a sixth round, at Laguna Seca, again without TV). Each Superbike Shootout round included one Superbike and one Sportbike race (along with dedicated practice and qualifying sessions for each class) dropped into an existing club race weekend run by WERA at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California; AFM at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California; and USBA at what was then known as Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah.
Teams and riders needed TV coverage to maintain sponsorship, and getting that coverage was a major goal of the series. The father/son duo started a new business unit, Team Hammer Promotions, hired Greg White’s production company to produce six one-hour TV shows, covering the Superbike and Sportbike races from each round, with White and Jason Pridmore commentating and Laurette Nicholl handling pit reporting. John and Chris Ulrich met with the president of MAVTV and reached an agreement for the network to broadcast each show, one per week, on consecutive Thursday nights, and to then repeat the series. After seeing the shows, MAVTV decided to broadcast each show an additional four times, totaling 36 hours of TV coverage for the series. Chris’ sister Natalie Ulrich was recruited to sell series and event sponsorship as well as TV commercials.
By all accounts, the series and the shows were a success, and played a part in keeping professional road racing alive in the United States. There were plans to run a 10-round Superbike Shootout Series in 2015. But when MotoAmerica was founded, bought the AMA Pro Racing series, and announced it would take over running the AMA series starting in 2015, John and Chris Ulrich decided to support MotoAmerica and go back to concentrating on running the family’s race team, known as Team Hammer, Inc. The rest is history…
The grid just prior to the start of the WERA/N2 Racing 4-hour endurance race at Barber Motorsports Park in 2019. Photo by David Swarts.
WERA MOTORCYCLE ROADRACING!
With the continued recommendations on social distancing by the CDC as well as concern for our racing family and their families, our Officials and Corner Workers and Track Staff we will not be running the Talladega Gran Prix event scheduled for April 11/12. We do have one schedule change at Talladega which is our August 8/9 event has moved to August 22/23. We will keep you posted on any other change as they happen. It is hard to make any changes until the government let’s us know it is safe to “gather” again.
The WERA Motorcycle Roadracing office is closed presently. We are checking email everyday so if you have questions or wish to renew a license please do so via the [email protected] email. We hope to see all our race community in May! Stay safe and stay positive!
WERA Motorcycle Roadracing was founded in 1973 and remains the foremost place to develop talent in the sport of motorcycle Roadracing. The legacy of Pro riders on a National and World level is legendary. All events are run by WERA Motorcycle Roadracing with a co-sanction by the AMA and they go coast to coast offering entry level racing with the WERA Sportsman Series as well as a Pro-Am Series with the WERA National Challenge Series, WERA Motorcycle Roadracing also offer Vintage Racing and limited Endurance Racing with Track Day Partners N2 . WERA Motorcycle Roadracing was voted the 2017 AMA Track Organizer of the Year.
For more information on WERA Motorcycle Roadracing please check out our web site at wera.com
Roadracing World started this exclusive special feature recognizing the most promising young road racers as an answer to pessimists who claimed America had no new, up-and-coming young racers. This edition of the Roadracing World Young Gun Awards marks the 24th consecutive year of showcasing an abundance of new talent.
Roadracing World Young Guns have won:
FIM MotoGP and FIM Superbike races and World Championships;
AMA Pro races and Championships, including eight AMA Pro Superbike Championships;
A KTM RC Cup World Final race;
The Daytona 200 (8 times);
WERA National Endurance Championships and WERA National Challenge Championships;
ASRA/Formula USA Grand National and CCS National Championships;
AMA Road Racing Grand Championships and Horizon Awards;
USGPRU National Championships;
Many regional and local titles.
The competition has continually become more intense as more – and younger—racers with higher levels of accomplishment are nominated, and the level of achievement required to make the grade keeps getting tougher.
We’ve spent the last several months accepting nominations and evaluating road racers between the ages of 11 and 18 (as of the start of the 2020 season) who have, at a minimum, won Expert-level road races and/or Championships on a 125cc two-stroke/250cc four-stroke or larger racebike or had outstanding results as an Amateur/Novice. Most of the riders included here have done far more than the minimum.
The young riders recognized here are the most promising young road racers in North America. All have earned the title of Roadracing World Young Gun.
We will feature one Young Gun per day, presenting them in alphabetical order.
Ben Gloddy. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Ben Gloddy
Age: 14.
Current home: Northfield, New Hampshire.
Current height/weight: 5’6”/130 pounds.
Current school grade level: 9th grade.
Began riding at age: 4 years.
First road race: 2018, Canaan, New Hampshire, NESBC, Formula 300 Class, 3rd place.
Current racebikes: Kawasaki Ninja 300, Kawasaki Ninja 400.
Current tuner/mechanic: Quarterley Racing, Keith Day (stepfather).
Top sponsors: Penguin Racing School Mentor Program, American Supercamp, Quarterly Racing, Woodcraft Technologies, First Trax, Inter-Tech Supplies, Stump Racing, Arai, TCX Boots, Vanson Leathers, Dunlop
Recent racing accomplishments: 2019 season, finished 9th in MotoAmerica Junior Cup (competed in 11 of 17 races, 1 podium, 3 top-5 finishes), won 2 LRRS Championships (12 race wins), won NESBC Lights Championship; 2018 season, named LRRS Rookie of the Year (youngest to ever receive the award), won 24 LRRS races and earned 46 podium finishes, won NESBC Intermediate B Championship; 2017 season, named NJMiniGP Rookie of the Year.
2020 racing goal: Win MotoAmerica Junior Cup Championship.
Racing career goal: Make it to MotoGP World Championship.
Racing hero: Jamison Minor.
Favorite track: Barber Motorsports Park.
Favorite hobby: Downhill mountain biking.
If I wasn’t racing I would be…: Downhill mountain biking.
Herman Tomczyk, ADAC Sports President (left); Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports (center); and Pit Beirer, KTM Motorsports Director (right), with a KTM RC4R racebike at the announcement of the Northern Talent Cup in late 2019. Photo courtesy of Dorna.
Speedweek and Northern Talent Cup Round 1 cancelled
Monday, 06 April 2020
Due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, the FIM, Eurosport Events and Motorsport Arena have taken the decision to cancel Speedweek, which was set to take place at Oschersleben from the 4th to the 6th of June 2020. This obliges the cancellation of the NTC Round scheduled to coincide with the event.
As of today, Round 1 of the Northern Talent Cup is therefore set to take place alongside MotoGP™ at the Sachsenring from the 19th to the 21st of June.
Dorna Sports will do everything possible to try and ensure the other six original rounds on the NTC calendar take place, as well as a pre-season test. As previously confirmed, the first NTC round will not take place before a test has been completed. This test will take place a reasonable time before Round 1 to ensure all those involved have adequate time to prepare.
Pursuant to the information from government authorities, Dorna Sports is closely monitoring the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. As the situation remains in a state of constant evolution, a new date for the test and the recently-postponed Austrian Round cannot be confirmed until it becomes clearer when exactly it will be possible to hold these events. A revised calendar will be published as soon as available.
Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (SERT) won the 2019-2020 FIM Endurance World Championship. Photo courtesy Team Suzuki Press Office.
EXCEPTIONAL DECISIONS FOR THE 2019-2020 FIM EWC
In the light of the unprecedented global health crisis, the FIM Endurance World Championship has modified its calendar and taken steps to protect teams.
Eurosport Events, the championship promoter, together with the FIM – International Motorcycling Federation, has revised the FIM EWC calendar taking government restrictions into account.
In view of the current lockdown, with bans on public gatherings and restrictions on the movement of people, the 8 Hours of Oschersleben, scheduled to take place on 6 June in Germany, cannot be organized. The event has been cancelled and will not be rescheduled. This high-profile event was added to the Endurance World Championship calendar in 1999 and has since become a must-see for all fans of the sport in Germany.
The 2019-2020 FIM Endurance World Championship will therefore restart in Japan on 19 July at the Suzuka 8 Hours for the Formula EWC class, with the EWC and Superstock teams then converging on France for the 24 Heures Motos on 29 and 30 August 2020.
The FIM and Eurosport Events have decided to include the 2020 Bol d’Or as the fifth race of the calendar and the finale of the ongoing season. After kicking off at Le Castellet in September 2019, the 2019-2020 FIM Endurance World Championship will seal its international rankings at the Bol d’Or on 19 and 20 September this year.
Keenly aware of the difficulties that teams are currently experiencing, the FIM, Eurosport Events and the organizers of the FIM EWC races are doing everything in their power to provide cost-cutting solutions and to support the championship’s players.
The 24 Heures Motos and Bol d’Or pre-tests will be cancelled, but the free practice sessions on the Tuesday and Wednesday will be extended to give teams more time on the track.
Eurosport Events will help independent teams by allocating €1,500 per motorcycle for all the non-factory teams who have participated in the 24 Heures Motos and the Bol d’Or.
Questions for François Ribeiro, Head of Eurosport Events
– What were the priorities that led you to revise the calendar?
The world is undergoing a great tragedy, which is having unprecedented repercussions for society and for all public gatherings. There is a great deal of suffering. The lockdown has had a severe impact on the sporting world. Races can’t be held if the safety of teams and riders cannot be guaranteed, and the current public health crisis clearly makes it impossible to envisage holding the 2020 8 Hours of Oschersleben. The event will return to the calendar in 2021 from 20-23 May. After repositioning the 24 Heures Motos at the end of August, we put forward a proposal to all the championship’s players to end the season with a great race at the Bol d’Or. Following a lengthy lockdown and so much frustration for motorcycle racing fans, I’m certain that ACO and Éditions Larivière will be capable of organizing two fantastic popular celebrations at Le Mans and Le Castellet. The revision of the calendar therefore means that the Suzuka 8 Hours will no longer be the finale of the world championship. Mobilityland, the organizer of this iconic race, understands the situation and shares our priority, which is to safeguard the interests of the FIM EWC in these very particular circumstances. The next season will therefore begin with Sepang and end with the Bol d’Or.
– The Suzuka 8 Hours will therefore no longer be the finale of the FIM EWC. How will this affect the championship?
Together with the Suzuka 8 Hours organizer, we are monitoring the question of allowing non-Japanese teams and riders to compete in the race in the event of a second wave of Covid-19 cases on the archipelago. The race will not be the championship finale and, as a result, it will no longer benefit from the bonus of 150% of the points.
– Will TV coverage of the FIM EWC be impacted by the Covid-19 crisis?
The postponement of sporting events beyond summer will inevitably create a logjam of programmes on television channel schedules. Eurosport Events as a promoter produces the TV signal from the races and broadcasts it beyond the Eurosport network. We will do our maximum to offer the best possible broadcast.
– In view of the financial losses caused by the global crisis, how will Eurosport Events be able to support teams?
We are working hand in hand with ACO and Éditions Larivière to help reduce the costs for teams. The financial aid we are offering for participation in the Bol d’Or will go to independent teams, who are the most fragile and most in need of support in these difficult times.
The FIM President, Jorge Viegas, concludes by declaring “We are living in an exceptional moment, which means that we are taking measures that we never imagined we would have to take. The most important thing for us is to firmly maintain our desire to return to motorcycle competition and to resume the FIM Endurance World Championship as soon as possible. We are working hand in hand with Eurosport Events, this new structure will allow us to have a championship worthy of the name and to meet the expectations of all those who love this spectacular discipline!”
Joe Roberts (16) in action during the 2020 Moto2 World Championship opening round at Losail International Circuit, in Qatar. Photo courtesy of American Racing Team.
It takes more than talent to be successful at the highest levels of World Championship motorcycle road racing, and nobody knows better than American Joe Roberts.
Despite a racing resume that spoke to his undeniable talent as a rider, Roberts found himself struggling to succeed during the 2018 and 2019 FIM Moto2 World Championships.
In 2018 Roberts rode an NTS chassis using the Honda CBR600RR-based inline four-cylinder engine. For 2019, everyone in Moto2 had to switch to the new official Triumph inline three-cylinder engines. Roberts ended up on a KTM chassis, which didn’t suit him at all. Despite his best efforts, Roberts struggled to get meaningful results in 2018 or 2019, and as a result, lost confidence.
Joe Roberts (16) on his American Racing Team Kalex during the 2020 Moto2 World Championship opening round at Losail International Circuit, in Qatar. Photo courtesy of American Racing Team.
“I think after two hard seasons at the world level you start to doubt yourself and wonder if you’re even good enough to be there,” Roberts told Roadracingworld.com in a telephone interview. “I was unsure if it was me or the bike. I had never ridden anything else but the bikes that I was on, so it’s hard to know if it’s you or the bike. Then people say it’s you, and you start thinking it’s you, and your head starts to get spun up.”
When the 2019 season ended, instead of kicking Roberts to the curb, American Racing Team owner Eitan Butbul doubled down on his young American rider and decided he would give Roberts every chance to fulfill his potential.
First, Butbul switched his team from KTM to the popular and proven Kalex chassis; hired a new crew chief for Roberts, Lucio Nicastro (a former crew chief for Chaz Davies and Sam Lowes); and started looking for a rider coach.
“My team owner always believed in me and always wanted to try to get the best people,” said Roberts. “I always wanted some guy to come on board to try and help with the riding aspect; just to have somebody there that I could speak to. Somebody who could go out on the track and watch and I could really trust what they’re saying, somebody who knew the process of being an American rider at the world level.”
Joe Roberts (left) with John Hopkins (right) in the team garage at Losail International Circuit, in Qatar. Photo courtesy of American Racing Team.
Enter John Hopkins, the Anglo-American who went straight from racing — and winning – in AMA Supersport and Formula Xtreme classes to joining the MotoGP World Championship on a Yamaha YZR500 two-stroke at the age of 18. In spite of racing against more powerful four-stroke 990cc machines, Hopkins scored 58 points and finished 15th during his rookie season in the 2002 MotoGP World Championship.
That propelled him into a seven-year career in MotoGP (including five years as a factory Suzuki rider) during which he earned one pole position, two fastest race laps, and four podium finishes. He placed a career-best fourth in the 2007 MotoGP World Championship, finishing behind World Champion Casey Stoner, runner-up Dani Pedrosa, and third-place Valentino Rossi.
John Hopkins (21) during a wild card ride on a Rizla Suzuki factory MotoGP racebike in 2011. Photo courtesy of Suzuki.
Following that, Hopkins raced in the FIM Superbike World Championship, the AMA Superbike Championship, and the British Superbike Championship. Hopkins finished on the AMA Superbike podium three times (on an M4 Monster Energy Suzuki fielded by Team Hammer) in an injury-plagued 2010, one season before he finished a close second in the British Superbike Championship.
Hopkins last raced in 2017 in the British Superbike Championship, where he took two podium finishes on a Ducati Panigale R V-Twin before an injury cut his season short and inhibited him from finding a ride the following year.
“John had been following me on Instagram and had always been saying nice things and he always seemed quite positive even when I was getting bad results,” said Roberts. “Then it hit me: Why don’t we get John on board? I felt like it could be good to have him there.”
The connection was made through The W Training Facility, owned by Johnny Louch, Hopkins’ friend and longtime trainer, and after phone calls and meetings between Butbul and Hopkins, the deal was done.
“With Moto2 being such a competitive class Eitan didn’t want to leave any stones unturned. He wanted to do everything he possibly could to give Joe and the team the most competitive package,” Hopkins told Roadracingworld.com. “I hadn’t had the pleasure of getting to know Joe until this last winter. I didn’t know anything about his riding or his skill, so I had no point of reference or where he needed to improve or anything.
“I started going out to watch him at the Supermoto track, riding flat track and doing all the different forms of cross-training you do throughout the winter. Before this I had people asking me if Joe had what it took, and I honestly didn’t know. But once I saw him on a dirt track bike, on the Supermoto bike, on the mini-bikes, I immediately knew talent wasn’t an issue whatsoever.
“After that, we started chatting about what he thought were his strengths and his weaknesses on the bike. Everything he was saying — like being really strong on the brakes and at the apex, but struggling sometimes with his corner exits — were all things that I had to deal with and overcome during my career.
“There were some different exercises and drills we started to do on the Supermoto bike and the dirt track bike all through the winter to help him improve, and there was an instant improvement every time I suggested something.”
When Roberts arrived at the official Moto2 pre-season test February 19-21 at Jerez, some of the other riders had been there for two days already, but Roberts immediately got up to speed on his new Kalex. In one session he was fifth, he was 10th on the time sheets at the end of Day Two, and ended up 19th out of 29 riders – 0.975-second off the fastest time — when all of the results from the three days were combined.
Joe Roberts (16) in action during the 2020 Moto2 World Championship opening round at Losail International Circuit, in Qatar. Photo courtesy of American Racing Team.
Roberts then rolled into the final pre-season test February 28-March 1 at Losail International Circuit in Qatar, one week before the season opener and moved up to ninth on the overall time sheet and 0.546-second behind the fastest rider.
The 22-year-old American built on that again during the race weekend in Qatar, earning the first World Championship pole position by an American in 10 years and then racing for the lead until he eventually finished fourth. His best race finish prior to that was 10th, which he did at Brno in his Moto2 debut race, and his average finishing position in 2019 was 20th.
Joe Roberts celebrating his Moto2 pole position in parc ferme with his team in Qatar. Photo courtesy of American Racing Team.
Hopkins said the results during testing and the race weekend in Qatar were the combination of a lot of different elements working well together.
“I would watch Joe out on track, watch the others, shoot some video, study the lines, but I would also try to put myself mentally on the bike,” said Hopkins. “You can see when they’re pushing the front or running wide in the corners. You can see chatter. These are things as a racer you can see and point out to the crew chief.
“Qatar is a really special track with its set-up and everything. You really have to set up the bike for the long, really fast, flowing corners differently than you do for almost any other track. There were special things we did to the bike when I went there in my MotoGP days that helped me tremendously. We lengthened the bike more than we did at any other circuit. We also lowered the center of gravity to help stabilize the bike in the faster corners.
“The good thing with this and why it works so well with myself and the team and Joe is because Joe’s crew chief has been amazing so far. He’s so open to suggestions. Every time he made a change to the bike he would ask me about it, and I would give him my advice.
“I’m not going to lie. I don’t know anything about preload and this and that. I’m not a crew chief. That was never my job. My job was to feel what was going on underneath me and relay that over to my crew chief. It’s obviously their job to work on the bike and change it to make it feel like the rider wants it.
“I think that’s a very good system to have. I think when you have a rider who knows too much and is always looking for the perfect set-up on a bike they’re concentrated more on getting this perfect bike underneath them than actually going out and making the most with what they have. This is a problem with some racers.
“For Joe, with the way that he works and being so open to suggestions, it’s a really good system he’s got going.”
Joe Roberts on the Moto2 grid at Losail International Circuit with his new crew chief Lucio Nicastro (left) and John Hopkins (right). Photo courtesy of American Racing Team.
Through all of this, however, Hopkins feels the biggest difference in Roberts’ performance so far in 2020 has been simply restoring his confidence in his own ability.
“Joe’s been really hard on himself,” said Hopkins. “That was his biggest concern going into this year. He didn’t want to get back on the bike and instantly have similar things happen to him that happened last year.
“I said, ‘What happened last year is gone. Look at all the positives you have: You’ve got a new chassis, a new crew chief that you’re getting along with really well, and you’re putting in all of the work you possibly can.’ And it was just a snowball effect in building up his confidence and getting him into a high going into the beginning of this year. Fortunately, that kept accumulating and growing from Jerez to Qatar. He’s on a high right now as far as confidence goes.
“In my personal opinion, confidence is the most important element that you can possibly have in racing. I think that’s why you see Marc Marquez always so strong. Obviously, he’s talented, but when you’re a racer who is confident, you can be out there riding on the limit, tucking the front and almost crashing three or four times in a lap and it doesn’t even phase you. Those are some of the greatest moments as a racer. The trick is to keep that confidence on a high, and that’s what we intend to do with Joe.”
Joe Roberts (left) and John Hopkins (right) in Qatar. Photo courtesy of American Racing Team.
Asked what his personal feelings were like coming away from the race in Qatar, Hopkins said, “Honestly, I almost felt better about it than I ever did actually racing myself. It was really, really rewarding, extremely rewarding. Joe’s on top of the bike and he’s the one making it happen at the end of the day, and I’m just showing him that he has what it takes and helping him get to his true potential.
“Yeah, I find it hugely rewarding. Without the help that I got through my early childhood in mini road racing and from Al Lyons [R.I.P.] and during my teenage years with John Ulrich and the other people who helped me there’s no way I ever would have made it as a professional racer. So, to be able to give back and help out I find it really rewarding.”
And as further evidence of the cohesiveness within Roberts’ pit box, the young Californian says all of the attention Hopkins has been getting for their success is absolutely deserved.
“I told John, ‘I know the media has been praising you, and I want you to know that it’s actually true.’ I really do believe it,” Roberts said. “Yeah, I give a lot of credit to John. I also give a lot of credit to my crew chief for being willing to take advice from John. Everyone being able to chill and let it flow is the main thing. There’s no tension building up. Everyone’s happy to listen to each other.
“A lot of things have to work well to do well, I think. That’s my experience over the past few years. You have to have everything working well to do well, and we have that right now. I just really hope we can start racing again soon. I really do. Because it could be a really good year.”
Round Two of the 2014 GEICO Motorcycle Superbike Shootout Presented by Yamaha, the Arai Pacific Nationals, was held May 3-4 at Sonoma Raceway, in Sonoma, California. This is the broadcast video coverage of Dynojet Pro Sportbike race two, which aired on MAVTV.
The three-round televised series was set up by race team owner John Ulrich and racer Chris Ulrich, to fill an 11-week gap in the 2014 AMA Pro Racing schedule, which initially consisted of five rounds without any TV coverage, with no rounds west of the Mississippi River (the AMA Series later picked up a sixth round, at Laguna Seca, again without TV). Each Superbike Shootout round included one Superbike and one Sportbike race (along with dedicated practice and qualifying sessions for each class) dropped into an existing club race weekend run by WERA at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California; AFM at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California; and USBA at what was then known as Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah.
Teams and riders needed TV coverage to maintain sponsorship, and getting that coverage was a major goal of the series. The father/son duo started a new business unit, Team Hammer Promotions, hired Greg White’s production company to produce six one-hour TV shows, covering the Superbike and Sportbike races from each round, with White and Jason Pridmore commentating and Laurette Nicholl handling pit reporting. John and Chris Ulrich met with the president of MAVTV and reached an agreement for the network to broadcast each show, one per week, on consecutive Thursday nights, and to then repeat the series. After seeing the shows, MAVTV decided to broadcast each show an additional four times, totaling 36 hours of TV coverage for the series. Chris’ sister Natalie Ulrich was recruited to sell series and event sponsorship as well as TV commercials.
By all accounts, the series and the shows were a success, and played a part in keeping professional road racing alive in the United States. There were plans to run a 10-round Superbike Shootout Series in 2015. But when MotoAmerica was founded, bought the AMA Pro Racing series, and announced it would take over running the AMA series starting in 2015, John and Chris Ulrich decided to support MotoAmerica and go back to concentrating on running the family’s race team, known as Team Hammer, Inc. The rest is history…
Cameron Petersen (45) at speed on his Altus Motorsports Tucker Hagerty Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superstock bike during the 2020 MotoAmerica pre-season test at Barber Motorsports Park. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
By David Swarts
When the 2020 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship begins there will be some familiar faces on the grid, but there will also be a whole lot of newness: New bikes, new teams, new crew chiefs, and new classes.
To help preview the season, we’ve enlisted the help of Josh Hayes.
Not only has Hayes won four AMA Pro Superbike Championships, he’s won a total of 83 AMA Pro/MotoAmerica races and three support class titles; raced in the Endurance World Championship; run at the front in Supersport World Championship races; and finished seventh while competing in his first MotoGP race as a substitute rider at Valencia in 2011.
More recently, Hayes won two races at the International Island Classic vintage event in January of this year at Phillip Island; raced at the front throughout the 2019 Daytona 200 and was on provisional pole position for the 2020 Daytona 200; and finished on the podium in the MotoAmerica Supersport class in 2019.
Josh Hayes (4) at speed on his MP13 Racing Yamaha during the opening practice session at the 79th Daytona 200. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
When he’s not racing, Hayes is a rider coach for top competitors, including Bobby Fong and Jake Gagne, as well as working with Garrett Gerloff.
And if these weren’t enough qualifications to preview the upcoming season, Hayes rode in place of injured Mathew Scholtz on Westby Racing’s 2020-model Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike during the official MotoAmerica pre-season test at Barber Motorsports Park in March. So, he’s had a close look at most of the field.
This preview series is highlighting one Superbike or Superbike Cup/Stock 1000 rider each day, but it will not feature every rider entered in the two classes.
Cameron Petersen, as seen ahead of the 2019 MotoAmerica season. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Cameron Petersen
Cameron Petersen, the Spanish-born South African and son of former Pro road racer Robbie Petersen, came to race in America in 2015, after having won the South African Supersport Championship in 2013 at the age of 18.
Petersen joined Danny Walker’s RoadRace Factory Yamaha team for the 2015 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship and had a good debut season with a podium appearance, four more top-five finishes, and seventh in the final Championship standings.
That performance earned Petersen a ride on an M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki GSX-R600 in 2016, and he made the most of the opportunity by taking his career-first MotoAmerica Supersport race victory plus two more podium finishes, 12 total top-five results in 16 races, and fourth in the title chase.
For 2017, Petersen moved up to the MotoAmerica Superbike class on David Anthony’s FLY Racing/ADR Motorsports Kawasaki ZX-10R, but Petersen ended up sitting out most of the season due to personal issues.
Petersen reunited with team owner Danny Walker in 2018 to ride the Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda CBR1000RR SP2 in MotoAmerica Superbike, but it was a difficult season for Petersen and his team. Petersen missed races due to a concussion and a freak foot injury, both suffered in competition, and when he was fit to ride, his Honda often had issues with its advanced electronics. In the end, Petersen could only manage 12th in the Championship with a best race result of fifth.
Petersen joined Omega Moto to ride its Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike in the 2019 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship. But it was another challenging season for the South African as mechanical issues dramatically limited Petersen’s track time and results. He ended up ninth in the final point standings with four sixth-place finishes.
For 2020, 25-year-old Petersen has linked up with the Altus Motorsports Tucker Hagerty team to race a Suzuki GSX-R1000 in Stock 1000 and the new Superbike Cup.
Superbike Cup is a new program for 2020 that allows MotoAmerica Stock 1000 competitors to also compete in Superbike races with incentives of extra purse money, free entry fee, free tires, extra TV exposure, and a Championship points fund with $25,000 up for grabs for the Champion. MotoAmerica has added the category to provide a stepping stone for Stock 1000 riders to move up to the premier class while helping enlarge the Superbike grids.
In spite of only riding a limited amount of laps on Day One during the official MotoAmerica pre-season test in March, Petersen was sixth-quickest among all Superbike and Stock 1000 riders at the test, offering another glimpse of his tremendous potential heading into the 2020 season.
“I like Cameron a lot,” said Hayes. “I was not always on Team Cameron, should I say, but last year, I feel like he really kind of won me over.
“I believe after he had a couple of bad [seasons] and really wasn’t able to finish the way he wanted he’s now found something in himself. I don’t know if it’s maturity or age. I don’t know what it is, but he’s found himself in a better place.
“Last year, when we worked together, was difficult for him at times because there were not many sessions where he got to ride without some kind of [technical] issue preventing him from doing many laps. And throughout that he was able to maintain a level head so that when [his motorcycle] did work he was able to show good progress and good things. We saw him punch above his weight in a few races and show that his talent is without question.
“The interesting thing now will be him riding a Superstock bike and it being so much more simple than a Superbike. If he’s given time to just ride and figure it out while doing a lot of laps over the course of a weekend he could do some good things.
“Having been around Cameron over the course of these last few years, I see him being quite the weapon if he’s just happy. And if he’s doing laps he’s going to be in a good place for his head, and it showed in just a very few short laps at the Barber test. He got up to speed and comfortable almost immediately.
“Let’s just wait and see. I think there’s more to come from him and that he’s only going to get better. And we have seen Superstock bikes punch with the Superbikes quite a few times in the past. Mathew Scholtz comes to mind. Bobby Fong comes to mind. If the kid’s [Petersen] happy and getting a lot of laps between Stock 1000 and Superbike races, he could be a force to be reckoned with all season.”
Your correspondent, Sam Fleming, smiling the confidence of the inexperienced, just before starting the descent of the Dunning-Kruger slope with a 1952 Vincent.
Featured In the April 2020 issue of Roadracing World:
“I suffered through a childhood deprived of motorsports. This hardship was offset, to some degree, with unfettered access to groaning shelves of books. At the impressionable age of 12, I came across ‘Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas’ by the late, great, Hunter S. Thompson. Consuming this tome was a highly educational experience which indelibly marked my psyche in at least three ways:
A. The adoption of Gonzo Journalism as my personal writing style.
B. That declaring “On the advice of counsel…” magically invokes indemnity for any activity.
C. The mystique of the Vincent Black Shadow …”
—The Vincent Black Shadow, Tuning For Speed, Part 1, by Sam Q. Fleming
All these years later, the Black Shadow remains a touchstone in performance motorcycling history. So much so that when Army of Darkness cornerstone Sam Fleming got a chance to buy one, he did. His lust for the machine, and the reality of living with the beast, are detailed in the latest issue of Roadracing World!
Roadracing World & Motorcycle Technology is THE definitive source for motorcycle racing, riding, and tech information.
PREVIEW the April 2020 issue of Roadracing World & Motorcycle Technology!
Roadracing World & Motorcycle Technology magazine is available in print and digital formats.
Or call (909) 654-4779, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday.
Visit www.roadracingworld.com daily for breaking news and events.
Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/roadracingworld
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com @roadracingworld
Follow us on Instagram https://instagram.com @roadracing_world
PJ Jacobsen (99) at speed on his new Celtic HSBK Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R racebike during the MotoAmerica test at Barber. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
By David Swarts
When the 2020 MotoAmerica Superbike Championship begins there will be some familiar faces on the grid, but there will also be a whole lot of newness: New bikes, new teams, new crew chiefs, and new classes.
To help preview the season, we’ve enlisted the help of Josh Hayes.
Not only has Hayes won four AMA Pro Superbike Championships, he’s won a total of 83 AMA Pro/MotoAmerica races and three support class titles; raced in the Endurance World Championship; run at the front in Supersport World Championship races; and finished seventh while competing in his first MotoGP race as a substitute rider at Valencia in 2011.
More recently, Hayes won two races at the International Island Classic vintage event in January of this year at Phillip Island; raced at the front throughout the 2019 Daytona 200 and was on provisional pole position for the 2020 Daytona 200; and finished on the podium in the MotoAmerica Supersport class in 2019.
Josh Hayes (4) at speed on his MP13 Racing Yamaha during the opening practice session at the 79th Daytona 200. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
When he’s not racing, Hayes is a rider coach for top competitors, including Bobby Fong and Jake Gagne, as well as working with Garrett Gerloff.
And if these weren’t enough qualifications to preview the upcoming season, Hayes rode in place of injured Mathew Scholtz on Westby Racing’s 2020-model Yamaha YZF-R1 Superbike during the official MotoAmerica pre-season test at Barber Motorsports Park in March. So, he’s had a close look at most of the field.
This preview series is highlighting one Superbike or Superbike Cup/Stock 1000 rider each day, but it will not feature every rider entered in the two classes. Riders will be listed in the order they finished the 2019 Superbike Championship with riders who were not in the 2019 Superbike Championship listed after the returning riders.
PJ Jacobsen (right) with his crew chief, former AMA Superbike racer Scott Jensen (left) on top of the MotoAmerica Supersport podium after winning at VIR in 2019. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
PJ Jacobsen
PJ Jacobsen started out racing in America at a very young age and won many titles in flat track, supermoto and ice racing as a kid. He switched to road racing when he was 12 and won the USGPRU 125cc National Championship and the AMA Road Race 125cc Grand Championship.
In 2008, Jacobsen won the AMA Lightweight GP Grand Championship, placed 22nd in a wild card appearance in the 125cc World Championship GP at Indianapolis (making him the youngest American to ever compete in a 125cc World Championship GP), and qualified in the top 10 in two rounds of the ultra-competitive CEV/Spanish 125cc National Championship, although he suffered mechanical DNFs in both races.
That led to Jacobsen getting a full-time ride – without having to bring any sponsorship money – with the Aspar Team in the 2009 CEV/Spanish 125cc National Championship. That season, the young New Yorker placed sixth in the Championship including one podium finish when he was third behind runner-up Johann Zarco and race winner Jonas Folger. Maverick Vinales was fourth in that race.
At the end of 2009, Jacobsen did the AMA Pro Supersport finale as a wild card, earned pole position and finished eighth in the race in spite of having to do a ride-through penalty for a starting grid infraction.
For 2010, Jacobsen and his supporters felt he deserved a chance to move to the 125cc World Championship full-time, but he received no offers to do that. Aspar Team wanted Jacobsen to stay in the CEV 125cc Championship and possibly move up in 2011, so Jacobsen chose to come back to America and race in the 2010 and 2011 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Championships.
During his two seasons in AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Jacobsen showed that he had the speed to run with the established stars, but crashes, injuries and mechanical problems worked against him.
In 2012, Jacobsen got an opportunity to join Tyco Suzuki and finish the British 1000cc Superstock season, and he podiumed in each of the final three races. In addition, Tyco Suzuki entered Jacobsen as a wild card in the British Supersport race at Assen, and Jacobsen won in his class debut on an unfamiliar track. Tyco Suzuki promoted Jacobsen to its Superbike team alongside Josh Brookes for the following season, 2013, and Jacobsen earned one podium appearance and four top-five finishes.
As the 2014 season approached, Jacobsen turned down factory rides within the British Superbike Championship to accept a fully-sponsored ride with the Intermoto Kawasaki team in the FIM Supersport World Championship. Jacobsen enjoyed reasonable success, making two podium appearances, scoring four-top-five finishes, and securing sixth in the final point standings.
Jacobsen once again had options to return to the British Superbike Championship for 2015, but he opted to stay in the World Championship paddock even if it meant riding for the private Intermoto Kawasaki team in Supersport again. The Intermoto Kawasaki team, however, experienced financial problems from the start of 2015, and Jacobsen was forced to switch to the CORE Honda squad mid-season. That ended up being a blessing in disguise, as Jacobsen went from reaching the podium twice in the first five races on the ZX-6R to taking two wins and five podium finishes on a Honda CBR600RR in the final six races, leading to Jacobsen earning second in the 2015 Supersport World Championship.
Which led to Jacobsen securing a ride with the factory Honda team for the 2016 FIM Supersport World Championship, when Jacobsen claimed fourth in points with four podium finishes in 12 races. In 2017, MV Agusta hired Jacobsen to ride a factory F3 675 in the Supersport World Championship, and he earned three pole positions, three podium finishes and fifth in the final point standings in spite of mechanical problems.
That hard work and perseverance seemed to have paid off when Jacobsen was offered a ride in the 2018 FIM Superbike World Championship with TripleM Racing, Honda’s newest official satellite team. But the team was inexperienced and the Honda was not the sharpest weapon in the field. As a result, Jacobsen only scored 21 Championship points in 2018 and had a best race finish of 10th in Thailand.
With good ride opportunities on top equipment becoming harder to find, Jacobsen decided to return home to New York and reunite with long-time supporter Barry Gilsenan of Celtic Racing. Gilsenan then partnered with HSBK Racing’s Bobby Shek to field Jacobsen on a Yamaha YZF-R6 in the 2019 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship.
Expectations for Jacobsen were high coming into 2019, and once his new Yamaha got sorted out, he did not disappoint. Jacobsen claimed four victories, took seven other podium finishes, and placed second in the Championship.
For 2020, Jacobsen, age 26, is sticking with the Celtic HSBK Racing team, but the team is moving to the Stock 1000 and Superbike Cup classes with a new Ducati Panigale V4 R.
The Superbike Cup is a new program for 2020 that allows MotoAmerica Stock 1000 competitors to also compete in Superbike races, with incentives including extra purse money, free entry, free tires, extra TV exposure, and a Championship points fund with $25,000 up for grabs for the Champion. MotoAmerica has added the category to provide a stepping stone for Stock 1000 riders to move up to Superbike while also helping to enlarge the Superbike grids.
Jacobsen’s riding talent is above reproach and his confidence in himself and his determination never seem to waiver, but learning to get the most out of the potent Ducati V4 doesn’t happen overnight, as Kyle Wyman showed in 2019. If Jacobsen and his Scott Jensen-led crew can come to terms with the new machine quickly, Jacobsen will be a strong contender for the Stock 1000 and Superbike Cup Championships and a very interesting wild card in Superbike races.
“PJ has been a phenom since a very young age,” said Hayes. “He raced at a high level here. He’s raced at a high level in Europe in Spain, England, and World Supersport. He didn’t really get to show his mettle in World Superbike, and then he came back here and was competitive but not perfect in Supersport.
“I think PJ still has to put a full season together. I think that’s still missing from PJ. We’ve seen him take second in the Supersport World Championship, so he has had one good year [spread across two different teams and motorcycles]. Quite honestly, everyone here in MotoAmerica Supersport made so many mistakes last year they damn near kept me in the Championship for a long time. (laughs)
“I think in Stock 1000 he’s not going to have that option. He’s going to have to figure out how to be there week in and week out.
“I think that the Ducati V4 has shown the world over to be very, very strong in Superstock trim, and I think it will be a very difficult bike for the other guys to race against, especially with PJ at the controls.
“So, I would say right now everything is lined up for PJ to have a lot of success this season, but he’s going to have to produce the necessary results. He just can’t have too many bad days because I think there are some other guys who are going to make it difficult for him in the Stock 1000 class.”
Round Two of the 2014 GEICO Motorcycle Superbike Shootout Presented by Yamaha, the Arai Pacific Nationals, was held May 3-4 at Sonoma Raceway, in Sonoma, California. This is the broadcast video coverage of RaceFuelz Pro Superbike race two, which aired on MAVTV.
The three-round televised series was set up by race team owner John Ulrich and racer Chris Ulrich, to fill an 11-week gap in the 2014 AMA Pro Racing schedule, which initially consisted of five rounds without any TV coverage, with no rounds west of the Mississippi River (the AMA Series later picked up a sixth round, at Laguna Seca, again without TV). Each Superbike Shootout round included one Superbike and one Sportbike race (along with dedicated practice and qualifying sessions for each class) dropped into an existing club race weekend run by WERA at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California; AFM at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California; and USBA at what was then known as Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah.
Teams and riders needed TV coverage to maintain sponsorship, and getting that coverage was a major goal of the series. The father/son duo started a new business unit, Team Hammer Promotions, hired Greg White’s production company to produce six one-hour TV shows, covering the Superbike and Sportbike races from each round, with White and Jason Pridmore commentating and Laurette Nicholl handling pit reporting. John and Chris Ulrich met with the president of MAVTV and reached an agreement for the network to broadcast each show, one per week, on consecutive Thursday nights, and to then repeat the series. After seeing the shows, MAVTV decided to broadcast each show an additional four times, totaling 36 hours of TV coverage for the series. Chris’ sister Natalie Ulrich was recruited to sell series and event sponsorship as well as TV commercials.
By all accounts, the series and the shows were a success, and played a part in keeping professional road racing alive in the United States. There were plans to run a 10-round Superbike Shootout Series in 2015. But when MotoAmerica was founded, bought the AMA Pro Racing series, and announced it would take over running the AMA series starting in 2015, John and Chris Ulrich decided to support MotoAmerica and go back to concentrating on running the family’s race team, known as Team Hammer, Inc. The rest is history…
A “press release” is promotional text issued by a rider, team, company or organization to inform
the public about an event, product, or service from the issuer’s own point of view, and if deemed
to have news value, may be placed on roadracingworld.com as a service to our readers.
A press release is not an article written by Roadracingworld.com staffers. When a post is labeled with the words “press release”, it means that Roadracingworld.com is not responsible for its content and that Roadracingworld.com makes no guarantee that it is accurate. Not all press releases are posted and Roadracingworld.com may reject press releases if the content is too heavy on commercial promotion with little or no news value or if the press release contains obvious errors.
Accessibility
Accessibility modes
Epilepsy Safe Mode
Dampens color and removes blinks
This mode enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode
Improves website's visuals
This mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode
Helps to focus on specific content
This mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode
Reduces distractions and improve focus
This mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode
Allows using the site with your screen-reader
This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
Online Dictionary
Readable Experience
Content Scaling
Default
Text Magnifier
Readable Font
Dyslexia Friendly
Highlight Titles
Highlight Links
Font Sizing
Default
Line Height
Default
Letter Spacing
Default
Left Aligned
Center Aligned
Right Aligned
Visually Pleasing Experience
Dark Contrast
Light Contrast
Monochrome
High Contrast
High Saturation
Low Saturation
Adjust Text Colors
Adjust Title Colors
Adjust Background Colors
Easy Orientation
Mute Sounds
Hide Images
Hide Emoji
Reading Guide
Stop Animations
Reading Mask
Highlight Hover
Highlight Focus
Big Dark Cursor
Big Light Cursor
Cognitive Reading
Virtual Keyboard
Navigation Keys
Voice Navigation
Accessibility Statement
www.roadracingworld.com
November 13, 2026
Compliance status
We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience,
regardless of circumstance and ability.
To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level.
These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible
to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific
disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.
Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML,
adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.
If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email
Screen-reader and keyboard navigation
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with
screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive
a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements,
alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website.
In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels;
descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups),
and others. Additionally, the background process scans all the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag
for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology.
To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on
as soon as they enter the website.
These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside it.
Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Disability profiles supported in our website
Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments
Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over seven different coloring options.
Animations – person with epilepsy can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.
Browser and assistive technology compatibility
We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers).
Notes, comments, and feedback
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs. There may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to
