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AMA Racing On TV This Week

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AMA Racing On TV This Week

July 12-July 19, 2007 (All times Eastern) AMA Hillclimb Championship, Avoca-Howard Hillclimb, Avoca (Castle Creek), New York Thursday, July 12, 9 pm (MavTV) AMA Hillclimb Championship, Avoca-Howard Hillclimb, Avoca (Castle Creek), New York Friday, July 13, 2 am (MavTV) AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship, Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Illinois (GNC Twins Mile) Friday, July 13, 8 pm (MavTV) AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship, Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Illinois (GNC Twins Mile) Saturday, July 14, 2 am (MavTV) AMA Hillclimb Championship, Avoca-Howard Hillclimb, Avoca (Castle Creek), New York Thursday, July 14, 11 pm (MavTV) AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship, Volunteer Speedway, Bulls Gap, Tennessee – (GNC Twins Half-mile) Sunday, July 15, 12 pm (MavTV) AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship, Volunteer Speedway, Bulls Gap, Tennessee – (GNC Twins Half-mile) Sunday, July 15, 5 pm (MavTV) AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship, Volunteer Speedway, Bulls Gap, Tennessee – (GNC Twins Half-mile) Tuesday, July 17, 9 pm (MavTV) AMA Toyota Motocross Championship presented by FMF, Red Bud Track N Trail, Buchanan, Michigan AMA Motocross – Thursday, July 12, 3 am (SPEED) Check local listings Subject to Change www.mavtv.com; www.speedtv.com

Updated Post: The Final Round Of Press Releases Regarding Last Weekend’s Various Races

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Updated Post: The Final Round Of Press Releases Regarding Last Weekend’s Various Races

WERA Cycle Jam Draws Large Turnout, Surprise Winners

BRASELTON, Ga. The annual WERA Cycle Jam at Road Atlanta had all of the expected elements: large grids, close competition and fast lap times. Last weekend’s racing also included some surprise winners, as new faces appeared at the top of the podium.

Cycle Jam featured WERA’s Michelin National Endurance Series, Bridgestone National Challenge Series and most regions in the Pirelli Sportsman Series. During the busy three days of racing, there were 1082 sprint entries and 39 endurance teams.

It was the endurance racing that got things underway on Friday. Ben Walters and Brett Champagne battled the heat and avoided numerous on-track incidents during the six-hour race to give Brand X the overall and Heavweight Superbike win on a Suzuki GSX-R1000. It is the first win for the team, who made their series debut just four rounds ago.

Vesrah Suzuki, who led early on and has won each round prior to Cycle Jam, had a rear shock failure on their Suzuki GSX-R1000. Nevertheless, Tray Batey, Lee Acree and John Jacobi rallied to finish second overall.

Suzuki Rider Development took the Mediumweight Superbike win on a Suzuki GSX-R600. Martin Cardenas, Chad Lewin and Morgan Broadhead also claimed third overall.

The Mediumweight Superstock win went to fourth-place finisher Dalke Motorsports. The team’s Yamaha YZF-R6 was piloted by Brian Dalke, Wrenn Smith, Giovanni Rojas, Skip Salenius and Ryan Clay.

Team Moe’s/TVR overcame an early crash to win Heavyweight Superstock on a Yamaha YZF-R1. Chuck Ivey, James Stroud and Joshua Day were seventh overall. Touring Sport Ducati earned their first Lightweight Superbike win, with Pete Friedland, Frank Shockley and Brad Phillips riding a Ducati SS1000DS.

Sunday’s National Challenge Series also had some new names on the leader board. In the expert ranks, AMA privateer Cory West won 600 Superstock, while Jeff Walker became only the second winner in Heavyweight Twins Superstock this year. Tommy Aquino won 600 Superbike, and Chad Hermann led the 750 Superbike field.

Dane Westby and Robert Jensen each earned two wins: Westby won Lightweight Twins Superstock and Formula 2, while Jensen earned the top spot in Open Superstock and Formula 1. Lee Acree added a 750 Superstock win to his multiple podiums during the weekend.

In the novice division, Chris Vanover took his first Open Superstock win of the year. Russell Wikle continued to impress, winning 600 and 750 Superstock, and 600 and 750 Superbike.

Josh Reed won both Lightweight Twins and Formula 2 novice, and the Heavyweight Twins victory went to John Brasfield.

The next round for the WERA Michelin National Endurance Series and Bridgestone National Challenge Series will be at Michigan’s Grattan Raceway from July 13-15.

Complete results for the WERA Cycle Jam at Road Atlanta and more can be found at www.WERA.com.

More, from a press release issued by GoBigRacing:

Millson/Glenn 3rd in ST Class at Road America 500K

HAMILTON ON, – July 11, 2007 Go BIG Racing team-mates Ross Millson and Paul Glenn found themselves in third in the ST class after a tumultuous conclusion to the SunTrust MOTO-ST Road America 500k, held this past weekend at Elkhart Lake, Wis.

Millson started Sunday’s three-hour, Road America 500k, from the 16th row on the grid and rode like a man on a mission until the first full course yellow flag came out on lap 19. Glenn took over the controls of the No. 79 Go BIG Racing Suzuki for the next stint and rode with intensity until the next yellow flag flew, where he brought the bike into the pits for fuel and to change riders.

Hamilton, Ontario native, Millson once again resumed his place on the Go BIG Racing Suzuki and began dropping laps times and pushed hard to catch the bike in second place.

In an attempt to clear some of the slower GST bikes, Millson lost the front-end of the No. 79 machine going off the back straight and crashed at speed. Millson determined that the bike didn’t appear to be damaged too badly. Although it was missing a right side footpeg, everything else seemed to be in working order. With the help of a corner worker Millson was able to get the bike out of the gravel trap and back on track.

Millson headed back the pits for repairs, however as he sat up to brake for the last corner before pit entrance, the brake lever snapped off in his hand, leaving him no choice but to run off track and dive away from the bike.

“I was headed for a wall without brakes, so I had to bail-off the right side of the bike “¦ everything happened kinda fast, but I knew I had to get off.” said Millson, about his off-track adventure. “Paul, Blaine, Mark, and myself had the bike fixed in less than five minutes. It was truly a team effort.” he added.

Keene, Ontario native, Glenn remounted and rode tenaciously for the remaining 30 minutes in an attempt to reclaim at least a few of the lost laps. By the end of the 65 lap, three-hour endurance race, Glenn would bring home the wounded No. 79 Go BIG Racing Suzuki SV650 fourth in class.

With the race over, the team began to close shop for the weekend, however a post-race technical disqualification of a team that had originally crossed the finish line ahead of them, moved Millson and Glenn up to third in the ST class.

Go BIG Racing now sits just six points out of first in the ST Class point’s race, well within striking distance of the first place No. 9, Pair-A-Nines team.

The legendary Mosport International Raceway, is the team’s next stop for Rounds 3 & 4 of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship – Doubleheader Weekend – July 12-15, 2007. This classic roadracing circuit is Paul Glenn’s favourite track and where he also currently holds the 2006 Suzuki SV650 Cup lap record. Millson has also had some outstanding races at this famous track, most notably last year’s AM600 battle with 2006 International Motorcycle SUPERSHOW Amateur 600 Sport Bike National Champion, Karl Daigle.

More, from a press release issued by Speed Tech Racing:

Speed Tech Racing put in a great weekend during the CCS/ASRA Event at Road America. Speed Tech Racing’s riders Jason Farrell, Brian Hall, & A.J. Krause rode exceptionally well in their races. Team mechanics did an excellent job keeping the bikes from overheating and making sure the setups were spot on.

Jason Farrell put in a few good rides and even finished his best ever during an ASRA event placing an overall 2nd in the ASRA Sportbike event. Riding on teammate Sven Bugge’s 07 ZX6R during the Sportbike race he road a consistent & smooth race which kept him in the top 5 positions. Robert Jensen & Cory West unfortunately crashed out in front of Jason which moved him up 2 positions. On the post race ceremonies Jason was 3rd but after dyno results he ended up 2nd after Scott Greenwood went over in HP during the post race dyno runs. “It was a lucky finish for me for sure but I’ll take it. I’ve had my share of bad luck around this place plus this weekend I didn’t even think I would be racing. We had a few problems with the bike so I stayed back on Friday at the shop with Jake one of my mechanics and put my bike back together. I kept saying to myself during the race to just hang in there cause you never know what might happen up their. I guess a little Irish luck went my way this time!”

Jason also put in two fourth place finishes during the MWSS & MWSB races starting from the 8th row. Jason said, “I got some killer holeshots like I usually do, but these starts were awesome. I mean I hit the reaction time on the head and ended up 4th by turn 5 both races. These Kawasaki ZX6R’s just pull off the line like a rocket! Unfortunately I didn’t have anything for Jeff Wood or Cory West. Robert Jensen put a gutsy pass on me in Turn 7 and put me about off the track in the weeds. I held on and kept him in my sights but couldn’t catch back up.”

Jason also finished the ASRA Superbike race in 5th behind his teammate Brian Hall. “I had another great start and was able to pass for the lead in turn 5. I eventually got passed by Wood, West & Jensen & I had a lonely race going on by myself and I thought I had 4th place in the bag when I turn around going into the last lap I saw Brian on my tail! I tried every move I had but couldn’t shake him. It was a drag race to the line up the front straight and Brian got me by half a bike length. Hats off to him for riding hard. It made for a great last lap!”

Brian Hall had another great weekend this season by placing 1st 4 times and several top 5 finishes during the CCS races. Brian also ran the ASRA Superbike race where he finished 4th beating out his teammate Jason to the line. “I’m really getting the hang of 07 ZX6R’s this season. The bike is working great & my shoulder is feeling much better since my crash here during the AMA supersport race in June. Were still working on keeping the bikes running cooler but we were just able to finish out the weekend with the temps right on borderline hot. I’d like to thank my father & brother for keeping my bike in good shape & always ready to race. I look forward to the rest of the season. The first half of the season has been great & I look forward to the last half for sure. I like to thank Speed Tech for keeping these bikes working great all season!

A.J. Krause also ran some exceptional races this weekend at Road America on his 06 ZX6R. A.J. is a Speed Tech supported rider and has been coming through the ranks as an amateur CCS racer. A.J is a Wisconsin native out of Berlin, WI who now resides in New York, and flys out to race the Midwest CCS series this season. He won his first races last race weekend at Blackhawk Farms Raceway. He has continued the streak here at Road America with 6 first place finishes and several more top 5 finishes! A.J came into Road America not really sure about how his results might be having only raced here once before last season. “With the extra track time through NESBA prior to the races I was able to learn the track better and bring my times down which gave much more confidence in my riding” said A.J. “My team coach Jason was able to ride with me in a few sessions and showed me some lines and critique my riding. My bike was working really well and I was able to put my head down and go pretty quick. I got some great starts starting from the back and made my way to the front pretty quick. I want to thank my dad for helping me out all weekend and helping me finish well. I can’t wait for the rest of the season.”

Hopefully the team can carry on this success the rest of the season. Speed Tech will be contesting in the CCS Midwest Regional races along with several ASRA races the rest of this season. Brian Hall who has the #1 plate in CCS Midwest region is currently leading in points this season.

Team manager Scott Markel says, This weekend was a huge success for us a whole and were only getting better each race we go to. Our pits are organized and we have a great system going to keep these bikes going strong. Hats off to the whole team this weekend. Running the NESBA track time prior to the race rounds really helps us get our set up closer before the races. Hats off to Garth Cloyd for putting on a great organization in the Midwest series.

Jason Farrell is owner/racer of Speed Tech Racing of which is a division of Speed Tech Motorsports in Oshkosh, WI. Speed Tech is a high performance motorcycle shop of which tunes & repairs race & street bikes.

Southern 100 Plagued With Problems

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Southern 100 Plagued With Problems

The Klaffi Alpha Boilers team have had a difficult start to their Southern 100 challenge with bad weather and race stoppages hampering their progress. “That’s racing!” is the perfect comment for how the Southern 100 has started out. First practice took place on the evening of Monday 9th July but heavy rain fell before the session started so Klaus Klaffenböck and his sidecar passenger Christian Parzer decided to stay in the paddock, as did many other sidecar teams. The weather improved and the roads did dry out but there were still a lot of large puddles around the track. This didn’t stop the team’s solo rider Martin Finnegan taking to the track. The Dublin based rider did 8 laps and was 2nd fastest behind Guy Martin. Practice continued on Tuesday 10th July with Klaffi and Parzer getting some laps under their belts and qualifying easily. Their main aim was to get plenty of miles in so they could improve their track knowledge. The first solo race was straight after the sidecar practice. Finnegan took to the pure road circuit for the 9 lap race but it only ran for three. The race was red flagged when a competitor crashed and his burning bike blocked the course. The rider sustained legs injuries during the incident. When the red flag came out Finnegan had been running in fourth position. “That’s racing!” he quipped. Once the incident was cleared it was too dark to continue racing. The team still have three races ahead with the sidecars taking to the track on Wednesday 11th July and again on Thursday 12th July with the Superbikes also racing on Thursday.

Boz Bros To Hold Custom Bike Show At Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix At Laguna Seca

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Boz Bros To Hold Custom Bike Show At Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix At Laguna Seca

Boz Bros Custom Bike Show at Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix Yamaha Marketplace Cypress, CA.- Yamaha and Ben and Eric Bostrom are pleased to announce the Boz Bros Custom Bike Show to the ever expanding list of activities for this year’s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on July 20-22nd. Presented by the Boz Bros, 2 Wheel Tuner Magazine and Yamaha, the show will include Pro built bikes by many of the country’s premier Sport Bike builders. The show will also include the top 10 winners of the 2007 Yamaha Virtual SuperSport Bike Show contest, who received full 3-day Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix race passes as part of their award. “Ben and I are super stoked to be involved in this cool show” said Eric Bostrom “and a bonus is that the contest winner will be selected by the public who sign up to judge”. For full details and a chance to judge please visit the Boz Bros/2 Wheel Tuner Bike Show display in the Yamaha Marketplace. For a complete list of the many activities planned at various times on Friday through Sunday please see ~http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/mcy/USGP_2007.aspx~

More From This Past Weekend’s Various Races

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More From This Past Weekend’s Various Races

Motosix dominates at Motorsports Park Hastings as Aaron Clark Claims New Class Track Record!

MotoSix riders Aaron Clark and Dave Gallant beat the thick Nebraska heat to win and place on the podium at Motorsports Park Hastings with the MRA this past weekend.

Afternoon temperatures soared to over 100 degrees for the the MRA”s 5th round of the 2007 racing season, and both rider and machinery suffered in the intense heat. Both MotoSix riders placed on the podium in Saturday”s endurance races and were primed for Sunday racing action hoping to take home a large share of the manufacturer contingency on the table.

After claiming a new class track record laptime in Open Supersport, mechanical gremlins stuck Aaron Clark in the Sunday Open Superbike race. With Aaron”s backup bike out of commission, everyone scrambled to diagnose the root cause of the problem to help “Clarkie” retain the Race of the Rockies points lead. At the start of the MRA”s premiere race, Aaron made it evident the problem was successfully fixed as he jumped out to a sizable lead right from the start. Although challenged on the final laps, Clarkie was able to lead flag to flag and win the Race of the Rockies at Motorsports Park Hastings.

“These conditions were brutal but my Pirelli tires were well up for the challenge! We put on a slightly harder compound tire for this afternoon”s race, and even on the last lap I was amazed how much grip I had and how hard I could accelerate off the corners. I couldn”t be happier standing on top of the podium today and I am riding my hardest to extend my points lead and earn that elusive number 1 plate in this region” commented an exhausted Aaron Clark.

After putting in a strong 2nd place finish in Heavyweight Endurance on Saturday, Dave Gallant felt confident going into Sunday”s Heavyweight Supersport race. However, anytime top Pirelli rider Chad Lewin is in attendance, everyone knows it is going to be difficult keeping him from working his way to the front. Right from the start it was clear it was going to be a 3-way battle with Dave Gallant and Mike Applegate jumping out to an early lead on their Suzuki GSXR 750s. By lap two, Chad Lewin had latched on to the lead pair, and by lap four he had managed to slip by to take the lead. At the checkered flag, the lead pack had gapped the rest of the field with Dave Gallant in a strong third place position.

“I was hoping for more this weekend, but considering the heat and the depth of this field I am pleased with the finish. Most people had a difficult time with their brakes this weekend, but between the SBS dual carbon pads and the Braking rotors I could not have been happier. We just have to find a little bit more in our tire setup, and if we can do that I believe we will be able to take home some more wins. Hats off to Chad Lewin for this race however; he rode very hard and very well and deserves the win today” commented Dave Gallant of MotoSix Motorsports.

MotoSix rider’s Aaron Clark and David Gallant will compete next with the USBA at Miller Motorsports Park on July 28th and 29th.

More, from a press release issued by Michael Aron:

Date: July 8th 2007 Track: Thunderhill Raceway Class: Formula III (125 GP)

At the 4th race of the AFM series, #80 Michael Aron maintained his lead in the Formula III championship.

Starting in the pole position aboard the Mojotown.com Honda RS125, Michael shot off the line and opened up a 6-8 bike length lead by turn five. For the first three laps it looked like he had his first victory on the 125 sewn up, but #658 Jeremiah Carlson capitalized on a misread pit signal to eventually catch Michael on the front straight. By the time Jeremiah caught Michael, the two riders had opened up a lead over the pack that spanned the entire start-finish straight-away. Michael tried to regain the lead on the final lap but a lapped rider eclipsed his hopes of catching Carlson.

Pending the official posting from AFM, the 2nd place finish helped secure Michael’s number one position in the Formula III points chase to a 30+ points lead with 4 more events in the series.

More, from a press release issued by USGPRU:

Iso and Pyles Victorious at Road America

USGPRU East Round 4

The USGPRU joined the ASRA and Moto-ST roadrace series this weekend at the sun-drenched Road America racetrack in Elkhart Lake, WI. So far this season, the Rising Sun Cycles 125GP class has been dominated by 13-year-old PJ Jacobsen. The 250GP class has been a bit closer as Canadian Eddy Brunet played catch-up on the West Coast dominating Ryan Ferris.

In the Rising Sun Cycles 125GP qualifying, Nobi Iso set the fast time early in the session aboard his blistering fast Aprilia RS125. But PJ was able to pull out a late-session fast lap to claim the pole position.

Prior to the 250GP qualifying, Chris Pyles spent several sessions following his old teammate, Mike Himmelsbach around the racetrack. Apparently, this was time well spent, as Chris was able to set the fastest time and claim the pole position. Des Conboy rode his Celtic Racing Honda to a solid second place position. He was followed by Eddy Brunet, who had crashed early in the 250GP qualifying, but remounted and rode his battered machine for a few more hard laps before his motor expired.

For the Sunday race, Nobi Iso was determined to use the superior horsepower of his Aprilia to finally overpower the young superstar PJ’s Honda. Iso nailed the start and led the pack of 26 riders into turn one, but PJ was right on his rear wheel. Miles Thornton, Scott Smallwood, and Cassidy Heiser tried to keep pace, but quickly realized that there was no chance they were going to keep up with the madmen at the front. Iso seemed to be opening a bit of a gap on PJ for the first few laps, but once PJ found a rhythm, he reeled in Iso and made a pass for the lead. It was beginning to look like every other race these two have had all season. The back and forth battle ensued as neither was willing to let the other slip away. Iso led on the final lap and PJ was nipping away at every turn. Going into the ultra-high-speed carousel turn, PJ made a breath-taking pass underneath Iso to take the lead down the back straight. Iso tucked in tight and followed PJ up through the final turn. While PJ ran the defensive line, Iso positioned for the drive up the hill, and was able to motor by PJ to win the race by half a bike-length. Iso won his first national event of the season, and issued PJ his first loss of the year.

The battle for third came down to the last lap as Smallwood did battle with the pair of 13-year-olds, Miles Thornton and Cassidy Heiser. Smallwood trailed Thornton at the start of the last lap, and the pair seemed to be shaking Heiser finally. At the end of the back straight, Miles crashed out of the final podium slot and Smallwood went on take third place, followed closely by Heiser.

The 250GP race was a blow-out as Chris Pyles decimated the field of 27 bikes in a flag-to-flag victory. Pyles was clearly the class of the field as he had a margin of victory of more than 9-seconds over second place. The battle for second place though was not an easy one by any stretch. A four-way battle between Eddy Brunet, Mark ‘Big Man’ Kelly, Brent Lyskawa, and Des Conboy was keeping everyone on the edge of their seats as they would go three-wide down the front straight. On lap three, Des Conboy lost his front brakes at the end of the super-fast back straight. He crashed into turn 12, destroying any chance of earning points this weekend. Luckily, he was able to walk away from the high-speed crash. Brunet, Kelly, and Lyskawa continued to do battle right up until the final lap. Brunet was able to nurse his wounded Honda RS250 across the line barely ahead of the big Irishman, Mark Kelly.

Race results:

Rising Sun Cycles 125GP

1. Nobi Iso Aprilia RS125 2. Patrick Jacobsen Honda RS125 3. Scott Smallwood Honda RS125 4. Cassidy Heiser Honda RS125 5. Boyd Bruner Honda RS125 6. Tom Swager Honda RS125 7. Alex Lyskawa Honda RS125 8. Crystal Campagna Honda RS125 9. Merle Eschman Honda RS125 10. Mike Aboyoun Honda RS125 11. Allen Campbell Honda RS125 12. Robert Rawlins Honda RS125 13. Marc Whitney Honda RS125 14. Bruce Lind Yamaha TZ125 15. Mark White Honda RS125 16. Marcus Matthews Honda RS125 17. Brian McLaughlin Yamaha TZ125 18. Shannon Anderson Honda RS125 19. Robert Taylor Honda RS125 20. Robert Czerniak Honda RS125 21. Miles Thornton Honda RS125 22. Don Murfin Honda RS125 23. Billy Veatch Honda RS125 24. Brent Lyskawa Honda RS125

250GP

1. Chris Pyles Yamaha TZ250 2. Eddy Brunet Honda RS250 3. Mark Kelly Honda RS250 4. Brent Lyskawa Honda RS250 5. Geoffrey Maloney Yamaha TZ250 6. Daniele Lenarduzzi Yamaha TZ250 7. Mike Aboyoun Yamaha TZ250 8. Mark Stiles Yamaha TZ250 9. Patrick Dowd Yamaha TZ250 10. Bruce Lind Yamaha TZ250 11. Allen Campbell Honda RS250 12. Zachry Lee Honda RS250 13. Jim Bergey Honda RS250 14. Kory Gill Yamaha TZ250 15. Jeff Japs Yamaha TZ250 16. Andrew Edwards Yamaha TZ250 17. Brian Kwak Yamaha TZ250 18. Mike Wright Honda RS250 19. Michael Rajotte Yamaha TZ250 20. Chris Manfrin Yamaha TZ250 21. Aaron Stein Yamaha TZ250 22. Tom Swager Yamaha TZ250 23. Des Conboy Honda RS250

More, from a press release issued by Mike Solis on behalf of the AFM:

AFM Round 4 at Thunderhill

In the MDK Motorsports Formula Pacific race at Thunderhill Raceway, it was defending AFM number one James Randolph who took the win, coming out on top of a fierce, three-rider, flag-to-flag battle for the lead. With a fresh, bullet-fast motor in his Tigershark Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000, Randolph was able to draft and pass former AFM number one Dave Stanton to take the lead. But on the penultimate lap, Stanton made his move, putting his Mach 1 Motorsports Yamaha R1 up the inside of Randolph’s Suzuki into Turn 5, momentarily taking the lead before running wide on the exit.

Stanton’s bobble allowed Randolph to retake the lead and moved Pacific Tracktime’s Michael Earnest into second, as Stanton cautiously brought his Dunlop-shod R1 back onto the track surface. On the last lap, Earnest made his own attempt to take the lead in Turn 3 on his Dunlop-shod, Kyle Racing prepared GSX-R1000, pulling beside the defending champion about halfway through the corner. It wasn’t enough for Earnest, as Randolph held his line before going on to take the win. Earnest crossed the line in second, with Stanton third.

“Those guys made me work for it!” said Randolph from the winners circle. My motor was strong, and I have to thank Joe Proctor of Santa Rosa Superbikes for that. And those Pirelli tires sure stayed hooked up, didn’t they? I have to thank everyone who helped me out in this heat – the bike did the rest!”

Randolph’s Formula Pacific win was just one of three victories on the weekend for the Santa Rosa resident. Randolph started his day with a victory in the Take it 2 the Track Open Production race,with Stanton crossing the line in second and Ken Hill third. Later in the day, Randolph also took the win in the Fremont Honda Kawasaki Open Superbike race, with Martin Szwarc finishing second and James King third.

Chris Siglin also wrapped up his day with multiple victories, taking home a pair of runaway wins on his Arclight Suzuki GSX-R600. In the Suzuki of Oakland 750 Production race, Siglin took his first win of the day, with the GSX-R750 of second place finisher Scott Wilson well behind in second place. Siglin’s second win came in the Keigwins@theTrack 600 Production race, where he crossed the line well ahead of the R6 of second place finisher Richard Corey, who won the Pacific Track Time 600 Superbike race earlier in the day.

After spending over a season on out-of-date Suzukis, first year expert Ryan Gorman took his first AFM victory at Thunderhill, taking the win in the Scuderia West Formula 1 race his first weekend on a 2006 GSX-R750. Gorman managed to beat a number of experienced riders with national experience to the line, with Garry Combs finishing second on his Matsushima Peformance GSX-R750, and David Bell third on a Sportbike Dynamics GSX-R750.

“This was my first weekend on the new bike, and I just knew it was going to go well,” said Gorman. “Those guys were strong, but I was able to get my passing done in 2 and 3 – those new Dunlop N Tech tires really made it happen! This is only my second year of riding, but thanks to Michael Earnest of Pacific Tracktime, I learned quick!”

After several winning seasons on 600s, Andy Carman managed to win his first race on his GSX-R1000 at Thunderhill, taking the victory in the GP Frame and Wheel Open Grand Prix race over the GSX-Rs of second place finisher Martin Szwarc and third place finisher Michael Thompson. “Martin got the holeshot, and I just kind of followed him for a while and then stuffed him into 5,” said Carman. “After that, I just kept my head down, slicing and dicing my way through traffic. Jim Lindemann helped me set my bike up this weekend, and it’s much better now than it was. In fact, I’d say it was perfect. It used to tell me to back off, and I just tried to ride through it – I just thought it was me, ya know? I also have to thank my mechanic, Miss Riess she has really been helping me out!”

In the Formula 3 race, Mojotown.com’s Michael Aron was hoping to take his first AFM victory on a 125, returning to lightweight two-strokes after a season on an open-class Ducati. Aron opened up a huge lead early in the race, mistakenly eased up after misreading pit signals, allowing novice racer Jeremiah Carlson to swing past into the lead. Carlson went on to take his first ever AFM win, with Aron crossing the line in second, maintaining his class points lead.

“I remember coming off the line in around 5th spot, and making my way past a few guys to find that Michael Aron had a really big lead,” said Carlson. “I just put my head down, closed the gap, and was able to eventually outdrive him out of 15 to take the lead. It feels really good to finally win!”

One of the most intense battles of the day took place in the RaceOil.com Formula 4 event. Prior to the event, Jeff Hagan had been dominating the class, with a perfect season consisting of runaway victories in every round. But at Thunderhill, Hagan had his hands full with the SV650s of David Civiello and Zoom Zoom Trackdays instructor Dan Sewell, as well as the fast VFR400 of Keigwins@theTrack instructor Michael Lohmeyer. Hagan, Civiello, and Lohmeyer exchanged positions throughout the race, as Sewell gradually dropped off the pace. With Hagan leading late in the race, Civiello made one last move on Hagan, outdriving him out of Turn 8 to take the lead into Turn 9. Civiello held to take the win, the first of his racing career despite being a class front runner for years. Hagan crossed the line in second, with Lohmeyer third.

“That race was very complicated,” said Civiello. “Once I knew I could run with Hagan, I just wanted to stay with him. But then Lohmeyer joined in, and I was like ‘Damn, we don’t need any more guys at this party!” On the last lap, I just went through 8 as hard as I could, and took him into 9. I don’t want to get cocky about all of this, but man – it feels good to have ended Jeff Hagan’s reign of terror in Formula 4!”

With points leader Tom Montano absent from the grid, the Desmoto Sport Open Twins race became a contest between two riders – Craig McLean and Trackside Moto’s Pat Blackburn. McLean grabbed the holeshot, but his lead didn’t last long, as Blackburn managed to slip by in Turn 9 after McLean missed a shift. From there, Blackburn went on to take his first ever AFM win, with Matt Green taking second, and McLean third.

“We were a little tight on the start, and McLean just stuffed his fat butt in there to take the lead,” said Blackburn. “I got him coming out of 9, and thought he was on me for the next few laps, but my guys gave me the signal and we just cruised on in. Terry got me a good set of Dunlops for the race, and Cory Call of Pacific Tracktime has been showing me how to get around here fast – without him and Michael Earnest, I wouldn’t be out here!”

Despite running off track in Turn 3 in the first lap, WMRRA racer Cedric Smith was able to run away with the win in Formula Singles, storming away from his supermoto-equipped competition on his immaculately prepared Everett Powersports racebike – a 180 lb, 65 horsepower machine that uses an RS125 chassis and a CRF450 motor. Andre Benguerel took second on his 450cc Husqvarna, with Joy Higa third on her KTM580.

“That move in Turn 3 was a total brainfart,” said Smith. “Just a lack of track knowledge. This track takes a lot of laps to figure out, and this is my first weekend out here!”

In the 250 Production race, Sue Urquhart was able to take her first AFM victory on her Dunlop-shod Ninja 250, passing Charles Leca out of the last turn on the last lap to take the win. Leca finished second, with Warrant Metlitzky third.

“I got stuck behind a lapper at one point, but that just made me get my game on!” said Urquhart. “I was sorry to see Adam pull off with a mechanical – he had been riding really well this season. I’ve had a lot of problems with my motors the past few weeks, and Kelly Winkelbauer has been working hours and hours to get things sorted for me. There’s no way I could do this without him!”

The next round of AFM action takes place August 19th at Infineon Raceway.

AFM Round 4 July 8-9, 2007 Infineon Raceway Unofficial Results

MDK Motorsports Formula Pacific 1. James Randolph (Suz 1000) 2. Michael Earnest (Suz 1000) 3. David Stanton (Yam 1000) 4. Ken Hill (Suz 1000) 5. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 6. David Bell (Suz 1000)

Fremont Honda Kawasaki Open Superbike 1. James Randolph (Suz 1000) 2. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 3. James King (Suz 1000) 4. Shawnery Hardin (Suz 1000) 5. Harley Barnes (Suz 1000) 6. Scott Schwanbeck (Suz 1000)

R Tech Fuels 750 Superbike 1. Scott Wilson (Suz 750) 2. Garry Combs (Suz 750) 3. Ryan Gorman (Suz 750) 4. Peter O’Sullivan (Suz 750) 5. Kim Nakashima (Suz 600) 6. Craig Ayers (Suz 750)

Pacific Track Time 600 Superbike 1. Richard Corey (Yam 600) 2. William Scott (Yam 600) 3. Spencer Stuart (Yam 600) 4. Zenzo Tazawa (Suz 600) 5. Brant Wiwi (Yam 600) 6. Matt Eccleston (Yam 600)

Alpine RV 450 Superbike 1. Mike Lohmeyer (Hon 400) 2. Mark Elrod (Hon 400) 3. Richard Moore (Yam 442) 4. Bob Simmons (Hon 400) 5. Phil Douglas (Hon 400) 6. Jonathan Forman (Suz 500)

250 Superbike 1. Andrew Duafala (Yam 250) 2. Joe Rust (Yam 250) 3. Johnny Radavero (Yam 250) 4. Sean Pagel (Apr 250)

Take it 2 the Track Open Production 1. James Randolph (Suz 1000) 2. David Stanton (Suz 1000) 3. Ken Hill (Suz 1000) 4. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 5. James King (Suz 1000) 6. Mike Thompson (Suz 1000)

Suzuki of Oakland 750 Production 1. Chris Siglin (Suz 600) 2. Scott Wilson (Suz 750) 3. Garry Combs (Suz 750) 4. Craig Ayers (Suz 750) 5. Kim Nakashima (Suz 600) 6. Spencer Stuart (Yam 600)

Keigwins@theTrack 600 Production 1. Chris Siglin (Suz 600) 2. Richard Corey (Yam 600) 3. William Scott (Yam 600) 4. Brant Wiwi (Yam 600) 5. Zenzo Tazawa (Suz 600) 6. Jeff Gagne (Yam 600) 

450 Production 1. Mark Elrod (Hon 400) 2. Dave Wallis (Hon 400) 3. Joe Carpenter (Hon 400) 4. Andrew Silva (Hon 400)

250 Production 1. Susan Urquhart (Kaw 250) 2. Charles Leca (Kaw 250) 3. Warren Metlitzky (Kaw 250) 4. Thomas Dorsey (Suz 400) 5. Adam Klinger (Kaw 250) 6. Russell Munn (Suz 400)

GP Frame and Wheel Open Grand Prix 1. Andy Carman (Suz 1000) 2. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 3. Mike Thompson (Suz 1000) 4. Christopher Weiss (Suz 1000) 5. Scott Schwanbeck (Suz 1000) 6. Shawnery Hardin (Suz 1000) 

Scuderia West Formula 1 1. Ryan Gorman (Suz 750) 2. Garry Combs (Suz 750) 3. David Bell (Suz 750) 4. Scott Wilson (Suz 750) 5. Peter O’Sullivan (Suz 750) 6. Craig Wierman (Suz 750)

Mazda Technologies Formula 2 1. Jeffry Hanford (Hon 250) 2. Shawn Herrera (Yam 250) 3. Dan Cook (Yam 250) 4. Brian Hoffman (Hon 250) 5. Dante D’Ambruoso (Yam 250) 6. Kelly Winkelbauer (Yam 250)

Formula 3 1. Jeremiah Carlson (Hon 125) 2. Michael Aron (Hon 125) 3. Dave Heinricks (Hon 125) 4. Steve Magri (Hon 125) 5. James Eckerman (Hon 125) 6. Elaine Ou (Hon 125)

Race-Oil.com / AMSOIL Formula 4 1. David Civiello (Suz 650) 2. Jeff Hagan (Suz 650) 3. Michael Lohmeyer (Hon 400) 4. Dan Sewell (Suz 650) 5. William Fox (Suz 650) 6. Oliver Rowen (Suz 650)

Desmoto Sport Open Twins 1. Patrick Blackburn (Duc 1098) 2. Matthew Green (Duc 999) 3. Craig McLean (Duc 1098) 4. Mario Gonzales Jr (Duc 1098) 5. Phil Douglas (Apr 1000) 6. Martin Ayala (Duc 000)

Foremost Insurance 650 Twins 1. Jeff Hagan (Suz 650) 2. David Civiello (Suz 650) 3. Dan Sewell (Suz 650) 4. William Fox (Suz 650) 5. Christian Sommer (Suz 650) 6. Jeff Frost (Suz 650)

500 Twins 1. Jonathan Forman (Suz 500) 2. Leonard Barker (Kaw 500) 3. Eric Karl Schiller (Kaw 500) 4. Michael Emmons (Kaw 500) 5. Warren Metlitzky (Kaw 250) 6. Norman Smith (Kaw 250)

Formula Singles 1. Cedric Smith (Hon 450) 2. Andre Benguerel (Hus 450) 3. Joy Higa (KTM 580) 4. Thomas Dorsey (Suz 400) 5. Russell Munn (Suz 400) 6. Clay Hassinger (ATK 598)

Teresa McKinney Realtor Formula 40 1. Mike Thompson (Suz 1000) 2. Bud Anderson (Suz 1000) 3. Jeff Hagan (Tri 675) 4. Spencer Stuart (Yam 600) 5. Rick McDaniel (Suz 1000) 6. Jeff Smith (Suz 1000)

Super Dinosaur 1. Paul Kieffer (Kaw 750) 2. Noe Pulido (Yam 400) 3. Timothy Silva (Suz 750) 4. Michael Emmons (Kaw 500)

Clubman Heavyweight 1. Carl Thompson (Suz 100) 2. Steven Daughetee (Suz 988) 3. Nick Hayman (Duc 749) 4. Rafal Chojnacki (Yam 600) 5. Keith Tashiro (Suz 1000) 6. Jose Flores (Yam 1000)

Clubman Middleweight 1. Jesse Carter (Suz 750) 2. Kris Weide (Hon 600) 3. Sergio Sanchez-Chopitea (Yam 600) 4. Jason Stanislawczyk (Kaw 636) 5. David Foster (Suz 600) 6. Oscar Fernandez (Yam 600)

Clubman Lightweight 1. Christian Sommer (Suz 650) 2. Allen Erkman (Suz 650) 3. Carlo Maravilla (Suz 650) 4. Ben Swiggett (Suz 650) 5. Ari Henning (Suz 650) 6. Justin Tortosa (Suz 650)

New FIM/UEW Appointee To Defend Interests Of Motorcycling In Europe

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New FIM/UEW Appointee To Defend Interests Of Motorcycling In Europe

FIM/UEM new appointment in Brussels

Permanent representative will defend the interests of motorcycling

Former Vice-President of the Commission for Mobility, Transport, Road Safety and Public Affairs (CMT), John Chatterton-Ross, has been appointed jointly by the FIM and UEM (European Motorcycle Union) as Director of Public Affairs in Brussels. He will start his work immediately on all the Brussels portfolios on behalf of the FIM and the UEM. These include, among various subjects, ongoing discussions on the new Driving License Directive, studies on Daytime Running Lights, the new Machinery Directive and exemptions for competition motorcycles, environmental issues.

Mr Chatterton-Ross, 54, brings to this work a strong commitment to road safety from his former career in the United Kingdom Police service. He has been involved with the FIM since 1989 and with the UEM since its foundation. His presence and his actions will bring more strength to the FIM and UEM work in the defence of the interests of motorcycling (sport and motorcycling in general) against unfavorable policies of the European Union and Commission.

No Bridgestone-shod Rider Has Made It Onto The MotoGP Podium At Sachsenring

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No Bridgestone-shod Rider Has Made It Onto The MotoGP Podium At Sachsenring

Bridgestone GP Briefing Round 10: Germany Tuesday 10 July 2007 The German Grand Prix will represent the start of the second half of this year’s 18-race MotoGP world championship with Bridgestone-shod Ducati Corse rider Casey Stoner leading the classification by 21 points over his nearest challenger, former multi world champion Valentino Rossi. Bridgestone Motorsport will enjoy something of a home grand prix this weekend as over half of its on-track team hail from Germany and the team’s European service hub is located in Speyer, near to Hockenheim. The tight and twisty track usually produces closely-contested race finishes with less than one second separating the race winner and runner-up at each of the five previous MotoGP rounds held there, including three occasions where the top two have been split by less than 0.4s at the chequered flag. No Bridgestone-shod rider has yet to finish a German MotoGP event on the podium but increased performance from its range of tyres in the first half of the season has resulted in an all-round increase in competitiveness among the tyre manufacturers this season which Bridgestone hopes will continue this weekend. Ducati’s Loris Capirossi was the highest-placed rider on Bridgestone tyres in last season’s German GP in fifth place, leading a quartet of Bridgestone-equipped riders across the line at the end of the thirty lap race. Tyre Talk with Hiroshi Yamada Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager, Motorcycle Sport Department What technical characteristics must tyre manufacturers consider for the Sachsenring? “Sachsenring is one of the slowest tracks on the calendar and also one of the shortest laps we experience during the season at just 3.671km. The circuit is run in an anti-clockwise direction and we must deal with an asymmetrical composition of corners with ten left and four right-hand turns. From a tyre perspective, this means we must ensure good warm-up on the right-hand side of the tyre, particularly considering the middle section when riders must spent around a third of the lap constantly using the left-hand side of the tyre.” What compounds will Bridgestone riders have at their disposal? “Taking into consideration the amount of pressure that the left -hand side of the tyre is under, we will be bringing medium and hard compound rears for our teams both 16” and 16.5”. The asphalt at Sachsenring has been recently resurfaced which will inevitably require some adaptation from teams and tyre manufacturers, but I hope that we will not experience any unpleasant surprises when we start practice on Friday morning.” Does tyre durability remain an issue for Bridgestone? “I think we can be quite satisfied with the improvements made with tyre durability during the course of this season. In my opinion, this is one of our most important steps, but it is also an area where we must always keep focus. We are actively working on improving all round grip levels as we look to raise our competitiveness yet further with the championship heading into the second half of the season. The German event is like a home grand prix for some of our staff, so I hope we can celebrate a good result this weekend as a fitting reward for all their hard work so far this year.” Riding Perspective with Pramac d’Antin’s Alex Hofmann “The German GP is a very special weekend for me and it is always a pleasure to ride in front of the passionate German fans. They flock to the track in their thousands and always seem to enjoy a party atmosphere. The race is the highlight of the year for me personally and especially this year, I feel we can head to the race in an optimistic frame of mind. The previous race in Assen was one of the best race weekends I have had and I got a good feeling with the Ducati bike and Bridgestone tyres in wet and dry conditions, we just need to keep doing a good job and the results will keep coming. I have been pleased with my return to Bridgestone tyres this season and the technical advances they have made since I last raced with Bridgestone tyres are incredible. I hope the Sachsenring event will give us the opportunity once again to show what our entire package is capable of.” 2006 Flashback Race Winner Valentino Rossi Yamaha 41m59.248s Top Rider on Bridgestone (5th) Loris Capirossi Ducati 42m08.012s (+8.764s) Qualifying Pole Position Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m21.815s Top Rider on Bridgestone (4th) Shinya Nakano Kawasaki 1m22.273s (+0.458s)

KTM Will Have New 125 Chassis At Sachsenring, No Mention Of American Bonsey In Race Preview

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KTM Will Have New 125 Chassis At Sachsenring, No Mention Of American Bonsey In Race Preview

Red Bull KTM riders Tomoyoshi Koyama and Randy Krummenacher have been testing a new chassis on their 125 FRR – and are now even more confident for the German Grand Prix on the meandering and challenging Sachsenring circuit this weekend. With one victory, one second and one third place for Tomoyoshi Koyama, and with Randy Krummenacher climbing the podium for the first time ever in Barcelona, Team Red Bull KTM 125 are now a force to be reckoned with in this year’s world championship. There is much more to come once the 24-year-old Japanese ace and the 17-year-old Swiss GP rookie have all the experience necessary finding the perfect set-up for their nimble 55-horsepower machines. So far, the team has been walking a fine line. On some occasions, like Koyama’s and Krummenacher’s double podium in Barcelona, the orange-coloured rockets ran perfectly from start to finish. But on other occasions, riders have struggled with chattering, a strange form of vibration that goes through the entire motorcycle and makes it impossible to open the throttle very early on the corner exits. Often it is the excessive rear wheel [grip] that introduces chattering into the chassis. But good rear wheel grip is essential in racing, and no team or rider would want to sacrifice it with a harder tyre compound to solve the problem. The only way is to work on other components of the bike. Changes in suspension and chassis may shift the frequency of the chatter and may even eliminate it on the race track. That is why Koyama and Krummenacher were onboard a new prototype chassis for two days of testing at Brno last week, aimed at evaluating whether this would improve handling and ride-ability. But the weather created problems at the circuit in the Czech Republic and recurring rain storms made it difficult for the teams present to enjoy any dry track time. On day one the riders did not start until 1400 hours and before they left the circuit on day two Koyama had been able to put in only ten flying laps with the new chassis. Krummenacher was even unluckier. He only managed to put in one fast lap on the new bike. Despite these problems, the results were encouraging and lap times came off easily without the riders pushing hard. Koyama clocked his best lap in 2:10.3 minutes, just 0.4 seconds behind the fastest rider on the track. And despite adverse weather, Krummenacher was not far behind, putting in a fastest lap of 2:11.7 minutes. The new chassis, with less rigidity on the swing arm, and alterations in stiffness and rigidity throughout, seemed to absorb vibrations much better than the previous model. It also made it easier to keep tight cornering lines, another problem the KTM 125 cc riders have experienced on occasions. KTM’s engineers are now using a special test bench in the KTM factory’s Racing Department at Mattighofen, Austria. With it they can measure and analyse chassis stiffness and chassis torsion when certain forces are introduced. This new method removes a lot of the development process trial and error and leads to quick and encouraging results. Red Bull KTM Technical Director confirmed however that results had not yet been conclusive. “Due to the bad weather, we don’t have any final confirmation about the qualities of our new prototype chassis. We also haven’t been able to accomplish our goal of finding out where and in exactly which situations the new chassis behaves better or differently when compared to the old one,” he said. “Therefore, Koyama and Krummenacher will both run two different bikes at the Sachsenring, with an old and a new chassis each, for back-to-back comparisons.” Meanwhile both riders are glowing with confidence for the upcoming German Grand Prix and both have good memories of the Sachsenring. Koyama took one world championship point there after having missed three previous rounds due to injury. And Krummenacher finished 16th just behind Koyama, in only the second Grand Prix of his young career. One year later, both of them are aiming much higher and daring to dream of a repeat of their success in Barcelona at the beginning of June. “I like the Sachsenring, and I have proved that I am fast there,” Randy Krummenacher says with a smile. “I hope to be able to go with the front runners again. If we can get the set-up right, some of my rivals will have to brace themselves!”

Dorna: MotoGP Threatens To Become A Two-horse Race

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Dorna: MotoGP Threatens To Become A Two-horse Race

MotoGP set for Sachsenring showdown Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland – Tuesday 10th June Race preview After a short one and a half week break, MotoGP action returns on July 15th when the World Championship arrives at the Sachsenring circuit in Germany. The Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland is set to be a thrilling encounter if previous races are anything to go by, with the first half of the 2007 season having provided nine races of edge-of-your-seat excitement. MotoGP World Championship leader Casey Stoner is entering uncharted territory in the premier class, having never raced at Sachsenring in the premier class. Last year he qualified eighth on the grid in Germany, but a crash in the Sunday warm up left him without medical clearance to take part in the race itself. The Australian was taken to hospital to check for concussion and bruising of the hands, and was thus unable to gain the experience of racing at the undulating circuit, which would have held him in good stead this year. It is a more mature Stoner who arrives in Germany this year; currently 21 points clear at the top of the MotoGP World Championship classification. The Ducati factory man has been on top form so far in 2007, with five wins and seven podiums from the opening nine races. A lowest finish of fifth shows that Stoner has outstanding consistency this year, something that he will look to continue at Sachsenring. Last year’s race winner Valentino Rossi managed to trim five points off Stoner’s lead with victory at Assen, and is well aware that he has to be at the top of his game to knock his Australian rival off his perch. Luckily for the five-time MotoGP World Champion, on his day he is virtually superhuman, as evidenced by his spellbinding fight through the field in the Netherlands. Rossi has been on the top step of the podium for the past two years in Germany, last year celebrating the win by donning a t-shirt of the Italian national football team. That win was made all the more remarkable by the fact that Rossi had qualified down in eleventh place, as he did at Assen, and had to hold off the challenge of three riders in the closest ever top four finish in the premier-class, with just 0.307 seconds covering Rossi, Marco Melandri, Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa. With a 44-point gap to Rossi and 66 to Stoner, Pedrosa appears to be losing touch as the title battle threatens to become a two horse race. The Repsol Honda rider has now gone the equivalent of an entire season without a win, continuing his longest winless streak since his maiden Grand Prix win in 2002. With both Honda and Michelin having made something of a breakthrough in the Netherlands, perhaps now the 2006 Rookie of the Year can improve on his fourth place from last year in Germany and repeat his 2004 and 2005 triumphs from the 250cc class. A regular top five finisher this year, John Hopkins currently lies fourth in the championship, ahead of Suzuki team-mate Chris Vermeulen. Just one point separates the latter and Honda satellite rider Melandri, who will be without his regular team-mate Toni Elias for the near future. Elias suffered a broken leg in practice for the Dutch showdown, and will be out of action until at least the race in the Czech Republic at the end of August. A different replacement for the Spaniard has been announced for the next two races, with Italy’s Michel Fabrizio getting the nod to ride for Gresini Honda at Sachsenring. The Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland takes place on Sunday July 15th, with practice beginning on the preceding Friday. Jorge Lorenzo bounced back from his Donington disappointment in style at race nine, taking a dominant victory from pole and re-establishing his lead at the top of the 250cc classification. The reigning quarter litre World Champion now holds a 23-point advantage over Andrea Dovizioso in the classification, having taken six wins already this season. Last year Lorenzo was on the podium in Germany, behind Yuki Takahashi and Alex de Angelis. The latter appears to be one of the only riders able to keep up with Lorenzo in a straight battle, despite having yet to taste victory in 2007. Second place at Assen and a run of results in which he has never finished lower than fourth have pushed the San Marino native up the classification, with his current points tally now equal to that of twice race winner Dovizioso. Alvaro Bautista, Hector Barbera and Julian Simon complete the top six in the category; the latter already trailing runaway leader Lorenzo by a massive 117 points. Hector Faubel leads the way in 125cc, which remains closely contested with only two riders holding more than a solitary victory this season. Faubel is joined in the elite group by Mattia Pasini, holder of six pole positions but just four race finishes. Pasini’s two triumphs have come at the previous two rounds, a sign that his luck is changing and that he still has a chance of rising higher than his current seventh place overall. Last year’s race was won by Pasini on the last corner from former team-mate Alvaro Bautista, and this year’s Grand Prix has the potential to be just as tight at the head of the field. British rider Bradley Smith, a doubt after a practice incident at Assen which left him with minor damage to his hand, foot and meniscus, has elected to return to the fray at Sachsenring after two weeks of recuperation. Circuit Info Car and bike races have been held on closed public roads in the area around the town of Chemnitz, Germany since the 1920s and were still taking place until as recently as 1990. It was decided, however, that the five mile course through such a densely populated area was no longer suitable and a new circuit was built five miles west of Chemnitz in 1996. Although mainly used as a driver training centre and road transport safety station, Sachsenring first hosted MotoGP in 1998 and many improvements have taken place since then, including a drastic layout enhancement in 2001. Numerous tight corners make it one of the slower tracks on the calendar but there is never any shortage of close racing action. Permanent pit garages were completed in time for the 2001 season.

Nakano Hoping For Good, Consistent Weather In Germany

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Nakano Hoping For Good, Consistent Weather In Germany

KONICA MINOLTA Honda and Shinya Nakano head to the Sachsenring Shinya Nakano and his KONICA MINOLTA Honda head to Germany and the Sachsenring this weekend for round 10 of the 2007 MotoGP championship. With the season heading past the half-way stage, there are now two races in successive weeks before the annual four-week summer break. Shinya is looking forward to the first of the two races at the 2.3 mile circuit of the Sachsenring. Last year, the 29-year-old finished sixth at the event, and back in 2001 when the Japanese rider was Rookie of the Year in the 500cc class he took third aboard a YZR500 Yamaha. Both Team and rider are hoping to continue with the improvements made to the KONICA MINOLTA RC212V, which at Assen saw them maintain some consistent lap times during the race. The Sachsenring is one of the few anti-clockwise tracks that MotoGP visits. It is one of the slowest on the calendar but also quite hard on tyres, thanks to a successive series of six left-hand corners where the riders are hard on the throttle. Following Sunday’s race, the Team will head immediately for the USA for Laguna Seca in California another anti-clockwise track. Gianluca Montiron Team Manager KONICA MINOLTA Honda “Every MotoGP race is a new challenge for us with the new 800cc bike. Sachsenring is a very spectacular circuit and one where the rider can really make the difference. I think that once more we will see lap-times and qualifying being very close. As I have said before, at the moment for us this is a transitory period, but our technical partner Michelin has been working hard, developing new products so I think that this along with improvements we made at Assen should help us towards a better result. Let’s hope for good weather so that Shinya and the Team can determine base-settings for the weekend as soon as possible. For the next two races we’re hopeful of making more steps forward before the summer break when we will be starting negotiations for the 2008 season with our sponsors and partners.” Shinya Nakano Rider, KONICA MINOLTA Honda “I’m sure the whole Team as well as myself want a really good result from the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring. That is what I will be aiming for. On the positive side I really enjoy the track and the layout. It’s not a particularly fast track, but there are some fun corners and having had a fairly good result there last year as well as a rostrum in 2001, I’m hoping that this will help us for the coming weekend. After a number of races where the weather hasn’t been very good and has changed from wet to dry, let’s also hope that we will get some good, consistent weather for the whole race weekend!” Giulio Bernardelle Technical Director, KONICA MINOLTA Honda “Sachsenring isn’t a power circuit, but with the main straight being at the top of a hill and the finish line being at the very top, extra power is useful! The most important parts of the track are the long corners, where bike and rider stay for a long time on their side this is a special characteristic of this track. A very positive point is that Shinya enjoys the track and has done well here before both on a 500cc GP and MotoGP machine. Also, we made some steps forward with our consistency at Assen and this, along with more development from Michelin to help suit Shinya’s riding style, should help us into the top 10 this is our target for the weekend.”

AMA Racing On TV This Week

July 12-July 19, 2007 (All times Eastern) AMA Hillclimb Championship, Avoca-Howard Hillclimb, Avoca (Castle Creek), New York Thursday, July 12, 9 pm (MavTV) AMA Hillclimb Championship, Avoca-Howard Hillclimb, Avoca (Castle Creek), New York Friday, July 13, 2 am (MavTV) AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship, Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Illinois (GNC Twins Mile) Friday, July 13, 8 pm (MavTV) AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship, Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Illinois (GNC Twins Mile) Saturday, July 14, 2 am (MavTV) AMA Hillclimb Championship, Avoca-Howard Hillclimb, Avoca (Castle Creek), New York Thursday, July 14, 11 pm (MavTV) AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship, Volunteer Speedway, Bulls Gap, Tennessee – (GNC Twins Half-mile) Sunday, July 15, 12 pm (MavTV) AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship, Volunteer Speedway, Bulls Gap, Tennessee – (GNC Twins Half-mile) Sunday, July 15, 5 pm (MavTV) AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship, Volunteer Speedway, Bulls Gap, Tennessee – (GNC Twins Half-mile) Tuesday, July 17, 9 pm (MavTV) AMA Toyota Motocross Championship presented by FMF, Red Bud Track N Trail, Buchanan, Michigan AMA Motocross – Thursday, July 12, 3 am (SPEED) Check local listings Subject to Change www.mavtv.com; www.speedtv.com

Updated Post: The Final Round Of Press Releases Regarding Last Weekend’s Various Races

WERA Cycle Jam Draws Large Turnout, Surprise Winners

BRASELTON, Ga. The annual WERA Cycle Jam at Road Atlanta had all of the expected elements: large grids, close competition and fast lap times. Last weekend’s racing also included some surprise winners, as new faces appeared at the top of the podium.

Cycle Jam featured WERA’s Michelin National Endurance Series, Bridgestone National Challenge Series and most regions in the Pirelli Sportsman Series. During the busy three days of racing, there were 1082 sprint entries and 39 endurance teams.

It was the endurance racing that got things underway on Friday. Ben Walters and Brett Champagne battled the heat and avoided numerous on-track incidents during the six-hour race to give Brand X the overall and Heavweight Superbike win on a Suzuki GSX-R1000. It is the first win for the team, who made their series debut just four rounds ago.

Vesrah Suzuki, who led early on and has won each round prior to Cycle Jam, had a rear shock failure on their Suzuki GSX-R1000. Nevertheless, Tray Batey, Lee Acree and John Jacobi rallied to finish second overall.

Suzuki Rider Development took the Mediumweight Superbike win on a Suzuki GSX-R600. Martin Cardenas, Chad Lewin and Morgan Broadhead also claimed third overall.

The Mediumweight Superstock win went to fourth-place finisher Dalke Motorsports. The team’s Yamaha YZF-R6 was piloted by Brian Dalke, Wrenn Smith, Giovanni Rojas, Skip Salenius and Ryan Clay.

Team Moe’s/TVR overcame an early crash to win Heavyweight Superstock on a Yamaha YZF-R1. Chuck Ivey, James Stroud and Joshua Day were seventh overall. Touring Sport Ducati earned their first Lightweight Superbike win, with Pete Friedland, Frank Shockley and Brad Phillips riding a Ducati SS1000DS.

Sunday’s National Challenge Series also had some new names on the leader board. In the expert ranks, AMA privateer Cory West won 600 Superstock, while Jeff Walker became only the second winner in Heavyweight Twins Superstock this year. Tommy Aquino won 600 Superbike, and Chad Hermann led the 750 Superbike field.

Dane Westby and Robert Jensen each earned two wins: Westby won Lightweight Twins Superstock and Formula 2, while Jensen earned the top spot in Open Superstock and Formula 1. Lee Acree added a 750 Superstock win to his multiple podiums during the weekend.

In the novice division, Chris Vanover took his first Open Superstock win of the year. Russell Wikle continued to impress, winning 600 and 750 Superstock, and 600 and 750 Superbike.

Josh Reed won both Lightweight Twins and Formula 2 novice, and the Heavyweight Twins victory went to John Brasfield.

The next round for the WERA Michelin National Endurance Series and Bridgestone National Challenge Series will be at Michigan’s Grattan Raceway from July 13-15.

Complete results for the WERA Cycle Jam at Road Atlanta and more can be found at www.WERA.com.

More, from a press release issued by GoBigRacing:

Millson/Glenn 3rd in ST Class at Road America 500K

HAMILTON ON, – July 11, 2007 Go BIG Racing team-mates Ross Millson and Paul Glenn found themselves in third in the ST class after a tumultuous conclusion to the SunTrust MOTO-ST Road America 500k, held this past weekend at Elkhart Lake, Wis.

Millson started Sunday’s three-hour, Road America 500k, from the 16th row on the grid and rode like a man on a mission until the first full course yellow flag came out on lap 19. Glenn took over the controls of the No. 79 Go BIG Racing Suzuki for the next stint and rode with intensity until the next yellow flag flew, where he brought the bike into the pits for fuel and to change riders.

Hamilton, Ontario native, Millson once again resumed his place on the Go BIG Racing Suzuki and began dropping laps times and pushed hard to catch the bike in second place.

In an attempt to clear some of the slower GST bikes, Millson lost the front-end of the No. 79 machine going off the back straight and crashed at speed. Millson determined that the bike didn’t appear to be damaged too badly. Although it was missing a right side footpeg, everything else seemed to be in working order. With the help of a corner worker Millson was able to get the bike out of the gravel trap and back on track.

Millson headed back the pits for repairs, however as he sat up to brake for the last corner before pit entrance, the brake lever snapped off in his hand, leaving him no choice but to run off track and dive away from the bike.

“I was headed for a wall without brakes, so I had to bail-off the right side of the bike “¦ everything happened kinda fast, but I knew I had to get off.” said Millson, about his off-track adventure. “Paul, Blaine, Mark, and myself had the bike fixed in less than five minutes. It was truly a team effort.” he added.

Keene, Ontario native, Glenn remounted and rode tenaciously for the remaining 30 minutes in an attempt to reclaim at least a few of the lost laps. By the end of the 65 lap, three-hour endurance race, Glenn would bring home the wounded No. 79 Go BIG Racing Suzuki SV650 fourth in class.

With the race over, the team began to close shop for the weekend, however a post-race technical disqualification of a team that had originally crossed the finish line ahead of them, moved Millson and Glenn up to third in the ST class.

Go BIG Racing now sits just six points out of first in the ST Class point’s race, well within striking distance of the first place No. 9, Pair-A-Nines team.

The legendary Mosport International Raceway, is the team’s next stop for Rounds 3 & 4 of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship – Doubleheader Weekend – July 12-15, 2007. This classic roadracing circuit is Paul Glenn’s favourite track and where he also currently holds the 2006 Suzuki SV650 Cup lap record. Millson has also had some outstanding races at this famous track, most notably last year’s AM600 battle with 2006 International Motorcycle SUPERSHOW Amateur 600 Sport Bike National Champion, Karl Daigle.

More, from a press release issued by Speed Tech Racing:

Speed Tech Racing put in a great weekend during the CCS/ASRA Event at Road America. Speed Tech Racing’s riders Jason Farrell, Brian Hall, & A.J. Krause rode exceptionally well in their races. Team mechanics did an excellent job keeping the bikes from overheating and making sure the setups were spot on.

Jason Farrell put in a few good rides and even finished his best ever during an ASRA event placing an overall 2nd in the ASRA Sportbike event. Riding on teammate Sven Bugge’s 07 ZX6R during the Sportbike race he road a consistent & smooth race which kept him in the top 5 positions. Robert Jensen & Cory West unfortunately crashed out in front of Jason which moved him up 2 positions. On the post race ceremonies Jason was 3rd but after dyno results he ended up 2nd after Scott Greenwood went over in HP during the post race dyno runs. “It was a lucky finish for me for sure but I’ll take it. I’ve had my share of bad luck around this place plus this weekend I didn’t even think I would be racing. We had a few problems with the bike so I stayed back on Friday at the shop with Jake one of my mechanics and put my bike back together. I kept saying to myself during the race to just hang in there cause you never know what might happen up their. I guess a little Irish luck went my way this time!”

Jason also put in two fourth place finishes during the MWSS & MWSB races starting from the 8th row. Jason said, “I got some killer holeshots like I usually do, but these starts were awesome. I mean I hit the reaction time on the head and ended up 4th by turn 5 both races. These Kawasaki ZX6R’s just pull off the line like a rocket! Unfortunately I didn’t have anything for Jeff Wood or Cory West. Robert Jensen put a gutsy pass on me in Turn 7 and put me about off the track in the weeds. I held on and kept him in my sights but couldn’t catch back up.”

Jason also finished the ASRA Superbike race in 5th behind his teammate Brian Hall. “I had another great start and was able to pass for the lead in turn 5. I eventually got passed by Wood, West & Jensen & I had a lonely race going on by myself and I thought I had 4th place in the bag when I turn around going into the last lap I saw Brian on my tail! I tried every move I had but couldn’t shake him. It was a drag race to the line up the front straight and Brian got me by half a bike length. Hats off to him for riding hard. It made for a great last lap!”

Brian Hall had another great weekend this season by placing 1st 4 times and several top 5 finishes during the CCS races. Brian also ran the ASRA Superbike race where he finished 4th beating out his teammate Jason to the line. “I’m really getting the hang of 07 ZX6R’s this season. The bike is working great & my shoulder is feeling much better since my crash here during the AMA supersport race in June. Were still working on keeping the bikes running cooler but we were just able to finish out the weekend with the temps right on borderline hot. I’d like to thank my father & brother for keeping my bike in good shape & always ready to race. I look forward to the rest of the season. The first half of the season has been great & I look forward to the last half for sure. I like to thank Speed Tech for keeping these bikes working great all season!

A.J. Krause also ran some exceptional races this weekend at Road America on his 06 ZX6R. A.J. is a Speed Tech supported rider and has been coming through the ranks as an amateur CCS racer. A.J is a Wisconsin native out of Berlin, WI who now resides in New York, and flys out to race the Midwest CCS series this season. He won his first races last race weekend at Blackhawk Farms Raceway. He has continued the streak here at Road America with 6 first place finishes and several more top 5 finishes! A.J came into Road America not really sure about how his results might be having only raced here once before last season. “With the extra track time through NESBA prior to the races I was able to learn the track better and bring my times down which gave much more confidence in my riding” said A.J. “My team coach Jason was able to ride with me in a few sessions and showed me some lines and critique my riding. My bike was working really well and I was able to put my head down and go pretty quick. I got some great starts starting from the back and made my way to the front pretty quick. I want to thank my dad for helping me out all weekend and helping me finish well. I can’t wait for the rest of the season.”

Hopefully the team can carry on this success the rest of the season. Speed Tech will be contesting in the CCS Midwest Regional races along with several ASRA races the rest of this season. Brian Hall who has the #1 plate in CCS Midwest region is currently leading in points this season.

Team manager Scott Markel says, This weekend was a huge success for us a whole and were only getting better each race we go to. Our pits are organized and we have a great system going to keep these bikes going strong. Hats off to the whole team this weekend. Running the NESBA track time prior to the race rounds really helps us get our set up closer before the races. Hats off to Garth Cloyd for putting on a great organization in the Midwest series.

Jason Farrell is owner/racer of Speed Tech Racing of which is a division of Speed Tech Motorsports in Oshkosh, WI. Speed Tech is a high performance motorcycle shop of which tunes & repairs race & street bikes.

Southern 100 Plagued With Problems

The Klaffi Alpha Boilers team have had a difficult start to their Southern 100 challenge with bad weather and race stoppages hampering their progress. “That’s racing!” is the perfect comment for how the Southern 100 has started out. First practice took place on the evening of Monday 9th July but heavy rain fell before the session started so Klaus Klaffenböck and his sidecar passenger Christian Parzer decided to stay in the paddock, as did many other sidecar teams. The weather improved and the roads did dry out but there were still a lot of large puddles around the track. This didn’t stop the team’s solo rider Martin Finnegan taking to the track. The Dublin based rider did 8 laps and was 2nd fastest behind Guy Martin. Practice continued on Tuesday 10th July with Klaffi and Parzer getting some laps under their belts and qualifying easily. Their main aim was to get plenty of miles in so they could improve their track knowledge. The first solo race was straight after the sidecar practice. Finnegan took to the pure road circuit for the 9 lap race but it only ran for three. The race was red flagged when a competitor crashed and his burning bike blocked the course. The rider sustained legs injuries during the incident. When the red flag came out Finnegan had been running in fourth position. “That’s racing!” he quipped. Once the incident was cleared it was too dark to continue racing. The team still have three races ahead with the sidecars taking to the track on Wednesday 11th July and again on Thursday 12th July with the Superbikes also racing on Thursday.

Boz Bros To Hold Custom Bike Show At Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix At Laguna Seca

Boz Bros Custom Bike Show at Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix Yamaha Marketplace Cypress, CA.- Yamaha and Ben and Eric Bostrom are pleased to announce the Boz Bros Custom Bike Show to the ever expanding list of activities for this year’s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on July 20-22nd. Presented by the Boz Bros, 2 Wheel Tuner Magazine and Yamaha, the show will include Pro built bikes by many of the country’s premier Sport Bike builders. The show will also include the top 10 winners of the 2007 Yamaha Virtual SuperSport Bike Show contest, who received full 3-day Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix race passes as part of their award. “Ben and I are super stoked to be involved in this cool show” said Eric Bostrom “and a bonus is that the contest winner will be selected by the public who sign up to judge”. For full details and a chance to judge please visit the Boz Bros/2 Wheel Tuner Bike Show display in the Yamaha Marketplace. For a complete list of the many activities planned at various times on Friday through Sunday please see ~http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/mcy/USGP_2007.aspx~

More From This Past Weekend’s Various Races

Motosix dominates at Motorsports Park Hastings as Aaron Clark Claims New Class Track Record!

MotoSix riders Aaron Clark and Dave Gallant beat the thick Nebraska heat to win and place on the podium at Motorsports Park Hastings with the MRA this past weekend.

Afternoon temperatures soared to over 100 degrees for the the MRA”s 5th round of the 2007 racing season, and both rider and machinery suffered in the intense heat. Both MotoSix riders placed on the podium in Saturday”s endurance races and were primed for Sunday racing action hoping to take home a large share of the manufacturer contingency on the table.

After claiming a new class track record laptime in Open Supersport, mechanical gremlins stuck Aaron Clark in the Sunday Open Superbike race. With Aaron”s backup bike out of commission, everyone scrambled to diagnose the root cause of the problem to help “Clarkie” retain the Race of the Rockies points lead. At the start of the MRA”s premiere race, Aaron made it evident the problem was successfully fixed as he jumped out to a sizable lead right from the start. Although challenged on the final laps, Clarkie was able to lead flag to flag and win the Race of the Rockies at Motorsports Park Hastings.

“These conditions were brutal but my Pirelli tires were well up for the challenge! We put on a slightly harder compound tire for this afternoon”s race, and even on the last lap I was amazed how much grip I had and how hard I could accelerate off the corners. I couldn”t be happier standing on top of the podium today and I am riding my hardest to extend my points lead and earn that elusive number 1 plate in this region” commented an exhausted Aaron Clark.

After putting in a strong 2nd place finish in Heavyweight Endurance on Saturday, Dave Gallant felt confident going into Sunday”s Heavyweight Supersport race. However, anytime top Pirelli rider Chad Lewin is in attendance, everyone knows it is going to be difficult keeping him from working his way to the front. Right from the start it was clear it was going to be a 3-way battle with Dave Gallant and Mike Applegate jumping out to an early lead on their Suzuki GSXR 750s. By lap two, Chad Lewin had latched on to the lead pair, and by lap four he had managed to slip by to take the lead. At the checkered flag, the lead pack had gapped the rest of the field with Dave Gallant in a strong third place position.

“I was hoping for more this weekend, but considering the heat and the depth of this field I am pleased with the finish. Most people had a difficult time with their brakes this weekend, but between the SBS dual carbon pads and the Braking rotors I could not have been happier. We just have to find a little bit more in our tire setup, and if we can do that I believe we will be able to take home some more wins. Hats off to Chad Lewin for this race however; he rode very hard and very well and deserves the win today” commented Dave Gallant of MotoSix Motorsports.

MotoSix rider’s Aaron Clark and David Gallant will compete next with the USBA at Miller Motorsports Park on July 28th and 29th.

More, from a press release issued by Michael Aron:

Date: July 8th 2007 Track: Thunderhill Raceway Class: Formula III (125 GP)

At the 4th race of the AFM series, #80 Michael Aron maintained his lead in the Formula III championship.

Starting in the pole position aboard the Mojotown.com Honda RS125, Michael shot off the line and opened up a 6-8 bike length lead by turn five. For the first three laps it looked like he had his first victory on the 125 sewn up, but #658 Jeremiah Carlson capitalized on a misread pit signal to eventually catch Michael on the front straight. By the time Jeremiah caught Michael, the two riders had opened up a lead over the pack that spanned the entire start-finish straight-away. Michael tried to regain the lead on the final lap but a lapped rider eclipsed his hopes of catching Carlson.

Pending the official posting from AFM, the 2nd place finish helped secure Michael’s number one position in the Formula III points chase to a 30+ points lead with 4 more events in the series.

More, from a press release issued by USGPRU:

Iso and Pyles Victorious at Road America

USGPRU East Round 4

The USGPRU joined the ASRA and Moto-ST roadrace series this weekend at the sun-drenched Road America racetrack in Elkhart Lake, WI. So far this season, the Rising Sun Cycles 125GP class has been dominated by 13-year-old PJ Jacobsen. The 250GP class has been a bit closer as Canadian Eddy Brunet played catch-up on the West Coast dominating Ryan Ferris.

In the Rising Sun Cycles 125GP qualifying, Nobi Iso set the fast time early in the session aboard his blistering fast Aprilia RS125. But PJ was able to pull out a late-session fast lap to claim the pole position.

Prior to the 250GP qualifying, Chris Pyles spent several sessions following his old teammate, Mike Himmelsbach around the racetrack. Apparently, this was time well spent, as Chris was able to set the fastest time and claim the pole position. Des Conboy rode his Celtic Racing Honda to a solid second place position. He was followed by Eddy Brunet, who had crashed early in the 250GP qualifying, but remounted and rode his battered machine for a few more hard laps before his motor expired.

For the Sunday race, Nobi Iso was determined to use the superior horsepower of his Aprilia to finally overpower the young superstar PJ’s Honda. Iso nailed the start and led the pack of 26 riders into turn one, but PJ was right on his rear wheel. Miles Thornton, Scott Smallwood, and Cassidy Heiser tried to keep pace, but quickly realized that there was no chance they were going to keep up with the madmen at the front. Iso seemed to be opening a bit of a gap on PJ for the first few laps, but once PJ found a rhythm, he reeled in Iso and made a pass for the lead. It was beginning to look like every other race these two have had all season. The back and forth battle ensued as neither was willing to let the other slip away. Iso led on the final lap and PJ was nipping away at every turn. Going into the ultra-high-speed carousel turn, PJ made a breath-taking pass underneath Iso to take the lead down the back straight. Iso tucked in tight and followed PJ up through the final turn. While PJ ran the defensive line, Iso positioned for the drive up the hill, and was able to motor by PJ to win the race by half a bike-length. Iso won his first national event of the season, and issued PJ his first loss of the year.

The battle for third came down to the last lap as Smallwood did battle with the pair of 13-year-olds, Miles Thornton and Cassidy Heiser. Smallwood trailed Thornton at the start of the last lap, and the pair seemed to be shaking Heiser finally. At the end of the back straight, Miles crashed out of the final podium slot and Smallwood went on take third place, followed closely by Heiser.

The 250GP race was a blow-out as Chris Pyles decimated the field of 27 bikes in a flag-to-flag victory. Pyles was clearly the class of the field as he had a margin of victory of more than 9-seconds over second place. The battle for second place though was not an easy one by any stretch. A four-way battle between Eddy Brunet, Mark ‘Big Man’ Kelly, Brent Lyskawa, and Des Conboy was keeping everyone on the edge of their seats as they would go three-wide down the front straight. On lap three, Des Conboy lost his front brakes at the end of the super-fast back straight. He crashed into turn 12, destroying any chance of earning points this weekend. Luckily, he was able to walk away from the high-speed crash. Brunet, Kelly, and Lyskawa continued to do battle right up until the final lap. Brunet was able to nurse his wounded Honda RS250 across the line barely ahead of the big Irishman, Mark Kelly.

Race results:

Rising Sun Cycles 125GP

1. Nobi Iso Aprilia RS125 2. Patrick Jacobsen Honda RS125 3. Scott Smallwood Honda RS125 4. Cassidy Heiser Honda RS125 5. Boyd Bruner Honda RS125 6. Tom Swager Honda RS125 7. Alex Lyskawa Honda RS125 8. Crystal Campagna Honda RS125 9. Merle Eschman Honda RS125 10. Mike Aboyoun Honda RS125 11. Allen Campbell Honda RS125 12. Robert Rawlins Honda RS125 13. Marc Whitney Honda RS125 14. Bruce Lind Yamaha TZ125 15. Mark White Honda RS125 16. Marcus Matthews Honda RS125 17. Brian McLaughlin Yamaha TZ125 18. Shannon Anderson Honda RS125 19. Robert Taylor Honda RS125 20. Robert Czerniak Honda RS125 21. Miles Thornton Honda RS125 22. Don Murfin Honda RS125 23. Billy Veatch Honda RS125 24. Brent Lyskawa Honda RS125

250GP

1. Chris Pyles Yamaha TZ250 2. Eddy Brunet Honda RS250 3. Mark Kelly Honda RS250 4. Brent Lyskawa Honda RS250 5. Geoffrey Maloney Yamaha TZ250 6. Daniele Lenarduzzi Yamaha TZ250 7. Mike Aboyoun Yamaha TZ250 8. Mark Stiles Yamaha TZ250 9. Patrick Dowd Yamaha TZ250 10. Bruce Lind Yamaha TZ250 11. Allen Campbell Honda RS250 12. Zachry Lee Honda RS250 13. Jim Bergey Honda RS250 14. Kory Gill Yamaha TZ250 15. Jeff Japs Yamaha TZ250 16. Andrew Edwards Yamaha TZ250 17. Brian Kwak Yamaha TZ250 18. Mike Wright Honda RS250 19. Michael Rajotte Yamaha TZ250 20. Chris Manfrin Yamaha TZ250 21. Aaron Stein Yamaha TZ250 22. Tom Swager Yamaha TZ250 23. Des Conboy Honda RS250

More, from a press release issued by Mike Solis on behalf of the AFM:

AFM Round 4 at Thunderhill

In the MDK Motorsports Formula Pacific race at Thunderhill Raceway, it was defending AFM number one James Randolph who took the win, coming out on top of a fierce, three-rider, flag-to-flag battle for the lead. With a fresh, bullet-fast motor in his Tigershark Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000, Randolph was able to draft and pass former AFM number one Dave Stanton to take the lead. But on the penultimate lap, Stanton made his move, putting his Mach 1 Motorsports Yamaha R1 up the inside of Randolph’s Suzuki into Turn 5, momentarily taking the lead before running wide on the exit.

Stanton’s bobble allowed Randolph to retake the lead and moved Pacific Tracktime’s Michael Earnest into second, as Stanton cautiously brought his Dunlop-shod R1 back onto the track surface. On the last lap, Earnest made his own attempt to take the lead in Turn 3 on his Dunlop-shod, Kyle Racing prepared GSX-R1000, pulling beside the defending champion about halfway through the corner. It wasn’t enough for Earnest, as Randolph held his line before going on to take the win. Earnest crossed the line in second, with Stanton third.

“Those guys made me work for it!” said Randolph from the winners circle. My motor was strong, and I have to thank Joe Proctor of Santa Rosa Superbikes for that. And those Pirelli tires sure stayed hooked up, didn’t they? I have to thank everyone who helped me out in this heat – the bike did the rest!”

Randolph’s Formula Pacific win was just one of three victories on the weekend for the Santa Rosa resident. Randolph started his day with a victory in the Take it 2 the Track Open Production race,with Stanton crossing the line in second and Ken Hill third. Later in the day, Randolph also took the win in the Fremont Honda Kawasaki Open Superbike race, with Martin Szwarc finishing second and James King third.

Chris Siglin also wrapped up his day with multiple victories, taking home a pair of runaway wins on his Arclight Suzuki GSX-R600. In the Suzuki of Oakland 750 Production race, Siglin took his first win of the day, with the GSX-R750 of second place finisher Scott Wilson well behind in second place. Siglin’s second win came in the Keigwins@theTrack 600 Production race, where he crossed the line well ahead of the R6 of second place finisher Richard Corey, who won the Pacific Track Time 600 Superbike race earlier in the day.

After spending over a season on out-of-date Suzukis, first year expert Ryan Gorman took his first AFM victory at Thunderhill, taking the win in the Scuderia West Formula 1 race his first weekend on a 2006 GSX-R750. Gorman managed to beat a number of experienced riders with national experience to the line, with Garry Combs finishing second on his Matsushima Peformance GSX-R750, and David Bell third on a Sportbike Dynamics GSX-R750.

“This was my first weekend on the new bike, and I just knew it was going to go well,” said Gorman. “Those guys were strong, but I was able to get my passing done in 2 and 3 – those new Dunlop N Tech tires really made it happen! This is only my second year of riding, but thanks to Michael Earnest of Pacific Tracktime, I learned quick!”

After several winning seasons on 600s, Andy Carman managed to win his first race on his GSX-R1000 at Thunderhill, taking the victory in the GP Frame and Wheel Open Grand Prix race over the GSX-Rs of second place finisher Martin Szwarc and third place finisher Michael Thompson. “Martin got the holeshot, and I just kind of followed him for a while and then stuffed him into 5,” said Carman. “After that, I just kept my head down, slicing and dicing my way through traffic. Jim Lindemann helped me set my bike up this weekend, and it’s much better now than it was. In fact, I’d say it was perfect. It used to tell me to back off, and I just tried to ride through it – I just thought it was me, ya know? I also have to thank my mechanic, Miss Riess she has really been helping me out!”

In the Formula 3 race, Mojotown.com’s Michael Aron was hoping to take his first AFM victory on a 125, returning to lightweight two-strokes after a season on an open-class Ducati. Aron opened up a huge lead early in the race, mistakenly eased up after misreading pit signals, allowing novice racer Jeremiah Carlson to swing past into the lead. Carlson went on to take his first ever AFM win, with Aron crossing the line in second, maintaining his class points lead.

“I remember coming off the line in around 5th spot, and making my way past a few guys to find that Michael Aron had a really big lead,” said Carlson. “I just put my head down, closed the gap, and was able to eventually outdrive him out of 15 to take the lead. It feels really good to finally win!”

One of the most intense battles of the day took place in the RaceOil.com Formula 4 event. Prior to the event, Jeff Hagan had been dominating the class, with a perfect season consisting of runaway victories in every round. But at Thunderhill, Hagan had his hands full with the SV650s of David Civiello and Zoom Zoom Trackdays instructor Dan Sewell, as well as the fast VFR400 of Keigwins@theTrack instructor Michael Lohmeyer. Hagan, Civiello, and Lohmeyer exchanged positions throughout the race, as Sewell gradually dropped off the pace. With Hagan leading late in the race, Civiello made one last move on Hagan, outdriving him out of Turn 8 to take the lead into Turn 9. Civiello held to take the win, the first of his racing career despite being a class front runner for years. Hagan crossed the line in second, with Lohmeyer third.

“That race was very complicated,” said Civiello. “Once I knew I could run with Hagan, I just wanted to stay with him. But then Lohmeyer joined in, and I was like ‘Damn, we don’t need any more guys at this party!” On the last lap, I just went through 8 as hard as I could, and took him into 9. I don’t want to get cocky about all of this, but man – it feels good to have ended Jeff Hagan’s reign of terror in Formula 4!”

With points leader Tom Montano absent from the grid, the Desmoto Sport Open Twins race became a contest between two riders – Craig McLean and Trackside Moto’s Pat Blackburn. McLean grabbed the holeshot, but his lead didn’t last long, as Blackburn managed to slip by in Turn 9 after McLean missed a shift. From there, Blackburn went on to take his first ever AFM win, with Matt Green taking second, and McLean third.

“We were a little tight on the start, and McLean just stuffed his fat butt in there to take the lead,” said Blackburn. “I got him coming out of 9, and thought he was on me for the next few laps, but my guys gave me the signal and we just cruised on in. Terry got me a good set of Dunlops for the race, and Cory Call of Pacific Tracktime has been showing me how to get around here fast – without him and Michael Earnest, I wouldn’t be out here!”

Despite running off track in Turn 3 in the first lap, WMRRA racer Cedric Smith was able to run away with the win in Formula Singles, storming away from his supermoto-equipped competition on his immaculately prepared Everett Powersports racebike – a 180 lb, 65 horsepower machine that uses an RS125 chassis and a CRF450 motor. Andre Benguerel took second on his 450cc Husqvarna, with Joy Higa third on her KTM580.

“That move in Turn 3 was a total brainfart,” said Smith. “Just a lack of track knowledge. This track takes a lot of laps to figure out, and this is my first weekend out here!”

In the 250 Production race, Sue Urquhart was able to take her first AFM victory on her Dunlop-shod Ninja 250, passing Charles Leca out of the last turn on the last lap to take the win. Leca finished second, with Warrant Metlitzky third.

“I got stuck behind a lapper at one point, but that just made me get my game on!” said Urquhart. “I was sorry to see Adam pull off with a mechanical – he had been riding really well this season. I’ve had a lot of problems with my motors the past few weeks, and Kelly Winkelbauer has been working hours and hours to get things sorted for me. There’s no way I could do this without him!”

The next round of AFM action takes place August 19th at Infineon Raceway.

AFM Round 4 July 8-9, 2007 Infineon Raceway Unofficial Results

MDK Motorsports Formula Pacific 1. James Randolph (Suz 1000) 2. Michael Earnest (Suz 1000) 3. David Stanton (Yam 1000) 4. Ken Hill (Suz 1000) 5. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 6. David Bell (Suz 1000)

Fremont Honda Kawasaki Open Superbike 1. James Randolph (Suz 1000) 2. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 3. James King (Suz 1000) 4. Shawnery Hardin (Suz 1000) 5. Harley Barnes (Suz 1000) 6. Scott Schwanbeck (Suz 1000)

R Tech Fuels 750 Superbike 1. Scott Wilson (Suz 750) 2. Garry Combs (Suz 750) 3. Ryan Gorman (Suz 750) 4. Peter O’Sullivan (Suz 750) 5. Kim Nakashima (Suz 600) 6. Craig Ayers (Suz 750)

Pacific Track Time 600 Superbike 1. Richard Corey (Yam 600) 2. William Scott (Yam 600) 3. Spencer Stuart (Yam 600) 4. Zenzo Tazawa (Suz 600) 5. Brant Wiwi (Yam 600) 6. Matt Eccleston (Yam 600)

Alpine RV 450 Superbike 1. Mike Lohmeyer (Hon 400) 2. Mark Elrod (Hon 400) 3. Richard Moore (Yam 442) 4. Bob Simmons (Hon 400) 5. Phil Douglas (Hon 400) 6. Jonathan Forman (Suz 500)

250 Superbike 1. Andrew Duafala (Yam 250) 2. Joe Rust (Yam 250) 3. Johnny Radavero (Yam 250) 4. Sean Pagel (Apr 250)

Take it 2 the Track Open Production 1. James Randolph (Suz 1000) 2. David Stanton (Suz 1000) 3. Ken Hill (Suz 1000) 4. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 5. James King (Suz 1000) 6. Mike Thompson (Suz 1000)

Suzuki of Oakland 750 Production 1. Chris Siglin (Suz 600) 2. Scott Wilson (Suz 750) 3. Garry Combs (Suz 750) 4. Craig Ayers (Suz 750) 5. Kim Nakashima (Suz 600) 6. Spencer Stuart (Yam 600)

Keigwins@theTrack 600 Production 1. Chris Siglin (Suz 600) 2. Richard Corey (Yam 600) 3. William Scott (Yam 600) 4. Brant Wiwi (Yam 600) 5. Zenzo Tazawa (Suz 600) 6. Jeff Gagne (Yam 600) 

450 Production 1. Mark Elrod (Hon 400) 2. Dave Wallis (Hon 400) 3. Joe Carpenter (Hon 400) 4. Andrew Silva (Hon 400)

250 Production 1. Susan Urquhart (Kaw 250) 2. Charles Leca (Kaw 250) 3. Warren Metlitzky (Kaw 250) 4. Thomas Dorsey (Suz 400) 5. Adam Klinger (Kaw 250) 6. Russell Munn (Suz 400)

GP Frame and Wheel Open Grand Prix 1. Andy Carman (Suz 1000) 2. Martin Szwarc (Suz 1000) 3. Mike Thompson (Suz 1000) 4. Christopher Weiss (Suz 1000) 5. Scott Schwanbeck (Suz 1000) 6. Shawnery Hardin (Suz 1000) 

Scuderia West Formula 1 1. Ryan Gorman (Suz 750) 2. Garry Combs (Suz 750) 3. David Bell (Suz 750) 4. Scott Wilson (Suz 750) 5. Peter O’Sullivan (Suz 750) 6. Craig Wierman (Suz 750)

Mazda Technologies Formula 2 1. Jeffry Hanford (Hon 250) 2. Shawn Herrera (Yam 250) 3. Dan Cook (Yam 250) 4. Brian Hoffman (Hon 250) 5. Dante D’Ambruoso (Yam 250) 6. Kelly Winkelbauer (Yam 250)

Formula 3 1. Jeremiah Carlson (Hon 125) 2. Michael Aron (Hon 125) 3. Dave Heinricks (Hon 125) 4. Steve Magri (Hon 125) 5. James Eckerman (Hon 125) 6. Elaine Ou (Hon 125)

Race-Oil.com / AMSOIL Formula 4 1. David Civiello (Suz 650) 2. Jeff Hagan (Suz 650) 3. Michael Lohmeyer (Hon 400) 4. Dan Sewell (Suz 650) 5. William Fox (Suz 650) 6. Oliver Rowen (Suz 650)

Desmoto Sport Open Twins 1. Patrick Blackburn (Duc 1098) 2. Matthew Green (Duc 999) 3. Craig McLean (Duc 1098) 4. Mario Gonzales Jr (Duc 1098) 5. Phil Douglas (Apr 1000) 6. Martin Ayala (Duc 000)

Foremost Insurance 650 Twins 1. Jeff Hagan (Suz 650) 2. David Civiello (Suz 650) 3. Dan Sewell (Suz 650) 4. William Fox (Suz 650) 5. Christian Sommer (Suz 650) 6. Jeff Frost (Suz 650)

500 Twins 1. Jonathan Forman (Suz 500) 2. Leonard Barker (Kaw 500) 3. Eric Karl Schiller (Kaw 500) 4. Michael Emmons (Kaw 500) 5. Warren Metlitzky (Kaw 250) 6. Norman Smith (Kaw 250)

Formula Singles 1. Cedric Smith (Hon 450) 2. Andre Benguerel (Hus 450) 3. Joy Higa (KTM 580) 4. Thomas Dorsey (Suz 400) 5. Russell Munn (Suz 400) 6. Clay Hassinger (ATK 598)

Teresa McKinney Realtor Formula 40 1. Mike Thompson (Suz 1000) 2. Bud Anderson (Suz 1000) 3. Jeff Hagan (Tri 675) 4. Spencer Stuart (Yam 600) 5. Rick McDaniel (Suz 1000) 6. Jeff Smith (Suz 1000)

Super Dinosaur 1. Paul Kieffer (Kaw 750) 2. Noe Pulido (Yam 400) 3. Timothy Silva (Suz 750) 4. Michael Emmons (Kaw 500)

Clubman Heavyweight 1. Carl Thompson (Suz 100) 2. Steven Daughetee (Suz 988) 3. Nick Hayman (Duc 749) 4. Rafal Chojnacki (Yam 600) 5. Keith Tashiro (Suz 1000) 6. Jose Flores (Yam 1000)

Clubman Middleweight 1. Jesse Carter (Suz 750) 2. Kris Weide (Hon 600) 3. Sergio Sanchez-Chopitea (Yam 600) 4. Jason Stanislawczyk (Kaw 636) 5. David Foster (Suz 600) 6. Oscar Fernandez (Yam 600)

Clubman Lightweight 1. Christian Sommer (Suz 650) 2. Allen Erkman (Suz 650) 3. Carlo Maravilla (Suz 650) 4. Ben Swiggett (Suz 650) 5. Ari Henning (Suz 650) 6. Justin Tortosa (Suz 650)

New FIM/UEW Appointee To Defend Interests Of Motorcycling In Europe

FIM/UEM new appointment in Brussels

Permanent representative will defend the interests of motorcycling

Former Vice-President of the Commission for Mobility, Transport, Road Safety and Public Affairs (CMT), John Chatterton-Ross, has been appointed jointly by the FIM and UEM (European Motorcycle Union) as Director of Public Affairs in Brussels. He will start his work immediately on all the Brussels portfolios on behalf of the FIM and the UEM. These include, among various subjects, ongoing discussions on the new Driving License Directive, studies on Daytime Running Lights, the new Machinery Directive and exemptions for competition motorcycles, environmental issues.

Mr Chatterton-Ross, 54, brings to this work a strong commitment to road safety from his former career in the United Kingdom Police service. He has been involved with the FIM since 1989 and with the UEM since its foundation. His presence and his actions will bring more strength to the FIM and UEM work in the defence of the interests of motorcycling (sport and motorcycling in general) against unfavorable policies of the European Union and Commission.

No Bridgestone-shod Rider Has Made It Onto The MotoGP Podium At Sachsenring

Bridgestone GP Briefing Round 10: Germany Tuesday 10 July 2007 The German Grand Prix will represent the start of the second half of this year’s 18-race MotoGP world championship with Bridgestone-shod Ducati Corse rider Casey Stoner leading the classification by 21 points over his nearest challenger, former multi world champion Valentino Rossi. Bridgestone Motorsport will enjoy something of a home grand prix this weekend as over half of its on-track team hail from Germany and the team’s European service hub is located in Speyer, near to Hockenheim. The tight and twisty track usually produces closely-contested race finishes with less than one second separating the race winner and runner-up at each of the five previous MotoGP rounds held there, including three occasions where the top two have been split by less than 0.4s at the chequered flag. No Bridgestone-shod rider has yet to finish a German MotoGP event on the podium but increased performance from its range of tyres in the first half of the season has resulted in an all-round increase in competitiveness among the tyre manufacturers this season which Bridgestone hopes will continue this weekend. Ducati’s Loris Capirossi was the highest-placed rider on Bridgestone tyres in last season’s German GP in fifth place, leading a quartet of Bridgestone-equipped riders across the line at the end of the thirty lap race. Tyre Talk with Hiroshi Yamada Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager, Motorcycle Sport Department What technical characteristics must tyre manufacturers consider for the Sachsenring? “Sachsenring is one of the slowest tracks on the calendar and also one of the shortest laps we experience during the season at just 3.671km. The circuit is run in an anti-clockwise direction and we must deal with an asymmetrical composition of corners with ten left and four right-hand turns. From a tyre perspective, this means we must ensure good warm-up on the right-hand side of the tyre, particularly considering the middle section when riders must spent around a third of the lap constantly using the left-hand side of the tyre.” What compounds will Bridgestone riders have at their disposal? “Taking into consideration the amount of pressure that the left -hand side of the tyre is under, we will be bringing medium and hard compound rears for our teams both 16” and 16.5”. The asphalt at Sachsenring has been recently resurfaced which will inevitably require some adaptation from teams and tyre manufacturers, but I hope that we will not experience any unpleasant surprises when we start practice on Friday morning.” Does tyre durability remain an issue for Bridgestone? “I think we can be quite satisfied with the improvements made with tyre durability during the course of this season. In my opinion, this is one of our most important steps, but it is also an area where we must always keep focus. We are actively working on improving all round grip levels as we look to raise our competitiveness yet further with the championship heading into the second half of the season. The German event is like a home grand prix for some of our staff, so I hope we can celebrate a good result this weekend as a fitting reward for all their hard work so far this year.” Riding Perspective with Pramac d’Antin’s Alex Hofmann “The German GP is a very special weekend for me and it is always a pleasure to ride in front of the passionate German fans. They flock to the track in their thousands and always seem to enjoy a party atmosphere. The race is the highlight of the year for me personally and especially this year, I feel we can head to the race in an optimistic frame of mind. The previous race in Assen was one of the best race weekends I have had and I got a good feeling with the Ducati bike and Bridgestone tyres in wet and dry conditions, we just need to keep doing a good job and the results will keep coming. I have been pleased with my return to Bridgestone tyres this season and the technical advances they have made since I last raced with Bridgestone tyres are incredible. I hope the Sachsenring event will give us the opportunity once again to show what our entire package is capable of.” 2006 Flashback Race Winner Valentino Rossi Yamaha 41m59.248s Top Rider on Bridgestone (5th) Loris Capirossi Ducati 42m08.012s (+8.764s) Qualifying Pole Position Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m21.815s Top Rider on Bridgestone (4th) Shinya Nakano Kawasaki 1m22.273s (+0.458s)

KTM Will Have New 125 Chassis At Sachsenring, No Mention Of American Bonsey In Race Preview

Red Bull KTM riders Tomoyoshi Koyama and Randy Krummenacher have been testing a new chassis on their 125 FRR – and are now even more confident for the German Grand Prix on the meandering and challenging Sachsenring circuit this weekend. With one victory, one second and one third place for Tomoyoshi Koyama, and with Randy Krummenacher climbing the podium for the first time ever in Barcelona, Team Red Bull KTM 125 are now a force to be reckoned with in this year’s world championship. There is much more to come once the 24-year-old Japanese ace and the 17-year-old Swiss GP rookie have all the experience necessary finding the perfect set-up for their nimble 55-horsepower machines. So far, the team has been walking a fine line. On some occasions, like Koyama’s and Krummenacher’s double podium in Barcelona, the orange-coloured rockets ran perfectly from start to finish. But on other occasions, riders have struggled with chattering, a strange form of vibration that goes through the entire motorcycle and makes it impossible to open the throttle very early on the corner exits. Often it is the excessive rear wheel [grip] that introduces chattering into the chassis. But good rear wheel grip is essential in racing, and no team or rider would want to sacrifice it with a harder tyre compound to solve the problem. The only way is to work on other components of the bike. Changes in suspension and chassis may shift the frequency of the chatter and may even eliminate it on the race track. That is why Koyama and Krummenacher were onboard a new prototype chassis for two days of testing at Brno last week, aimed at evaluating whether this would improve handling and ride-ability. But the weather created problems at the circuit in the Czech Republic and recurring rain storms made it difficult for the teams present to enjoy any dry track time. On day one the riders did not start until 1400 hours and before they left the circuit on day two Koyama had been able to put in only ten flying laps with the new chassis. Krummenacher was even unluckier. He only managed to put in one fast lap on the new bike. Despite these problems, the results were encouraging and lap times came off easily without the riders pushing hard. Koyama clocked his best lap in 2:10.3 minutes, just 0.4 seconds behind the fastest rider on the track. And despite adverse weather, Krummenacher was not far behind, putting in a fastest lap of 2:11.7 minutes. The new chassis, with less rigidity on the swing arm, and alterations in stiffness and rigidity throughout, seemed to absorb vibrations much better than the previous model. It also made it easier to keep tight cornering lines, another problem the KTM 125 cc riders have experienced on occasions. KTM’s engineers are now using a special test bench in the KTM factory’s Racing Department at Mattighofen, Austria. With it they can measure and analyse chassis stiffness and chassis torsion when certain forces are introduced. This new method removes a lot of the development process trial and error and leads to quick and encouraging results. Red Bull KTM Technical Director confirmed however that results had not yet been conclusive. “Due to the bad weather, we don’t have any final confirmation about the qualities of our new prototype chassis. We also haven’t been able to accomplish our goal of finding out where and in exactly which situations the new chassis behaves better or differently when compared to the old one,” he said. “Therefore, Koyama and Krummenacher will both run two different bikes at the Sachsenring, with an old and a new chassis each, for back-to-back comparisons.” Meanwhile both riders are glowing with confidence for the upcoming German Grand Prix and both have good memories of the Sachsenring. Koyama took one world championship point there after having missed three previous rounds due to injury. And Krummenacher finished 16th just behind Koyama, in only the second Grand Prix of his young career. One year later, both of them are aiming much higher and daring to dream of a repeat of their success in Barcelona at the beginning of June. “I like the Sachsenring, and I have proved that I am fast there,” Randy Krummenacher says with a smile. “I hope to be able to go with the front runners again. If we can get the set-up right, some of my rivals will have to brace themselves!”

Dorna: MotoGP Threatens To Become A Two-horse Race

MotoGP set for Sachsenring showdown Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland – Tuesday 10th June Race preview After a short one and a half week break, MotoGP action returns on July 15th when the World Championship arrives at the Sachsenring circuit in Germany. The Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland is set to be a thrilling encounter if previous races are anything to go by, with the first half of the 2007 season having provided nine races of edge-of-your-seat excitement. MotoGP World Championship leader Casey Stoner is entering uncharted territory in the premier class, having never raced at Sachsenring in the premier class. Last year he qualified eighth on the grid in Germany, but a crash in the Sunday warm up left him without medical clearance to take part in the race itself. The Australian was taken to hospital to check for concussion and bruising of the hands, and was thus unable to gain the experience of racing at the undulating circuit, which would have held him in good stead this year. It is a more mature Stoner who arrives in Germany this year; currently 21 points clear at the top of the MotoGP World Championship classification. The Ducati factory man has been on top form so far in 2007, with five wins and seven podiums from the opening nine races. A lowest finish of fifth shows that Stoner has outstanding consistency this year, something that he will look to continue at Sachsenring. Last year’s race winner Valentino Rossi managed to trim five points off Stoner’s lead with victory at Assen, and is well aware that he has to be at the top of his game to knock his Australian rival off his perch. Luckily for the five-time MotoGP World Champion, on his day he is virtually superhuman, as evidenced by his spellbinding fight through the field in the Netherlands. Rossi has been on the top step of the podium for the past two years in Germany, last year celebrating the win by donning a t-shirt of the Italian national football team. That win was made all the more remarkable by the fact that Rossi had qualified down in eleventh place, as he did at Assen, and had to hold off the challenge of three riders in the closest ever top four finish in the premier-class, with just 0.307 seconds covering Rossi, Marco Melandri, Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa. With a 44-point gap to Rossi and 66 to Stoner, Pedrosa appears to be losing touch as the title battle threatens to become a two horse race. The Repsol Honda rider has now gone the equivalent of an entire season without a win, continuing his longest winless streak since his maiden Grand Prix win in 2002. With both Honda and Michelin having made something of a breakthrough in the Netherlands, perhaps now the 2006 Rookie of the Year can improve on his fourth place from last year in Germany and repeat his 2004 and 2005 triumphs from the 250cc class. A regular top five finisher this year, John Hopkins currently lies fourth in the championship, ahead of Suzuki team-mate Chris Vermeulen. Just one point separates the latter and Honda satellite rider Melandri, who will be without his regular team-mate Toni Elias for the near future. Elias suffered a broken leg in practice for the Dutch showdown, and will be out of action until at least the race in the Czech Republic at the end of August. A different replacement for the Spaniard has been announced for the next two races, with Italy’s Michel Fabrizio getting the nod to ride for Gresini Honda at Sachsenring. The Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland takes place on Sunday July 15th, with practice beginning on the preceding Friday. Jorge Lorenzo bounced back from his Donington disappointment in style at race nine, taking a dominant victory from pole and re-establishing his lead at the top of the 250cc classification. The reigning quarter litre World Champion now holds a 23-point advantage over Andrea Dovizioso in the classification, having taken six wins already this season. Last year Lorenzo was on the podium in Germany, behind Yuki Takahashi and Alex de Angelis. The latter appears to be one of the only riders able to keep up with Lorenzo in a straight battle, despite having yet to taste victory in 2007. Second place at Assen and a run of results in which he has never finished lower than fourth have pushed the San Marino native up the classification, with his current points tally now equal to that of twice race winner Dovizioso. Alvaro Bautista, Hector Barbera and Julian Simon complete the top six in the category; the latter already trailing runaway leader Lorenzo by a massive 117 points. Hector Faubel leads the way in 125cc, which remains closely contested with only two riders holding more than a solitary victory this season. Faubel is joined in the elite group by Mattia Pasini, holder of six pole positions but just four race finishes. Pasini’s two triumphs have come at the previous two rounds, a sign that his luck is changing and that he still has a chance of rising higher than his current seventh place overall. Last year’s race was won by Pasini on the last corner from former team-mate Alvaro Bautista, and this year’s Grand Prix has the potential to be just as tight at the head of the field. British rider Bradley Smith, a doubt after a practice incident at Assen which left him with minor damage to his hand, foot and meniscus, has elected to return to the fray at Sachsenring after two weeks of recuperation. Circuit Info Car and bike races have been held on closed public roads in the area around the town of Chemnitz, Germany since the 1920s and were still taking place until as recently as 1990. It was decided, however, that the five mile course through such a densely populated area was no longer suitable and a new circuit was built five miles west of Chemnitz in 1996. Although mainly used as a driver training centre and road transport safety station, Sachsenring first hosted MotoGP in 1998 and many improvements have taken place since then, including a drastic layout enhancement in 2001. Numerous tight corners make it one of the slower tracks on the calendar but there is never any shortage of close racing action. Permanent pit garages were completed in time for the 2001 season.

Nakano Hoping For Good, Consistent Weather In Germany

KONICA MINOLTA Honda and Shinya Nakano head to the Sachsenring Shinya Nakano and his KONICA MINOLTA Honda head to Germany and the Sachsenring this weekend for round 10 of the 2007 MotoGP championship. With the season heading past the half-way stage, there are now two races in successive weeks before the annual four-week summer break. Shinya is looking forward to the first of the two races at the 2.3 mile circuit of the Sachsenring. Last year, the 29-year-old finished sixth at the event, and back in 2001 when the Japanese rider was Rookie of the Year in the 500cc class he took third aboard a YZR500 Yamaha. Both Team and rider are hoping to continue with the improvements made to the KONICA MINOLTA RC212V, which at Assen saw them maintain some consistent lap times during the race. The Sachsenring is one of the few anti-clockwise tracks that MotoGP visits. It is one of the slowest on the calendar but also quite hard on tyres, thanks to a successive series of six left-hand corners where the riders are hard on the throttle. Following Sunday’s race, the Team will head immediately for the USA for Laguna Seca in California another anti-clockwise track. Gianluca Montiron Team Manager KONICA MINOLTA Honda “Every MotoGP race is a new challenge for us with the new 800cc bike. Sachsenring is a very spectacular circuit and one where the rider can really make the difference. I think that once more we will see lap-times and qualifying being very close. As I have said before, at the moment for us this is a transitory period, but our technical partner Michelin has been working hard, developing new products so I think that this along with improvements we made at Assen should help us towards a better result. Let’s hope for good weather so that Shinya and the Team can determine base-settings for the weekend as soon as possible. For the next two races we’re hopeful of making more steps forward before the summer break when we will be starting negotiations for the 2008 season with our sponsors and partners.” Shinya Nakano Rider, KONICA MINOLTA Honda “I’m sure the whole Team as well as myself want a really good result from the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring. That is what I will be aiming for. On the positive side I really enjoy the track and the layout. It’s not a particularly fast track, but there are some fun corners and having had a fairly good result there last year as well as a rostrum in 2001, I’m hoping that this will help us for the coming weekend. After a number of races where the weather hasn’t been very good and has changed from wet to dry, let’s also hope that we will get some good, consistent weather for the whole race weekend!” Giulio Bernardelle Technical Director, KONICA MINOLTA Honda “Sachsenring isn’t a power circuit, but with the main straight being at the top of a hill and the finish line being at the very top, extra power is useful! The most important parts of the track are the long corners, where bike and rider stay for a long time on their side this is a special characteristic of this track. A very positive point is that Shinya enjoys the track and has done well here before both on a 500cc GP and MotoGP machine. Also, we made some steps forward with our consistency at Assen and this, along with more development from Michelin to help suit Shinya’s riding style, should help us into the top 10 this is our target for the weekend.”

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