AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Indianapolis, Indiana Test Results (all using Harley-Davidson XR1200s and Dunlop tires):

Morning Session:

1. Chris Fillmore, 2:01.304 2. Tyler O’Hara, 2:02.850 3. Jeremy McWilliams, 2:03.207 4. Michael Barnes, 2:03.517 5. Steve Rapp, 2:03.964 6. Michael Beck, 2:04.669 7. Kyle Wyman, 2:06.237 8. David Estok, 2:09.586 9. Gerry Signorelli, 2:11.278 10. Patrick McCord, 2:12.226 11. Gene Burcham, 2:12.567 12. Paul James, 2:12.658 13. Chase McFarland, 2:13.439 14. Jeremiah Johnson, 2:15.281 15. Michael Corbino, 2:17.394 16. Matthew Heidel, 2:17.650

Afternoon Session:

1. Chris Fillmore, 1:59.577 2. Jeremy McWilliams, 2:00.934 3. Tyler O’Hara, 2:01.400 4. Steve Rapp, 2:01.494 5. Michael Barnes, 2:02.025 6. Michael Beck, 2:03.461 7. Chase McFarland, 2:04.145 8. Kyle Wyman, 2:04.855 9. Gerry Signorelli, 2:06.050 10. David Estok, 2:06.720 11. Michael Morgan, 2:07.309 12. Michael Corbino, 2:08.038 13. Gene Burcham, 2:09.118 14. Patrick McCord, 2:09.711 15. Paul James, 2:10.493 16. Jeremiah Johnson, 2:11.494 17. Matthew Heidel, 2:12.616 18. Pete Demas, 2:13.070

More, from a press release issued by Indianapolis Motor Speedway:

HARLEY-DAVIDSON XR1200 MOTORCYCLES ROAR TO LIFE AT IMS

Iconic brand makes first appearance at Speedway in 102 years

INDIANAPOLIS, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2011 – Nearly 20 riders in the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 series tested their Harley-Davidson racing motorcycles Thursday, Aug. 18 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in preparation for the Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Aug. 26-28.

The practice session served as the Brickyard debut for the XR1200 series and the first time that Harley-Davidson motorcycles and their distinctive V-Twin rumble have run at speed at IMS since the first motor race at the facility in August 1909.

The Harleys will compete in two AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 races at IMS, at 4:10 p.m. (ET) Saturday, Aug. 27 and 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 28.

Among the riders testing their XR1200 machines for the first time on the newly repaved, 16-turn, 2.621-mile circuit were 2010 United Kingdom XR1200 champion Jeremy McWilliams and 2011 AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 points leader Chris Fillmore.

Former MotoGP standout McWilliams, a 47-year-old native of Northern Ireland, will ride for Harley-Davidson of Bloomington, Ind., with support from Warr’s Racing of London.

“It’s a bit of a dream come true,” McWilliams said. “I’ve never been to the Brickyard as you call it, and it’s lovely to be here. I’m pretty blown away by the size of the place. It’s a pretty good layout, and I’m really enjoying the fast sections.”

McWilliams appreciates the history of Harley’s return to IMS for the first time in 102 years.

“That’s incredible,” he said. “This class only started a year and a half ago in America, and to grow it that quickly is pretty awesome. But then we know that Harley over here is such an iconic brand, and it’s a fun race to be taking part in.”

Fillmore, from Oxford, Mich., leads the U.S. XR1200 standings as a rookie on the strength of three victories. He competed in AMA Daytona SportBike in 2009-10 and also has raced in Supermoto and motocross.

“It’s suiting me pretty well,” Fillmore said of XR1200 racing. “It feels comfortable with the big wide bars, and it kind of goes back to my days with Supermoto a little bit.”

Fillmore never set foot inside IMS before today. The memories from the test will last a long time.

“I came here this morning and I walked out of the garage and walked right on to pit road before any sessions started, and it kind of gave me goose bumps looking down the start stretch,” he said. “The facility is world-class looking, and it’s definitely going to be neat to line up here in front of all the fans. It’s going to be exciting, and we’ll try not to let the nerves get to us too much.”

The test also held special significance for Mike Morgan, a resident of Goshen, Ind., who is fulfilling a lifelong ambition to race at the Brickyard.

“Not in my wildest dreams did I think this would ever happen,” Morgan said. “It’s like a dream come true. I’m speechless. The 100-year anniversary was just a couple months ago, and now we’re here racing motorcycles – and Harleys, at that – so it’s amazing.”

Morgan and McWilliams aren’t the only XR1200 racers with Indiana connections.

Gene Burcham of Indianapolis is racing an entry with support from Dreyer Motorsports and ERMCO Electric of Indianapolis. Shawn Higbee of Milwaukee will ride a machine fielded by Indianapolis Southside Harley-Davidson.

AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 testing will continue from 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. Friday. Also testing from 11 a.m.-noon and 4-5 p.m. Friday will be young American stars JD Beach and Jake Gagne, who will compete in the Moto2 class at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP.

The public is welcome to view the test session Friday from the South Terrace grandstands adjacent to the IMS Hall of Fame Museum. Admission is free.

***

2011 Red Bull Indianapolis GP tickets: 2011 Red Bull Indianapolis GP tickets are on sale now.

To buy tickets, visit www.imstix.com, call the IMS ticket office at (317) 492-6700 or (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area or visit the ticket office at the IMS Administration Building at the corner of Georgetown Road and 16th Street. Ticket office and phone hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (ET) Monday-Friday.

The 2011 Red Bull Indianapolis GP is scheduled for Aug. 26-28 at IMS.

Race Day general admission tickets cost $40, with Friday general admission $10 and Saturday general admission $20. A three-day general admission ticket is $60. A Friday-Saturday general admission ticket is $25.

Children ages 12 and under will be admitted free any of the three days of the event when accompanied by an adult with a general admission ticket.

Race Day reserved seat prices will start at $70.

More, from a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing:

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (August 18, 2011) – The AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 class took to the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway circuit for the first time today in preparation for the upcoming Red Bull Indy GP, August 27-28. Using the 2.621-mile, 16-turn “MotoGP” track layout, AMA Pro Road Racing hosted two open practice sessions for the series’ newest division.

Local rider Gene Burcham was the first man out at 9:21 a.m., living out one of his longtime dreams in turning the first laps of the Harley-Davidson class’ debut at the famed “Brickyard.”

“It’s very important for me from the standpoint that I grew up here in Indianapolis,” said a beaming Burcham after the morning session. “Being around Indianapolis where you have auto racing all the time … my whole life I’ve always raced motorcycles, and not being able to participate in any events here made it tough. I wanted to go out first; I kept asking the officials, ‘How much longer?’ The history here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway — you walk into this place and you’re just in awe.”

Eighteen specially prepared Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson XR1200 motorcycles circulated in the afternoon session, and it was championship-points-leader Chris Fillmore (Bruce Rossmeyer Daytona Racing GEICO) who ended up fastest overall with a time of 1:59.577. Fillmore — who also topped the morning session — was the only rider to break into the 59s.

“It was kind of limited this afternoon,” said Fillmore. “We went out to try to diagnose a problem with the bike — just a funky noise I’m hearing that I don’t want to hear. I don’t think I did more then ten laps in the second session, but I’m nursing a sore shoulder so it was kind of good that we didn’t do so many laps. I really want to tie up this championship, and if we can get a win or two here, we’ll be solid for New Jersey.”

Other notables included 2010 AMA Pro SuperSport Top Gun Champion Tyler O’Hara, second-fastest in the morning session, followed by Northern Ireland’s Jeremy McWilliams, the 2010 British XR1200 champion. McWilliams, who’s back for his second appearance in the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 class following his triumphant win at last year’s season finale in Alabama, said, “It’s been a steep learning curve again, trying to work out all the intricacies of the XR1200, but I think we’re somewhere in the ballpark. It’s not ideal — we can see that Fillmore has got the hammer down and we’ve got a big gap to bridge — but we’re using the same tire and motorcycle and we shouldn’t be that far away. At the end of the day we kind of lost our way a little; not a disastrous day, but you know what [we racers] are like — we can always be better!”

Teammates Steve Rapp and Michael Barnes also posted top-five times in both sessions and were enthusiastic about the new venue. “It’s cool,” said Rapp. “I’ve never been here before, but the track is really cool. We had a good day. We’re working on getting more traction like everybody else … it’s going to change when we come back for the race, but we’re doing the best we can for now.”

In the only incident of the day, Kyle Wyman experienced a mechanical problem during the second session that necessitated a stoppage to recover his RMR Bruce Rossmeyer Daytona Racing XR1200. “The day was going pretty good,” said Kyle. “We were trying a whole bunch of different stuff … but in one of the sessions I had an issue with the bike going into some sort of neutral between gears, and the motor quit. We’ll put in a fresh motor for tomorrow, and hopefully it will be better. The track is a nice little challenge and I think the layout caters to an American style of racing.”

Testing will continue tomorrow with another pair of sessions, during which 2011 Daytona 200 winner and XR1200 rookie Jason DiSalvo will get his first look at Indianapolis Motor Speedway since he contended the Moto2 event at last year’s Red Bull Indy GP, finishing ninth in the international field.

For complete Timing & Scoring reports and Cortech AMA Pro Live Timing, please visit www.amaproracing.com. For Red Bull Indy GP tickets and information, visit www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com or call (800) 822-INDY.