Dunlop Motorcycle Tires Race Report: 2006 AMA Superbike Series, Round Five, Road America Elkhart Lake, Wis. Yoshimura Suzuki’s six-time Superbike Champion Mat Mladin served notice this weekend that he had returned to winning form, taking both races at the fifth round of the 2006 AMA Superbike Series at Road America, June 3-4, and stopping teammate Ben Spies’ six-win race streak. In support series action, Factory Yamaha’s Eric Bostrom won his third straight Formula Xtreme competition, reigning Superstock champion Aaron Yates tallied his second win for Yoshimura Suzuki and Factory Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking took his third consecutive victory in the Supersport class. As has been the case throughout the 2006 season, the weekend was dominated by Dunlop-sponsored riders, who claimed 44 out of a possible 50 top-ten finishing positions. Dunlop’s engineering prowess was on display as Dunlop-shod machines turned even faster race laps than the times set in qualifying, demonstrating the staying power of the company’s multi-compound tire designs. In the first Superbike race, Spies clocked a time of 2.11.934 on lap 14 of the 16-lap event, his Suzuki GSX-R1000 eclipsing the qualifying record of 2:11.970 set by teammate Mladin earlier in the day. Mladin returned the favor on Sunday in his second Superbike win, turning a 2:11.208 on lap 12 of the 16-lap affair. In the Formula Xtreme race, Bostrom posted a time of 2:17.158 on the last circuit of 10-lap competition aboard his Yamaha-tuned YZF-R6, nearly .8-second faster than the qualifying time set by teammate Jason Disalvo. And in the Superstock competition, Hacking set the fastest lap on his YZF-R1LE, a 2:13.980, on the last lap of the 10-lap event. The late spring weather in Wisconsin was near-perfect for the weekend, spoiled only by a brief downpour on Friday that washed out the Formula Xtreme qualifying session. From that point forward, 75-degree temperatures and sunny blue skies graced the famous Road America circuit and the record crowd in attendance. Dunlop arrived with over 2200 tires and a cadre of seasoned technicians to support the factory and support teams of Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha. The tire compounds selected by many of the teams were in the medium-hard range to cope with the heat generated by the bike’s tire-spinning power on Road America’s long straightaways. Saturday’s first race was the much-anticipated Superbike showdown between Suzuki teammates Mladin and Spies. The 21-year old Spies entered the competition with six consecutive victories, tying him with Honda Racing’s Miguel Duhamel for the most-ever back-to-back wins (Duhamel set the record in 1995). Mladin, the reigning champ, trailed Spies by 30 championship points coming into this round and badly needed a victory if he was to challenge Spies for the title. When the flag dropped, Duhamel took the lead but Spies got a great start as well and led by the end of the first lap. Mladin, meanwhile, was fifth off the line and had his work cut out for him. He painstakingly worked his way through the field and took the lead from Spies on lap seven. Spies never trailed by more than 1.4 seconds but Mladin held him off for the win by .149 seconds, his 45th career victory. “It was a good race today, I pushed very hard,” said Mladin. “For about half race distance, I just decided to try and go as hard as I could and not make too many mistakes”¦Ben was still there and we were going as hard as we could… It ended up being a good race and a good fight.” Honda Racing’s Jake Zemke was third across the finish line, followed by seven more Dunlop riders, assuring an all-Dunlop top-ten finishing order. Superbike Race One Results, Saturday: Dunlop finishers in the Top 10 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 2. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 3. Jake Zemke (Honda) 4. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 5. Neil Hodgson (Ducati) 6. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 7. Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki) 8. Ben Bostrom (Ducati) 9. Jason Pridmore (Suzuki) 10. Steve Rapp (Suzuki) The Formula Xtreme machines gridded next and an epic battle unfolded between Yamaha’s Bostrom and Erion Honda Racing’s Josh Hayes. Hayes rocketed into the lead at the start but Bostrom was around him by the end of the second lap. The pair then set off on a torrid pace, setting and resetting the fastest lap for the reformulated class on their 600cc-powered machines. Less than a second separated the pair for most of the remaining eight laps, but Hayes was never able to regain the lead and Bostrom took the win by 1.337 seconds. The win was Bostrom’s 12th career Formula Xtreme victory, a class he dominated in his 1998 championship run. “The Yamaha R-6 was fantastic,” said Bostrom. “I was just trying to put my head down and put some distance between Josh and I and it wasn’t working out. We were running unbelievable lap times”¦ the Dunlop guys just nailed it, I can’t believe the laps times still.” To underscore that fact, the total race time of 23:01.793 minutes was one second faster than the race time set at Road America in 2003 the last time the Formula Xtreme class featured the larger, 1000cc open class machines. Bostrom’s teammate Disalvo finished third as Dunlop riders took eight of the top 10 positions. With six rounds remaining including the recently announced round at Laguna Seca – Disalvo leads the series with 163 points, followed by Hayes with 152 and Bostrom with 147. Formula Xtreme Results: Dunlop finishers in the Top 10 1. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 2. Josh Hayes (Honda) 3. Jason Disalvo (Yamaha) 5. Ryan Andrews (Honda) 6. Ty Howard (Honda) 7. Tony Meiring (Suzuki) 8. Aaron Gobert (Honda) 10. Jeffrey Tigert (Honda) Sunday’s first race was a battle of the top two riders in the Superstock series, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates the 2005 champion and Graves Motorsport Yamaha’s Hacking, the current series leader. Hacking led from the start and initially it appeared that he would win the race unchallenged. But Yates, who started third, worked his way around M4 Emgo Suzuki’s Geoff May for second and took the lead on his GSX-R1000 when Hacking ran off the track on lap seven, nearly crashing in the grass. When Hacking got back on the track, he was in second and teammate Disalvo took over third. Hacking hounded Yates to the very end but trailed Yates at the checkered flag by just .159 seconds. Disalvo completing the all-Dunlop podium. “The GSX-R is running really well and the Dunlop tires hung in really good,” said Yates, the first rider to win back-to-back Superstock races at Road America. “We were doing some really fast lap times out there, faster than last year I believe.” Dunlop-shod riders took eight of the top 10 finishing positions. In the championship, Hacking holds a nine-point lead over Yates, 171-162, followed by Disalvo with 143. Superstock Results: Dunlop finishers in the Top 10 1. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 2. Jamie Hacking (Yamaha) 3. Jason Disalvo (Yamaha) 5. Josh Hayes (Honda) 6. Steve Rapp (Suzuki) 7. Jason Pridmore (Suzuki) 8. Damon Buckmaster (Kawasaki) 9. Marty Craggill (Suzuki) Hacking came back strong in the Supersport race and dominated the field from flag to flag on his Yamaha YZF-R6, winning by a margin of 3.279 seconds over M4 Emgo Suzuki’s May and his teammate Michael Barnes, who finished second and third, respectively. “It definitely feels good to bring the factory Yamaha home first,” said Hacking. “It was a good weekend for us. We were fast right off the truck, so we didn’t really have to work on the bike really that much, and just made a nice smooth race”¦ I want to thank Dunlop Tires. I couldn’t have blown away like this without these Dunlops stuck up under me.” A total of eight Dunlop-supported riders crossed the line in the top ten positions. Kawasaki Road Racing’s Roger Lee Hayden, who is slowly returning to form after severely breaking his lower leg at Barber Motorsports Park in April, finished fourth. Special congratulations go out to AMA rookie Josh Herrin, who turned age 16 on May 23 and finished sixth in his first professional AMA competition aboard a Graves Yamaha YZF-R6. Hacking now leads the series with 143 points, followed by May with 111 and Matsushima Suzuki’s Danny Eslick with 103. Supersport Results: Dunlop finishers in the Top 10 1. Jamie Hacking (Yamaha) 4. Roger Lee Hayden (Kawasaki) 5. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 6. Josh Herrin (Yamaha) 7. Damon Buckmaster (Kawasaki) 8. Danny Eslick (Suzuki) 9. Blake Young (Suzuki) 10. Ben Attard (Kawasaki) If Mat Mladin had any doubters after Saturday’s Superbike win, he quieted them in the second race on Sunday with a dominating performance on his GSX-R1000 . Mladin suffered a horrible start and completed lap one in 10th position. Meanwhile teammate Spies and Honda’s Duhamel were setting an incredible pace at the front and it appeared Mladin’s chances for even a podium spot were dim. Yet six laps into the race, Mladin had worked his way up to third and trailed the leaders by just over 5 seconds. Then a red flag on the seventh lap forced a restart. Once again, Spies took the lead, followed closely by Duhamel and Zemke. Mladin started poorly once more but worked his way up to sixth in less than a lap. His pace was phenomenal and he took the lead for good on lap 11. At the flag it was Mladin by 5.921 seconds over Spies, with Zemke taking third. As in race one, the top ten riders were on Dunlop tires. “It was a really good race,” said Mladin, who collected his third victory of the year and notched his 46th career Superbike win. “If anyone thought we were just going to roll over, it certainly wasn’t the case. We’ve been working hard and I’ve been working hard”¦ we did what we had to do today and we look forward to (racing at) Miller.” Spies now leads the championship with 322 points, 21 more than Mladin who has 301. Duhamel is third with 251. Superbike Race Two Results, Sunday: Dunlop finishers in the Top 10 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 2. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 3. Jake Zemke (Honda) 4. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 5. Neil Hodgson (Ducati) 6. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 7. Ben Bostrom (Ducati) 8. Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki) 9. Jason Pridmore (Suzuki) 10. Jake Holden (Suzuki) Next stop for Dunlop and the 2006 AMA Superbike road racing tour is Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, Utah, June 16-18. Round six features a doubleheader for the Superbike series. More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing: Double Podium For Zemke At Road America American Honda’s Jake Zemke finished third in both Superbike races at Road America, continuing an impressive streak that’s seen the Honda CBR1000RR-powered team on the podium at every one of the nine races of the AMA Superbike Championship. On Saturday, Zemke fought hard to pass teammate Miguel Duhamel on the tenth of 16 tours of the high speed four-mile road course through the woods of Wisconsin. Duhamel made Zemke earn the podium, chasing him to the checkered flag. The gap between the two Hondas was a mere . 197 seconds. “I think I had like a second and a half or something, but then got into some lappers and (Duhamel) closed right back up and made it exciting for the last couple of laps,” Zemke said. “Definitely I had to keep my head down and ride hard those last couple of laps.” Sunday’s race was interrupted by a red flag on the 7th of 16 laps. The red flag helped Zemke and hurt Duhamel. “The red flag was the saving grace for us,” Zemke said after a change of tires. Duhamel felt the opposite. “For us the red flag totally killed us,” he said. Duhamel and Zemke ran an early second and third on the re-start, with Zemke making the pass and settling into third on the 10th of 16 laps. Having finished third on Saturday, Zemke wanted one more step on the podium and chased the second placed Suzuki of Ben Spies, finishing 1.5 seconds back. Duhamel had less luck. The team protectively added fuel for the final 11 laps, but fuel consumption problems on the final lap killed his drive on the uphill run to the finish line. The veteran was passed for fourth place, losing the spot to Neil Hodgson by .3 seconds. The fuel issue arose because Duhamel had dramatically increased his pace in the second leg, running 1.5 seconds faster in the race than he had in qualifying. Despite the problems, Duhamel maintained his strong third place in the championship after five of 11 rounds. Suzuki’s Mat Mladin won both races, with teammate Ben Spies finishing second both times out, and Zemke carding two thirds. Jake Zemke, Saturday 3rd, Sunday 3rd I got off the line good (on Saturday), but just couldn’t get going there the first couple of laps. Things were getting better there towards the middle of the race. Definitely reeled Miguel (Duhamel) back in and he made a little mistake coming out of five, so I was able to go right by him without even trying having to try too hard. Just kind of put my head down after that. He was holding pretty even. To be on the podium four times and have a Honda on the podium at every race so far, we’re real happy about that.. Well I was wishing Ben (Spies) would quit looking back at me and go slower but he didn’t do that (on Sunday). He kept tabs on me that last lap. It looked like he was having a little bit of problem there. He was just bringing it on to the finish. He knew where I was at. I wasn’t actually going to catch him. I was trying. He was keeping tabs on me and seeing where I was at and he knew how hard he had to ride that last lap. All in all I’m really happy because I actually finished on the same straightaway as these guys for once. That’s coming a long ways from last year. We’re really working hard to try and get that bike up to the front. We’re not just going to give up and lay over and roll on our backs. We’re keep charging and keep trying and one of these days I’ll get to race with these guys. Miguel Duhamel, Saturday 4th, Sunday 5th We had a big problems with the brakes (on Saturday). We had a wheelie issue too. The bike was wheelying out of every corner. We had trouble with that. The brake issue was a bigger problem because I kept adjusting the brakes so often that I almost got arm pump from adjusting the brake lever. Two, three laps into it it started. So then adjust harder, so then adjust harder, too hard, then too soft and that’s the scary one. And then you go back to harder. So the whole race I could never one find one position of the lever. It’s kind of hard to go at speed and doing that stuff. Jake (Zemke) found a lot of speed (on Sunday). I never thought he would have been up there, but somehow he got it. For us the red flag totally killed us. That was a new set-up today and it was a really good one with a full tank, but when the tank got lighter the balance went off a little bit. We were just in a really good zone, a good comfort zone that first part of the race. The re-start, I was trying to do a little too much and ran wide in one corner and Jake came by me and that was it. I had nothing for Mat (Mladin). Maybe I could’ve stayed with Ben (Spies). Then the fuel thing. Coming out of the chicane, going to the back straight to Canada Corner, the bike almost stopped. So then I tried to limp it in. More, from a press release issued by Parts Unlimited Ducati: HODGSON CHARGES TO FOURTH PLACE AT ROAD AMERICA Elkhart Lake (Wisconsin): Parts Unlimited Ducati’s Neil Hodgson rallied to finish fourth on his Ducati 999 at Road America and teammate Ben Bostrom completed Sunday’s 16-lap race in seventh place. The race was red-flagged on lap six and restarted, setting the stage for a late race showdown. Hodgson’s charge started from sixth place at the beginning of lap 14. The former World Superbike champion put his head down and made a pass of Aaron Yates. Hodgson made his move for position into the daunting turn one at Road America, a high-speed right hander. The Englishman held off his rival’s furious attempts to pass, then moved past Miguel Duhamel as he came up the hill to take the checkered flag. The three riders crossed the line within 0.4 seconds. “I was riding very hard out there, trying to use up every inch of the road,” said the Isle of Man resident. “It’s always good battling with Aaron because he’s a hard charger. If you can pass him, you know you’ve done well. I got out in front of him, so I knew it would be difficult for him to pass me on this track. Despite it being a power circuit, a good rider can hold off a pass attempt at Road America.” Hodgson remains fourth in AMA Superbike points. “We’re looking forward to going to Miller Motorsports Park for the next race. I think the track suits our bike, too,” said Hodgson. Ben Bostrom rose to fourth on the restart but finished seventh after tire issues. “We’ve been getting decent starts and that’s cool. I wasn’t really happy with the tires today but I was happier with the bike. We learned a lot this weekend. It’s clear there is much more potential with the bike than the fans are seeing with our results right now and we are looking forward to going to Utah at the next race to show it.” The next race for the Parts Unlimited Ducati Team is June 16-18 at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. More, from a press release issued by Team M4 EMGO Suzuki: MAY AND BARNES ON THE PODIUM FOR TEAM M4 EMGO SUZUKI Team M4 EMGO Suzuki enjoyed a spectacular trophy-winning day at Road America in AMA roadracing action on Sunday. Geoff May and Michael Barnes battled at the front of the Supersport final and ultimately came away from the Wisconsin weekend with a pair of podium finishes for their efforts. Barnes fought in the top three for the entire 60k contest and made his way from third into the runner-up spot on lap five of ten. He was soon joined by his charging teammate, however, who clawed up from seventh-place into podium contention over the race’s first half. May slipped into third behind Barnes on lap 7 and then took over second from him a lap later. The two Pirelli-shod GSX-R600-mounted aces contested the position from that point to the flag. Barnes was able to gain a small advantage using the draft on occasion, but the Georgian proved especially adept under breaking and fought off the Floridian’s challenge to the stripe. May crossed the line in second with Barnes less than a tenth of a second behind in third. Afterwards, May credited his crew for their quick thinking as they made some key changes to his GSX-R’s Öhlins suspension just prior to the race. “I feel great,” May said after picking up his second podium result of the season. “I’ve been feeling like this is where we were going to be all along. I just put my head down and I really wanted it bad this weekend — I really wanted to be on the podium and it turned out like it did. I just kept getting more and more comfortable as the race went on.” Barnes’s third-place result was his second Supersport podium of ’06. “Geoff kind of surprised me. I looked back one time and I saw a blue bike coming. And then sure as can be Geoff started showing his face in Turn 5 over and over. I’d draft him down the straightaway and he’d still outbrake me. I was strong in the last segment but it wasn’t enough to do something in the end.” “My Pirelli tires work great at the end,” he added. “I just wished I would have gone with a little bit firmer set-up. Overall, I can’t complain. To have Geoff and I both up on the podium is great for the team. M4 EMGO Suzuki did a great job this weekend.” May also put in an impressive ride in the earlier Superstock final, guiding his GSX-R1000 to a fifth consecutive fourth-place result. After the Supersport race, May claimed that just missing out on the podium once again in Superstock provided him with added motivation for the 600 race. He explained, “I thought the Superstock race was going to be our ticket but after that race I said, ‘Well, I’ve got to do it in 600 now.'” Following five of eleven races, May is right in the mix of two separate title races. He currently sits second in Supersport with 111 points and fourth in Superstock at 136. Meanwhile, ‘Barney’ is quickly making up points after missing the Daytona season opener, moving up to seventh in Supersport with 85 points. Team M4 EMGO Suzuki will travel to Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, UT for the sixth round of the 2006 AMA roadracing season on June 16-18. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: MLADIN AND SPIES 1-2 AT ROAD AMERICA Team Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin and Ben Spies finished first and second in the Road America AMA Superbike double-header weekend’s Sunday race in Elkhart Lake as team mate Aaron Yates finished in sixth. The victory is Mladin’s 46th AMA Superbike career win and he’s the only rider to win six AMA Superbike races at Road America and both he and Spies have dominated all nine races on their GSX-R1000s this year. Said Mladin: “Nine wins for the Yoshimura GSX-R1000? What can I say! I’ve got to say thanks to my crew for working so hard. They put in the new front end and we’ve got it to where I feel comfortable with it. Basically, we did what we had to do today and now I’m looking forward to the next round at Miller.” In Sunday’s 10-lap race, Mladin was on pole position but got a horrible start: He’d begun working his way through the field when a red flag was thrown. With the restart, the defending AMA Superbike Champion got off the line a little better but still had to chase down his team mate Spies, who was in the lead. Mladin caught Spies with several laps remaining and held on to take the win. “I feel that Ben has been a bit stronger than me in some areas of the race track and today I feel that I turned that around,” said Mladin. “In racing, and in life, you have to adapt and turn yourself around. I’m looking forward to the challenge of the rest of the year.” In both the first and the second starts of the race, Spies got out in front and led right from the start. “We got out-rode today,” said Spies, who still maintains the AMA Superbike points lead. “We’ve got to come back stronger and I’ve got to train harder. I’m happy with the 20-point lead because the championship is what’s most important. And I’ve got to thank my guys for staying at the track late last night to give me a good bike to ride. Obviously, I’m a little disappointed but you get beat sometimes.” Yates had been struggling over the weekend. He got a decent start but had a rough time getting ahead and ended up with sixth place. “We went faster today than we did yesterday on the Superbike,” said Yates. “So we’ve made a little bit of progress there. We’re going to Mid-Ohio to test and hopefully we can take a few more steps forward and get the bike working for me like I need it to win races.” AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers: 1 Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki) 2 Ben Spies (Yoshimura Suzuki) 3 Jake Zemke (Honda) 4 Neil Hodgson (Ducati) 5 Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 6 Aaron Yates (Yoshimura Suzuki) 7 Ben Bostrom (Ducati) 8 Tommy Hayden (Kawasaki) 9 Jason Pridmore (Jordan Suzuki) 10 Jake Holden (Jordan Suzuki) Championship Points (after 9 races): 1 Spies 322, 2 Mladin 301, 3 Duhamel 251, 4 Hodgson 236, 5 Yates 229, 6 Hayden 220, 7 Bostrom 215, 8 Zemke 214, 9 Pridmore 192, 10 Pegram 170. YATES TOPS SUPERSTOCK: Team Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates won his second AMA Repsol Superstock race of the season and his 12th Superstock career victory in a tight 10-lap battle on Sunday afternoon. The defending AMA Superstock Champion is also the first rider to get back-to-back Superstock wins at Road America. He said: “The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 is just going really well at Road America. I’d really like to say thanks to my guys for putting me on such a fast bike.” Starting out the weekend, Yates had a good qualifying session posting a 2:14.567 lap time and qualified on the front row of the grid in third position. Sunday’s main event on the undulating four-mile circuit saw Yates get a good start and settle into third place. He put his head down and moved up into second place halfway through the race and, with just a few laps to go, he made a daring pass to take the lead and held it to the race’s end. “I wasn’t really as comfortable as I would have liked to be in the race,” said Yates. “The last three or four laps were really stressful for me. But I tried to go as hard as I could because I knew Jamie Hacking would be charging hard. I just tried to concentrate on going forward, not backwards and I’m just glad to get the win and get some points.” Going into the Miller Motorsports Park race later this month, Yates is just nine points off the championship lead. More, from a press release issued by Safety First Racing: SAFETY FIRST SUZUKI RACING HAPPY WITH PROGRESS SEEN AT ROAD AMERICA Team Safety First Suzuki riders Tony Meiring and Opie Caylor were happy with the progress that was seen in their 4&6 tuned, Komodo sponsored Suzuki GSXR 600’s for both Formula Extreme and Supersport during the Road America round. Chris “Opie” Caylor stated “I gambled a bit on the gearing for the Supersport race and along with getting pushed wide at the start, it made my charge through the pack a bit harder, but I had a great race with Taylor (Knapp) and can be happy overall with the results. I haven’t raced on a 600 here at Road America in some time.” “We notched it up a bit and now know we can run with the lead pack” indicated Tony Meiring. “Each round the team is able to make improvements that we are seeing pay off. Being 5th now in Formula Extreme, a builder’s class, is testament to that”. “I was upset in missing out on 6th place in the FX race by about two inches, but it just pushed me that much more to make up for that in Supersport. In the Supersport race on Sunday, Meiring ran with the lead group for much of the race, only fading back after loosing the draft. “My Dunlop tires worked great though and never went off. I kept thinking it would fade as the race went on, but it never did!” Both Komodo Gear sponsored riders look forward to Miller Motorsports Park in two weeks, but know they have a daunting task ahead. “I am excited for the next round and especially for the last four rounds, which are at some of my favorite tracks and where I have been on the box before” explained Caylor. Meiring echoed that sentiment. “The factories have tested there already, and I know we will go in there being a bit behind the 8-ball as a result, but we plan on chipping away at each session and be right in the mix come the green light” Team Owner Kevin Hanson was also pleased with the overall results. “It was a very busy for us being our home race. Our race replica team clothing line and Team replica Komodo leathers were also released at the track this weekend, which made for a very rewarding weekend along with our results from Tony and Ope-Dog.” Meiring placed 7th in Saturday’s FX race and is 5th overall, with Caylor finishing 11th in the race, matching his 11th place overall placing. Supersport saw Meiring ending up in 11th and Caylor in 19th and as a result, the Safety First riders are now 9th and 11th overall respectively. Safety First Suzuki was formed in 2004 by police officer/racer, Kevin Hanson, based out of Chicago, IL. The team is a factory-supported American Suzuki team proudly sponsored by Komodo, a manufacturer of top-quality motorcycle riding apparel, competing in the AMA Superbike series in the Supersport and Formula Xtreme classes. 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 Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki: ULRICH AND PIETRI ACCOMPLISH GOALS AT ELKHART LAKE Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki enjoyed a successful weekend of racing at Road America, near Elkhart Lake, WI, during the fifth round on the 2006 AMA roadracing series. Chris Ulrich picked up a pair of top-15 results while teammate Robertino Pietri fought through the pain of a leg injury to score one of his best finishes yet in AMA competition. Ulrich, who qualified on the inside of the fourth row of the Superstock grid with a time of 2:17.371, rebounded from a less than ideal start to climb up from 16th early on to finish 13th in the 60k contest. The Californian ripped off three consecutive laps faster than his qualifying best while making his charge around the high-speed circuit. “I rode as hard as I could and did the best I could do today, so we feel good about the Superstock race,” said Ulrich, who had a cold during the weekend. “My lap times were the best I had done all weekend and faster than I went in either qualifying or the Superbike race on Saturday. As a racer, you always have a competitive nature and want to keep improving and I see the team doing that this weekend. As for this race, I was chasing the guys in front of me hard, but it was difficult to catch up without a draft at this track. The guys in front of me had a little bit of space on us. I could make part of it up, then those guys would stop battling for position. We’ll take what we learned here and we’re really looking forward to Miller.” He enjoyed a similar showing in the premier Superbike class, qualifying on the outside of the fourth row aboard his Pirelli-shod Superstock-spec GSX-R1000 at 2:17.522. Despite falling outside the top 20 at the start, Ulrich steadily worked his way up the field, ultimately securing 15th place in the 16-lap, 100k race. “We accomplished our goal for the weekend,” said Ulrich. “I needed to get 15 points in order to race at Laguna, and we got 16.” Meanwhile, teammate Robertino Pietri did an admirable job to bounce back from a Thursday promoter practice crash in which he suffered an injured right leg. The 20-year-old Venezuelan put in a gritty effort to qualify 17th for the Superstock final at 2: 18.75 on his PDV-backed Suzuki. Despite being far less than 100%, he fought a spirited battle with compatriot Fernando Amantini during the 10-lap race. Pietri looked as if he might have opened the door for his rival when he briefly ran off course on lap 7 but he put his head down and chased him down in time to make a last corner pass for the 16th position on the final lap. Like Ulrich, Pietri also ran faster in the race than in qualifying, posting a 2:18.741, the best time registered by any South American during the weekend. Pietri said, “The weekend was looking pretty good on Thursday. I set some running really good lap times and was adapting quickly to the racetrack, but unfortunately I had a big crash and the bike landed on my leg. We don’t know if it’s broken or not yet but it’s very painful when I ride the bike. It’s really hard to drag my knee around the right-handers and this place is about right-hand corners. I iced it and tried to take care of it as well as I could. At least I could ride and I qualified decently.” He continued, “The race was pretty okay. We finished 16th and that’s one of our best results of the year so far. I was really optimistic coming in because I really like the track and it suits my riding style. I had a nice battle with one of my co-nationals, Amantini. I ran off the track in Turn 2 and he got a few seconds on me. I caught him and passed him in the last corner, which was great. “I’m pretty sure I can be riding with the top 12 racers — Chris Ulrich and those guys — that’s my goal. The leg injury held me back this weekend but at least I’m still the fastest Venezuelan and that’s really important for me.” The AMA series will next travel to Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, UT for the sixth round on the 2006 calendar on June 16-18. Pietri expects his injury to be less of a concern there. He explained, “I think I’m going to be okay for Miller because first of all I have two weeks to rest. Also Miller only has like three or four right-handers and all the rest are left-handers. I tested there and I’m looking pretty strong for the weekend. I was doing great lap times and it’s a European-style track and that’s what I’m used to since I raced in Europe last year. I’m feeling really positive about that race.” More, from a press release issued by Buell Motorcycle Company: ELKHART LAKE, Wis. Buell dealer teams competed in the AMA Formula Xtreme race at the AMA Superbike Championship event at the Road America course. Steve Crevier, riding a Buell XBRR for Deeley Harley-Davidson/Buell Canada, ran as high as seventh position before ultimately crashing out of the race. Classic H-D/Buell-Millville H-D/Buell-Fastbuells.com rider David Estok finished in 14th place on another Buell XBRR. The race was won by Yamaha USA factory rider Eric Bostrom on a Yamaha YZF-6R. Estok was riding as a last-minute replacement for Mike Hale, who was injured in a crash during testing last week at Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia. Hale intended to ride at Road America, but a practice session on Thursday determined he was not ready for the race weekend. Estok, who won the ASRA Thunderbike Championship for the team in 2005, was asked to fill in for Hale. A rain storm eliminated Formula Xtreme practice on Friday, and Estok, who had to qualify with limited time to work on bike set-up, started in 20th position for the 10-lap race. “We just missed on our set-up,” said Estok “We didn’t have much track time to get things sorted out.” Crevier also had a disappointing qualifying session, and lined up for the race start in 16th position. Post qualifying adjustments made to his bike improved its performance, however, and Crevier moved up to eighth place after the first lap and was in seventh place on lap three when he was assessed a stop-and-go penalty by AMA race officials for jumping the race start. Crevier had indeed left his starting-line spot early, but pulled the bike back into position and was not moving forward when the race began. After stopping in the pits, Crevier dropped to 17th position, but moved back up to 12th on the next lap before crashing out unhurt in Turn 1 on lap seven to end his day. “We are proud of the effort these Buell dealer teams and their riders put in today,” said Buell Chairman and Chief Technical Officer Erik Buell. “David Estok filled in admirably for Mike Hale, despite very little seat time. And I think Steve Crevier was headed for a great finish before the stop-and-go penalty, then he crashed while pushing hard trying to make up the lost time. The XBRR was reliable this weekend, so we’ve made progress in that regard. These teams are on the go.” The Buell XBRR is a limited-edition production racing motorcycle based on the Firebolt XB12R reworked at the factory for closed-course competition. It offers private racers a professional-level, race-ready, production-based platform. Buell Motorcycle Company, a subsidiary of Harley-Davidson, Inc., produces sport motorcycles, motorcycle parts, accessories and apparel. To learn more about Buell motorcycles, visit your local Buell dealer today and experience the pure streetfighter attitude, style and performance only found on board a Buell. Pull into www.buell.com for the Buell dealer nearest you.
