REIGNING CHAMP ESLICK CLOSES ON POINTS LEAD AT LAGUNA SECA GEICO Powersports RMR Suzuki’s Danny Eslick closed to within a single point of the 2010 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike championship lead at Laguna Seca on Sunday. Racing in front of a massive crowd that descended on the famed venue for the combined MotoGP/AMA Pro event, the defending class champion once again battled at the front of the pack. Getting away strongly from the second row after qualifying sixth quick aboard his GSX-R600 at 1:28.166, Danny swiftly moved into second position and fought off a hungry pack of SportBike challengers for the opening three laps. However, the Oklahoman found himself shuffled back in the multi-rider pack a short while later. He pushed hard while avoiding taking any unnecessary risks, given his hard-earned championship position. Eslick, sponsored by GEICO Powersports and Lucas Oil, settled into sixth place and then gained a position when the title leader temporary ran off course and re-entered the fray behind him. Danny kept him at bay to the checkered flag, vitally gaining a net championship point with his fifth-place result and narrowing the gap to just a single point, 264-263. The result was the eleventh top five finish in twelve races of Eslick’s remarkably consistent championship campaign. After the race, he said, “I got a good start, but it was a little bit different out there–we’d only been on track once in those kind of conditions. “I got into second and there were a few of us up there at the front. Someone stuck a wheel in on me and the little lead freight train went by me. I just tried to hang in there at the tail end of it and see how it was going to play out, but I just didn’t have anything for them today. We were chasing the front-end around a little bit. We just flat-out got beat this weekend but in terms of the big picture we ended up doing all right. I picked up one point in the championship and now it’s only separated by one point. It’s a really tight championship with three rounds to go. With only 12 points separating the top three in the 2010 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike title standings, Eslick is anticipating a thrilling conclusion to the season. “We’ve had some really good races and with the three of us there’s no telling what’s going to happen. It’s going to be a real knock down, drag out fight.” GEICO Powersports RMR Suzuki will head to Round 8 of 10 at Virginia International Raceway on August 13-15. GEICO Powersports RMR Suzuki is sponsored by GEICO Powersports, Lucas Oil, Suzuki, Millennium Technologies, Vortex Sprockets, EBC Brakes, and Pilot. More, from a press release issued by American Suzuki: STRONG FINISHES FOR SUZUKI AT LAGUNA SECA Martin Cardenas won his sixth race of the SportBike class on Sunday. Tommy Hayden put his GSX-R1000 on the podium with his third-place finish in the Pro SuperBike class. Elena Myers came in fourth in the highly competitive SuperSport class. Brea, Calif. Suzuki was on the podium at Laguna Seca, thanks to the power and performance of the GSX-R line of motorcycles and the unparalleled talent of the Suzuki racers. Both Martin Cardenas and Tommy Hayden took home trophies from Monterey, California, this weekend. Cardenas added another breathtaking win to his growing list of accomplishments at Laguna Seca on Sunday morning. He and his Suzuki GSX-R600 took their sixth victory in the Daytona SportBike race and added valuable points to his tally in the extremely competitive class, where he’s currently third in the standings. Cardenas made some key passes midway through the race as his GSX-R600 delivered all the power he needed to make it to the front of the pack. He held onto the lead until he reached the checkered flag. In the Pro SuperBike class, Tommy Hayden and his GSX-R1000 took third for the day after a solid performance during the race. He held his ground and rolled on the smooth power of the GSX-R to maintain his podium performance. He’s currently second in points and only nine points out from the lead. In the Pro SuperSport class, Elena Myers just missed the podium with her GSX-R600 as she finished fourth in the hotly contested series. She’s currently second in points in the Pro SuperSport West standings. The next race is slated for August 13-15 at VIR in Alton, Virginia. Suzuki’s talented racers and their GSX-Rs will be ready to race for the win there! About Suzuki: Suzuki Motor Corporation founded The Motorcycle/ATV Division of American Suzuki Motor Corporation (ASMC), Brea, Calif., in 1963. ASMC markets motorcycles and ATVs via an extensive dealer network throughout 49 states. ASMC’s parent company, Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), based in Hamamatsu, Japan, is a diversified worldwide manufacturer of motorcycles, ATVs, scooters, automobiles and marine engines. Founded in 1909 and incorporated in 1920, it has 120 distributors in 191 countries. For more information, visit www.suzukicycles.com More, from a press release issued by Vesrah Suzuki: VESRAH SUZUKI RIDERS RUN NOSE TO TAIL IN THE DAYTONA SPORTBIKE RACE AT MAZDA RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA. Cory West riding for the Vesrah Suzuki team at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey CA in the AMA Pro Racing Daytona Sportbike class procured a 7th place finish with teammate Chris Fillmore following him home in the 8th position. The 2 teammates ran nose to tail for the majority of the race with Cory pulling a slight gap at the end of the race. Mark Junge Team Owner Vesrah Suzuki “This first year in the AMA Pro Racing series for the team with new tracks and procedures is a learning year. The lack of track time this weekend hurt us but we are looking forward to the remainder of the season as the team has experience at all of these tracks.” Cory West Vesrah Suzuki #57 “The weekend seemed to be going well after Saturday’s qualifying sessions. We got the bike working well and had a good starting spot for the race. This morning we wanted to try a few small changes that we thought would help after studying the data last night but the weather didn’t cooperate and our warm-up was cancelled due to the heavy fog. We decided to take the gamble and go with the changes heading into the race and it was a bad decision. I got away with the leaders at the start but struggled with the bike. I managed to hang on to 7th place and kept my 5th position in the championship so I am happy for that. I’m looking forward to VIR since it is a track that I’ve been to with the Vesrah crew last year. Hopefully we can return to form and bring home a top 5 result. Thanks to my mechanics Tony and Bruce and the whole Vesrah Suzuki crew and we’ll see you in a few weeks.” Chris Fillmore Vesrah Suzuki #55 “We were chasing the set up all weekend and had to roll the dice for the race this morning. The morning warm-up being canceled hurt us as we had planned to try something and weren’t able to. I was able to run with my teammate Cory until near the end of the race, which pleased me. I’m glad to get out of there with some points and am looking forward to VIR where I was able to test with the team earlier this year.” Vesrah Suzuki wants to thank all of their sponsors for their support for the 2010 season Vesrah, American Suzuki, Rockstar Energy Drink, Nielsen Enterprises Suzuki, Traxxion Dynamics Fork Components, Dainese Leathers, Boots and Gloves, AGV Helmets, Graves Motorsports, Hotbodies Racing Bodywork, Sudco Int., Bazzaz, Factory Pro, Maxima Racing Oils, Vortex, DID Chain, Penske Racing Shocks, GPR Stabilizers, Trek Bicycles, GP Tech, Active & Road Rage Designs. More, from a press release issued by Ant-Racing.com: Ant-Racing.com AGV/Dianese Monster Energy’s James Rispoli continued his march toward the front of the AMA Pro SuperSport grid at Laguna Seca. With the additional support from Roadracingworld.com and Josh and Melissa Hayes, James was able to get himself and his equipment out to Laguna Seca after a solid weekend at Mid Ohio where the young Pro Flat Track star won the SunTrust Improve Your Position Award for his performance at the recent Mid-Ohio SuperSport race. James put in another stellar performance this time at Laguna Seca in front of an International crowd of 51,000 passionate motorsports fans after a dizzying qualifying crash. Forced on to his “B” bike James made due without a working steering stabilizer and quick shifter and still managed to get himself to the eleventh qualifying spot out of thirty-three riders. Not to be put off, James solicited input from AMA SuperBike racers Jason Pridmore and Josh Hayes as well as World GP Champion Kevin Schwantz while his minimalist team of volunteers readied his bike for the upcoming race later that afternoon. “It was crazy. I lost the front in the infamous cork screw. No one wants to crash but I think I needed that to see where my limits were”, said Rispoli in a post qualifying interview. “I was forced to switch to my B bike that was never tested so Lenny from Race Tech set it up as close as we could get and we just went out and made something happen to get on the grid. I was surprised with cold and really used up tires I could qualify as well as I did.” In the race James managed a brilliant start to come from the third row and eleventh on the grid to take up the fourth position right on the tail of the third place rider as they went past turn one. After a red flag restart James again got another stunning start from the coaching of Jason Pridmore and moved up to the second place spot and the first Suzuki motorcycle after turn two. Two riders later got around and James eventually settled into a fierce battle for fourth. Underpowered and bottoming out his suspension under hard breaking, James used his new compound DP Brakes to get in deep on every turn sliding the rear of his Ant-Racing.com GSX R600 flattrack style to get the job done. A race long battle pursued for the fourth position swapping back and forth for many of the race laps. Fans were cheering and going crazy knowing James was putting together a Cinderella story book showdown of a privateer fighting for the first spot off the podium. In a brave move on the brakes James led the fifth place rider around the track for the last time. Deep on the brakes and taking the inside line on the last corner all he could do was twist for maximum throttle and hope he had a big enough gap to hold on. Nipped at the line by 0.003 seconds James team and sponsors were ecstatic with his brave riding under difficult conditions to create another outstanding result. About Ant-Racing.com Ant-Racing.com is owned and operated by Ant Systems. In business since 2000 the company produces the most innovative rear-view daylight LCD systems in the market today for sport bike and race car applications. Made from the highest quality 6061 billet aluminum and hard anodized, each system features a full 75 degree viewing angle. There is also an optional GPS and rear-view available in the Ant Dry Rider with GPS model. Ant-Racing works with Gator Customs, Nick Anglada of Nick Anglada Originals, McCoy Motorsports, MSP and a host of other professional builders and amateurs alike. The Company takes great pride in knowing these artists choose our product to feature on their work of art! Ant-racing.com also markets a full line of ANT-Racing Custom Apparel for the discriminating buyer. For more information contact www.ant-racing.com or call (412) 381-2922