SBK FP1
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Australian Superbike: Maxwell Tops Practice Friday At Wakefield Park
ASBK ’22: Maxwell Shines All Day as Wakefield Park Raceway 2022 Heats Up.
While Wakefield Park turned on some early sun, the cloud closed in and made for pleasant, but not hot conditions on the day with the top temperature around 18 degrees. From practice session one, it was Wayne Maxwell who was the man to beat and he built momentum and pace all day to end the day atop the standings..
Alpinestars Superbike
Seeing Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing) atop the charts- albeit briefly- at his nominally his home event, was a pleasing moment for all assembled as the opening practice session got underway.
While Herfoss was able to stay in the top five, it was Wayne Maxwell (Boost Mobile with K-tech) aboard his Ducati who topped the first session followed by Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team) and Mike Jones (Yamaha Racing Team).
Just three-tenths of a second covered the top three, with the leading pair of Maxwell and Halliday a small, but notable margin ahead of the field.
Glenn Allerton (Maxima Racing Oils) and the aforementioned Troy Herfoss rounded out the top five.
Practice two was a copy of session one with the same top three in Maxwell, Halliday and Jones atop the standings. Local boy Herfoss showed he’s race fit and race-ready by moving up to fourth with DesmoSport Ducati rider Bryan Staring fifth.
Interestingly, where session one was closely fought, in the second practice session, Wayne Maxwell found some more pace in his Ducati and stretched his lead considerably out to an ominously large .439 to sound a Phillip island-like warning to the field: “catch me if you can…”
Session three saw a third repeat of the top three in terms of makeup and order: Maxwell, Halliday and Jones. Maxwell was again able to hold a sizeable advantage of over 3/10ths of a second to hold the pack at bay.
Wayne Maxwell, first overall: “I think my one lap speed was quite good, but I think we need to work on our overall pace and improve that a little bit. Hopefully, the weather is a tiny bit better tomorrow and we can come out and have a go at the pole record…”
Cru Halliday, second overall: “It was a strange session that last one- it got colder and I thought times would not improve but they did. I felt better as the sessions went on. The bike felt good, the team are working really well, and I know there’s more time in the bike.”
Mike Jones, third overall: “We were here for a couple of days that were rained out. But in saying that my feeling on the bike is pretty good and we were able to get down to business and make progress in every session.”
Post day press conference link: https://youtu.be/7zZ_IIywYe8
Full Results: https://www.computime.com.au/Meetings/index?Date=22/04/22&MeetID=2022/ASBK22_3/
Michelin Supersport
This weekend, Supersport is wide open event insofar as favourites go with former series leader Senna Agius long gone from Australia and former top three racer Tom Edwards in Europe on World Supersport duties. While Olly Simpson holds the championship lead, he would have a mixed day.
It was Queenslander John Lytras aboard a Yamaha who would draw first blood, fastest in the early session from Scott Nicholson (Yamaha) and Sean Condon (Yamaha) – who is stepping in for the World Supersport bound Tom Edwards- in third position.
It was a slower start for current Championship leader Olly Simpson who was down in eighth position and former championship leader Tom Bramich in sixth.
In session two, Sean Condon showed that he was coming to terms with the BikeBiz Yamaha by topping the table by .2 ahead of much-improved Tom Bramich with practice one fast man Lytras in third.
Championship leader Olly Simpson went down near the end of the session, but was up and about and participated in the third practice session of the day.
Session three saw John Lytras again atop the standings, making a substantial gain to bring himself closer to Sean Condon’s fastest time of the day. Ty Lynch was second in the session and third fastest for the day while Sean Condon was third in the session, but still fastest overall thanks to his time in session two.
Session three and merged classifications: https://www.computime.com.au/Meetings/2022/ASBK22_3/ASBK22_3_P13.pdf
Dunlop Supersport 300
Chmapionship leader Henry Snell opened his Wakefield campaign with a lowly ninth in the first practice while Cameron Dunker – who is currently third in the title chase- capitalised on some slower than expected results from the nominally fast riders by topping the table in practice one.
Second for the session was Hayden Nelson, a worrying .344 behind Dunker and then just .078 back to third-placed Jonathan Nahlous.
Dunker’s early form and pace continued into session two as he was the only rider in the 1:05s while Snell had no answer as he wallowed down in 13th position. Hayden Nelson and Glenn Nelson were second and third.
In session three, Dunker continued to show the field a clean set of heels, now some 1.344 seconds ahead of second-placed Brodie Gawith who in turn was just .075 ahead of Jonathan Nahlous.
In terms of combined times, it was Dunker, Hayden Nelson and Nahlous. Tomorrow the field has serious work to do to reel in Dunker.
Practice Session three and combined times: https://www.computime.com.au/Meetings/2022/ASBK22_3/ASBK22_3_P14.pdf
Yamaha Finance R3 Cup
Cameron Dunker showed that his fast form in the all-in 300 class was no fluke by topping the table in practice one for the Yamaha Finance R3 Cup.
It’s a typically closely fought class, so seeing Dunker ahead of second-placed Glenn Nelson by some .326 who was just .082 ahead of Hayden Nelson ought to have given Dunker’s fellow racers plenty to ponder ahead of the rest of the sessions.
The theme continued into practice session two with Dunker ahead of Glenn Nelson and Hayden Nelson. The gap to second was at .326 but only 0.82 back to third.
In session three it was that man Dunker again, although Hayden Nelson was able to keep Dunker in sight, just .557 behind, with Taiyo Aksu who was just .168 behind Nelson.
On combined times it was Dunker, Glenn Nelson and Hayden Nelson making up the top three on the day.
Practice three results and combined times.
https://www.computime.com.au/Meetings/2022/ASBK22_3/ASBK22_3_P12.pdf
bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup
Series coach Garry McCoy has been slowly but surely turning coal into diamonds as he works on all aspects of the rider’s skillsets in the development series that is the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup.
In the first session, it was Hudson Thompson up by an unusually high half a second over Marcus Hamod and then an equally unusual .909 back to third-placed Harrison Watts.
While the early sessions aren’t necessarily a true form guide, the early pace from Thompson sounded a warning to the field.
Into session two, it was Thompson again atop the standings, but second place Marcus Hamod found some more pace as he settled into the Wakefield layout. Alexander Codey was third, just .244 from the leader.
With session three starting late in the day when the temperatures had dropped, it was still Hudson Thompson out front, but by an ever-diminishing margin to Marcus Hamod, who was now just .101 behind. There was a more substantial gap of .327 back to third-placed Harrison Watts, and it was clear that the field was slowly coming to grips with the track.
For the day it was Hudson Thompson, Marcus Hamod and Alexander Codey.
Session three and combined times https://www.computime.com.au/Meetings/2022/ASBK22_3/ASBK22_3_P16.pdf
Roadracing World Young Guns 2022: Tyler Scott
Roadracing World started this exclusive special feature recognizing the most promising young road racers as an answer to pessimists who claimed America had no new, up-and-coming young racers. This edition of the Roadracing World Young Gun Awards marks the 26th consecutive year of showcasing an abundance of new talent.
Roadracing World Young Guns have won:
FIM MotoGP and FIM Superbike races and World Championships;
MotoAmerica and AMA Pro races and Championships, including 11 AMA Pro Superbike Championships;
A KTM RC Cup World Final race;
The Daytona 200 (11 times);
WERA National Endurance Championships and WERA National Challenge Championships;
ASRA/Formula USA Grand National and CCS National Championships;
AMA Road Racing Grand Championships and Horizon Awards;
USGPRU National Championships;
Many regional and local titles.
The competition has continually become more intense as more – and younger—racers with higher levels of accomplishment are nominated, and the level of achievement required to make the grade keeps getting tougher.
We’ve spent the last several months accepting nominations and evaluating road racers between the ages of 10 and 18 (as of the start of the 2022 season) who have, at a minimum, won Expert-level road races and/or Championships or had outstanding results as an Amateur/Novice. Most of the riders included here have done far more than the minimum.
The young riders recognized here are the most promising young road racers in North America. All have earned the title of Roadracing World Young Gun.
We will feature one Young Gun per day, presenting them in alphabetical order.
Tyler Scott
Age: 15.
Current home: Emmaus, Pennsylvania.
Current height/weight: 5’7”/130 pounds.
Current school grade level: 10th grade.
Began riding at age: 4 years.
First road race: 2016, Road Atlanta, Georgia, WERA, Formula Three, 1st place.
Current racebike: Suzuki GSX-R600.
Current tuners/mechanics: Team Hammer.
Primary race series: MotoAmerica Supersport.
Top sponsors: Vision Wheel, M4 Performance Exhausts, ECSTAR, Suzuki, Arai, RST, R&G, Shorai Dunlop, Hotbodies Racing, Vortex, EK Chains, TechSpec, Venhill, Roadracingworld.com, Team Hammer.
Recent racing accomplishments: 2021 season, won MotoAmerica Junior Cup Championship (11 wins and 15 total podiums in 18 races); 2020 season, raced in FIM CEV European Talent Cup (best race finish was 16th at Valencia), won 2 CCS Atlantic Regional Championships (ThunderBike, Lightweight Superbike), won 26 CCS races; 2019 season, finished 23rd in Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup (best race finish was 11th at Assen), competed in European Talent Cup; 2018 season, finished 3rd in ASRA Moto3 and Thunderbike National Championships (6 wins, 8 podium finishes from 8 starts), won 5 CCS Regional Championships (34 race wins), won 3 WERA races; 2017 season, won AMA Moto3 Grand Championship, won WERA Formula Three National Challenge Championship, won 2 WERA Sportsman Regional Class Championships (16 wins, 24 podiums with WERA), won 3 AMA Flat Track Grand National Championships, named AMA Flat Track Youth Rider of the Year; 2016 season, won 3 AMA Flat Track Grand Championships, named AMA Flat Track Youth Rider of the Year.
2022 racing goal: Finish on the podium in MotoAmerica Supersport.
Racing career goals: Race against Marc Marquez, win MotoGP World Championship.
Racing hero: Nicky Hayden.
Favorite track: Mugello.
Favorite hobby: Riding mountain bikes.
If I wasn’t racing I would be…: Competing in bicycle races.
WorldSBK: Haslam Riding TPR Team Pedercini Kawasaki At Assen
Leon Haslam returns to WorldSBK earlier than expected – he will race at Assen
TPR Team Pedercini Racing is pleased to announce that Leon Haslam, already scheduled to compete for the team in four race this season, will replace Loris Cresson in this weekend’s WorldSBK Dutch Round.
Haslam will travel directly from Oulton Park in the UK, where took part in a scheduled BSB test, in preparation for his return to the World Superbike paddock in FP1 + FP2 at the iconic TT Circuit Assen, tomorrow.
Lucio Pedercini Team Principal: “It is an unexpected first wildcard appearance with us for Leon who will now compete in at least five races for us this season. We are sorry that we have not been able to continue with our original 2022 plan, but the show must go on and we delighted to welcome Leon back to the team earlier than we had anticipated. We go into the weekend confident of achieving three solid results.”
Leon Haslam: “I have fond memories of Assen over the years and so when the opportunity arose to race with TPR Team Pedercini in one additional race it was easy to say yes. I have ridden with the team before and achieved a top five result in Qatar and I know how they work. It will be a tough ask coming straight into Round 2 with no testing on the bike and the championship being so strong this year but knowing that we will also race together in four other races after this I am confident that we can gain a lot of valuable information and have a positive weekend together.”
WorldSBK: Bautista Says, “I Hope To Have The Same Battle As Aragon”
Talking tough ahead of Assen: “I hope to have the same battles… that’d be incredible”
The heavy-hitting names speak about the upcoming Assen clash, with rivalries, debates about upgrades and hoping to bounce back all on the agenda
The 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship arrives in the Netherlands for the Motul Dutch Round at the TT Circuit Assen. Celebrating 30 years since the first time WorldSBK visited the hallowed turf of the Dutch venue, it promises to be a spectacular weekend.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “I hope to have the same battle as Aragon!”
“It’s not easy to beat Jonny here. He has won everything here apart from three years ago against me. More than motivated, I am confident; I felt very strong during the first round so why can’t I be strong here? It will be more difficult to beat him here as he is the ‘King of Assen’ but it will be a good challenge for everyone to beat him. Jonny, Toprak and I are three very different riders, and we have three very different bikes, so each one has its own style. It’s good to have three contenders for victory but also my teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi; he can battle with the other guys but also achieve a podium which he deserves. I hope to have the same battle as Aragon!”
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK): “To win 100 races for Kawasaki would be incredible”
“Let’s say Alvaro’s replaced the missing Scott Redding at the front. It’s always cool to have more guys fighting at the front. We didn’t mention Rinaldi, he was very strong at Aragon, a good circuit for him. Nice to be in the battle, nice that I had a bike that let me fight as well. Look forward to more of that here. To win 100 races with Kawasaki would be incredible! No one’s mentioned that inside the team. To win two races in WorldSBK is tough. I will do my best, that’s the target, but nothing is for sure right now. It would be nice come Sunday. I hope they have this in mind, maybe they can prepare a cake or something, that would be nice!”
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK): “We’ll use the 2022 electronics”
“In Aragon, we had a problem with the braking, and I didn’t feel good in this area, but for Assen, it’s important to improve this problem. Every race weekend we try 2021 and 2022 electronics, and now we are improving the new one. The new one we will improve each weekend and this weekend, we will use the 2022 electronics. The other Yamaha riders are improving, because I’m not working alone and they’re also working for the new electronics. We are coming to ‘my tracks’ now. Last year at Assen, it wasn’t a great result for me and in one race, I crashed. I know my problem at this track but this year we have improved it, so I think we’re fighting for the win this weekend.”
Iker Lecuona (Team HRC): “Didn’t expect to start in this position… best for Honda in many years”
“We didn’t expect to start in this position. We expected to stay tenth, ninth, maybe eighth in the World Championship. But we’re P5, we’re very happy. This is the best start in the World Championship for Honda in a lot of years. The objective is to keep on this path, keep this performance, try to develop the bike and to fight more for a podium.”
Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “I’m really happy to be in the paddock”
“I’m really happy to be back in the paddock! It was already a very long winter, but unfortunately due to the injury, I made the winter even longer. Things are going well. I’m getting better every day. I’m really happy to be here at Assen. It would’ve been really disappointing to miss my home round. On the other side, it’s my first time on the bike this year. It’s a nice place to be on the bike. We have a good bike, but it’s not a winning bike. The only advice is to stay calm. We know what we have to develop. It’s tough, especially with such a close Championship. A couple of tenths and we’ll gain a lot of places but it’s not easy to find these couple of tenths.”
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “I want a podium really, really bad!”
“At the moment, we have done just the Aragon Round, so I only have the feeling from that circuit. I think that turning the bike, I need to use a lot of rear grip in the entry of the corner. When the rear tyre goes down, I lose a little bit of confidence and I can control the bike less. I think we have to focus on that. Just make the bike turn a little bit better. Here we are at a different track, I think it has fewer long corners, so maybe the tyres can last a little bit longer. The goal is to be able to fight for the podium in all three races. After we have missed the Aragon podium, I want this one really, really bad. Every track is a different story. This is our goal.”
Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “We were just too far away…”
We kind of know the issue but we’re kind of locked with what we can do in this situation at the moment. For me, it’s more working on the electronics side of things, trying to help our problem. I think the track layout is what’s probably going to help us the most. Let’s see what we can do and see if this weekend brings us a step and see in the future. It’s not going to be a nice, clean improvement; it’s going to be rocky on the way. As long as we’re going forward, I’m happy with that. I always said we were too far away; I didn’t want to blow smoke up my ass about it. We were just too far away, so coming into a race weekend, it isn’t going to be any better. I think we’ve just got to keep working in the line that we’re following and see if we can build up.”
Xavi Vierge (Team HRC): “It was really good with two rookies… nobody expected it!”
“To go from the first round sixth in the Championship but with the same points as my teammate in fifth position was really good. Also, for the team, I think it was really good with two rookies to start the season like that. Nobody expected it. We need to have the feet on the ground because the gap between us and the top guys is quite big, so we need to work to be closer to them.”
MotoAmerica: Seven Classes Featuring 200 Entries Set For Road Atlanta
It’s All Go With Seven Classes Of MotoAmerica Action At Road Atlanta
First-Time Winners And Heated Racing Expected For Support Series Openers, April 22-24
IRVINE, CA (April 21, 2022) – The third of what are basically three opening weekends of the 2022 Auto Parts 4 Less MotoAmerica Championship kicks off this weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with the first round of the season to feature all seven of the MotoAmerica classes.
With the Daytona International Speedway round featuring the non-championship points-paying Daytona 200 and the opening rounds of both the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship and the Roland Sands Design Super Hooligan Championship, and the Circuit of The Americas consisting of Medallia Superbikes-only, the season kicks off in earnest this weekend in Georgia with seven MotoAmerica classes taking to the track: Medallia Superbike, YUASA Stock 1000, Supersport, SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup, round two of Twins Cup, round two of Mission King Of The Baggers and round two of the Roland Sands Design Super Hooligan Championship.
YUASA Stock 1000
Thirty-nine riders have entered the YUASA Stock 1000 class as the series open its season at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta and with last year’s class champion Jake Lewis heading to a full-time Superbike ride this year, the championship is there for the taking.
Who the favorites are to battle for the title is crapshoot, but it would start with the three riders who finished within three points of each other: championship runner-up Travis Wyman, third-placed Corey Alexander and Michael Gilbert, who ended up fourth but just three points short of second.
Wyman and Alexander will race in the all-new Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing team on BMW M 1000 RRs with Gilbert aboard a Suzuki GSX-R1000 for his self-owned Cycle World/Octane/Chuckwalla Valley Racing team.
Although those three were the next best thing to Lewis last year, they will be challenged in 2022 and that challenge will likely be led by class rookie Brandon Paasch. After all, Paasch is riding for the team that has won the last two Stock 1000 Championships – Altus Motorsports (in 2020 with Cameron Petersen and in 2021 with Lewis). Paasch, however, arrives in Atlanta with a shoulder injury suffered in a preseason testing crash.
Among the others expected to challenge are the returning Hayden Gillim on a Disrupt Racing Suzuki, Vision Wheel/Discount Tire/KWS’s Geoff May, Motorsport Exotica Orange Cat BST Racing rookie Ezra Beaubier, Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates, and Tecfil Racing’s Danilo Lewis, to name a few.
Supersport
Even though he comes to the class on a new motorcycle and on a different team, 2013 AMA Superbike Champion Josh Herrin begins the MotoAmerica Supersport Championship as the favorite to take the crown. Riding a Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC Panigale V2 in his return to Supersport-class racing, Herrin’s resume is the strongest in the class as he is an eight-time Superbike race winner. Herrin also finished second in the MotoAmerica Supersport class in 2015 with four wins and 11 podium finishes.
Herrin also got plenty of time on the V2 bike in the Daytona 200, a race for which he qualified on pole for but ended up 10th after some pit-stop miscues.
The bottom line: He might be favored, but it won’t be easy.
With 2021 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion Sean Dylan Kelly and 2020 class champion Richie Escalante both leaving the class for 2022, the series promises to be a wide-open affair. If you predict this year’s championship chase based on last year, then Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sam Lochoff would be one of the favorites. After all, he finished third to the aforementioned Kelly and Escalante last year and beat both of them in a straight fight for his first-career victory at New Jersey Motorsports Park in the penultimate round.
Others who should fare well based on past performances are North East Cycle Outlet Racing’s Benjamin Smith, Landers Racing’s Rocco Landers, 2021 SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup Champion Tyler Scott, MP13’s Chad Lewin (a former Stock 1000 race winner), N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto’s Kevin Olmedo and Disrupt Racing’s Carl Soltisz.
SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup
With several of the top guns moving out of the SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup class, that championship is most definitely wide open and ready for whoever steps up to be next. Case in point: There are only two previous race winners entered for the Junior Cup opener at Road Atlanta.
Those two past winners are Cody Wyman Racing’s Cody Wyman and Rodio Racing/Warhorse HSBK Racing’s Gus Rodio.
Based on last year’s championship and what is left of the class from a year ago, Rodio will start the year as the favorite as he ended up third overall in last year’s title chase. Wyman, meanwhile, ended up fifth in the point standings. Next up is Max Van with the SportbikeTrackGear.com-backed Michigander ending up seventh in the 2021 championship.
Another who could fare well is Joseph LiMandri Jr, the SportbikeTrackGear.com-sponsored rider earning three straight podium finishes near the end of last year’s campaign to finish 10th in the championship – despite not running a full schedule.
Big things are also expected of Californian Owen Williams with the Michael Gilbert Racing rider set for his first full season in the class.
Twins Cup
So where did all the Junior Cup racers go? Twins Cup, it seems. And one of them has already won a race as the series got started with two races held in conjunction with the Daytona 200 in March. That rider was N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto’s Blake Davis, the 15-year-old Virginian taking race one in Daytona to score his first career MotoAmerica win.
The rider to win the other Twins Cup race in Daytona? That would be Cycle Tech’s Hayden Schultz with what was also his first career MotoAmerica victory. Ironically, both Davis and Schultz failed to finish the races that they didn’t win at Daytona, and it’s Robem Engineering’s Teagg Hobbs who leads the title chase by two points over Veloce Racing’s Jody Barry as the series heads to Road Atlanta.
Rodio Racing/Warhorse HSBK Racing’s Anthony Mazziotto is third in the championship and one of the riders favored to contest for the title.
With their two wins and two DNFs, Davis and Schultz are tied for fourth, just two points clear of Wrench Motorcycles’ Jackson Blackmon.
Robem Engineering’s Tommaso Marcon, Rodio Racing/Warhorse HSBK Racing’s Gus Rodio, Wrench Motorcycles’ Ethan Cook and defending MotoAmerica Twins Cup Champion Kaleb De Keyrel, aboard his Veloce Engineering Aprilia RS 660, rounds out the top 10 in points.
Mission King Of The Baggers
Mission Foods/S&S Cycle/Indian Challenger Team’s Tyler O’Hara rumbles into Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with a seven-point lead over his teammate Jeremy McWilliams in the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship after the two Indian racers split wins in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
H-D Screamin’ Eagle’s Travis Wyman is third in the championship standings after finishing second and fifth at Daytona. Fourth is held by Roland Sands Design’s Bobby Fong on his Indian Challenger, four points ahead of Vance & Hines Racing’s Taylor Knapp.
You have to scan down to sixth on the championship point standings sheet to find defending series champion Kyle Wyman, with the HD Screamin’ Eagle rider 29 points behind his Indian-mounted rival O’Hara as the 17-strong King Of The Bagger entries arrive to do battle at Road Atlanta.
Harley-Davidson has been working and testing diligently since Daytona to fix the gearbox issues that plagued both Wyman brothers in Florida and that included two days of testing at Road Atlanta.
Roland Sands Design Super Hooligan
The Roland Sands Design Super Hooligan class was also featured at Daytona with just one race held after the second scheduled race was scrapped due to inclement weather. The Hooligans will make up for the rained-out race with two races scheduled for Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
The Daytona race was won by JLC Concrete/KTM/DiBrino Racing’s Andy DiBrino over Saddlemen/Lloyd’z Garage’s Cory West with Roland Sands Design’s Tyler O’Hara finishing third and those three will again be the pre-race favorites in Georgia.
Saturday’s races will be run in quick succession with YUASA Stock 1000 starting things off at 1:10 p.m., followed by Supersport race one at 2:10 p.m. Medallia Superbikes will go off at 3:10 p.m. followed by SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup race one at 4:10 p.m. Saturday’s action will conclude with Roland Sands Design Super Hooligans race one at 4:45 p.m.
Sunday’s action starts earlier with the YUASA Stock 1000 race going off first at 12 p.m. followed by Mission King Of The Baggers at 12:35 p.m. Supersport race two is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. with SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup race two getting the green lights at 2:10 p.m. Medallia Superbike race two will go green at 3:10 p.m. with the second of two Roland Sands Design Super Hooligans races ending the race action with a 4:10 p.m. start time.
Road Atlanta Support Class Notes
The Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta paddock will be a busy place this weekend with the seven classes drawing 200 entries.
The biggest class when it comes to entries is the 42 for this year’s Twins Cup races. As for manufacturer involvement in Twins Cup, Yamaha leads the way with 18 entries, Aprilia is next with 13 riders signed up to race the RS 660, and there are 11 Suzuki SV650s entered.
Last year’s Twins Cup races were won by Kaleb De Keyrel and Teagg Hobbs, but it was Trevor Standish who left Road Atlanta with the championship points lead after finishing fourth and second in the two races.
Tyler Scott and Ben Gloddy split wins in last year’s SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup with Scott winning race one on his KTM and Gloddy taking race two on a Kawasaki. The pair left Georgia tied on points at the top of the point standings with 45 points apiece.
Sean Dylan Kelly was perfect in the two Supersport races last year with the Floridian topping his rival Richie Escalante in both races. Kelly is now racing in the Moto2 World Championship where he is teammates on the American Racing squad witg five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier.
The first Stock 1000 race of the season last year was won by Michael Gilbert with Travis Wyman winning race two.
Tyler O’Hara won the opening round of the 2021 Mission King Of The Baggers Championship with the Californian and his Indian topping Kyle Wyman and his factory Harley-Davidson. Frankie Garcia ended up third on his Roland Sands Design Indian.
Kaleb De Keyrel’s next Twins Cup victory will push him to the top of the heap on the all-time Twins Cup win list. De Keyrel is currently tied for the lead in Twins Cup wins with Rocco Landers with nine wins apiece. Nineteen different riders have won Twins Cup races with the class getting started in 2018. Last year’s season produced the most parity in the class with seven different winners in the 14 races.
About MotoAmerica
MotoAmerica is the North American road racing series created in 2014 that is home to the AMA Superbike Championship. MotoAmerica is an affiliate of KRAVE Group LLC, a partnership that includes three-time 500cc World Champion, two-time AMA Superbike Champion, and AMA Hall of Famer Wayne Rainey, ex-racer and former manager of Team Roberts Chuck Aksland, motorsports marketing executive Terry Karges, and businessman Richard Varner. For more information on MotoAmerica, visit www.MotoAmerica.com. Also make sure to follow MotoAmerica on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
MotoGP 22 Video Game Is Now Available
MotoGP™ 22: the official MotoGP™ video game is back for 2022!
The new edition of the official MotoGP™ video game offers exclusive features both for newcomers and hardcore fans of two-wheeled racing
Thursday, 21 April 2022
Milestone and Dorna Sports S.L. are proud to announce that MotoGP™22, the newest chapter of the celebrated two-wheel racing simulation game, is now available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch™ and Steam.
MotoGP™22 enriches the heritage of the videogame franchise and the sport itself, adding a one-of-a-kind game mode. The NINE Season 2009 is a fascinating way to re-live one of the most incredible seasons in MotoGP™ history. A nostalgic and emotional docu-film narrated by Mark Neale, director of a number of MotoGP™ documentaries, includes more than 50 minutes of original footage from the 2009 Season that are mixed with real gameplay, creating a totally immersive motor simulation experience. Players will find themselves in the boots of legendary riders such as Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo, facing different breath-taking challenges to be able to replicate historic moments.
NINE Season 2009 replicates all 17 Grands Prix of the season, divided into chapters with over 39 challenges in total.
The 2022 edition also adds new dedicated features for both newcomers and core gamers: the enhanced Tutorial and the MotoGP™ Academy. Thanks to these two new tailor-made modes players have the chance to master their knowledge of two wheels or learn the basics to start their escalation to the pro-level.
The Tutorial features a series of dedicated gameplay sessions, helping newcomers to understand the basics of the game through specific challenges focused on electronics, tyre consumption, brake temperature and core differences between the three main categories.
The MotoGP™ Academy teaches you how to improve your riding style to be unbeatable on every track, uncovering the secrets to every corner and challenge on the calendar.
Additionally, the Riding Analysis System helps riders through in-game pop-up messages that appear at the end of the race suggesting how to adjust the difficulty level based on skills and performances. The game may recommend activating some aides or suggest playing specific tutorials designed to fill gaps in terms of gameplay knowledge.
The Managerial Career is back and allows players to decide whether to create a new team or join a real one. The game mode also features the possibility to go in-depth into the details of strategy, using development points and allocating R&D staff to reach the top, along with working on Bike Development through enhancing aspects such as the Engine, Frame, Aerodynamics and Electronics. The path can also start from the bottom, creating a Junior Team in the Moto2™ or Moto3™ categories, selecting a sponsor and hiring a Team Manager, Technical Director and at least one rider.
MotoGP™22 achieves realism never seen before. A true next-generation experience that reduces the boundaries between videogame and reality.
A level of realism never seen before: new face animations, improved 3D characters and pits
Ride Height Device: players will be able to manually manage the locking mechanism of the RHD and control the compression of the bike’s suspension
Enhanced tracks: surfaces have been improved to have better rideability
Improved Suspension system: refined for a better feeling when passing over curbs
Tyre deformation: more realistic tyre behavior makes the experience even closer to reality
And, for the first time ever in the series, MotoGP™22 features the highly anticipated 2-player local split-screen*, online multiplayer* and cross-play through consoles of the same family.
MotoGP™22 is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5**, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S**, Nintendo Switch and Steam. *Split-screen and online multiplayer not supported on Nintendo Switch **Free upgrade and Smart Delivery are supported.
Luisa Bixio, CEO of Milestone Srl: “Next generation consoles allowed us to push the MotoGP Series in a new direction, always aiming to give the fans the best riding experience. With MotoGP™22 we wanted to make a more welcoming game for newcomers, while continuing to fill the gap between reality and simulation. Moreover, to celebrate the heritage of this amazing sport, we introduce the NINE Season 2009, a one-of-a-kind docu-style game mode dedicated to one of the most emotional seasons ever.”
Marc Saurina, Senior Director of Global Commercial Partnerships at Dorna Sports: “We’re very happy to see MotoGP™22 hit the shelves. Year on year, the new features always create an incredibly immersive experience for seasoned gamers and new fans alike. NINE Season 2009 is an exciting innovation too, adding race coverage to the game and giving fans the chance to embody and race against some of the sport’s biggest legends, creating their own version of our sport’s rich history.”
About Milestone
Founded in Milan in 1996, Milestone S.r.l. is one of the leading and longest established racing game developer in the world. The 200+ people team is responsible for hit series like MotoGP™, MXGP and Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame, the acclaimed Hot Wheels™ Unleashed, as well as own IPs RIDE and Gravel. For more information please visit www.milestone.it
About Koch Media
Koch Media is a leading producer and distributor of digital entertainment products (software, games and films). The company’s own publishing activities, marketing and distribution extend throughout Europe and the USA. The Koch Media group has more than 19 years of experience in the digital media business, and has risen to become the number one distributor in Europe. It has also formed strategic alliances with numerous games and software publishers: Bethesda, Capcom, Kaspersky Labs, NC SOFT, Sega, Square Enix and Tecmo-Koei, etc. in various European countries. With Headquarters in Planegg near Munich/Germany, Koch Media owns branches in Germany, England, France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the Nordic regions, Benelux and the United States. www.kochmedia.com
WorldSBK: Gerloff Targets Better Qualifying At Assen
GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team Ready for the Cathedral of Speed
The GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team is back in action for the second round of the 2022 FIM Superbike World Championship at TT Circuit Assen this weekend. After completing the opening round of the season at MotorLand Aragón, Kohta Nozane and Garrett Gerloff are ready to prove their speed at the Dutch venue.
At the season-opener, both riders showed good speed and potential, with the Gerloff clinching a Best Independent result on Saturday and top 10 finishes on Sunday. The American is focused on the upcoming weekend, targeting an improved qualifying performance and is confident of finding good pace at the ‘Cathedral of Speed’.
Nozane missed out on points in Aragón, but improved each session and just missed out on a top-15 finish in all the three races. Therefore, the Japanese rider is aiming for his first points of the 2022 campaign at the Dutch round.
This weekend’s schedule will slightly differ from what we had in Aragón. The main difference will be on Sunday’s Race 2, which is set for 15:15 local time. You can find as usual on our preview the whole times to follow us during the weekend.
Garrett Gerloff:
“It’s nice to be back after just two weeks. After the opening round we had at MotorLand Aragón, I cannot wait to see how the 2022 Yamaha R1 works at TT Circuit Assen. The Dutch track should suit our bike very well and I really like the layout, so I’m thrilled for the upcoming weekend. We want to prove our pace once again and to show the speed we had in the practice sessions at Aragón to get a good result in the Netherlands.”
Kohta Nozane:
“Coming back to the ‘Cathedral of Speed’ is always such a nice feeling. To race there is always a pleasure and our this track should play to our strengths. I cannot wait to start and see our pace after making progress in the opening round in Aragón. Unfortunately I couldn’t score points, but I’ll try to be stronger and am aiming for much better results.”
TVS Supplying Motorcycles For One-Make Racing Series
TVS Racing Participates in FIM Asia Road Racing Championship for TVS Asia One-Make Championship
Bangi, April 2022 – Two Wheels Motor Racing Sdn. Bhd. (“TWMR”) announces its partnership with TVS Racing, the factory racing team of TVS Motor Company of its participation in the TVS Asia One-Make Championship that will run alongside FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (“ARRC”).
The championship will see a total of sixteen riders from all over Asia who will be finalised on 27th April, 2022 for the first year. The selection will be held at the Sepang International Circuit where Round 2 of the ARRC will take place in May.
Commenting on the development, Mr. Vimal Sumbly, Head – Premium Business, TVS Motor Company, said, “The engineering and performance prowess in our race machines has been derived from TVS Racing’s race-bred pedigree on the track, proving its mettle across a host of racing formats and has put us on the global map. We are excited about carving our success story internationally. The TVS Asia One Make Championship will play a pivotal role as a milestone in our global journey for TVS Racing.”
“We take this as an opportunity to take our learnings from the Indian tracks and demonstrate our capabilities internationally. We also look forward to having international racers atop our TVS Asia One Make Apache RR 310 motorcycles competing in the future championships.”
Ron Hogg, Promotions Director of Two Wheels Motor Racing Sdn. Bhd. said, “The participation of TVS Racing in the One-Make Championship is a bold gesture that would certainly open avenues in discovering new talents. More importantly, bringing in a new partner and manufacturer will ignite the interest for FIM Asia Road Racing Championship in general.”
On the impact towards the motorsport industry, Ron continued, “Motorsport industry is ever-changing. From a technological perspective, we move very quickly from two-strokes to four-strokes and having said that, we foresee further development of machines to suit the needs of the industry. Being rider-centric, we constantly look for ways that would pave opportunities for riders to pursue professional riding at a higher level. Our collaboration with TVS Racing in this One-Make Championship is part of our strategic plan that would serve the needs of our Asian riders at the regional front consequently contributing to a comprehensive development within the motorsport industry.”
FIM Asia President, Stephan P Carapiet said, “The One-Make Championship collaboration is an important mark in the motorsport championships as it forms yet another platform for the development of future motorsport stars and an opportunity to race the TVS One-Make machines. TVS will now be able to showcase the capacities, qualities and reliabilities of the machine in the racing field and through the technical specifications and data obtained from the races, they will also be able to make forward approaches in developing enhanced features that would better serve the needs of their domestic use.”
“India is a base for motorcycle manufacturers with a sales projection that supersedes the rest of the Asian markets. The involvement of TVS in racing however goes the extra mile to exhibit their advancement in technology and potentially spark interest in motorsport among the 1 billion population. FIM Asia fully supports this initiative and with the financial subsidies and opportunities provided by TVS Racing, we look forward to the participation of over 10 countries for the coming round in Malaysia.”
TVS Asia One-Make Championship will participate in four rounds of the ARRC:
1. 27th – 29th May 2022 Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia
2. 1st – 3rd July 2022 (TBC)
3. 12th – 14th August 2022 Sugo International Circuit, Japan
4. 18th – 20th November 2022 Chang International Circuit, Thailand
Roadracing World Young Guns 2022: Mikey Lou Sanchez
Roadracing World started this exclusive special feature recognizing the most promising young road racers as an answer to pessimists who claimed America had no new, up-and-coming young racers. This edition of the Roadracing World Young Gun Awards marks the 26th consecutive year of showcasing an abundance of new talent.
Roadracing World Young Guns have won:
FIM MotoGP and FIM Superbike races and World Championships;
MotoAmerica and AMA Pro races and Championships, including 11 AMA Pro Superbike Championships;
A KTM RC Cup World Final race;
The Daytona 200 (11 times);
WERA National Endurance Championships and WERA National Challenge Championships;
ASRA/Formula USA Grand National and CCS National Championships;
AMA Road Racing Grand Championships and Horizon Awards;
USGPRU National Championships;
Many regional and local titles.
The competition has continually become more intense as more – and younger—racers with higher levels of accomplishment are nominated, and the level of achievement required to make the grade keeps getting tougher.
We’ve spent the last several months accepting nominations and evaluating road racers between the ages of 10 and 18 (as of the start of the 2022 season) who have, at a minimum, won Expert-level road races and/or Championships or had outstanding results as an Amateur/Novice. Most of the riders included here have done far more than the minimum.
The young riders recognized here are the most promising young road racers in North America. All have earned the title of Roadracing World Young Gun.
We will feature one Young Gun per day, presenting them in alphabetical order.
Mikey Lou Sanchez
Age: 11.
Current home: McDade, Texas.
Current height/weight: 4′ 8″/80 pounds.
Current school grade level: 5th grade.
Began riding at age: 3 years.
First road race: 2018, Katy Texas, Texas Mini Grand Prix, Jr. Motard, 1st place.
Current racebike: Moto4.
Current tuner/mechanic: Jose Pino.
Primary race series: RFME ESBK Moto4 National Championship.
Top sponsors: Roadway Traffic Control, Williams Custom Painting, Fondu, Moto Liberty, Texas Motorcycle Academy, Niemi Fine Art, San Marcos Iron Doors, Studio Three49, Harris Hill Flattrackers, Corsawerks, Arai Americas.
Recent racing accomplishments: 2021 season, finished 9th in Cuna de Campeones Moto5 Championship (1 podium, 4 top-5 finishes in 13 races), won CAV Moto5 National Championship race at Jerez, won multiple CMRA races; 2020 season, won MotoAmerica Mini Cup 110 and 160 National Championships, won 3 Texas Mini Grand Prix Championships, won 2 Mad Dog Flat Track Championships at Colin Edwards’ Texas Tornado Boot Camp; won a CMRA Formula 2 Novice race; 2019 season, won 45 Texas Mini Grsand Prix races, won 11 American Super Mini GP races, won 7 CMRA races, won 8 Mad Dog Flat Track races.
2022 racing goal: Win ESBK Moto4 Championship.
Racing career goal: Win the MotoGP World Championship.
Racing heroes: Kevin Schwantz, Colin Edwards, Ben Spies.
Favorite track: Circuit of The Americas.
Favorite hobby: Diesel Trucks.
If I wasn’t racing I would be…: A cowboy.
WorldSBK: Razgatlioglu P1, Gerloff P6 In FP1 At Assen
Australian Superbike: Maxwell Tops Practice Friday At Wakefield Park
ASBK ’22: Maxwell Shines All Day as Wakefield Park Raceway 2022 Heats Up.
While Wakefield Park turned on some early sun, the cloud closed in and made for pleasant, but not hot conditions on the day with the top temperature around 18 degrees. From practice session one, it was Wayne Maxwell who was the man to beat and he built momentum and pace all day to end the day atop the standings..
Alpinestars Superbike
Seeing Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing) atop the charts- albeit briefly- at his nominally his home event, was a pleasing moment for all assembled as the opening practice session got underway.
While Herfoss was able to stay in the top five, it was Wayne Maxwell (Boost Mobile with K-tech) aboard his Ducati who topped the first session followed by Cru Halliday (Yamaha Racing Team) and Mike Jones (Yamaha Racing Team).
Just three-tenths of a second covered the top three, with the leading pair of Maxwell and Halliday a small, but notable margin ahead of the field.
Glenn Allerton (Maxima Racing Oils) and the aforementioned Troy Herfoss rounded out the top five.
Practice two was a copy of session one with the same top three in Maxwell, Halliday and Jones atop the standings. Local boy Herfoss showed he’s race fit and race-ready by moving up to fourth with DesmoSport Ducati rider Bryan Staring fifth.
Interestingly, where session one was closely fought, in the second practice session, Wayne Maxwell found some more pace in his Ducati and stretched his lead considerably out to an ominously large .439 to sound a Phillip island-like warning to the field: “catch me if you can…”
Session three saw a third repeat of the top three in terms of makeup and order: Maxwell, Halliday and Jones. Maxwell was again able to hold a sizeable advantage of over 3/10ths of a second to hold the pack at bay.
Wayne Maxwell, first overall: “I think my one lap speed was quite good, but I think we need to work on our overall pace and improve that a little bit. Hopefully, the weather is a tiny bit better tomorrow and we can come out and have a go at the pole record…”
Cru Halliday, second overall: “It was a strange session that last one- it got colder and I thought times would not improve but they did. I felt better as the sessions went on. The bike felt good, the team are working really well, and I know there’s more time in the bike.”
Mike Jones, third overall: “We were here for a couple of days that were rained out. But in saying that my feeling on the bike is pretty good and we were able to get down to business and make progress in every session.”
Post day press conference link: https://youtu.be/7zZ_IIywYe8
Full Results: https://www.computime.com.au/Meetings/index?Date=22/04/22&MeetID=2022/ASBK22_3/
Michelin Supersport
This weekend, Supersport is wide open event insofar as favourites go with former series leader Senna Agius long gone from Australia and former top three racer Tom Edwards in Europe on World Supersport duties. While Olly Simpson holds the championship lead, he would have a mixed day.
It was Queenslander John Lytras aboard a Yamaha who would draw first blood, fastest in the early session from Scott Nicholson (Yamaha) and Sean Condon (Yamaha) – who is stepping in for the World Supersport bound Tom Edwards- in third position.
It was a slower start for current Championship leader Olly Simpson who was down in eighth position and former championship leader Tom Bramich in sixth.
In session two, Sean Condon showed that he was coming to terms with the BikeBiz Yamaha by topping the table by .2 ahead of much-improved Tom Bramich with practice one fast man Lytras in third.
Championship leader Olly Simpson went down near the end of the session, but was up and about and participated in the third practice session of the day.
Session three saw John Lytras again atop the standings, making a substantial gain to bring himself closer to Sean Condon’s fastest time of the day. Ty Lynch was second in the session and third fastest for the day while Sean Condon was third in the session, but still fastest overall thanks to his time in session two.
Session three and merged classifications: https://www.computime.com.au/Meetings/2022/ASBK22_3/ASBK22_3_P13.pdf
Dunlop Supersport 300
Chmapionship leader Henry Snell opened his Wakefield campaign with a lowly ninth in the first practice while Cameron Dunker – who is currently third in the title chase- capitalised on some slower than expected results from the nominally fast riders by topping the table in practice one.
Second for the session was Hayden Nelson, a worrying .344 behind Dunker and then just .078 back to third-placed Jonathan Nahlous.
Dunker’s early form and pace continued into session two as he was the only rider in the 1:05s while Snell had no answer as he wallowed down in 13th position. Hayden Nelson and Glenn Nelson were second and third.
In session three, Dunker continued to show the field a clean set of heels, now some 1.344 seconds ahead of second-placed Brodie Gawith who in turn was just .075 ahead of Jonathan Nahlous.
In terms of combined times, it was Dunker, Hayden Nelson and Nahlous. Tomorrow the field has serious work to do to reel in Dunker.
Practice Session three and combined times: https://www.computime.com.au/Meetings/2022/ASBK22_3/ASBK22_3_P14.pdf
Yamaha Finance R3 Cup
Cameron Dunker showed that his fast form in the all-in 300 class was no fluke by topping the table in practice one for the Yamaha Finance R3 Cup.
It’s a typically closely fought class, so seeing Dunker ahead of second-placed Glenn Nelson by some .326 who was just .082 ahead of Hayden Nelson ought to have given Dunker’s fellow racers plenty to ponder ahead of the rest of the sessions.
The theme continued into practice session two with Dunker ahead of Glenn Nelson and Hayden Nelson. The gap to second was at .326 but only 0.82 back to third.
In session three it was that man Dunker again, although Hayden Nelson was able to keep Dunker in sight, just .557 behind, with Taiyo Aksu who was just .168 behind Nelson.
On combined times it was Dunker, Glenn Nelson and Hayden Nelson making up the top three on the day.
Practice three results and combined times.
https://www.computime.com.au/Meetings/2022/ASBK22_3/ASBK22_3_P12.pdf
bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup
Series coach Garry McCoy has been slowly but surely turning coal into diamonds as he works on all aspects of the rider’s skillsets in the development series that is the bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup.
In the first session, it was Hudson Thompson up by an unusually high half a second over Marcus Hamod and then an equally unusual .909 back to third-placed Harrison Watts.
While the early sessions aren’t necessarily a true form guide, the early pace from Thompson sounded a warning to the field.
Into session two, it was Thompson again atop the standings, but second place Marcus Hamod found some more pace as he settled into the Wakefield layout. Alexander Codey was third, just .244 from the leader.
With session three starting late in the day when the temperatures had dropped, it was still Hudson Thompson out front, but by an ever-diminishing margin to Marcus Hamod, who was now just .101 behind. There was a more substantial gap of .327 back to third-placed Harrison Watts, and it was clear that the field was slowly coming to grips with the track.
For the day it was Hudson Thompson, Marcus Hamod and Alexander Codey.
Session three and combined times https://www.computime.com.au/Meetings/2022/ASBK22_3/ASBK22_3_P16.pdf
Roadracing World Young Guns 2022: Tyler Scott
Roadracing World started this exclusive special feature recognizing the most promising young road racers as an answer to pessimists who claimed America had no new, up-and-coming young racers. This edition of the Roadracing World Young Gun Awards marks the 26th consecutive year of showcasing an abundance of new talent.
Roadracing World Young Guns have won:
FIM MotoGP and FIM Superbike races and World Championships;
MotoAmerica and AMA Pro races and Championships, including 11 AMA Pro Superbike Championships;
A KTM RC Cup World Final race;
The Daytona 200 (11 times);
WERA National Endurance Championships and WERA National Challenge Championships;
ASRA/Formula USA Grand National and CCS National Championships;
AMA Road Racing Grand Championships and Horizon Awards;
USGPRU National Championships;
Many regional and local titles.
The competition has continually become more intense as more – and younger—racers with higher levels of accomplishment are nominated, and the level of achievement required to make the grade keeps getting tougher.
We’ve spent the last several months accepting nominations and evaluating road racers between the ages of 10 and 18 (as of the start of the 2022 season) who have, at a minimum, won Expert-level road races and/or Championships or had outstanding results as an Amateur/Novice. Most of the riders included here have done far more than the minimum.
The young riders recognized here are the most promising young road racers in North America. All have earned the title of Roadracing World Young Gun.
We will feature one Young Gun per day, presenting them in alphabetical order.
Tyler Scott
Age: 15.
Current home: Emmaus, Pennsylvania.
Current height/weight: 5’7”/130 pounds.
Current school grade level: 10th grade.
Began riding at age: 4 years.
First road race: 2016, Road Atlanta, Georgia, WERA, Formula Three, 1st place.
Current racebike: Suzuki GSX-R600.
Current tuners/mechanics: Team Hammer.
Primary race series: MotoAmerica Supersport.
Top sponsors: Vision Wheel, M4 Performance Exhausts, ECSTAR, Suzuki, Arai, RST, R&G, Shorai Dunlop, Hotbodies Racing, Vortex, EK Chains, TechSpec, Venhill, Roadracingworld.com, Team Hammer.
Recent racing accomplishments: 2021 season, won MotoAmerica Junior Cup Championship (11 wins and 15 total podiums in 18 races); 2020 season, raced in FIM CEV European Talent Cup (best race finish was 16th at Valencia), won 2 CCS Atlantic Regional Championships (ThunderBike, Lightweight Superbike), won 26 CCS races; 2019 season, finished 23rd in Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup (best race finish was 11th at Assen), competed in European Talent Cup; 2018 season, finished 3rd in ASRA Moto3 and Thunderbike National Championships (6 wins, 8 podium finishes from 8 starts), won 5 CCS Regional Championships (34 race wins), won 3 WERA races; 2017 season, won AMA Moto3 Grand Championship, won WERA Formula Three National Challenge Championship, won 2 WERA Sportsman Regional Class Championships (16 wins, 24 podiums with WERA), won 3 AMA Flat Track Grand National Championships, named AMA Flat Track Youth Rider of the Year; 2016 season, won 3 AMA Flat Track Grand Championships, named AMA Flat Track Youth Rider of the Year.
2022 racing goal: Finish on the podium in MotoAmerica Supersport.
Racing career goals: Race against Marc Marquez, win MotoGP World Championship.
Racing hero: Nicky Hayden.
Favorite track: Mugello.
Favorite hobby: Riding mountain bikes.
If I wasn’t racing I would be…: Competing in bicycle races.
WorldSBK: Haslam Riding TPR Team Pedercini Kawasaki At Assen
Leon Haslam returns to WorldSBK earlier than expected – he will race at Assen
TPR Team Pedercini Racing is pleased to announce that Leon Haslam, already scheduled to compete for the team in four race this season, will replace Loris Cresson in this weekend’s WorldSBK Dutch Round.
Haslam will travel directly from Oulton Park in the UK, where took part in a scheduled BSB test, in preparation for his return to the World Superbike paddock in FP1 + FP2 at the iconic TT Circuit Assen, tomorrow.
Lucio Pedercini Team Principal: “It is an unexpected first wildcard appearance with us for Leon who will now compete in at least five races for us this season. We are sorry that we have not been able to continue with our original 2022 plan, but the show must go on and we delighted to welcome Leon back to the team earlier than we had anticipated. We go into the weekend confident of achieving three solid results.”
Leon Haslam: “I have fond memories of Assen over the years and so when the opportunity arose to race with TPR Team Pedercini in one additional race it was easy to say yes. I have ridden with the team before and achieved a top five result in Qatar and I know how they work. It will be a tough ask coming straight into Round 2 with no testing on the bike and the championship being so strong this year but knowing that we will also race together in four other races after this I am confident that we can gain a lot of valuable information and have a positive weekend together.”
WorldSBK: Bautista Says, “I Hope To Have The Same Battle As Aragon”
Talking tough ahead of Assen: “I hope to have the same battles… that’d be incredible”
The heavy-hitting names speak about the upcoming Assen clash, with rivalries, debates about upgrades and hoping to bounce back all on the agenda
The 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship arrives in the Netherlands for the Motul Dutch Round at the TT Circuit Assen. Celebrating 30 years since the first time WorldSBK visited the hallowed turf of the Dutch venue, it promises to be a spectacular weekend.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “I hope to have the same battle as Aragon!”
“It’s not easy to beat Jonny here. He has won everything here apart from three years ago against me. More than motivated, I am confident; I felt very strong during the first round so why can’t I be strong here? It will be more difficult to beat him here as he is the ‘King of Assen’ but it will be a good challenge for everyone to beat him. Jonny, Toprak and I are three very different riders, and we have three very different bikes, so each one has its own style. It’s good to have three contenders for victory but also my teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi; he can battle with the other guys but also achieve a podium which he deserves. I hope to have the same battle as Aragon!”
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK): “To win 100 races for Kawasaki would be incredible”
“Let’s say Alvaro’s replaced the missing Scott Redding at the front. It’s always cool to have more guys fighting at the front. We didn’t mention Rinaldi, he was very strong at Aragon, a good circuit for him. Nice to be in the battle, nice that I had a bike that let me fight as well. Look forward to more of that here. To win 100 races with Kawasaki would be incredible! No one’s mentioned that inside the team. To win two races in WorldSBK is tough. I will do my best, that’s the target, but nothing is for sure right now. It would be nice come Sunday. I hope they have this in mind, maybe they can prepare a cake or something, that would be nice!”
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK): “We’ll use the 2022 electronics”
“In Aragon, we had a problem with the braking, and I didn’t feel good in this area, but for Assen, it’s important to improve this problem. Every race weekend we try 2021 and 2022 electronics, and now we are improving the new one. The new one we will improve each weekend and this weekend, we will use the 2022 electronics. The other Yamaha riders are improving, because I’m not working alone and they’re also working for the new electronics. We are coming to ‘my tracks’ now. Last year at Assen, it wasn’t a great result for me and in one race, I crashed. I know my problem at this track but this year we have improved it, so I think we’re fighting for the win this weekend.”
Iker Lecuona (Team HRC): “Didn’t expect to start in this position… best for Honda in many years”
“We didn’t expect to start in this position. We expected to stay tenth, ninth, maybe eighth in the World Championship. But we’re P5, we’re very happy. This is the best start in the World Championship for Honda in a lot of years. The objective is to keep on this path, keep this performance, try to develop the bike and to fight more for a podium.”
Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “I’m really happy to be in the paddock”
“I’m really happy to be back in the paddock! It was already a very long winter, but unfortunately due to the injury, I made the winter even longer. Things are going well. I’m getting better every day. I’m really happy to be here at Assen. It would’ve been really disappointing to miss my home round. On the other side, it’s my first time on the bike this year. It’s a nice place to be on the bike. We have a good bike, but it’s not a winning bike. The only advice is to stay calm. We know what we have to develop. It’s tough, especially with such a close Championship. A couple of tenths and we’ll gain a lot of places but it’s not easy to find these couple of tenths.”
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “I want a podium really, really bad!”
“At the moment, we have done just the Aragon Round, so I only have the feeling from that circuit. I think that turning the bike, I need to use a lot of rear grip in the entry of the corner. When the rear tyre goes down, I lose a little bit of confidence and I can control the bike less. I think we have to focus on that. Just make the bike turn a little bit better. Here we are at a different track, I think it has fewer long corners, so maybe the tyres can last a little bit longer. The goal is to be able to fight for the podium in all three races. After we have missed the Aragon podium, I want this one really, really bad. Every track is a different story. This is our goal.”
Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team): “We were just too far away…”
We kind of know the issue but we’re kind of locked with what we can do in this situation at the moment. For me, it’s more working on the electronics side of things, trying to help our problem. I think the track layout is what’s probably going to help us the most. Let’s see what we can do and see if this weekend brings us a step and see in the future. It’s not going to be a nice, clean improvement; it’s going to be rocky on the way. As long as we’re going forward, I’m happy with that. I always said we were too far away; I didn’t want to blow smoke up my ass about it. We were just too far away, so coming into a race weekend, it isn’t going to be any better. I think we’ve just got to keep working in the line that we’re following and see if we can build up.”
Xavi Vierge (Team HRC): “It was really good with two rookies… nobody expected it!”
“To go from the first round sixth in the Championship but with the same points as my teammate in fifth position was really good. Also, for the team, I think it was really good with two rookies to start the season like that. Nobody expected it. We need to have the feet on the ground because the gap between us and the top guys is quite big, so we need to work to be closer to them.”
MotoAmerica: Seven Classes Featuring 200 Entries Set For Road Atlanta
It’s All Go With Seven Classes Of MotoAmerica Action At Road Atlanta
First-Time Winners And Heated Racing Expected For Support Series Openers, April 22-24
IRVINE, CA (April 21, 2022) – The third of what are basically three opening weekends of the 2022 Auto Parts 4 Less MotoAmerica Championship kicks off this weekend at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with the first round of the season to feature all seven of the MotoAmerica classes.
With the Daytona International Speedway round featuring the non-championship points-paying Daytona 200 and the opening rounds of both the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship and the Roland Sands Design Super Hooligan Championship, and the Circuit of The Americas consisting of Medallia Superbikes-only, the season kicks off in earnest this weekend in Georgia with seven MotoAmerica classes taking to the track: Medallia Superbike, YUASA Stock 1000, Supersport, SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup, round two of Twins Cup, round two of Mission King Of The Baggers and round two of the Roland Sands Design Super Hooligan Championship.
YUASA Stock 1000
Thirty-nine riders have entered the YUASA Stock 1000 class as the series open its season at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta and with last year’s class champion Jake Lewis heading to a full-time Superbike ride this year, the championship is there for the taking.
Who the favorites are to battle for the title is crapshoot, but it would start with the three riders who finished within three points of each other: championship runner-up Travis Wyman, third-placed Corey Alexander and Michael Gilbert, who ended up fourth but just three points short of second.
Wyman and Alexander will race in the all-new Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing team on BMW M 1000 RRs with Gilbert aboard a Suzuki GSX-R1000 for his self-owned Cycle World/Octane/Chuckwalla Valley Racing team.
Although those three were the next best thing to Lewis last year, they will be challenged in 2022 and that challenge will likely be led by class rookie Brandon Paasch. After all, Paasch is riding for the team that has won the last two Stock 1000 Championships – Altus Motorsports (in 2020 with Cameron Petersen and in 2021 with Lewis). Paasch, however, arrives in Atlanta with a shoulder injury suffered in a preseason testing crash.
Among the others expected to challenge are the returning Hayden Gillim on a Disrupt Racing Suzuki, Vision Wheel/Discount Tire/KWS’s Geoff May, Motorsport Exotica Orange Cat BST Racing rookie Ezra Beaubier, Jones Honda’s Ashton Yates, and Tecfil Racing’s Danilo Lewis, to name a few.
Supersport
Even though he comes to the class on a new motorcycle and on a different team, 2013 AMA Superbike Champion Josh Herrin begins the MotoAmerica Supersport Championship as the favorite to take the crown. Riding a Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC Panigale V2 in his return to Supersport-class racing, Herrin’s resume is the strongest in the class as he is an eight-time Superbike race winner. Herrin also finished second in the MotoAmerica Supersport class in 2015 with four wins and 11 podium finishes.
Herrin also got plenty of time on the V2 bike in the Daytona 200, a race for which he qualified on pole for but ended up 10th after some pit-stop miscues.
The bottom line: He might be favored, but it won’t be easy.
With 2021 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion Sean Dylan Kelly and 2020 class champion Richie Escalante both leaving the class for 2022, the series promises to be a wide-open affair. If you predict this year’s championship chase based on last year, then Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sam Lochoff would be one of the favorites. After all, he finished third to the aforementioned Kelly and Escalante last year and beat both of them in a straight fight for his first-career victory at New Jersey Motorsports Park in the penultimate round.
Others who should fare well based on past performances are North East Cycle Outlet Racing’s Benjamin Smith, Landers Racing’s Rocco Landers, 2021 SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup Champion Tyler Scott, MP13’s Chad Lewin (a former Stock 1000 race winner), N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto’s Kevin Olmedo and Disrupt Racing’s Carl Soltisz.
SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup
With several of the top guns moving out of the SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup class, that championship is most definitely wide open and ready for whoever steps up to be next. Case in point: There are only two previous race winners entered for the Junior Cup opener at Road Atlanta.
Those two past winners are Cody Wyman Racing’s Cody Wyman and Rodio Racing/Warhorse HSBK Racing’s Gus Rodio.
Based on last year’s championship and what is left of the class from a year ago, Rodio will start the year as the favorite as he ended up third overall in last year’s title chase. Wyman, meanwhile, ended up fifth in the point standings. Next up is Max Van with the SportbikeTrackGear.com-backed Michigander ending up seventh in the 2021 championship.
Another who could fare well is Joseph LiMandri Jr, the SportbikeTrackGear.com-sponsored rider earning three straight podium finishes near the end of last year’s campaign to finish 10th in the championship – despite not running a full schedule.
Big things are also expected of Californian Owen Williams with the Michael Gilbert Racing rider set for his first full season in the class.
Twins Cup
So where did all the Junior Cup racers go? Twins Cup, it seems. And one of them has already won a race as the series got started with two races held in conjunction with the Daytona 200 in March. That rider was N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto’s Blake Davis, the 15-year-old Virginian taking race one in Daytona to score his first career MotoAmerica win.
The rider to win the other Twins Cup race in Daytona? That would be Cycle Tech’s Hayden Schultz with what was also his first career MotoAmerica victory. Ironically, both Davis and Schultz failed to finish the races that they didn’t win at Daytona, and it’s Robem Engineering’s Teagg Hobbs who leads the title chase by two points over Veloce Racing’s Jody Barry as the series heads to Road Atlanta.
Rodio Racing/Warhorse HSBK Racing’s Anthony Mazziotto is third in the championship and one of the riders favored to contest for the title.
With their two wins and two DNFs, Davis and Schultz are tied for fourth, just two points clear of Wrench Motorcycles’ Jackson Blackmon.
Robem Engineering’s Tommaso Marcon, Rodio Racing/Warhorse HSBK Racing’s Gus Rodio, Wrench Motorcycles’ Ethan Cook and defending MotoAmerica Twins Cup Champion Kaleb De Keyrel, aboard his Veloce Engineering Aprilia RS 660, rounds out the top 10 in points.
Mission King Of The Baggers
Mission Foods/S&S Cycle/Indian Challenger Team’s Tyler O’Hara rumbles into Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with a seven-point lead over his teammate Jeremy McWilliams in the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship after the two Indian racers split wins in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
H-D Screamin’ Eagle’s Travis Wyman is third in the championship standings after finishing second and fifth at Daytona. Fourth is held by Roland Sands Design’s Bobby Fong on his Indian Challenger, four points ahead of Vance & Hines Racing’s Taylor Knapp.
You have to scan down to sixth on the championship point standings sheet to find defending series champion Kyle Wyman, with the HD Screamin’ Eagle rider 29 points behind his Indian-mounted rival O’Hara as the 17-strong King Of The Bagger entries arrive to do battle at Road Atlanta.
Harley-Davidson has been working and testing diligently since Daytona to fix the gearbox issues that plagued both Wyman brothers in Florida and that included two days of testing at Road Atlanta.
Roland Sands Design Super Hooligan
The Roland Sands Design Super Hooligan class was also featured at Daytona with just one race held after the second scheduled race was scrapped due to inclement weather. The Hooligans will make up for the rained-out race with two races scheduled for Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
The Daytona race was won by JLC Concrete/KTM/DiBrino Racing’s Andy DiBrino over Saddlemen/Lloyd’z Garage’s Cory West with Roland Sands Design’s Tyler O’Hara finishing third and those three will again be the pre-race favorites in Georgia.
Saturday’s races will be run in quick succession with YUASA Stock 1000 starting things off at 1:10 p.m., followed by Supersport race one at 2:10 p.m. Medallia Superbikes will go off at 3:10 p.m. followed by SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup race one at 4:10 p.m. Saturday’s action will conclude with Roland Sands Design Super Hooligans race one at 4:45 p.m.
Sunday’s action starts earlier with the YUASA Stock 1000 race going off first at 12 p.m. followed by Mission King Of The Baggers at 12:35 p.m. Supersport race two is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. with SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup race two getting the green lights at 2:10 p.m. Medallia Superbike race two will go green at 3:10 p.m. with the second of two Roland Sands Design Super Hooligans races ending the race action with a 4:10 p.m. start time.
Road Atlanta Support Class Notes
The Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta paddock will be a busy place this weekend with the seven classes drawing 200 entries.
The biggest class when it comes to entries is the 42 for this year’s Twins Cup races. As for manufacturer involvement in Twins Cup, Yamaha leads the way with 18 entries, Aprilia is next with 13 riders signed up to race the RS 660, and there are 11 Suzuki SV650s entered.
Last year’s Twins Cup races were won by Kaleb De Keyrel and Teagg Hobbs, but it was Trevor Standish who left Road Atlanta with the championship points lead after finishing fourth and second in the two races.
Tyler Scott and Ben Gloddy split wins in last year’s SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup with Scott winning race one on his KTM and Gloddy taking race two on a Kawasaki. The pair left Georgia tied on points at the top of the point standings with 45 points apiece.
Sean Dylan Kelly was perfect in the two Supersport races last year with the Floridian topping his rival Richie Escalante in both races. Kelly is now racing in the Moto2 World Championship where he is teammates on the American Racing squad witg five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier.
The first Stock 1000 race of the season last year was won by Michael Gilbert with Travis Wyman winning race two.
Tyler O’Hara won the opening round of the 2021 Mission King Of The Baggers Championship with the Californian and his Indian topping Kyle Wyman and his factory Harley-Davidson. Frankie Garcia ended up third on his Roland Sands Design Indian.
Kaleb De Keyrel’s next Twins Cup victory will push him to the top of the heap on the all-time Twins Cup win list. De Keyrel is currently tied for the lead in Twins Cup wins with Rocco Landers with nine wins apiece. Nineteen different riders have won Twins Cup races with the class getting started in 2018. Last year’s season produced the most parity in the class with seven different winners in the 14 races.
About MotoAmerica
MotoAmerica is the North American road racing series created in 2014 that is home to the AMA Superbike Championship. MotoAmerica is an affiliate of KRAVE Group LLC, a partnership that includes three-time 500cc World Champion, two-time AMA Superbike Champion, and AMA Hall of Famer Wayne Rainey, ex-racer and former manager of Team Roberts Chuck Aksland, motorsports marketing executive Terry Karges, and businessman Richard Varner. For more information on MotoAmerica, visit www.MotoAmerica.com. Also make sure to follow MotoAmerica on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
MotoGP 22 Video Game Is Now Available
MotoGP™ 22: the official MotoGP™ video game is back for 2022!
The new edition of the official MotoGP™ video game offers exclusive features both for newcomers and hardcore fans of two-wheeled racing
Thursday, 21 April 2022
Milestone and Dorna Sports S.L. are proud to announce that MotoGP™22, the newest chapter of the celebrated two-wheel racing simulation game, is now available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch™ and Steam.
MotoGP™22 enriches the heritage of the videogame franchise and the sport itself, adding a one-of-a-kind game mode. The NINE Season 2009 is a fascinating way to re-live one of the most incredible seasons in MotoGP™ history. A nostalgic and emotional docu-film narrated by Mark Neale, director of a number of MotoGP™ documentaries, includes more than 50 minutes of original footage from the 2009 Season that are mixed with real gameplay, creating a totally immersive motor simulation experience. Players will find themselves in the boots of legendary riders such as Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo, facing different breath-taking challenges to be able to replicate historic moments.
NINE Season 2009 replicates all 17 Grands Prix of the season, divided into chapters with over 39 challenges in total.
The 2022 edition also adds new dedicated features for both newcomers and core gamers: the enhanced Tutorial and the MotoGP™ Academy. Thanks to these two new tailor-made modes players have the chance to master their knowledge of two wheels or learn the basics to start their escalation to the pro-level.
The Tutorial features a series of dedicated gameplay sessions, helping newcomers to understand the basics of the game through specific challenges focused on electronics, tyre consumption, brake temperature and core differences between the three main categories.
The MotoGP™ Academy teaches you how to improve your riding style to be unbeatable on every track, uncovering the secrets to every corner and challenge on the calendar.
Additionally, the Riding Analysis System helps riders through in-game pop-up messages that appear at the end of the race suggesting how to adjust the difficulty level based on skills and performances. The game may recommend activating some aides or suggest playing specific tutorials designed to fill gaps in terms of gameplay knowledge.
The Managerial Career is back and allows players to decide whether to create a new team or join a real one. The game mode also features the possibility to go in-depth into the details of strategy, using development points and allocating R&D staff to reach the top, along with working on Bike Development through enhancing aspects such as the Engine, Frame, Aerodynamics and Electronics. The path can also start from the bottom, creating a Junior Team in the Moto2™ or Moto3™ categories, selecting a sponsor and hiring a Team Manager, Technical Director and at least one rider.
MotoGP™22 achieves realism never seen before. A true next-generation experience that reduces the boundaries between videogame and reality.
A level of realism never seen before: new face animations, improved 3D characters and pits
Ride Height Device: players will be able to manually manage the locking mechanism of the RHD and control the compression of the bike’s suspension
Enhanced tracks: surfaces have been improved to have better rideability
Improved Suspension system: refined for a better feeling when passing over curbs
Tyre deformation: more realistic tyre behavior makes the experience even closer to reality
And, for the first time ever in the series, MotoGP™22 features the highly anticipated 2-player local split-screen*, online multiplayer* and cross-play through consoles of the same family.
MotoGP™22 is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5**, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S**, Nintendo Switch and Steam. *Split-screen and online multiplayer not supported on Nintendo Switch **Free upgrade and Smart Delivery are supported.
Luisa Bixio, CEO of Milestone Srl: “Next generation consoles allowed us to push the MotoGP Series in a new direction, always aiming to give the fans the best riding experience. With MotoGP™22 we wanted to make a more welcoming game for newcomers, while continuing to fill the gap between reality and simulation. Moreover, to celebrate the heritage of this amazing sport, we introduce the NINE Season 2009, a one-of-a-kind docu-style game mode dedicated to one of the most emotional seasons ever.”
Marc Saurina, Senior Director of Global Commercial Partnerships at Dorna Sports: “We’re very happy to see MotoGP™22 hit the shelves. Year on year, the new features always create an incredibly immersive experience for seasoned gamers and new fans alike. NINE Season 2009 is an exciting innovation too, adding race coverage to the game and giving fans the chance to embody and race against some of the sport’s biggest legends, creating their own version of our sport’s rich history.”
About Milestone
Founded in Milan in 1996, Milestone S.r.l. is one of the leading and longest established racing game developer in the world. The 200+ people team is responsible for hit series like MotoGP™, MXGP and Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame, the acclaimed Hot Wheels™ Unleashed, as well as own IPs RIDE and Gravel. For more information please visit www.milestone.it
About Koch Media
Koch Media is a leading producer and distributor of digital entertainment products (software, games and films). The company’s own publishing activities, marketing and distribution extend throughout Europe and the USA. The Koch Media group has more than 19 years of experience in the digital media business, and has risen to become the number one distributor in Europe. It has also formed strategic alliances with numerous games and software publishers: Bethesda, Capcom, Kaspersky Labs, NC SOFT, Sega, Square Enix and Tecmo-Koei, etc. in various European countries. With Headquarters in Planegg near Munich/Germany, Koch Media owns branches in Germany, England, France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the Nordic regions, Benelux and the United States. www.kochmedia.com
WorldSBK: Gerloff Targets Better Qualifying At Assen
GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team Ready for the Cathedral of Speed
The GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team is back in action for the second round of the 2022 FIM Superbike World Championship at TT Circuit Assen this weekend. After completing the opening round of the season at MotorLand Aragón, Kohta Nozane and Garrett Gerloff are ready to prove their speed at the Dutch venue.
At the season-opener, both riders showed good speed and potential, with the Gerloff clinching a Best Independent result on Saturday and top 10 finishes on Sunday. The American is focused on the upcoming weekend, targeting an improved qualifying performance and is confident of finding good pace at the ‘Cathedral of Speed’.
Nozane missed out on points in Aragón, but improved each session and just missed out on a top-15 finish in all the three races. Therefore, the Japanese rider is aiming for his first points of the 2022 campaign at the Dutch round.
This weekend’s schedule will slightly differ from what we had in Aragón. The main difference will be on Sunday’s Race 2, which is set for 15:15 local time. You can find as usual on our preview the whole times to follow us during the weekend.
Garrett Gerloff:
“It’s nice to be back after just two weeks. After the opening round we had at MotorLand Aragón, I cannot wait to see how the 2022 Yamaha R1 works at TT Circuit Assen. The Dutch track should suit our bike very well and I really like the layout, so I’m thrilled for the upcoming weekend. We want to prove our pace once again and to show the speed we had in the practice sessions at Aragón to get a good result in the Netherlands.”
Kohta Nozane:
“Coming back to the ‘Cathedral of Speed’ is always such a nice feeling. To race there is always a pleasure and our this track should play to our strengths. I cannot wait to start and see our pace after making progress in the opening round in Aragón. Unfortunately I couldn’t score points, but I’ll try to be stronger and am aiming for much better results.”
TVS Supplying Motorcycles For One-Make Racing Series
TVS Racing Participates in FIM Asia Road Racing Championship for TVS Asia One-Make Championship
Bangi, April 2022 – Two Wheels Motor Racing Sdn. Bhd. (“TWMR”) announces its partnership with TVS Racing, the factory racing team of TVS Motor Company of its participation in the TVS Asia One-Make Championship that will run alongside FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (“ARRC”).
The championship will see a total of sixteen riders from all over Asia who will be finalised on 27th April, 2022 for the first year. The selection will be held at the Sepang International Circuit where Round 2 of the ARRC will take place in May.
Commenting on the development, Mr. Vimal Sumbly, Head – Premium Business, TVS Motor Company, said, “The engineering and performance prowess in our race machines has been derived from TVS Racing’s race-bred pedigree on the track, proving its mettle across a host of racing formats and has put us on the global map. We are excited about carving our success story internationally. The TVS Asia One Make Championship will play a pivotal role as a milestone in our global journey for TVS Racing.”
“We take this as an opportunity to take our learnings from the Indian tracks and demonstrate our capabilities internationally. We also look forward to having international racers atop our TVS Asia One Make Apache RR 310 motorcycles competing in the future championships.”
Ron Hogg, Promotions Director of Two Wheels Motor Racing Sdn. Bhd. said, “The participation of TVS Racing in the One-Make Championship is a bold gesture that would certainly open avenues in discovering new talents. More importantly, bringing in a new partner and manufacturer will ignite the interest for FIM Asia Road Racing Championship in general.”
On the impact towards the motorsport industry, Ron continued, “Motorsport industry is ever-changing. From a technological perspective, we move very quickly from two-strokes to four-strokes and having said that, we foresee further development of machines to suit the needs of the industry. Being rider-centric, we constantly look for ways that would pave opportunities for riders to pursue professional riding at a higher level. Our collaboration with TVS Racing in this One-Make Championship is part of our strategic plan that would serve the needs of our Asian riders at the regional front consequently contributing to a comprehensive development within the motorsport industry.”
FIM Asia President, Stephan P Carapiet said, “The One-Make Championship collaboration is an important mark in the motorsport championships as it forms yet another platform for the development of future motorsport stars and an opportunity to race the TVS One-Make machines. TVS will now be able to showcase the capacities, qualities and reliabilities of the machine in the racing field and through the technical specifications and data obtained from the races, they will also be able to make forward approaches in developing enhanced features that would better serve the needs of their domestic use.”
“India is a base for motorcycle manufacturers with a sales projection that supersedes the rest of the Asian markets. The involvement of TVS in racing however goes the extra mile to exhibit their advancement in technology and potentially spark interest in motorsport among the 1 billion population. FIM Asia fully supports this initiative and with the financial subsidies and opportunities provided by TVS Racing, we look forward to the participation of over 10 countries for the coming round in Malaysia.”
TVS Asia One-Make Championship will participate in four rounds of the ARRC:
1. 27th – 29th May 2022 Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia
2. 1st – 3rd July 2022 (TBC)
3. 12th – 14th August 2022 Sugo International Circuit, Japan
4. 18th – 20th November 2022 Chang International Circuit, Thailand
Roadracing World Young Guns 2022: Mikey Lou Sanchez
Roadracing World started this exclusive special feature recognizing the most promising young road racers as an answer to pessimists who claimed America had no new, up-and-coming young racers. This edition of the Roadracing World Young Gun Awards marks the 26th consecutive year of showcasing an abundance of new talent.
Roadracing World Young Guns have won:
FIM MotoGP and FIM Superbike races and World Championships;
MotoAmerica and AMA Pro races and Championships, including 11 AMA Pro Superbike Championships;
A KTM RC Cup World Final race;
The Daytona 200 (11 times);
WERA National Endurance Championships and WERA National Challenge Championships;
ASRA/Formula USA Grand National and CCS National Championships;
AMA Road Racing Grand Championships and Horizon Awards;
USGPRU National Championships;
Many regional and local titles.
The competition has continually become more intense as more – and younger—racers with higher levels of accomplishment are nominated, and the level of achievement required to make the grade keeps getting tougher.
We’ve spent the last several months accepting nominations and evaluating road racers between the ages of 10 and 18 (as of the start of the 2022 season) who have, at a minimum, won Expert-level road races and/or Championships or had outstanding results as an Amateur/Novice. Most of the riders included here have done far more than the minimum.
The young riders recognized here are the most promising young road racers in North America. All have earned the title of Roadracing World Young Gun.
We will feature one Young Gun per day, presenting them in alphabetical order.
Mikey Lou Sanchez
Age: 11.
Current home: McDade, Texas.
Current height/weight: 4′ 8″/80 pounds.
Current school grade level: 5th grade.
Began riding at age: 3 years.
First road race: 2018, Katy Texas, Texas Mini Grand Prix, Jr. Motard, 1st place.
Current racebike: Moto4.
Current tuner/mechanic: Jose Pino.
Primary race series: RFME ESBK Moto4 National Championship.
Top sponsors: Roadway Traffic Control, Williams Custom Painting, Fondu, Moto Liberty, Texas Motorcycle Academy, Niemi Fine Art, San Marcos Iron Doors, Studio Three49, Harris Hill Flattrackers, Corsawerks, Arai Americas.
Recent racing accomplishments: 2021 season, finished 9th in Cuna de Campeones Moto5 Championship (1 podium, 4 top-5 finishes in 13 races), won CAV Moto5 National Championship race at Jerez, won multiple CMRA races; 2020 season, won MotoAmerica Mini Cup 110 and 160 National Championships, won 3 Texas Mini Grand Prix Championships, won 2 Mad Dog Flat Track Championships at Colin Edwards’ Texas Tornado Boot Camp; won a CMRA Formula 2 Novice race; 2019 season, won 45 Texas Mini Grsand Prix races, won 11 American Super Mini GP races, won 7 CMRA races, won 8 Mad Dog Flat Track races.
2022 racing goal: Win ESBK Moto4 Championship.
Racing career goal: Win the MotoGP World Championship.
Racing heroes: Kevin Schwantz, Colin Edwards, Ben Spies.
Favorite track: Circuit of The Americas.
Favorite hobby: Diesel Trucks.
If I wasn’t racing I would be…: A cowboy.