HONDA RACING INFORMATION Junior TT victory for Lougher and Honda CBR600RR Ian Lougher powered his CBR600RR Honda to a comfortable victory in the Supersport 600 Junior TT race, taking his seventh success in 21 years of racing the Isle of Man Mountain Course by some 22 seconds ahead of John McGuinness. The 41 year old had complained of a stomach upset earlier in the day, but he shrugged that aside with a superb ride that featured a high-speed duel for supremacy with Ryan Farquhar, riding Kawasaki, in the first half of the race. Lougher was running a little over a second ahead after a first lap at 122.397mph, but as they pitted for fuel next time around the 37.73 miles of public road action, it was young Farquhar who held the advantage, just, by 0.6 seconds. But then it was all change. Farquhar was quickly away from the pits, but disappointment was only half a dozen miles away – just as in Sunday’s Superbike race, he was sidelined by machine problems. That left the way clear for Lougher to take Honda to their first victory in this event since 1999, and he did it in style: “That was fantastic – I knew that it was going to be tough early on so was concentrating hard all of the way, but then Ryan went out, leaving John in second place.” Said Lougher. “I got my head down because I wanted to beat him fair and square – he is the lap record holder, and it means a lot to get ahead of him and take this victory. The Honda is a magic little bike around here -it handles so well and has great corner speed, and that is just what I needed,” Lougher smiled, ” and, 21 years on from my first race here, I am still enjoying it just as much.” “This victory also makes up for my mishap in this race last year when I crashed a Union Mills – that went through my mind every time I went through that section, but this year it all came good with the victory.” McGuinness, aboard a Yamaha, had no complaints. “I rode the wheels of the bike and tried everything – I felt as fast as anyone out there and had no problems.” His team-mate Jason Griffiths took third place, ahead of Suzuki rider Bruce Anstey, while fifth place went to Guy Martin on a Honda. Anstey had earlier taken the victory in the three lap Superstock TT race, inheriting the lead at the Bungalow when his team-mate Adrian Archibald ran out of fuel on the third and final lap with little more than six miles of the race remaining. Archibald had set the pace throughout and had a 20 seconds advantage as he dashed onto the Mountain section for the final time, but by the time he reached the Bungalow his bike was spluttering to a halt. “He just went off line, slowed and stopped – it was a pity as he was riding so well and had me beat,” said Anstey who was taking his fourth victory on the Island, finishing some 36 seconds ahead of Lougher, aboard a Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade. “I made a slow start – I was really feeling ill, quite sick, and the signals telling me that I was running seventh made me feel worse, but then I got my head down, and started pulling time back,” Lougher explained. The extent of his hard riding finish was, over the last lap, to transform a nine seconds deficit on Farquhar into a one second advantage – enough to give him second place, at the expense of the Kawasaki rider. Jason Griffiths, Guy Martin and Paul Hunt completed the top six, ahead of the Honda trio of Martin Finnegan, Richard Britton and Ian Hutchinson with Chris Heath, riding Yamaha in tenth place.

Local young gun Michael Beck was the star of the fourth round of the WERA National Challenge series at Willow Springs International Raceway Sunday. Beck, 16, used his Yamaha YZF-R1 to win the Formula 1 and A Superstock races, both close wins over Racer’s Edge’s Dale Kieffer, and also finished second to Arclight Suzuki’s Chris Siglin in the C Superstock event on his Yamaha YZF-R6. Vesrah Suzuki’s Tray Batey was the other big winner, taking victory in B Superstock as well as third in Formula 1 on his Suzuki GSX-R750, and also winning the Heavyweight Twins race on his Suzuki SV1000. Siglin finished runner-up to Batey in the B Superstock race despite stepping up and running his GSX-R600 against a field of mostly 750cc machines. Young gun Josh Herrin took a close win over fellow young gun Nicky Moore in the C Superbike event, while Moore was able to edge out Herrin for third in the C Superstock race. Both were on Yamaha YZF-R6s. Yet another young gun, Tommy Aquino, used his Honda RS125 to win the Formula 2 and 125cc GP races, while in the Lightweight ranks Suzuki SV650-mounted riders Chris Perrish and Josh Galster took the Supersport and Superbike wins respectively. RESULTS: FORMULA 1 EXPERT: 1. Michael Beck (Yam YZF-R1); 2. Dale Kieffer (Suz GSX-R1000); 3. Tray Batey (Suz GSX-R750); 4. David Weber (Suz GSX-R1000); 5. Jacob West (Suz GSX-R1000); 6. John Jacobi (Suz GSX-R750). FORMULA 1 NOVICE: 1. Terry Heard (Hon CBR1000RR); 2. Daniel Shaff (Kaw ZX-6RR); 3. Tony Palarie (Suz GSX-R750); 4. Jon Lawson (Suz GSX-R1000); 5. Steve Netter; 6. David Sharerdi (Suz GSX-R1000). A SUPERSTOCK EXPERT: 1. Michael Beck (Yam YZF-R1); 2. Dale Kieffer (Suz GSX-R1000); 3. Mark Junge (Suz GSX-R1000); 4. Ben Thompson (Suz GSX-R1000); 5. Nicky Moore (Yam YZF-R1); 6. John Chen (Suz GSX-R1000). A SUPERSTOCK NOVICE: 1. J.B. Layman (Yam YZF-R6); 2. Tony Palarie (Suz GSX-R750); 3. Jon Lawson (Suz GSX-R1000); 4. Stephen Netter (Suz GSX-R1000); 5. Scott Layman (Suz GSX-R750); 6. David Sharerdi (Suz GSX-R1000). B SUPERSTOCK EXPERT: 1. Tray Batey (Suz GSX-R750); 2. Chris Siglin (Suz GSX-R600); 3. Corey Eaton (Suz GSX-R750); 4. John Jacobi (Suz GSX-R750); 5. Ritchie Thorup (Suz GSX-R750); 6. Nicky Moore (Yam YZF-R6). B SUPERSTOCK NOVICE: 1. Tony Palarie (Suz GSX-R750); 2. J.B. Layman (Yam YZF-R6); 3. Daniel Shaff (Kaw ZX-6RR); 4. Chris Yaklgian (Suz GSX-R600); 5. Terry Heard (Yam YZF-R6); 6. Javier Ramirez (Yam YZF-R6). C SUPERSTOCK EXPERT: 1. Chris Siglin (Suz GSX-R600; 2. Michael Beck (Yam YZF-R6); 3. Nicky Moore (Yam YZF-R6); 4. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R6); 5. John Jacobi (Suz GSX-R600); 6. David Weber (Suz GSX-R600). C SUPERSTOCK NOVICE: 1. Nick Scoggins (Kaw ZX-6RR); 2. J.B. Layman (Yam YZF-R6); 3. Daniel Shaff (Kaw ZX-6RR); 4. Curtis Cash (Kaw ZX-6RR); 5. Ron Gallegos (Hon CBR600RR); 6. Deshon Thomas (Hon CBR600RR). B SUPERBIKE EXPERT: 1. David Siminski (Suz GSX-R750); 2. Jason Caldwell (Suz GSX-R750); 3. Ademar Nunes (Yam YZF-R6); 4. Dustin O’Hara (Suz GSX-R750); 5. John Thomas (Suz GSX-R750); ; 6. Joe Hayes (Suz GSX-R750). B SUPERBIKE NOVICE: 1. Tony Palarie (Suz GSX-R750); 3. J.B. Layman (Yam YZF-R6); 4. Brad Pitnam-Armstrong (Suz GSX-R600); 5. Kirk Wilde (Suz GSX-R750); 6. Mike Warren (Suz GSX-R750). C SUPERBIKE EXPERT: 1. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R6); 2. Nicky Moore (Yam YZF-R6); 3. Mickey Lane (Kaw ZX-6RR); 4. David Siminski (Suz GSX-R600); 5. Mark Crozier (Kaw ZX-6RR); 6. Derek Keyes (Yam YZF-R6). C SUPERBIKE NOVICE: 1. 1. Nick Scoggins (Kaw ZX-6RR); 2. J.B. Layman (Yam YZF-R6); 3. Ron Gallegos (Hon CBR600RR); 4. Daniel Shaff (Kaw ZX-6RR); 5. Javier Ramirez (Yam YZF-R6); 6. Brad Pitnam-Armstrong (Suz GSX-R600). FORMULA 2: 1. Tommy Aquino (Hon RS125); 2. Mike Lytle (Yam TZ250); 3. Chris Parrish (Suz SV650); 4. Chuma Hunter-Gault (Yam 400). 125cc GRAND PRIX: 1. Tommy Aquino (Hon RS125). HEAVYWEIGHT TWINS SUPERSPORT EXPERT: 1. Tray Batey (Suz SV1000); 2. Cale Swiger (Suz SV1000). HEAVYWEIGHT TWINS SUPERSPORT NOVICE: 1. David Nguyen (Duc 999). HEAVYWEIGHT TWINS SUPERBIKE EXPERT: 1. Jeff Eklund (Bue XB12R). HEAVYWEIGHT TWINS SUPERBIKE NOVICE: 1. David Nguyen (Duc 999). LIGHTWEIGHT TWINS SUPERSPORT EXPERT: 1. Chris Parrish (Suz SV650); 2. Josh Galster (Suz SV650); 3. Gary Schiling (Suz SV650). LIGHTWEIGHT TWINS SUPERBIKE EXPERT: 1. Josh Galster (Suz SV650). SENIOR SUPERBIKE EXPERT: 1. Howard Lynggard (Yam YZF-R1); 2. Stan Bates (Yam YZF-R6); 3. John Thomas (Suz GSX-R750); 4. Ron Northup (Yam YZF-R6); 5. James Davis (Yam YZF-R6). SENIOR SUPERBIKE NOVICE: 1. Curtis Cash (Kaw ZX-6RR); 2. Mickie Peyton (Kaw ZX-6R).

F1 STAR & MISS ITALY TASTE SOME MotoGP ADRENALINE Up-and-coming Red Bull F1 driver Tonio Liuzzi was one of Randy Mamola’s lucky passengers on the Ducati Marlboro Team two-seater at sun-blessed Mugello this morning. Other passengers included the reigning Miss Italy, Cristina Chiabotto, and Nelson Piquet Junior, another bright young hope of the car world. Confident that Liuzzi and Piquet were up to some serious high-speed riding, Mamola rode as hard as he could with the car racers. “The only time I’ve ever ridden the two-seater harder was when I had Luca Cadalora with me here, and he’s a former 250 World Champion,” said Mamola, a 13-time GP winner. Liuzzi was delighted with his taste of MotoGP action. “I love adrenaline and that was pure adrenaline,” grinned the 24-year-old Italian. “It’s a different kind of craziness from F1, just awesome. It’s incredible what these guys do on bikes, especially when there’s such a fine line between going fast and crashing! The way Randy controlled the bike, braking deep into corners, then having the thing sliding around on the exit was incredible. We were so far over that I felt like my face was on the ground, and the wind was so strong on the straight that I thought we’d take off. Now I realise the kind of kick that bikes can give you I’m going to buy another road bike!” Miss Italy reckons her two-seater experience will stay with her for the rest of her life. “It was a big emotion, even better than I had expected, something I will never ever forget,” said Chiabotto, from Turin. “Thanks to Ducati for this amazing experience, thanks also to Randy, I’m proud to have ridden with him, he was great!” Nineteen-year-old Piquet Junior, son of the former F1 World Champion, and a contender in the 2005 GP2 championship, was similarly gobsmacked by his experience. “I did a parachute jump last week and I thought that was crazy but this was much worse!” he smiled. “Just hanging on was really difficult. I can’t even imagine what it’s like riding 15 seconds a lap faster on your own.”

Rizla Suzuki’s John Reynolds showed encouraging high-speed potential in his comeback races at the sixth round of the British Superbike Championship at Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire today. Starting from the fourth row of the grid, the reigning British Superbike Champion – who missed the previous two rounds of the series as he recovered from injury – displayed a dazzling turn of speed while carving through back markers in the first race. He recorded the sixth fastest lap of the race but his heroics came to an abrupt end when he collided with a slower rider while fighting for a top 10 finish. In the second race Reynolds made a fantastic start and was up to sixth and in podium contention on the fifth lap when it started to rain. The race was stopped and restarted again in dry but drizzling conditions. Immediately a three-rider crash caused the safety car to be called out. The weather continued to get worse and he brought his Rizla Suzuki home safely in 12th while on slick tyres. Team mate Scott Smart took a pair of 13th place finishes as he continues to try and find an elusive set-up on his Rizla Suzuki GSX-R1000 that will allow him to race at the front of the pack. John Reynolds: “After crashing out of the opening race, I made it my priority to finish the second. The weather was awful; the race was interrupted by a stoppage and a safety car; and the track was treacherously damp. The best I could do was 12th under those conditions. “We had a dreadful time in qualifying yesterday but at least we proved we have the speed to run with the leaders in the race today. There is absolutely nothing wrong with my Rizla Suzuki – the bike just needs to be ridden harder and faster.” Scott Smart: “The weather was horrible today and it was extremely difficult to race with the track slightly damp in both races. That is no excuse for my performances though. Put simply, I need to build more confidence riding my Rizla Suzuki. “I have spoken with Norris Farrow, my crew chief, and we are going to use a test at Donington to try some pretty major changes to the chassis and look at a completely different set-up than we are using at the moment. The main positive from this weekend was my race starts: They were much better and that is good news.” Robert Wicks – Team Manager: “The most frustrating thing this weekend was the fact we did not build on the momentum we built on Friday and Saturday morning when we were competing for front row positions. We fell foul of poor weather conditions during final qualification and the races. “The weekend has ended positively though, with ‘JR’ coming back to racing and showing exactly the right mental attitude and approach. He also proved his injury is no longer a concerning factor and that is a big weight off all our minds. “Well done to the entire team for an incredible amount of effort on a difficult weekend. We will now go to Donington Park for a very comprehensive test and for it to be the turning point of our season.” Race 1 Result: 1: Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 29:58.160, 2: Michael Rutter (Honda) +5.382, 3: Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) +17.352, 4: Michael Laverty (Honda) +24.018, 5: Glen Richards (Kawasaki) +26.001, 6: Leon Haslam (Ducati) +26.474, 7: Jonathan Rea (Honda) +29.683, 8: James Haydon (Yamaha) +35.204, 9: Gary Mason (Honda) +35.477, 10: Dean Thomas (Kawasaki) +36.541. 13: Scott Smart (Rizla Suzuki) +46.402. DNF John Reynolds (Rizla Suzuki). Race 2 Result: 1: Lavilla 20:10.015, 2: Rutter +0.775, 3: Kiyonari +0.984, 4: Richards +2.132, 5: Mason +2.902, 6: Thomas +7.024, 7: Steve Plater (Kawasaki) + 21.153, 8: Kieran Clarke (Honda) +21.670, 9: Steve Brogan (Honda) +21.845, 10: John Laverty (Honda) +32.538. 12: John Reynolds (Rizla Suzuki) +39.823. 13: Scott Smart (Rizla Suzuki) +40.536. Championship Positions (after six of 13 rounds): 1: Rutter 235, 2: Lavilla 190, 3: Kiyonari 182, 4: Richards 138, 5: Haslam 130, 6: Karl Harris (Honda) 102, 7: Thomas 85, 8: Sean Emmett (Yamaha) 79, 9: Mason 72, 10: Scott Smart (Rizla Suzuki) 68. 18: John Reynolds (Rizla Suzuki) 20.

McGuinness wins delayed Isle of Man TT Superbike race John McGuinness powered to victory in the delayed Isle of Man TT Superbike race, breaking the outright race record time as he chalked up his seventh success on the Island. The Morecambe rider was hot on the charge from the start, completing his first lap of the 37.73 mile Mountain Course in a remarkable time of 17m 59.94secs, an average speed of 126.879mph which was just the job to take him eight seconds clear. Ulsterman Richard Britton was riding strongly, and pushing hard aboard his Honda, but the unrelenting pace of McGuinness was giving him no opportunity to make up any ground, and as they pitted for the first of two pit-stops to change rear tyres and take on fuel the Yamaha rider had increased his lead to 19 seconds, maintaining an average speed of a little over 126 mph. Adrian Archibald, riding the TAS Suzuki was running third, but by the end of the third lap had moved ahead of Britton who was experiencing some machine problems that led to his eventual retirement from the race. McGuinness was having no problems, stretching his lead to 28 seconds at half distance, although on the fourth lap, Archibald matched his time to give some hope to his team of better things to come. However, a super-quick pit-stop by McGuinness gave him a seven seconds bonus on his rival, leaving him 35 seconds clear after five laps, and having sufficient advantage to even consider easing off a little on the sixth and final dash around the Island. “I decided to use the same tactics that earned me three wins last year that was to get my head down and go for it from the start, making a good break. The bike felt really strong, particularly over the Mountain.” His victory, by 36.3 seconds over Archibald came in a record time of 1hr 49m 25.74s, an average speed of 124.124 mph. “Brilliant, what else can I say it was a relatively trouble free all of the way there were on or two damp patches, and I had a slide or two, but nothing to worry about. “The organisers certainly made the decision by postponing the race from Saturday the conditions were horrible then, today they were 99.9% perfect.” Archibald had to settle for second best with Honda rider Martin Finnegan in third, some 76 seconds down on Archibald with Ian Lougher, also riding a Honda Fireblade, a further half minute back fourth, from the Yamaha of Ray Potter and Guy Martin on a Suzuki. Results Po / Name / Machine / Time 1 / John McGuinness / 1000 Yamaha R1 / 1h 49′ 25.74″ 2 / Adrian Archibald / 1000 Suzuki GSXR / 1h 50′ 02.04″ 3 / Martin Finnegan / 1000 Honda CBR / 1h 51′ 18.16″ 4 / Ian Lougher / 1000 Honda CBR RR / 1h 51′ 42.70″ 5 / Raymond Porter / 1000 Yamaha R1 / 1h 52′ 09.16″ 6 / GUY MARTIN / 1000 Suzuki / 1h 52′ 22.87″ 7 / Jason Griffiths / 1000 Yamaha / 1h 52′ 26.88″ 8 / Chris Heath / 998 Honda CBR / 1h 53′ 05.38″ 9 / Jun Maeda / 1000 Honda CBR RR / 1h 53′ 55.19″ 10 / Ian Armstrong / 1000 Yamaha R1 / 1h 55′ 03.55″ 11 / Nigel BEATTIE / 1000 Yamaha / 1h 55′ 07.12″ 12 / GARY CARSWELL / 1000 Yamaha R1 / 1h 55′ 23.25″ 13 / John Barton / 1000 Suzuki GSXR / 1h 55′ 32.99″ 14 / CHRIS PALMER / 1000 Yamaha R1 / 1h 55′ 33.64″ 15 / PHILIP STEWART / 1000 Suzuki GSXR / 1h 56′ 01.32” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: TAS Suzuki’s Adrian Archibald raced his GSX-R1000 into second place behind John McGuiness at the weekend’s TT Superbike race on the Isle of Man. Third on the opening two laps of the 37.73-mile circuit, Archibald then tightened the screw on Honda mounted Richard Britton, pulling back a deficit of 13 seconds to move into second place which he held to the chequered flag, some 35 seconds down on McGuinness. TAS Suzuki Team mate Bruce Anstey had a difficult day and retired at the end of lap three after holding seventh place for the opening 76 miles. Adrian Archibald: “That was a good run and I’m more than happy with the GSX-R Superbike. I didn’t really get on the pace until lap three but once I pulled the time back on Richard I was pretty comfortable in second place. It’s a long week but I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s Superstock race where the GSX-R1000 Suzuki should not be too far away.” Bruce Anstey: “It didn’t really happen for me today and it’s disappointing to not finish after five podiums last year. We have no break now, so it’s straight into Monday’s racing with the Supersport and Superstock events and I’m quietly confident of giving TAS Suzuki a good result.” TT Superbike Results: 1. John McGuinness (Yamaha) 1 49 25.74. 2. Adrian Archibald (TAS Suzuki) 1 50 02.04. 3. Martin Finnegan (Vitrans Honda) 1 51 18.16.

Provisional AMA Superbike Race Results: 1. Mat Mladin, Suzuki, 16 laps 2. Ben Spies, Suzuki, -6.377 seconds 3. Jake Zemke, Honda, -6.832 seconds 4. Eric Bostrom, Ducati, -7.379 seconds 5. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, -13.350 seconds 6. Josh Hayes, Kawasaki, -41.796 seconds 7. Kurtis Roberts, Honda, -46.307 seconds 8. Steve Rapp, Suzuki, -57.986 seconds 9. Lee Acree, Suzuki, -75.908 seconds 10. Clint McBain, Suzuki, -75.973 seconds 11. Jimmy Moore, Suzuki, -76.602 seconds 12. Cory West, Suzuki, -96.877 seconds 13. Akira Tamitsuji, Suzuki, -97.123 seconds 14. Eric Wood, Suzuki, -112.038 seconds 15. Jeremy Toye, Honda, -128.852 seconds 16. Andrew Deatherage, Suzuki, -130.616 seconds 17. Scott Jensen, Suzuki, -139.342 seconds 18. Dean Mizdal, Suzuki, -143.605 seconds 19. Neil Hodgson, Ducati, -1 lap, mechanical 20. C.R. Gittere, Suzuki, -1 lap, 123.574 seconds 21. David Bell, Suzuki, -1 lap, 139.976 seconds 22. Miguel Duhamel, Honda, -1 lap, 141.077 seconds, pitted, mechanical 23. J.J. Roetlin, Suzuki, -1 lap, 149,823 seconds 24. Peter Holzinger, Suzuki, -1 lap, 156.040 seconds 25. Brian Boyd, Suzuki, -1 lap, 157.560 seconds 26. Larry Pegram, Honda, -2 laps, DNF, mechanical 27. Greg Fryer, Yamaha, -2 laps 28. Francis Martin, Suzuki, -9 laps, DNF, mechanical 29. James Kerker, Honda, -10 laps, DNF, mechanical 30. Jeff Tigert, Honda, -11 laps, DNF 31. Jake Holden, Suzuki, -14 laps, DNF, mechanical 32. Marty Craggill, Suzuki, -16 laps, DNF, mechanical 33. Tony Meiring, Suzuki, -16 laps, DNF 34. John Haner, Suzuki, -16 laps, DNF, crash 35. Eric Haugo, Suzuki, -16 laps, DNF, crash 36. Geoff May, Suzuki, DNS 37. Steve Crevier, Honda, DNS 38. Brent George, Suzuki, DNS 39. Jason Perez, Yamaha, DNS Provisional AMA Superbike Championship Point Standings (after 10 of 17 races): 1. Mladin, 325 points 2. Spies, 300 points 3. Yates, 265 points 4. Hodgson, 249 points 5. Bostrom, 231 points 6. Duhamel, 204 points 7. TIE, Zemke/Craggill, 186 points 9. TIE, Hayes/Acree, 178 points 11. Rapp, 165 points 12. Pegram, 159 points 13. Wood, 148 points 14. Jimmy Moore, 135 points 15. Scott Jensen, 130 points 16. West, 118 points 17. McBain, 115 points 18. Holden, 101 points 19. Roberts, 99 points 20. Haner, 95 points More, from a press release issued by Honda Racing Information: Zemke on Podium at Road America American Honda’s Jake Zemke put the Honda CBR1000RR on the podium in Sunday’s sun-blessed Superbike race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, with teammate Miguel Duhamel very nearly joining him. Zemke ran a strong second for the entire race on the high-speed, four-mile track, finding new speed in the new power-up engine of the Honda CBR1000RR. With second place within sight, Zemke was balked by a lapped rider allowing Ben Spies (Suzuki) the narrow opening he needed to pull in front. Zemke struck back on the uphill run to the flag, only to come up 0.455 seconds short. “Those guys have been working so hard all year long just to get us to this point to where we can actually finish on the box,” Zemke said of his Merlyn Plumlee-led crew. Duhamel was heading a four-rider fight for third when he slowed dramatically on the eighth of 16 laps. A freak mechanical gremlin caused fuel from the overflow bottle to spray into his windscreen and onto his helmet visor. Unsure of the severity of the problem, Duhamel pitted for quick repairs. He was credited with 22nd. “It’s an oversight because it’s nothing major,” Duhamel said. “Everything on the bike was great. The bike was probably the best we had all weekend.” Sunday’s race was won by Suzuki’s Mat Mladin over teammate Ben Spies and Zemke. Duhamel won his second Formula Xtreme final on a wet/dry track on Saturday with Zemke a close second after passing Michael Barnes (Suzuki) on the final lap. The American Honda teammates have shared every race victory this season, Zemke taking four wins and Duhamel two. Saturday’s Superbike race began on a wet track and ended in a deluge, race officials calling it official just past half distance. In only his second wet race, the end came a lap too late for Zemke. A turn one crash ended his day, but scoring reverted to the previous lap and he was credited with sixth. Duhamel fell on a freshly painted slick curb on the first lap, but remounted and came through the field to finish seventh. Former World Superbike Champion Neil Hodgson won his first AMA Superbike race in the downpour, with Mladin second and Kawasaki’s Josh Hayes third. Jake Zemke, 3rd, Sunday Superbike You know, I want to be racing with Mat (Mladin) for a win, not racing for third place. But you know that’s the way it goes and we got to take it one step at a time and that’s kind of what we’ve been doing all year. And our results have been getting better and better and we’re getting closer and closer to the front every weekend. Like I said, it’s just really nice to be able to give the crew this little bit of enjoyment for all their hard work. Those guys put in some long hours and it’s really tough at times and it’s just really nice to be able to be up here and see all the smiles on their faces for all their hard work. Miguel Duhamel, 22nd, Sunday Superbike It probably spewed a little bit coming out of seven and I just smelled it and when I hit the brakes it just exploded into the windscreen and into my visor. It’s not like I was thinking I could smell gas. It was all over the place. I thought the tank cracked in the front where the attachment is. But it wasn’t the case. It was the overflow bottle and the hose being too long causing pressure and spewing the gas out. I think I would have been on the podium today, for sure. Jake Zemke, 6th, Saturday Superbike I’ve only ever raced in the rain one other time so it’s all a new experience for me. It wasn’t too bad. The rain definitely started coming down there towards the end and visibility was really bad. And hydroplaning was a little bit of an issue. Just went into turn one and I had just started to ease onto the brakes and I felt them start to work and then all of a sudden nothing and I could just feel the bike was just taking off. Pretty soon the rear end started passing the front and the thing hit the steering lock and it just shot me off the high-side. Miguel Duhamel, 7th, Saturday Superbike There’s, I don’t know, a three inch wide asphalt line inside Canada Corner between the tire patches and the painted line. I was trying to put the bike in there and I just touched the painted line and boom, down I went. I picked the bike up. I thought my day was done because I saw the brake reservoir was gone. But I popped it back in and everything was right and said, ‘Let’s go back racing again.’ Went back out and brought it in. Miguel Duhamel, 1st Formula Xtreme I was just going for every wet patch I could see. Just riding all over the place. It really paid off. My tires were good. I was still saving my tire in case somebody did a different set-up than me and came close, I could have a last lap hurrah going. Thankfully, we didn’t need it. After that it was pretty easy. Just sailing out there and just trying to stay out of trouble. But it was such a tough race here. I cannot imagine how many cracks and patches of tar and different surfaces we have here. It’s really, really difficult. Jake Zemke, 2nd, Formula Xtreme I was just trying to be real safe out there. Obviously Miguel (Duhamel) and myself are in a little bit of a championship scuffle. I just wanted to make sure we came home in one piece and got some good points coming out of here. Towards the end of the race there I could see (Michael Barnes) was spinning up pretty bad and he was coming back to me pretty quick. Luckily for me he was shooting bb’s in the shape of rubber at me and I was able to go by him going into turn eight there on the last lap. All in all it’s not too bad. Second place for the day and we’ll take that and move on to the next one. Sunday Superbike: 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 2. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 3. Jake Zemke (Honda) 4. Eric Bostrom (Ducati) 5. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 6. Josh Hayes (Kawasaki) 7. Kurtis Roberts (Honda) 8. Steve Rapp (Suzuki) 9. Lee Acree (Suzuki) 10. Clint McBain (Suzuki) Saturday Superbike: 1. Neil Hodgson (Ducati) 2. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 3. Josh Hayes (Kawasaki) 4. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 5. Marty Craggill (Suzuki) 6. Jake Zemke (Honda) 7. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 8. Larry Pegram (Honda) 9. John Haner (Honda) 10. Akira Tamitsuji (Suzuki) Superbike Point Standings: 1. Mat Mladin (325) 2. Ben Spies (300) 3. Aaron Yates (265) 4. Neil Hodgson (249) 5. Eric Bostrom (231) 6. Miguel Duhamel (204) 7. Jake Zemke (186) Martin Craggill (186) 9. Josh Hayes (178) Lee Acree (178) Formula Xtreme: 1. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 2. Jake Zemke (Honda) 3. Michael Barnes (Suzuki) 4. Ben Attard (Kawasaki) 5. Danny Eslick (Suzuki) 6. Alex Gobert (Honda) 7. Mike Hale (Honda) 8. Victor Chirinos (Honda) 9. Robert Jensen (Yamaha) 10. Justin Filice (Honda) More, from a press release issued by Proforma: PAINFUL DAY FOR HANER AT ROAD AMERICA John Haner had a painful day on Sunday at Road America, round 6 of the AMA Superbike Championship. Haner was already riding in pain from a broken foot he sustained in a Friday practice crash. Saturday’s Superbike rain race was easier on the foot, but both races on Sunday were held in dry conditions, meaning more painful pressure on the foot. He had a reasonable result in the morning Superstock race, but his grid position in Superbike, determined by Saturday qualifying, meant he had to get a good start and ride hard on the first few laps to make up places. John highsided exiting the new chicane, fortunate not to re-injure the foot, ending up with bruising and a headache. Sunday’s Repsol Lubricants Superstock Final – 11th Place “I didn’t get a good start and Tony Meiring came right over on me,” said John, who started from the fourth row after qualifying with his broken foot on Saturday. “It felt like a hundred guys went past me into turn one. I went into turn five on the inside and all hell broke loose. The Japanese guy hit the ground and I almost hit him and had to chop the throttle. The pack split and I just started running my own race, making some passes. I was behind Damon (Buckmaster), he was riding very well through the mid part of the laps. Our bikes were really fast, and I was able to run with him down the straightaways. Right at halfway, I caught a false neutral going into turn five and it pretty much determined where my finishing position was going to be. I had to run wide and make my little turnaround. I’m not sure how many seconds I lost, but a couple of laps later I see Damon and Jake (Holden) and I see (Steve) Rapp start coming back and I’m thinking, ‘I might be a ble to catch a couple of these guys’. But two laps from the end and my foot was killing me and it was really hard. It was much easier in the rain yesterday. Today I had to ride a lot harder and it was putting a lot of pressure on the foot.” Sunday’s Superbike Final – DNF “Well, I tried,” said John philosopically about the effort he was putting in before his highside crash on lap two, which brought out a red flag. “Gridded that far back, because of my injuries, it put me in a situation where I was trying to catch a bunch of guys that I’m faster than. Maybe I got on the gas too hard, but I don’t think that was the case. I had an issue with the chassis, where the tire just went out from underneath me, for the second time this weekend. Both times I tried to ride it out and ended up on my head. At least I’m walking around still.” More, from a press release issued by Proforma: MILLENNIUM KWS SUZUKI RIDERS BREAK THROUGH AT ROAD AMERICA Millenium KWS Suzuki team riders Blake Young and Lee Acree had some of their best finishes of the year this past weekend at round six of the AMA Superbike Championship at Road America. The riders and their crew worked hard to refine the suspension set-ups, which translated to more confidence in the corners. Lee was hindered in Saturday’s Superbike rain race with a bad face shield, but bounced back on Sunday to finish ninth in Superbike on his Suzuki GSX-R1000, with a strong run in Superstock to finish 13th. Blake, from nearby Madison, Wisconsin, avoided disaster and rebounded in the Superstock race to finish 15th, then came back an hour later and fought to a fine 11th place result in the Supersport event on his Suzuki GSX-R600. Blake Young Sunday’s Repsol Lubricants Superstock Final – 15th Place “I went up the inside, on the outside of Lee,” said Blake, referring to the run down to turn five on lap one, where two riders crashed in front of him. “I was going to follow Lee through, but Akira (Tamitsuji) took (Tony) Meiring out. Meiring crashed and his bike spun around and closed up the gap so I couldn’t go through there. Basically, Meiring started sliding into me and I had to just pick it up and make a loop right there. After that I closed on Jason Perez and passed him, but I was pretty much by myself the whole time.” Sunday’s Pro Honda Oils Supersport Final – 11th Place “Robert Jensen was in front of me and Damon Buckmaster was behind me,” Blake said of the first couple of laps. “About four laps into it Damon went by me, and I came back around him in turn one. He eventually got around me coming up the hill and I couldn’t hang onto him. It was kind of lonely for a while, then a couple of laps to go and Shawn Conrad came by me. He rode well and didn’t make many mistakes and it was hard for me to capitalize on them. On the last lap I had a killer run on him into turn 14, I went a little wide and I got on the gas up the hill but I didn’t quite get past him at the checkered flag.” Lee Acree Saturday’s Superbike Final – 16th Place “It took a few laps to get settled in,” said Lee of the rain race. “It could have gone a lot better if I could have seen, if I had put a brand new visor on. It wasn’t fogging up, but the coating on the outside was non-existent, so it was getting that sheeting action. After about three laps I couldn’t see the sides of the racetrack through Kettle Bottoms at all. I just kind of had to guess whether I was at the braking zone or not. Luckily, I didn’t overshoot anything.” Sunday’s Repsol Lubricants Superstock Final – 13th Place “Akira went underneath me and then piled it. I just waited for him to slide out of the way,” said Lee about the first-lap, turn five incident. “I think Eric (Wood) had some sort of problem. Once Jimmy (Moore) came by, we started closing back in on him a bit. My bike seemed a bit quicker than Jimmy’s up top. I could roll into corners as fast as he could, but any throttle application and the front wouldn’t track around the corner. I just couldn’t exit with him. We made a couple of changes to the forks from this morning, changed the rear ride height a bit. I think it was better.” Sunday’s Superbike Final – 9th Place “The clutch had a chatter, it was real grabby at the start,” said Lee. “I got some guys going into turn three, and it took a couple of passes to make it stick on Eric Wood. I ran down Larry Pegram, and I could run up on him under braking, and we would accordion a little bit. Maybe two laps before Larry’s tire let go, my quick shifter quit working and when it quit working it made the bike very hard to shift. I had to be really pronounced with my rolling out to upshift, and I really had to blip it to downshift. A couple of times I missed shifts going into braking areas, and it took away my ability to really run down into some of those corners.” More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki: Team Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin claimed his seventh AMA Superbike victory of the year with a start-to-finish win in today’s Elkhart Lake 10th round at Road America in Wisconsin. The five-time AMA Superbike Champion and current series leader crossed the line on his GSX-R1000 almost 6.5 second clear of team mate and current series number two Ben Spies with Aaron Yates fifth on his Yoshimura Suzuki. “It was a good race for us,” said Mladin from the podium. “I’m glad it stayed dry for everyone and I hope we put on a good show. This year the new Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 is working really well for us and it’s a shame that we had a wet race yesterday, though we still got on the podium. I’d like to thank my crew because we’ve had some issues this weekend and they got the GSX-R sorted for us so we could get the win today.” In Friday afternoon’s initial qualifying session, Mladin took his 43rd career pole position and his sixth one of the year by setting a track record-breaking best lap of 2.12:553 seconds. Team mates Spies and Yates were gridded second and third respectively with Spies posting a best time of 2.13:345 and Yates a 2.14:235 in Saturday’s session. Sunday’s 16-lap Superbike race got started and then was almost immediately red flagged from a downed rider. A complete restart resulted in Mladin out front and he gradually created a gap and led the whole race to take the win. “I got the holeshot on the second start, but I was in the lead anyway so it doesn’t matter,” said Mladin of the red flag. Like Mladin, Spies got a good start on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000. For the first half of the race, he was in a solid fourth then moved up into third. Then, on the last lap, he made an aggressive pass and took second. “It wasn’t so much that I was chasing down the guys in front of me as I was trying to get away from the guys behind me,” laughed Spies after the race. “I’d really like to thank my guys for working so hard this weekend. I crashed twice in yesterday’s Superbike race and I haven’t made things easy on them.” Yates got a bad start after the red flag and was back in 12th place on the first lap. But he pushed his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 hard and made his way up through the field. Said Yates, who earlier in the day claimed victory and the series lead in the Superstock class: “I don’t know if I was tired from the Superstock win or what, but I was pretty far back and I knew I had to put my head down and push hard to get up to the front. Now I’m just looking forward to Laguna Seca next month and getting back on the podium.” Superbike Results: 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 2. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 3. Jake Zemke (Honda) 4. Eric Bostrom (Ducati) 5. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 6. Josh Hayes (Kawasaki) 7. Kurtis Roberts (Honda) 8. Steve Rapp (Suzuki) 9. Lee Acree (Suzuki) 10. Clint McBain (Suzuki)

Provisional AMA Supersport Race Results: 1. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki, 10 laps 2. Roger Hayden, Kawasaki, -0.004 second 3. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha, -9.881 seconds 4. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, -9.912 seconds 5. Ben Spies, Suzuki, -12.856 seconds 6. Geoff May, Suzuki, -20.082 seconds 7. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha, -20.442 seconds 8. Chris Peris, Yamaha, -21.302 seconds 9. Robert Jensen, Yamaha, -38.248 seconds 10. Shawn Conrad, Kawasaki, -44.349 seconds 11. Blake Young, Suzuki, -44.401 seconds 12. Jason Farrell, Kawasaki, -53.293 seconds 13. Nathan Hester, Yamaha, -57.987 seconds 14. Matt Furtek, Kawasaki, -63.886 seconds 15. Taylor Knapp, Yamaha, -65.862 seconds 16. Giovanni Rojas, Yamaha, -67.344 seconds 17. Jeff Tigert, Honda, -69.190 seconds 18. Keith Marshall, Suzuki, -70.532 seconds 19. Barrett Long, Yamaha, -70.744 seconds 20. Dan Ortega, Yamaha, -71.045 seconds 21. Tristan Schoenewald, Honda, -72.583 seconds 22. Andy Feuersthaler, Suzuki, -67.176 seconds 23. Shea Fouchek, Suzuki, -82.418 seconds 24. Chad Klock, Honda, -82.794 seconds 25. Victor Chirinos, Yamaha, -93.525 seconds 26. Myron Bell, Suzuki, -98.253 seconds 27. Chris Siebenhaar, Honda, -98.290 seconds 28. Scott Ackerman, Yamaha, -111.259 seconds 29. Greg Steltenpohl, Honda, -114.858 seconds 30. Dwayne Lang, Kawasaki, -128.040 seconds 31. Jessica Zalusky, Kawasaki, -129.356 seconds 32. Scotty Van Scoik, Kawasaki, -129.385 seconds 33. Simon Kowalski, Suzuki, -141.006 seconds 34. Justin Filice, Honda, -1 lap, DNF 35. Ben Attard, Kawasaki, -3 laps, DNF, mechanical 36. Danny Eslick, Suzuki, -4 laps, DNF 37. Scott Ryan, Suzuki, -5 laps, DNF 38. Calvin Martinez, Suzuki, -7 laps, DNF Provisional AMA Supersport Championship Point Standings: 1. Tommy Hayden, 211 points 2. Jamie Hacking, 165 points 3. Roger Hayden, 163 points 4. Spies, 149 points 5. TIE, DiSalvo/Aaron Gobert, 146 points 7. May, 135 points 8. Peris, 134 points 9. Jensen, 128 points 10. Attard, 116 points More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: KAWASAKI DOMINATES ROAD AMERICA Tommy Hayden wins third Supersport race of the season ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (June 5, 2005) Reigning AMA Supersport champion Tommy Hayden and series runner-up Roger Hayden dominated the field aboard their Kawasaki NINJA® ZX™-6RR motorcycles as AMA motorcycle road racing returned to Road America Raceway last weekend. In AMA Supersport action, Tommy qualified on the pole for the fourth time this season and posted a huge 1.3-second advantage over the rest of the field while Roger qualified fourth. When the race began Sunday afternoon, both Haydens blasted out front and quickly pulled away from the rest of the field. Throughout the duration of the race the pair swapped for the lead many times as they gained nearly eight seconds on third-place rider Jason Disalvo. As the final lap wound down the last straightaway became a drag race for the green bikes with Tommy crossing the line ahead of Roger by only .004 seconds. Attack Kawasaki rider Ben Attard endured mechanical problems and pulled off the track on lap eight of the 10-lap event. With the win, Tommy now has a substantial point lead in the overall AMA Supersport point standings with 211 points; Roger sits in third place with 163 points. In the AMA Superstock race, Tommy and Roger battled with several riders after the start with Tommy in fifth and Roger in seventh by the end of the first lap. As the pair battled for the front, Roger moved ahead of Tommy into fifth near the halfway point of the race and Tommy was in sixth. As the final laps wound down each rider gained one more position with Roger crossing the finish line in fourth and Tommy in fifth. During the first AMA Superbike race on Saturday, Attack Kawasaki rider Josh Hayes claimed his first podium finish of the season, capturing third place after the race was red-flagged due to rain. In the second Superbike race on Sunday, Hayes rode a clean and consistent race to finish in sixth, scoring his seventh top-ten finish for the season. Hayes’ teammate Ben Attard qualified fourth for Saturday’s AMA Formula Xtreme event and captured his fourth top-five finish for the season after crossing the finish line in fourth place. Attard has now moved into fifth in the overall point standings for Formula Xtreme. Racing resumes when the teams head to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif., July 8-10.