NEW ENGLAND YOUNG GUN JOINS SAFETY FIRST SUZUKI RACING “It was a roller coaster weekend” quoted Team Safety First Suzuki sponsored by Komodo owner Kevin Hanson. Starting with rider Chris “Opie” Caylor’s decision to end his season with Safety First prior to the VIR round (see “Supersport And Formula Xtreme Racer “Opie” Caylor Decides To Sit Out Remainder Of AMA Season, Road Racing World Breaking News, Aug 18, 2006), numerous highs and lows were seen throughout the balance of the race event. Tony “The Tiger” Meiring had his first DNF of the year with an engine problem in Saturday’s Formula Xtreme race, but followed it up with a 10th place finish in Sunday’s Supersport competition. Meiring noted “I was frustrated with not finishing the FX race, but that happens when it comes to racing. I was impressed by the way the team wasn’t stressed and just went about their business. Their hard work allowed me to get that 10th place on Sunday.” The Komodo sponsored Meiring maintains his top ten overall standing in both classes, sitting in 7th place for Formula Xtreme and 8th place in Supersport. Rookie phenom Shane Narbonne also had an eventful first AMA weekend. In his first ever AMA race in Formula Xtreme, Shane netted an impressive 14th place on a bike he had never ridden before the race. However, in the Supersport race, Narbonne was taken out by another competitor while battling for 13th place early in the race. “Shane came very highly recommended by Eric and Jeff Wood who had tipped David Swarts of RoadRacing World off to regarding his talent to be featured in the “Young Guns” issue.” “David approached me on Friday and said he knew of a kid that I may want to take a look at. Shane came down and introduced himself on Friday and even though I had not planned on having anyone on the second bike this weekend, I thought I would give him a shot after talking with him. He earned the ride during his interview with me.” commented Kevin Hanson. “His talent was confirmed by turning a 1:30.6 on only his third lap on the bike, which was 1.5 seconds faster than he turned on his own bike the previous day. Shane hails from a dirt track background and possesses those skills of having great throttle control and is smooth, fast, has the ability to learn very quickly and a great personality.” Said Narbonne of his first ever AMA weekend, “I had a lot of fun. I was happy with my times on the bikes with Safety First. The team gave me a good feeling throughout the weekend and I am looking forward to the balance of the year.” Young Gun Narbonne hails from Derry, NH and will replace Caylor for the balance of the year. Safety First Suzuki was formed in 2004 by police officer/racer, Kevin Hanson, based out of Chicago, IL. For 2006, Safety First Suzuki is competing in the AMA Superbike series in the Supersport and Formula Xtreme classes. The bikes are prepared by Jim Rashid and the team at 4&6 Racing in Skokie, IL. Checkout www.SAFETYFIRSTRACING.com to see the new Safety First/Suzuki/Komodo line of riding apparel and casual wear. Kevin Hanson continues to educate elementary school aged children nationwide about the importance of helmet usage. More, from a press release issued by JQ Moto Team: GPR STABILIZERS SCOTT JENSEN HAS AN UP AND DOWN DAY SATURDAY After making a great comeback in Mid-Ohio to an injury filled season GPR Stabilizers Scott Jensen had an up and down day. Scott and his JQ Moto team is being filmed and interviewed for the all new Superbikes program airing on Speed TV. “It’s to show the life of a privateer racer in the AMA Superbike Series”, said Jensen, “It’s exciting, nerve wrecking, and a little scary all at the same time. It’s happening on a weekend that my main sponsor, GPR Stabilizers, sent Jeff Norman (son of owner, and head of roadracing development for GPR) to the races to see how their product and our team is doing. I was hoping for a great race for the show and for my sponsors.” In a race that proved to be a race long battle for Jensen with 4 other riders he wasn’t happy with his results. “Chris Cook from RPM and his friend Leon came to help out this weekend. It was great timing cause it gave me a little time to work with the Superbikes show people”, Scott said, “Racing with guys I don’t normally run with was both fun and a bummer since we finished 18th. We just plain missed the set up a bit. The track changed and I think it affected a lot of teams if you look at where Ben Bostrom (Ducati) and Jake Holden (Jordan Suzuki) finished 11th and 14th respectively. I’m not sure at this point if it was a wrong tire choice or if we didn’t anticipate the heat surge that came this afternoon, but we just lacked grip and it made it a handful the entire race”. With another day of filming planned the GPR team plans on a making changes to improve their finish during Sunday’s 28 lap main event. “It’s absolutely exciting for me and our company”, said Jeff Norman, “Scott is doing a great job in his racing and finding time to help promote our products. I know he was a little unhappy with his result today but his quest to improve his position tomorrow is what makes us excited and confident that we chose the right person to sponsor and make GPR Stabilizers a huge name and face in roadracing”. On a 3 day race weekend GPR’s Bob Bright says there is about 25 top competitors using GPR stabilizers, anyone form factory supported teams like Pegram Racing to local racers trying to play with the big boys. “We’re planning on staying around a long time in the racing industry”, says Norman, “Our efforts and programs will grow over the years and we are off to an awesome start”. Look for Scott Jensen to be back toward the front of the AMA Superbike race in Sunday’s main event. “We have a little work tonight but we will get the motorcycle ready with the right adjustments and have a go at it again tomorrow. I just can’t thank all my sponsors, and friends enough”. GPR STABILIZER’S SCOTT JENSEN WOWS THE GANG WITH A 13TH PLACE FINISH SUNDAY I know it doesn’t sound like much finishing 13th, but what the JQ Moto Team had to do for that finish was remarkable. Spending Sunday morning warm up correcting the set up issues from Saturdays race Jensen found his speed back that he hoped would put him in the top 10. Then while the final minutes were winding down in the session Scott’s A motor starting making noise. He quickly pitted and went back to the garage. “It’s amazing how quickly something can turn a smile into a frown,” the dejected rider said, ” But I’m grateful to everyone that helped get me in the race.” The GPR Stabilizer team has a spare bike, but being a privateer team Scott only had enough money to build one real good Superbike. Chris Cook and Leon from RPM, Scott, Jeff Norman of GPR, Jason Britton and his crew, and other friends got to work changing motors from one bike to the other. “It’s sort of a shame not to have 2 complete racing machines but I’m glad to have the friends to help me over come it,” said Jensen, “The Superbikes show crew from Speed along with Jason and his other riders pitched in as well. We had things and people going everywhere but we had a race to run.” With the schedule change made by the AMA due to bad weather closing in they moved the Superbike race to an earlier start time. This left the crew with even less time to perform the job at hand. Jeff Norman said, “It was amazing how many people jumped in to help our rider out, I was real excited how it all turned out. We know in our situation we may not go out and win a Superbike race but when you can over come something like this that the GPR team did that makes everyone who helped a winner.” After starting 25th on the grid due to a poor qualifying effort Scott started making his way to the front. In the final laps he had closed up on the 13th place and made a move in the infield to capture that position. It’s hard to understand the excitement of the team. The motor they installed in just under 35mins was a bone stock motor from a junkyard. “It’s the motor I use on my backup bike for track days and promoter practice to keep from wearing my A stuff out,” said Jensen as he sat on the pit wall after the race, “That motor is at least 20 hp if not more less then my race motor. I just rode the wheels off it and tried to bring home GRP a good finish and put on a good race for Jason and his Superbikes show. I’m very happy. I want to thank everyone who helped us today and let everyone I plan to get to Atlanta early enough to rebuild my Superbike motor and have a great finish there.” Britton added, “That was the moments we were looking for in a privateer for the show. We knew he could ride fast and he is one hell of a nice guy but it shows that guys like Scott Jensen our unsung heros in our sport of motorcycling. We would like to thank him for his time over the weekend and wish him the best of luck for the last 2 races.” More, from a press release issued by Millennium/KWS Suzuki: MILLENNIUM/KWS SUZUKI CONTINUE THEIR STREAK OF TOP TEN FINISHES Millennium/KWS Suzuki sponsored by Ron Ayers Motorsports had another great top ten weekend at Virginia International Raceway. After a difficult day on Saturday, the team regrouped on Sunday to post some excellent finishes in both the Superbike and Superstock races. Matt Lynn continues to impress at every race and again reset his personal best finish in Superbike. The highlight of qualifying was John Haner’s performance in Superbike. Provisional results on Friday placed Haner in fifth ahead of five factory riders. For final qualifying, Haner used the amazing grip of the Pirelli slicks to qualify in the eleventh position with a time of 1:26.243. This put Haner on the third row with the factory Honda of Miguel Duhamel and factory Kawasaki of Roger Lee Hayden. Matt Lynn rode his GSX-R1000 to a best time of 1:27.156 to qualify in the fourteenth position. In Superstock qualifying the Millennium Technology riders qualified back to back with Lynn in the thirteenth position and Haner in the fourteenth position. Saturday’s Superbike race one was hard on the Millennium/KWS Suzuki team. After great starts by both riders, John Haner was run off track by another rider and completed lap two in last place. Bad lucked caught up with Matt Lynn on lap seven when he crashed out of the race in turn fourteen. John Haner put in an impressive ride to fight his way back through the field to finish seventeenth. Sunday’s Superbike race two was a chance for redemption for both Suzuki mounted riders. Both riders got great starts but Haner eventually was forced to retire with a clutch problem. Matt Lynn rode an outstanding race with Hooters Suzuki’s Eric Wood to secure his best AMA Superbike result to date with a ninth place finish. Due to a schedule change the Superstock race was run immediately after Superbike race two. The Pit Bull sponsored KWS team barely had time to change Pirelli tires and put VP fuel in their GSX-R1000’s. With only ten minutes of rest after the grueling 28 lap Superbike race, Haner and Lynn again found themselves charging toward turn one. Both riders got excellent starts and ran the entire race fighting back and forth for eighth place. On the last lap Haner ran off the track in turn one trying to out brake his teammate. Lynn was unaffected and continued on to finish eighth and Haner recovered to finish in the thirteenth position. Matt Lynn “The first part of the weekend was rough. I got taken out in Thursday promoter practice by another rider and crashed again in the Superbike race on Saturday. My guys worked so hard and never gave up and neither did I and we ended up having a great day on Sunday. I can’t thank Rick Matheny, Brian Stricker and Brian Drebber enough for all the hard work.” John Haner “We had some bad luck on both sides of the team, but overall it was a good weekend. The Superstock race was really good. Racing with Matt was the first time I have really raced since my injury and it was a blast. I want to thank my crew, my sponsors, and the entire KWS team for all the hard work and support. I wouldn’t be able to do this with out companies like Rockstar Energy Drink, Dragon Optical, HJC, and Komodo.” Kevin Hunt “Overall it was a good weekend. We had some problems at the beginning of the weekend, but these guys do not give up. They put their head down and came up with some good results. I am very proud of the effort the entire team put in. I want to thank Jimmy Stallings and everybody from Ron Ayers Motorsports for coming out and supporting us this weekend. Their support is key to our success.” More. from a press release issued by Matt Lynn Racing: Matt Lynn Scores Career Best Superbike Finish Team Turns Discouraging Start into Favorable Conclusion Exactly two seasons after making his AMA professional racing debut at Virginia International Raceway, Matt Lynn left the scenic and demanding seventeen-turn layout with another pair of top ten finishes in 2006. Ninth position in Sunday’s Superbike race coupled with eighth in Superstock ended the weekend on a high note. Suffering a fall caused by another rider entering pit road in Thursday practice, Lynn and the team lost a day’s setup time but persevered to start from the fourth row in both classes by the time he took to the grid on Saturday. Competing as usual in the Superbike race on his Superstock-spec Suzuki GSX-R1000, Lynn made a few passes early to move up to twelfth. Continuing to press forward, Lynn lost the front in turn fourteen at the top of the Roller Coaster section — a spot which claimed its share of riders over the weekend. He was able to ride the bike back to the pits but not return to action. Matt was visibly disappointed with the crash, explaining, “I went into that turn at the top of the hill, turn fourteen I think it is, and lost the front, and that kind of ended our day on a bad note.” Sunday’s schedule underwent a radical change due to the threat of weather in the area. Lynn had to race a twenty-eight lap Superbike race followed immediately by seventeen more laps in the Repsol Lubricants Superstock event. In the Superbike race at noon, Lynn rode a well planned, tactical race and earned his career best finish in the Superbike class at ninth. He spent a majority of the race dicing with Eric Wood and Cory West, and after Cory ran wide mid-race, Matt searched for a way around Wood’s visibly quicker Superbike. “There were a couple of areas where Eric was a little weaker,” Matt noted after the race, “and there was a couple of areas where he was faster than I was, so I was trying to get a good run on him. I finally got a good run on him on the front straightaway, outbraked him going into turn one and just held him off to the finish line.” With fresh Pirelli slicks and a tank of VP fuel, Lynn set out for seventeen more hard fought laps. Again using patience and carefully planned moves he was able to score his fifth top ten and second-best Superstock finish to date. “Over the weekend, my thought pattern changed a little bit, thinking about points, and trying to do good in the points chase and all that stuff,” Lynn revealed. KWS/Millenium teammate John Haner ended up locked in a fierce battle with Matt, and the two riders enjoyed their first head-to-head scrap of the season. “I kept seeing plus zero on my board, and John Haner came by me, and that’s the first time I’ve gotten to race with John this year — really race for a while. So, I followed John around for a little while and learned a little bit from him.” Haner tried a desperate move on the final lap only to run out of asphalt trying to outbrake Matt into turn one. “He had the thing totally sideways from what I could see out of my peripheral vision,” Lynn recalled. “He finally picked it up and then ran off the track, which was unfortunate for him, because we had a really good race going.” The performance moved him up into a tie for eleventh in points with Jordan Suzuki’s Jake Holden. The penultimate round of the AMA Superbike series takes place in two weeks time at Road Atlanta, almost in Matt’s backyard. More, from a press release issued by Team Embry: Team Embry’s Keith Marshall Gets Back to Racing at Virginia International Raceway ALTON, Va. Team Embry’s Keith Marshall got back to racing this past weekend during AMA Pro Racing’s Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals at Virginia International Raceway, putting his recent injuries behind him as he cruised to two 15th place finishes. A crash during the AMA weekend at Road America in June sent Marshall to the hospital with a number of injuries, including a separated shoulder. Since then, the Atlanta, Georgia-based rider has been concentrating on physical therapy and training to get back in top form. Last weekend marked Marshall’s return to the AMA paddock, and he got an extra hand from Team Embry’s new crew chief Matt Drucker. “I just got the ‘okay’ to ride from the doctor last Wednesday,” said Marshall. “It really helped that I had Matt and Mike Kelly at the track with me so I could just concentrate on riding. They worked so hard all weekend.” Marshall qualified 22nd for both Formula Xtreme and Supersport, riding the Team Embry Suzuki GSX-R600s. “When the green light went on I just started working my way up,” said Marshall of the two races. “I’ve only been on the bike five days over the last five months. Having the positive feedback from Team Owner Mike Embry and my crew right after the Supersport race really made me feel great. I got pretty fatigued on Sunday, but staying in the race mentally and charging forward each lap really paid off. Now I’m going into the next round confident in the bikes, the team, and my ability.” Marshall finished 15th in both Saturday’s Formula Xtreme race and Sunday’s Supersport race, gaining seven positions in each. There are just two weeks before Marshall will be back on track, this time at Road Atlanta for the Suzuki Superbike Showdown. He is looking forward to racing on his home track, where he has plenty of experience. “I’ll have a lot of friends, family and sponsors at the track that weekend,” he said. “I just want to go and give it one hundred percent. Last year at Road Atlanta was frustrating- there was a bottleneck in turn one and I ran in 20th by myself for the entire race. This year I want to have a good time and improve on my finish at Virginia.” In preparation for the race, Marshall has been going to physical therapy for his shoulder three days a week and working out every day to build up his strength and stamina. He will compete in the Formula Xtreme race on Saturday, September 2 at 4:00 p.m. The Supersport race will be the following day at noon. More, from a press release issued by American Suzuki Motor Corp.: SUZUKI SUPPORT RIDERS GEOFF MAY & MICHAEL BARNES CONTINUE TO RACK UP AMA SUPERSPORT PODIUM FINISHES BREA, Calif., American Suzuki Motor Corp. (ASMC) is proud to announce that Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Geoff May and Michael Barnes once again doubled up on the AMA Supersport podium, this time at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va., on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2006. In spite of a red flag that caused a complete restart of the 17-lap Supersport race, 25-year-old May rode his Suzuki GSX-R600 to an exciting second-place finish. This is the third time that Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s May has been on the AMA Supersport podium this season. He is currently third overall in the points chase. “I’m happy with the progress we’ve made this year,” said May. “The guys keep digging and the development is moving forward. They’ve got me comfortable on the Suzuki and I really hope we can get a win before the year is out.” Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Barnes has also had his share of spots on the AMA Supersport podium prior to the VIR event. With a total of four podium finishes this year, Barnes is in sixth-place overall in the AMA Supersport points chase. “Geoff and I both gave our all in this race,” said 36-year-old Barnes. “We’re winding down on the season but this GSX-R600 is really coming along. It’s showing some good speed and it’s coming off the corner better. I can’t thank my team enough for all the hard work they do at the track and back at the shop.” May, Barnes and the rest of the Suzuki support teams will next compete in AMA road racing at the penultimate round at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga., the weekend of Sept. 1 3, 2006. More, from a press release issued by Michael Jordan Motorsports: Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki’s Rapp Leaves VIR with Impressive Sixth-Place Finish ALTON, Va., (Aug. 23, 2006) Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki’s Steve Rapp raced to a strong sixth-place AMA Repsol Superstock finish at scenic Virginia International Raceway (VIR) in Alton, Va., on Sunday afternoon. On Saturday afternoon, Rapp (1:26.300) picked up a second-row grid spot. In the 17-lap race, Rapp got a good start and was running with the top five. He diced back and forth before finishing up in sixth position. “It was a good race,” said Rapp. “We found a good set-up for the Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000. Now we’re just looking to take this momentum to Road Atlanta and build on that.” Earlier this month, Jordan Suzuki’s Jake Holden finished in fifth place in the AMA Repsol Superstock race at Mid-Ohio Sports Course. He also notched a sixth-place finish at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in July and a fifth place result at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., in May. The Jordan Suzuki team will next compete in the 10th round of AMA Repsol Superstock at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga., Sept. 1 – 3, 2006. Jake Holden, Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000, #59 DNF Place AMA Repsol Superstock 11th Place Overall Jason Pridmore, Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000, #43 DNF AMA Repsol Superstock 15th Place Overall Steve Rapp, Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000, #15 6th Place AMA Repsol Superstock 7th Place Overall
