AMSOIL EBR teammates turn in another consistent SuperBike effort MONTEREY, Calif. (July 21) – For the third straight race, AMSOIL EBR teammates Geoff May and Aaron Yates finished in sequence at a National Guard SuperBike race in the GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing Series. After finishing back-to-back at both races last weekend in Mid-Ohio, May (sixth) and Yates (seventh) did it again on Sunday during the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. May knew the Team Hero/AMSOIL EBR would have a tough task after struggling during qualifying, but some due diligence during Sunday morning’s practice paid dividends. “I knew it was going to be a tough one starting from 11th on the grid,” May said. “I made the best of it by picking my way through the field. I got a little lucky from some attrition from some other guys. I feel like if I could have qualified better, I could have run up there with Danny (Eslick) and (Chris) Fillmore. “We had the pace to run with those guys up front. We found something this morning and it paid off. We maximized our time in the fog to solidify our race setup.” Yates’ AMSOIL/Hero EBR team also did some tinkering with the setup in the morning before the race. “We tried some stuff trying to get up to speed, so for the race we gambled on a setup,” Yates said. “We had a great-handling bike, but I just got stuck behind Larry (Pegram) there. I couldn’t accelerate quick enough to get by him in the straightaways.” Being so evenly matched with Pegram, Yates had to abandon trying to be the aggressor and settled into ambush mode instead. “I was waiting and waiting for him to make a mistake, which he finally did in Turn 2 right after Geoff got by him,” Yates said. “I got past, then I was determined to catch my teammate. “I pushed as hard as I could. I got hung up by a couple of lappers, but I was able to close that gap and end pretty close to Geoff.” Yates is going to stay on the West Coast a few extra days to test with the team ahead of the next race on the GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing schedule. “Hopefully we can find a little more power for this thing and take it on to the next race,” Yates said. “The bike is working well. I can launch it on the starts, and it’s handling really well in the corners. Now we’re trying to find a little more speed, which will help us make another big step.” Up next for the AMSOIL EBR racers is the Aug. 2-4 Miller Motorsports Park doubleheader in Tooele, Utah. More, from a press release issued by GEICO Motorcycle Road Racing: GAINS FOR ULRICH AND TEAM HAMMER AT LAGUNA SECA Team Hammer concluded the 2013 U.S. Grand Prix weekend that saw it add yet another victory trophy to its extensive collection with a solid day’s work in front of 46,256 spectators on Sunday at Laguna Seca. GEICO Road Racing Honda’s Dane Westby followed up the Saturday SuperSport triumph of California Superbike School Roadracingworld.com Racing’s Joe Roberts with a strong top-ten run in Sunday’s Daytona SportBike contest. The race, which was red flagged and subsequently shortened from a scheduled 20 laps to just 14, saw the Oklahoman fight his way up to seventh after being relegated to the bottom of the top ten early after the restart in the five-lap dash to the checkered flag. M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Racing’s Benny Solis ran inside the top ten on his CBR600RR as well before claiming 13th in the end. MPH Racing’s Melissa Paris moved up two positions to finish 17th after winning out in a dogfight for the spot aboard her Team Hammer Contract Services-prepared Honda CBR600RR. M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Racing’s Chris Ulrich contested Sunday’s 23-lap AMA Superbike final. The Californian battled his way forward from 15th to move as high as 11th before ultimately collecting a 12th-place result. After the race Ulrich was upbeat concerning the progress the team continues to make with the Superbike-spec Honda CBR1000RR and has identified areas in which further gains can be made. He explained, “I’d say we made big gains with the chassis this weekend. We understand the bike better and we have a good baseline now. We’re still suffering a bit on the engine braking side but we also discovered a couple things we need to improve in the engine department. We’re probably going to have to suffer through Miller and then we’ll use August to improve. In the meantime I’ll go home and see what I can do to stay fit and go on. “Laguna Seca may be a short track, but it’s still a horsepower track because you’ve got two big hills to climb — you have to haul yourself of those hills. It’s still early with this bike and we haven’t gotten back to the shop yet to do everything we need to do sort it all out. We’re making big strides on the 600cc side that we’re going to implement for Miller. With the Superbike, we’ll need to get through Miller and then we’ll be able to the same with that program.” Team Hammer will travel to Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, UT on August 2-4 for Round 6 of the 2013 AMA Pro Road Racing season. About Team Hammer: In 2013, Team Hammer, Inc. is competing in its 33rd consecutive racing season, and is marking its seventh year of offering technical and logistical support through its Contract Services Department. Riders on Team Hammer-prepared racebikes have earned 57 AMA Pro National race wins; 133 AMA Pro National podium finishes; 5 AMA Pro Championships; 133 Overall National Endurance race wins; 13 National Endurance Championships and assorted other race wins and titles. More, from a press release issued by KTM North America: Fillmore Earns 5th at Laguna Seca AMA Pro SuperBike Race Monterey, CA – KTM/HMC Factory rider Chris Fillmore earned 5th overall at the fifth round of the AMA Pro SuperBike race held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. His teammate, Taylor Knapp, was having his best race of the series holding down 6th position before a crash took him out of the race. Fillmore and Knapp both had decent qualifying times with Knapp qualifying 7th and Fillmore 8th overall. When the race began, both riders started in their positions and held those spots for the first five laps. On lap five, Fillmore was able to make a pass on both Knapp and Larry Pegram to move into 6th position. Knapp capitalized on that momentum and also passed Pegram. The two KTM riders continued to push each other in a friendly battle throughout the next six laps swapping the 6th place position. On lap thirteen both riders moved up one position after a top five rider went down. While running in 6th place, Knapp suffered a crash on lap sixteen and did not finish the race. Luckily, he was okay and was credited with 18th place. “Our team made a lot of progress this week,” stated Knapp after the race. “Both Chris and I qualified with good times and were holding our fastest pace this season before my crash. I am bummed about my crash but happy with the position I was in and the progress our team has made so far this season.” Meanwhile, Fillmore continued to charge forward in his 5th place position, closing the gap on the 4th place ride of Danny Eslick. With five laps to go, Fillmore was able to make a pass on Eslick for the 4th place position. Eslick charged back and the two riders battled side by side before encountering a lapper. Unfortunately, Eslick got around the lapper while Fillmore got pinched off. Fillmore remarked, “After I got cut off by the lapper, I lost about half a second on Eslick but was still within striking distance. Then I made a small mistake and almost wrecked. I figured at that point that I would back down a touch and hold on to finish 5th. My team and I are really happy with a top five result here at Laguna Seca.” Next Event: August 2-4, 2013 – Miller Motorsports Park Overall Results – 1. Josh Hayes 2. Josh Herrin 3. Martin Cardenas 4. Danny Eslick 5. Chris Fillmore – KTM 6. Geoff May 7. Aaron Yates 8. Larry Pegram 9. Cory West 10. David Anthony 11. Chris Clark 12. Chris Ulrich 13. Dustin Dominquez 14. Reese Wacker 15. Mathew Orange 16. Jacquel Gonzalez 17. Johnny Rock Page 18. Taylor Knapp – KTM 19. Robertino Pietri 20. Taylor Knapp – KTM 21. Roger Hayden 22. Aaron Ascher