Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Geoff May Finishes Second in Miller Supersport Race Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas rounds out podium Round 6 AMA Supersport Series Tooele, Utah Miller Motorsports Park June 22 – 24, 2007 Team M4 EMGO Suzuki captured two podium spots in Sunday afternoon’s AMA Supersport race at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. After a lengthy, heated battle, Suzuki satellite riders Geoff May and Martin Cardenas brought home second and third positions, respectively. Replacement rider Cardenas, riding for injured Michael Barnes, got a good start on his M4 EMGO Suzuki GSX-R600 and ran in third place for most of the race. Teammate May quickly worked his way up from sixth position to battle with his teammate for the coveted podium positions. After swapping back and forth several times on an exciting final lap, the Team M4 EMGO Suzuki duo finished with May in second and Cardenas in third. Geoff May: “I’ve got to give all the credit to my M4 EMGO Suzuki team and the GSX-R600. The bike has been flawless. We just rolled it off the truck with the same set-up from every other track. The Pirelli tires were perfect. We ran the standard tires that anybody can buy and we had no issues. All this combined to really give me the confidence to go out there and run with those guys and hang it all out.” Martin Cardenas: “We made some changes to the Team M4 EMGO Suzuki GSX-R600 this morning to try and get the bike to steer better. We changed the geometry of the bike and that helped a lot in the fast corners. Every weekend (in AMA racing) is very, very tough. I am trying to be on the podium or in the top five every weekend. I know it is difficult but I will try. The race at Road America was very hard, but I came from behind and had to try and close the gap. That was a different race but also very tough. I want to thank the Team M4 EMGO Suzuki team, Pirelli, my mechanics and everyone on the team. I’m very grateful.” All of Suzuki’s road race teams will return for round seven of the AMA Superbike Series at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif., the weekend of July 20 – 22, 2007. AMA Supersport Top 10 Finishers: 1. Jamie Hacking, Kawasaki 2. Geoff May, Team M4 EMGO Suzuki 3. Martin Cardenas, Team M4 EMGO Suzuki 4. Aaron Gobert, Honda 5. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki 6. Josh Herrin, Yamaha 7. Josh Hayes, Honda 8. Chris Peris, Yamaha 9. Chaz Davies, Yamaha 10. Steve Rapp, Kawasaki AMA Supersport Points Standings: 1. Josh Hayes, Honda 2. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki 3. Jamie Hacking, Kawasaki 4. Steve Rapp, Kawasaki 5. Tommy Hayden, Yoshimura Suzuki 6. Geoff May, Team M4 EMGO Suzuki 7. Blake Young, MPT Suzuki 8. Chaz Davies, Yamaha 9. Aaron Gobert, Honda 10. Ben Attard, Kawasaki More, from a press release issued by Corona Extra Honda Racing: TENTH AND ELEVENTH FOR ELLISON AT MILLER MOTORSPORTS SUPERBIKE DOUBLEHEADER Corona Extra Honda Racing’s James Ellison really showed his speed at this weekends AMA SuperBike event held just a few miles from the Great Salt Lake. Ellison posted tenth and eleventh place finishes in the doubleheader. His finishes were both marred by start line mishaps which held him back down the field. The weather could not have been more different from the last event with temperatures getting into the hundreds. The sweltering heat did not seem to slow James down in practice and qualifying. His previous testing at the track certainly helped in qualifying, with him netting his best starting grid position of the season, ninth! The Team was confident for the first SuperBike race following excellent morning practice times by James. Come the green flag though, James’s start was poor leaving him a number of positions down from his grid position after the first lap. James said; “After the DNF at Road America with the burnt clutch I was very cautious getting off the line and a bunch of people came by me!” James put his head down however and started cutting through the field, working his was to eleventh by lap ten and tenth the next lap. He was gaining on the factory Yamaha of Jason Desalvo by nearly a second a lap but just ran out of time to catch him by the checkered flag. James said; “I was getting more confident to push the front end as the race went on. I could see Desalvo and Yates and was gaining every lap -another couple of laps maybe!” The crew put in a new type of clutch for race two to give James confidence at the start. At the drop of the green flag Ellison again had difficulty getting off the line. “The clutch worked differently from the other one and I just needed more practice” said Ellison. He was fourteenth after lap one, working up another place by lap two. The race was stopped on lap four when race leader Matt Mladin crashed out. Mladin stayed down in the impact zone until the red flag came out. He then got up and ran back to his pit followed shortly after by his bike. In an obvious-to-all and blatant display of favoritism to the multi-time Superbike champion, the restart was delayed until his bike was ready to race. The special treatment caused great disgust throughout the paddock even as far as officials working the event. As one said; “How long does it take to write out new grid positions from the last lap chart certainly not half an hour!” On the restart James again had clutch issues and was deemed to have jumped the start. He was given a pit ride-through penalty which dropped him to second to last. He then rode like a man possessed, putting in lap times a second faster than his qualifying time and that would have put him in the top four. He made up nine positions to finish eleventh. Ellison is currently eleventh in the SuperBike Championship points order. The Speed Channel rear-facing view camera was once again on James’ bike for the weekend. More, from a press release issued by Chris Ulrich Racing: EXCELLENT UTAH WEEKEND FOR TEAM ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI Team Roadracingworld.com enjoyed their finest AMA weekend yet, ringing up fourth and seventh place finishes in Sunday’s Superstock final at Miller Motorsports Park. Robertino Pietri found himself right at home on the European-style circuit, effectively leveraging his skills through the track’s fast and flowing corners. The reigning Latin American and Venezuelan Superbike champ was on the pace all weekend long aboard his Pirelli-shod GSX-R1000, even leading Saturday morning’s session for a time before ending up an exceptional third in the practice. Pietri claimed a second row grid position by qualifying seventh in the class with a time of 1:53.344, two positions ahead of teammate Chris Ulrich who headed the third row with a best lap of 1:53.943. Following an early red flag and complete restart, Pietri got away clean in fifth, while Ulrich stumbled a bit early down in 12th. The Venezuelan rode a consistent race near the front, ultimately working his way up to a superb fourth-place result at the checkered flag. Meanwhile, Ulrich charged up the leaderboards, climbing up from outside the top ten to seventh by the conclusion of the 13-lap affair. Pietri’s fourth place run is a career best in AMA competition and he feels there is more to come. “It was a great weekend for us,” he remarked. “We’ve been improving a lot and we knew this track would suit me. I think we’ve finally found a good base setup for the bike that should work at every track. My mechanics are working really hard and doing a great job. “This is the type of track I like to ride on — no stop-and-go corners. This is one of those tracks where you need courage. How fast can you go through the corners? We looked good since the promoter practice on Thursday and I think we impressed some people by finishing third in one of the practices, too. “Pirelli gave us some good tires and I got a good start after the red flag. I knew I could hang in there for a top five and I was real happy with that. I think we can carry this momentum on and with our base setup I think we should be able to continue doing well.” Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will be back in action on July 20-22 at Laguna Seca, near Monterey, CA. More, from a press release issued by American Suzuki: Yoshimura Suzuki’s Spies Wins Second Miller Superbike Race of Weekend Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mladin crashes but finishes 4th & Hayden brings home 6th Round 6 AMA Superbike Series Tooele, Utah Miller Motorsports Park June 22 – 24, 2007 Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies picked up his second AMA Superbike victory of the weekend on Sunday afternoon at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. This is the defending AMA Superbike Champion’s fifth Superbike win of the season and his 16th career victory. Additionally, the Texan took the pole position his fifth of the season. Teammate Mat Mladin finished an impressive fourth after his spectacular crash resulted in a red flag and race re-start. The six-time AMA Superbike Champion started from the back of the field and still managed to work his way up to fourth. Tommy Hayden also had a strong performance, leading the first few laps before finishing in the top 10. Ben Spies: “I just rode my Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 hard this weekend for sure. I had a couple of slips around, but that’s how it goes when you’re pushing that hard and that’s what I’m having to do to win races. Mat’s riding really good right now and to come back from dead last after a crash like that and finish fourth is pretty good. And it’s not making my life easy. But we did what we had to do this weekend. We came here and got the pole and won both races and that’s as much as I can do. So if we can do that for the whole season – every time I get on the bike it’s got to be 110 percent, that’s what it’s going to take.” Tommy Hayden: “I wish we’d been drag racing today. I would have had everybody covered. My starts on the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 were good. I pulled holeshots from the second row. I was feeling good for the first few laps, and then I had a few ‘moments’ and lost some confidence. It’s really frustrating because at every other race except this one, it’s been the exact opposite. I did my best laps at the end of the race, so I thought if I could figure out my starts I’d be set. Now I’ve just got to figure out how to put it all together.” Mat Mladin: “Nothing to it, I just highsided in Turn two, bumped my head a bit and scraped up my knee nothing serious. I can’t say enough about my guys for putting the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 back together so fast so I could go back out there. Starting from the back like that, I just tried to work my way up and pick up as many positions as possible. I’m a little banged up but I’m flying home tonight and I’ll see my personal doctor tomorrow. I reckon I’ll be going for a run by Tuesday.” All of Suzuki’s road race teams will return for round seven of the AMA Superbike Series at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif., the weekend of July 20 – 22, 2007. AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers: 1. Ben Spies, Yoshimura Suzuki 2. Jake Zemke, Honda 3. Miguel Duhamel, Honda 4. Mat Mladin, Yoshimura Suzuki 5. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki 6. Tommy Hayden, Yoshimura Suzuki 7. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha 8. Aaron Yates, Jordan Suzuki 9. Jamie Hacking, Kawasaki 10. Luca Scassa, MV Agusta AMA Superbike Points Standings: 1. Ben Spies, Yoshimura Suzuki 2. Mat Mladin, Yoshimura Suzuki 3. Jake Zemke, Honda 4. Miguel Duhamel, Honda 5. Tommy Hayden, Yoshimura Suzuki 6. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha 7. Aaron Yates, Jordan Suzuki 8. Jamie Hacking, Kawasaki 9. Eric Bostrom, Yamaha 10. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki More, from a press release issued by Jordan Suzuki: JORDAN SUZUKI’S AARON YATES 3rd AT MILLER MOTORSPORTS PARK Earns Podium Finish in AMA Superstock Race Tooele, Utah Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki’s Aaron Yates rode his Suzuki GSX-R1000 to a third place finish in Sunday’s AMA Superstock race at Miller Motorsports Park. This is Yates’ third podium for the Jordan Suzuki team and his second podium at this track. With team owner Michael Jordan in attendance, Yates qualified for the event with a time of 1:51.574, earning a front row start next to teammate Jake Holden, who started from third place with a qualifying time of 1:51.261. Both riders got off to a good start before the race was red flagged after Holden crashed going into turn two. Holden visited the medical center as a precautionary measure and chose not to restart the race. Yates, who was quickest in Sunday’s AMA Superstock morning practice, found himself in 11th place on lap one of the restart after another rider knocked his handlebars, causing a broken clutch lever. Yates overcame the damage to his bike and moved rapidly through the field into fifth place in the 13 lap race, eventually crossing the checkered flag in third place. “It was great to have Michael here,” said Yates. “I just wish our results could have been better. We’ll go home, regroup and get ready for the next round.” Today’s podium finish puts Yates third in total points for the Championship and only six points out of second place. The next stop for the Jordan Suzuki team and the AMA Superbike Series is Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California July 20-22, 2007, featuring an abbreviated AMA Superbike racing schedule and Moto Grand Prix World Championship racing. AMA Superstock racing will resume at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August. For more information on the team, visit the race team website at www.23race.com. More, from HALOF Suzuki: HALOF Racing’s Scott Jensen finishes 6th in Superstock at Utah’s Miller Motorsports Park. Also finishes top Pirelli rider in both Superbike rounds. In an effort to show that their podium finish at the last round wasn’t a rain fluke, HALOF Racing rider Scott Jensen battled for a top spot in Superstock aboard his Pirelli mounted Suzuki GSX-R1000. After having a rough start with riders bouncing off each other all the way through turn one Jensen battled with Suzuki rider Danny Eslick the whole race. “Man it was a demo derby at the start,” said Jensen. “I just wanted to make sure I kept the bike on the track and upright. It hurt us a little because a few guys got away from us. Danny and I had a great race and I could see we were catching 4th place, but our battling held us up a little. It’s great to have had a good run today. It shows we can battle for a top spot every weekend. I tried to stand the thing up starting the last lap in the last corner but it almost spit me off and Danny got by. I tried one more time and couldn’t make it stick. It was a good run and we finished .6 seconds between 4th and us. “ Jensen also had some good runs in the Superbike races Saturday and Sunday. Finishing 12th and 13th respectively made the HALOF Racing rider top Pirelli rider in both races as well as top small team. “It’s hard to say who is and who isn’t a privateer anymore,” Jensen stated laughing. “We call ourselves top small truck team, but it’s nice to be top Pirelli rider in the premier class. All weekend I got to race with the factory MV’s and the Corona Honda so that is cool. After Sunday’s restart I was battling with DiSalvo and Hacking which shows that small teams have a chance to run with factory teams, winning one is another story.” Next stop for HALOF Racing is the Laguna Seca round featuring the Moto GP stars. The team will run only Superbike but plan to take a Superstock bike to do some testing in preparation for the AMA’s final round there. More, from a press release issued by LeoVince Pegram Racing Ducati Team: Close Call for LeoVince Pegram Racing Ducati Team in Utah Pegram Pulls the Holeshot – But Loose Fork Cap Costs Team Valuable Positions Columbus, Ohio – The Formula Xtreme race at Miller Motorsports started with Larry Pegram pulling the holeshot from eighth position on the starting grid on his modified Ducati 749R . This was the team’s first holeshot this season. Larry led the race until Josh Hayes got around him on the first lap. On the second lap, Chaz Davies pushed Pegram wide which moved him back to seventh position, where he stayed until the ninth lap when the cap on one of the front forks worked its way loose. Larry finished the last four laps with one fully-functioning fork, and in fourteenth place. “I was pumped to get the holeshot and was hoping to finish on the podium again this weekend, but it wasn’t in the cards. I was lucky that the fork cap came loose in a slow turn; otherwise it could have been ugly for me. After the cap came loose, my focus was to finish as high as possible to salvage points,” commented Larry. Larry qualified in eighth with a 1:54.769. After Round 6 of the Lockhart-Phillips USA Formula Xtreme, Larry Pegram is in fourth place overall with 130 points. The Formula Xtreme class will not be racing at the next event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on July 20 – 22, 2007. Larry’s next race will be at his home track at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, the weekend of August 3 -5, 2007. More, from a press release issued by Safety First Racing: Mixed Results for Safety First Suzuki Riders In the Heat of Salt Lake City High temperatures greeted the racers and fans that attended this weekend’s events at Miller Motorsports Park, just west of Salt Lake City in Tooele, Utah. Safety First Suzuki saw different ends of the spectrum of results during the weekend. Stockton, CA resident Bobby Fong continued to amass experience and maintain his upward progress as the youngest rider in the AMA Superbike Series by finishing in 11th place for the Formula Xtreme Race, with Scotty Ryan, calling Lemont, IL his home, ended his Formula Xtreme race by being taken out by another rider only six turns into the event. Roles were somewhat reversed for the Supersport race, as Fong crashed with a lap and a half to go and Ryan was in a five-way battle for 28th-32nd. Kevin Hanson- Safety First Suzuki Team Owner “We were able to come out a week early and use the WERA race event the prior weekend for testing. But we had very limited track time and were only able to break in motors on Saturday and the guys had to start the races on Sunday from the last row. But in a field of almost 70 bikes, Bobby came through to finish 9th and 16th and Scott finished just behind that. We had some crashes to work with, but that is to be expected when you have younger riders learning the tracks and gaining experience as they drop their times. The team had some time to bond well and hang out on the Monday and Tuesday after the race weekend by spending time with Chris and Mike from OnTheThrottle.TV mountain biking and horse back riding. We have some work to do, but we have some time now to sort through things before Laguna Seca.” Bobby Fong: Results: 11th- FX, 40th (DNF)- Supersport “It was a so-so weekend. I am a little disappointed that I moved back a spot to 6th overall in FX, but it seemed like for both races, I just got stuck behind someone and had to work hard to get by them. In the case of the Supersport race, it was Tommy Hayden that I was trying to get by for several laps and on the second last lap, I had to really force the issue to get by him as I was being held up, and just lost the front end. It’s telling though that I was able to run with the factory Suzuki and experienced rider like Tommy Hayden. The same thing happened in Formula Xtreme and by the time I got by the Rockwall bike, I lost the pack in front and had a lonely race to 11th place. Next round should be fun as we’ll be back home again in California at Laguna. I have some track time there, which will help me in acclimating to the track quicker than normal.” Fong is now in 6th place overall in Formula Xtreme and 18th overall in Supersport series points. Scott Ryan: Results: DNF- FX, 32nd- Supersport “I’m pretty frustrated in the Formula Xtreme race, as a Yamaha was dropping oil from the start which bunched the field. I had to check up and lost some drive, but going into the double apex turn number 6, a club rider used me and my bike as a brake, taking me out unnecessarily in the process. I also had to deal with an injured hand from a low side crash during the WERA weekend. For the Supersport race, I finally got things dialed and ran my fastest laps that I have for either the WERA or the AMA rounds. After I almost highsided, I ended up loosing five positions and had to get my head down to reel the pack in.” As a result of the first lap accident in the Formula Xtreme race, Ryan lost two positions in the overall standings, now currently sitting in 19th place. 30th in the ultra-competitive Supersport class. Next up for the team will be the AMA event held in conjunction with the MotoGP races at Laguna Seca in mid-July, where Safety First Suzuki will only have the Supersport class to focus on due to the limited classes and schedule set to race there by the promoters. Safety First Racing was formed in 2004 by police officer/racer, Kevin Hanson, based out of Chicago, IL. For 2007, Safety First Suzuki will be competing in the AMA Superbike series in the Supersport and Formula Xtreme classes. Kevin Hanson continues to educate elementary school aged children nationwide about the importance of helmet usage. More, from a press release issued by Rockwall Honda: TOP TEN RESULTS FOR ROCKWALL HONDA’S ELLEBY AND ANDREWS IN UTAH Rockwall Honda’s Ryan Elleby and Ryan Andrews both finished in the top ten in AMA Formula Xtreme racing in Utah. The young racers fought through a hot weekend to post impressive results for the Rockwall, Texas-based team at Miller Motorsports Park. The Formula Xtreme race, held in temperatures over 100 degrees on Saturday, saw both young Rockwall Honda racers finish high on the leader board. Ryan Elleby earned eighth position, his third top ten finish of the season. Ryan Andrews was tenth in the Formula Xtreme race and now lies ninth in the championship mid-way through the season. “The Formula Xtreme race went well for us,” said Elleby, from Powder Springs, Georgia. “We were quick in the practice and things looked promising. Then in qualifying, we had some issues and we were about a second slower than our practice times so we qualified on the third row. When the race started, we worked our way up and stayed with the lead pack for a while. It was good to be able to see those guys and hang with them. I’m happy with the result and our lap times.” “We’re making progress in FX and my goal is to finish in the top five by the end of the season,” said Elleby after improving to 12th in the points. “I think we can do it.” Andrews, who has four top ten finishes on the year in Formula Xtreme, followed his teammate home two positions later. “I struggled all weekend with bike setup,” said Andrews. “Last year, we had an easier time with finding a good setting but with the new chassis this year, we’ve struggled with finding an ideal base setting. The race went okay. I didn’t go as fast as I wanted but we got a top ten, so we’re pleased with that. We want to get better in the future and we are getting closer.” In Supersport, Andrews was 19th. Elleby did not participate due to a technical issue out of the team’s control. “We never really got a good lap in so we didn’t qualify as well as we wanted,” said Andrews. “I didn’t get a good start, either. Then we settled in and I started picking guys off. I was catching people the entire race. At least we made some progress and in the race found something to build on.” “We had some ups and downs this weekend, but we learned a lot and will move forward,” said team owner Michael Worrell. “In Formula Xtreme, Ryan Elleby is riding his butt off and good things are happening on his side of things. We can’t wait for the next FX race. Ryan Andrews has struggled some but we’re getting closer to getting everything back on track with him as well.” “The crew worked very hard at this race. It was incredibly hot and they did a great job considering all the obstacles in our way,” said Worrell. “I can’t be more proud of the crew and the effort they put in. We’re looking forward to Laguna Seca. Andrews had his best result there last year and we want to get some more good finishes.” The Laguna Seca round will see the team race in Supersport only. That event is July 20-22. “Last year I got fourth at Laguna and that’s a good track for me. We’re looking for a top ten in Supersport,” said Andrews. More, from a press release issued by Shift Racing: AMA ROAD RACING REPORT CORY WEST Privateer road racer Cory West gives you the inside scoop from Round 6 of the AMA Supersport and Formula Xtreme Championships at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, UT. By Cory West After my race at Road America I had a weekend off and then we all went to Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. SHIFT did a small update in the news about the WERA National that was the weekend before the AMA races and things went well for us. I took pole position and the race win in the C Superstock race and we got a good setup on the motorcycle for the AMA weekend. Because I had the weekend of riding before the AMA races started, we skipped the promoter practice on Thursday and just got everything dialed in for Friday’s first official practices. Both Supersport and FX practices went well and we were sitting inside the top 10 and only a second to a second and a half off of the fast time. We sorted through some different tires in both of those sessions and found our race tires and what worked and what didn’t. At the end of the day I had to qualify for FX, and that turned out to be very good for us. I started the qualifying session on what would be our race tire and never changed. I just turned in as many laps as I could and managed to get hooked up with a few guys at the end and turned in the 6th fastest time at 1:54.5. That was the first time I was in the 54s and I felt very confident in our tire selection and motorcycle’s performance. Saturday we started off with Supersport practice and we were kind of struggling just a bit in that class. The bike was running good on top end power but I was having a hard time getting it to pull very hard coming out of the corners. I complained a little bit to Chuck and he took the bike to the dyno to see if he could find some more power. Next session out was on the FX bike and I was struggling to get back to where I left off in Friday’s qualifying session. I came in and made a quick change to the tire pressures and went back out and started turning faster laps but I ended up tucking the front in turn 11 and crashed. It was just a little lowside and it really didn’t do much to the bike or myself, it just caught me off guard and happened super fast. So after we got the bike and myself cleaned up, I had to go out and qualify for Supersport. We had a race tire to start the session on and then we had two qualifying tires to throw on at the end to try to bring our time down. The session was going well on the race tire but when we started throwing the super sticky tires at it, the bike just didn’t work as well. I ended up going faster on the race tire and I really should have just stayed on it the whole time, but it was a gamble worth trying. So I ended the session in 12th position, which is not really where I wanted to be, but I knew we had a good chance of hanging with the lead group for the race on Sunday. While Chuck and I were out qualifying for Supersport, our newest member to Team Hunter, Cyle Winkler, was in the garage getting our FX bike ready to roll for the race at the end of the day. The bike got all cleaned and fixed up about a half hour before the race started and I just made sure everything felt the way it did before my little spill. When the race got underway, I got a good launch off of the line but as soon as I clicked the bike into 2nd gear everybody behind me started blowing by. I couldn’t figure out why, but I just rode as hard as I could to maintain my position. I ended up getting stuck in 9th place with nobody around and that’s where I finished. When the Supersport bike got mapped at the dyno earlier in the morning, we used the same map in the FX bike and it hurt the bike’s power a little bit. Just enough that I couldn’t turn the same times I did in qualifying but we still finished the race in the top ten. On Sunday, we got everything sorted out that we were having problems with the day before and I got down to some high 54s in the Supersport warm-up. I knew that I would have to get a good start in the race to try and hang with the leaders, and that is what I did when the time came. I got into turn one good and worked my way up to around 6th by the time I got to turn five. When I tipped into turn six, I felt my seat start to move around a little bit, but I tried to ignore it and hang on to the position I was in. I got shuffled around a little bit and was around 8th place when my seat actually came flying off in a section of “S” turns. It happened on the third lap of the thirteen lap race and I knew I was going to be in for an interesting ten more laps. After it fell off, I was left to sit on the battery and the subframe, which wasn’t too bad except for the two 10mm bolt heads that held the tailpiece onto the subframe. I got passed by a few more guys and I tried my best to stay with them but my legs were cramping so bad from sitting 6 inches lower than what I was used to. When the race finally ended, I finished it out in 11th place. It was probably the most physically and mentally straining race I’ve had in a long time, but I got through it better than a lot of people did that actually had something to sit on! It turned out to be the spring that holds the Dzeus fastener that broke. There are two fasteners that hold the seat on, and when the one broke, the other couldn’t hold all the force of me sliding around on the seat. It was a bummer that it happened in the race but at least I finished and got some more points. It was a long and hot two weeks spent at Miller, but I really had a good time riding at that place. We had some good luck the first week, and some bad luck the second week but that’s how racing goes sometimes. I rode again on Monday to do a test for Roadracing World Magazine on an MV Augusta. It was kind of nice to see the track from a different point of view and a welcome change to ride something different. The test ended well and now I’m on the road for a WERA National at Road Atlanta. It’s a lot of traveling but I couldn’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing!
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