HONDA EAST YOSHIMURA SUZUKI FINISHES STRONG AT WERA GRAND NATIONAL FINALS

Maumee, OH – Honda East Yoshimura Suzuki rider Eddie Kraft finished with two second place finishes during the Pirelli/WERA Sportsman Series National Championships, in both the 750 Superstock and 750 Superbike winner-take-all races, during the 42nd WERA Grand National Finals held at Barber Motorsports Park.

Kraft led three of four races entered at one point, including the 1000 Superstock race; ultimately finishing 6th, aboard his Pirelli-shod, MCJ-Motorsports sponsored Suzuki GSX-R750’s. Prior to the weekend, the Michigan-based rider won the WERA North Central 750 Superstock and 1000 Superstock class championships.

“I’m not sure second place is much to brag about,” joked Eddie. “We love coming to this event though, as it brings the best competition from all over the country to race head to head at the end of the season. We kept plugging away all week and went faster while running up front – something everyone on the team was proud of.”

Kraft further states, “After running similar times as the leaders in the 1000 Superstock race, we were losing ground over the course of the race to the bigger bikes, so we made a gamble heading into the Formula 1 race, but it didn’t work out as well as we’d hoped. Overall though, we had a solid event and great season – and I’m looking forward to coming back next year to have a shot at further improvement. Thank you to my dad and Dave Moss for their help all weekend long – both Honda East Yoshimura Suzuki’s were on rails. Joe has sacrificed his own riding much of this year, which made this all possible and is something I sincerely appreciate.”

About Honda East: As a family owned and operated Ohio motorcycle dealer, Honda East’s philosophy is to treat each customer like a family member, every visit. Our award-winning sales staff will strive to meet and exceed your expectations, whether you are purchasing a new vehicle, calling with a question, picking up a part, or just looking in our shop. Located in Northwest Ohio, Honda East is the #1 ranked dealership in both Ohio and Michigan; offering a full line of sport bikes, cruisers, dirt bikes, ATVs, scooters, watercraft and snowmobiles not only by Honda, but Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Aprilia, Indian, Sea-Doo, Ski-Doo, Can-Am, Kymco, Bombardier, Polaris and Artic Cat. Honda East prides themselves on the best out the door deal, period. No games, no hassles.

About Yoshimura R&D of America: Yoshimura is “The Leader in Performance” and has been for more than 55 years. With unmatched skills, knowledge, and passion for racing, Yoshimura is on the forefront of the aftermarket exhaust industry. Yoshimura pipes are race bred and feature the same legendary performance, fit and quality that has been their trademark for more than five decades. To learn more about Yoshimura and view their wide variety of performance products, visit www.yoshimura-rd.com.

Witchkraft Racing would like to thank their 2014 sponsors: Pirelli Tires, MCJ Motorsports, GoPro, Riders Discount, Dynojet, Motul, Millennium Technologies, NGK, Chicken Hawk, Moto Liberty, RS Taichi, Shoei Helmets, Samco, WWB, Ballistic Performance and Motion Pro. Also Ohlins USA, Pit Bull, Sharkskinz, PopShadow Decals, MC Designs, Spider Grips, Hammer Nutrition, Performance Cycleworx, Andrew Swenson Designs and Dave Moss.

For more information on Honda East, visit hondaeast.com. For information on Yoshimura, visit yoshimura-rd.com. And for news on the race team, please visit witchkraftracing.com.

More, from a press release issued by Jimmy Merck’s publicist:

JIMMY MERCK – BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK – WERA GNF RESULTS

WERA Motorcycle Roadracing hosted the 42nd Annual Grand National Finals at Barber Motorsports Park this past weekend. With open practice on Thursday, the Pirelli/WERA Sportsman Series winner takes all sprints on Friday and Saturday, and the final round of the WERA National Challenge Series on Sunday, an action packed weekend was enjoyed by all. After a challenging season, Merck closed it out with two 2ndplace finishes in the National Championship point standings in 600 Superstock Expert as well as 750 Superstock Expert.

Slightly chilly temperatures made the first practice sessions on a green track a bit challenging, but with some suspension adjustments, it was game on. First race of the weekend was B Superstock Expert, where a fantastic battle ensued. At the flag, Jimmy placed fifth, in a pack of three riders separated by four tenths at the line.

Saturday brought warmer temperatures and a fast track. First race up was A Superstock, competing against the larger bikes. Unfortunately, after allowing the rider behind Jimmy to view the soles of his boots after a nasty highside save coming out of turn 5, Jimmy pulled off the track to prepare for the C Superstock Expert winner takes all race. With lap times in the low 1:30’s, Jimmy came up just 2.1 seconds short for a 3rd place result!

Sunday’s weather was gorgeous for the final day of competition and the conclusion of the National Challenge Series. First race up was 600 Superstock Expert. With a grid of 23 riders for this 12 lap final, the stage was set for some serious battles. With some of the fastest lap times among the 600 Superstock riders and some fabulous racing, Jimmy finished 2nd again running consistent 1:30 lap times. 750 Superstock Expert was the final race of the day for Jimmy. With a great launch, it was game on. The competition was tough with lap times as low as 1:28 for the 8 lap sprint. Running his fastest lap on the final lap, Jimmy finished 3rd. With these results, Jimmy secured 2nd place in both the 600 Superstock Expert and 750 Superstock Expert National Championships!

Jimmy is proud to work with Vesrah, Mountain Motorsports, Dunlop and Race Tire Services, Thermosman, Livengood, Silkolene Oils, Shoei Helmets, Chris with MPH, Traxxion Dynamics, Vortex Sprockets, Pit Bull, Cycle Gear, and his father Jimmy SR,. Special thanks to Fred and Gayle Turner for their hospitality all weekend!

More, from a press release issued by Gavin Elstad’s publicist:

This past weekend Gavin Elstad competed at Barber Motorsports Park in the 2014 WERA Grand National Finals. In this four day event Gavin had the challenge of setting up a new bike in effort to attempt winning the 600 Superstock and 750 Superstock national titles.

On Thursday Gavin only had a couple short rounds of practice. He was, however, able to get a good shake down of the new bike. On Friday Gavin started to get up to pace and was able to finish 3rd in the B-Superstock race and found that the front end was a bit to soft.

Saturday brought a day of even more challenges. Having worked out the front end problem he was looking good to put up a fight in both, qualifying for Sundays 600 Superstock race, and the C-Superstock race later in the day. Gavin was able to the qualify for Sundays 600 Superstock race with a fast lap of 1.29.8 putting him in third position. When race time came Gavin got a good start and was in the top 5 on the first lap. While going through turn 16, trying to make a pass, he lost rear grip, nearly high-siding, throwing him out of the seat, ripping his windscreen off and repositioning his front brake lever so that it was pointing straight down. Even with this damage he was able to push on and achieve a second place finish with a fast time of 1.29.4.

Sunday was Gavin’s day, all he needed to do was finish 12th or better to win the two National Championships. Without participating in morning practice to lower the risk of crashing, Gavin went straight out in the 600 Superstock race. Gavin got the hole shot and led the first lap but decided not to push it to the limit. Gavin rode away to a 3rd place finish and took the 2014, 600 Superstock Expert National title. In the second race, the 750 Superstock, Gavin got another good start and was able to push a little harder due to some changes which gave him more rear grip. He was locked in a battle for 3rd but had to settle with 4th place with a gap to third place being .07. With this finish Gavin, for the second time of the day, locked up another national title.

Gavin would like to thank his sponsors, friends, family, and everyone who has helped him win theses two national titles. He would like to give a special thanks to CCAS Racing, Evol Technologies, Kabuto Helmets, Western Power Sports, Pirelli Tires, Podium Motorsports, Zero Gravity, KWS Motorsports, Woodcraft, Vortex, Silkolene, Motion Pro, Motul, VP Racing Fuel, Sidi Boots, Impact Safety Amour, Lenny Albin, K-Tech Suspension and last but not least his whole family.

Out of 24 race entries, Gavin had 21 podium finishes to include, 14 race wins, five second-place finishes to third-place finishes.

More, from a press release issued by KWS Motorsports:

KWS Motorsports rider Luie Zendejas injured, Taylor Knapp steps in.

The final round of the WERA National Series was held at Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham AL on October 24th through the 26th. Beautiful weather and large grids made for great racing over the weekend. Luie Zendejas, who has had to sit out some of the rounds over the season due to his work obligations in the United States Armed Forces, got up to his usual speed in a just a few sessions on the bike.

First Race of the Weekend for Zendejas was the Senior Superbike Expert Heavyweight race, taking a second place finish. The A Superbike Expert started the second day of racing with Zendejas posting even faster times than Friday running within sight of the leaders when another rider made contact with him injuring his wrist. Neither rider went down and Zendejas was able to still finish the race in 8th place. After an at track evaluation of his wrist which in turn sent him to the local hospital for further medical attention, a small hairline fracture was found. The doctor strongly recommended that Zendejas not put any undue pressure on his wrist and if he did could possibly create nerve damage that would require surgery if pushed too far. After some long discussions with his long time crew chief Michael Godin, Zendejas decided to heed the doctors advice and sit out the rest of the weekend.

After tossing around the idea of possibly having someone else ride the bike for the National races on Sunday, we found out that Taylor Knapp, who was there doing some testing for another team was not riding in any of the 1000cc races all weekend. Knapp would only have 1 practice to get up to speed Sunday morning since two of the sportsman races from Saturday were rescheduled Sunday morning during the time that would normally have been for a second round of practice. Knapp instantly put down race winning times in the first practice and came off the bike with excellent feedback and a large grin on his face. Knapp would be starting from the back of grids for both of his races not having any previous points from this season. The first race of the day was A Superstock Expert. Knapp got a poor start on his first time trying launch the ZX10, but quickly made it up passing other riders through the first lap and a half until he finally took over first place. Knapp really started to stretch his legs putting laps in the mid 1:28’s and continually gaping the field to take the win in the 8 lap race. The WERA Superbike 12 lap race finished off the day. Knapp got a much better start and was into third place by the time he was entering the infamous Charlotte’s web turn 5 and battled with the leaders until he was finally able to take over first place a lap later. Feeling even more comfortable, Knapp put his head down and went even faster to put in 1:28.1 lap time, easily the fastest time of the weekend on a 1000cc machine. Knapp took his second consecutive win of the day in glorious fashion.

KWS support rider Gavin Elstad took home the 600 and 750 Superstock Expert WERA National titles with 3rd and 4th place finishes respectively .

Luie Zendejas – “This weekend started off great getting the bike set up in only two practices for our first race of the weekend. All things considered, I was able to get a 2nd place finish before my injuries on Saturday, and Taylor teamed up to take the rest of the wins for the team. My KWS, RidersDiscount.com, Millennium Technologies, Knight’s, Pirelli shod ZX-10 was working perfect. I can’t thank my sponsors enough for all their support. This sport is expensive and their help is instrumental to winning! Big thanks to Taylor for stepping up and helping out and Mike Godin for building a wicked super stock monster!”

KWS Motorsports (www.kwsmotorsports.com) is proudly sponsored by:

Millennium Technologies, Ballistic Performance Components, VP Race Fuels, Motul Lubricants, Worldwide Bearings, Motion Pro, CP-Carrillo, Web Camshafts, XT Racing, K&N Filters & Zero Gravity Windscreens.

Luie Zendejas (www.luiezendejasracing.com) is proudly sponsored by:

KWS Motorsports, Millennium Technologies, Ballistic Performance Components, Riders Discount, Thermosman Suspension, Knights Armaments, Dark Horse Foundation, Infinite Labs, Liquid Sky Sports, Five Ten, Storm Endurance Sports Bicycle Shop, Andrew Swenson Designs, Drippin’ Wet, Pirelli Tires, VP Racing Fuels, Motul Lubricants, Worldwide Bearings, Arai Helmets, Alpinestars, Oakley, Ice Box Cryotherapy, Backcountry.com, Web Cams, CP-Carrillo, Motion Pro, XT Racing, K&N Filters & Zero Gravity Windscreens.