Chino, Calif. Yoshimura riders enjoyed another strong weekend of racing at the famed Laguna Seca raceway in Monterey, California. Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden earned a hard-fought third place finish, while Eric Bostrom, riding for the new Attack Suzuki team in his first race back, finished seventh. Hayden qualified well after strong practice sessions early on, using the Yoshimura power to put himself on the front row of the grid. Eric Bostrom qualified just behind Hayden in sixth, an impressive display from the well-liked rider. In the race, Hayden started well and stayed near the front of the group. After overtaking for the final spot on the podium, the Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider put together a string of consistent laps, finishing the race in third. Bostrom started slow, but utilized his Yoshimura-tuned engine to move up the order and eventually finished in a respectable seventh. “This was a tough weekend,” Hayden said after the race. “We’ll think about some things and come back with some confidence at VIR.” The series next heads to Alton, Virginia for round eight of the AMA Pro Superbike series at Virginia International Raceway. Both the Rockstar Makita Suzuki and Attack Performance Suzuki teams look forward to putting in strong performances at VIR. More, from a press release issued by The Elena Project: MYERS EARNS FOURTH AT THE LINE AT LAGUNA SECA Lucas Oil Roadracingworld.com RMR Suzuki’s Elena Myers concluded the AMA Pro SuperSport West Region championship with a dramatic last-lap strike to take fourth position at Laguna Seca and secure the runner-up spot in the championship. Elena once again elevated her game on raceday, climbing up from her second row grid position to take control of third position aboard her GSX-R600 early in the SuperSport contest. However, the race was red flagged while she held the spot in front of a hungry pack of challengers, resetting the grid. After the restart, she found herself in fifth position fighting a back-and-forth battle for fourth. Waiting until the last possible moment to make the duel’s decisive maneuver, Myers narrowly lunged ahead at the checkered flag, stealing away fourth place at the stripe by a mere 0.003 seconds. The result was her fourth top five of the West Region season, including her breakthrough victory at Infineon Raceway. Following the race, Elena said, “I was running up in third before the red flag and I felt that would put me in a pretty good spot on Row 1 for the restart. But I didn’t get a great start and ran wide in Turn 2 and a couple of guys got past me. “I had a great race for fourth position the entire way and I just couldn’t get past fast enough to prevent the top three from getting away, but I got him at the line by three thousands. I passed him going up the front straight before getting a good exit out of Turn 11 so I just waited to the last lap to really take advantage of what I knew I could do. But I actually got a bad drive coming out on the last lap. He took the inside and I was on the outside and just kept going straight and barely got him at the line. I was a really great race and a close battle for sure.” Commenting on her runner-up placing in her rookie AMA campaign, Myers commented, “I’m pretty excited about finishing second in the championship. Of course I would have liked to win it but the three DNFs made it tough for the championship. But for my rookie season, I’d have to say not too bad.” Even though the AMA Pro SuperSport West Region championship is in the books, Myers still has three rounds remaining on her 2010 AMA schedule as she’ll compete in the East Region races at Virginia International Raceway and New Jersey Motorsports Park before heading to the winner-take-all East/West shootout at Barber Motorsports Park to round out the season. First up is the trip to Virginia on August 13-15. She’s looking forward to the opportunity and will be well prepared for the weekend. “I haven’t been to VIR, but I’m going to do the WERA Cycle Jam the week before, so I should be ready to go.” More, from a press release issued by Chris Ulrich Racing: VILLA SHINES AT LAGUNA SECA FOR TEAM ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki’s Santiago Villa claimed his third top-15 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike result of the season Sunday at Laguna Seca. The Colombian put in an inspired ride, lapping nearly a second quicker in the race than he had managed in qualifying to climb up through the field. Starting on the sixth row after qualifying 23rd quickest at 1:31.823, Santiago made his way up to 19th by the conclusion of the opening lap. He continued his charge from there, working up to 15th at the checkered and posting a 1:30.898 lap in the process. In a weekend of limited track time for the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike class, Santiago and the Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki crew managed to make optimum use of the sessions and continued to move forward. “The weekend wasn’t that easy,” Villa remarked. “We had a lot of problems with front grip at the beginning of the weekend but we fixed them on Saturday. I didn’t have a very good qualifying session but in the race I just put my head down and dropped a lot of time and had some good battles with some pretty quick riders. “It was very nice. I feel really good at this track and it’s a really amazing event with all the atmosphere of the Grand Prix weekend. Everything is just amazing. It’s made me feel better and my confidence went up every time I would go out.” Villa, who is back to 100% fitness after a broken collarbone put him on the shelf and slowed his progress earlier in the season, is optimistic about his chances about heading to Virginia International Raceway for the next round of the series on August 13-15. “I like Virginia. I raced CCS at VIR a couple of months ago and did really well,” said the former Colombian champion. “I did some cool laps there and I think that’s the track I can do my best result of the year this season. I’m hoping for a top ten.” More, from a press release issued by Penny Nicolai on behalf of Crozier Roberson Motorsports: THE BEST OF DAYS AND THE WORST OF DAYS Monterey, Calif”¦The AMA Pro Daytona SportBike event at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, July 24-25 proved to be both the best of days and the worst of days for the Crozier Roberson Motorsports/DNA Energy Drink Team. Gridded in the 4th spot, Bobby Fong powered off the startline like he had been shot out of a canon. Passing the pole sitter, Fong took over first place before the first lap was even completed. Piloting his DNA Energy Drink Ducati around the 2.238-mile famed Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca track, Fong continued to dominate for 15 laps. “I got caught up in some lapped riders,” he explains. Cardenas was right behind me and unfortunately in the heat of battle I lost it going into turn two. I couldn’t be more bummed. But we definitely served notice on the field and showed them things to come. The Crozier Roberson crew gave me an excellent bike. It couldn’t have been any better and come the next race, we will be ready to put DNA Energy Drink in the Number One spot.” “Our entire time is incredibly proud of Bobby,” says co-team owner Robbie Roberson. “He just keeps getting better and better and we know that victory is just around the corner.” Teammate Michel Beck brought home the 9th place spot”¦his best finish at Mazda Raceway to date. “I think we could have bettered that,” says Beck at the end of the 23 lap race. “I got a decent start, but just didn’t push enough in the beginning. My goal is to keeping finishing in the top ten and with this team behind me there is no doubt I can do that and more.” For newly crowned SuperSport West champion Joey Pascarella, the AMA Pro SuperSport race didn’t yield the results he was hoping for. He unfortunately shot off the track in turn 9 which lost him a number of positions. “Joey came right back,” adds team manager and co-owner Mark Crozier. “He turned the fast lap of the race, but there wasn’t enough time to make it back to the front. I am incrediblly proud of everyone on this team. Their dedication and motivation is 100 % plus and it definitely shows. The industry is sitting up and taking notice and we plan to make ourselves even better known in the upcoming races.” Crozier Roberson Motorsports is sponsored by: DNA Energy Drink, Quality Brands, Inc., FMF, Arai Helmets, Race Tech, Motion Pro, Pit Bull, EBC Brakes, EK, Melillimoto Ducati, Moto-Heaven.com, XES, Thrust Company, HEL, Woodcraft, Armour Bodies, Motul, Puma, Held Gloves, GP Tech, Active, Zero Gravity and Christopher Bean Coffee. More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: United States Grand Prix debrief with Tohru Ubukata Round 9: United States GP Post-race debrief Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Tuesday 27 July 2010 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard (asymmetric) This year Bridgestone brought their asymmetric rear slicks to the United States Grand Prix and as well as being welcomed by the riders they contributed to a new lap record and a fastest total overall race time. Jorge Lorenzo took his sixth victory of the season after Dani Pedrosa crashed out to extend his championship lead to 72 points before the summer break. All riders used the softer rear Bridgestone slicks, and Mika Kallio, Alex de Angelis and Alvaro Bautista were the only riders not to opt for the harder front tyre. Q&A with Tohru Ubukata – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department What can you say about the performance of the asymmetric rear slicks this year? “I think that the numbers speak for themselves in terms of the improved performance that the asymmetric rear slicks offered at Laguna. Both Casey and Jorge lapped faster than the existing lap record, Casey’s fastest was 0.5seconds better than the best lap from last year’s race, and the total race time was over six seconds faster than the previous best. This indicates not only better outright performance but better durability and consistency too so I am very happy. “All riders preferred the softer option rear which in the conditions we experienced during the weekend performed better than the harder option, which gave a combination of better grip and better durability. To have set another new lap record is a good success for us and it is the sixth new lap record from the first nine races of the 2010 season.” Why weren’t asymmetric rear slicks selected for Laguna Seca last year? “Laguna Seca does have more left-hand corners than rights but it is not a typically asymmetric circuit that is to say the difference in temperature and wear rate between the two rear tyre shoulders is not significant. When tyre temperatures are markedly higher in one shoulder than the other, this is when we use asymmetric tyres to equalise tyre temperature in each shoulder using a combination of harder and softer compound rubber. The difference in tyre temperature between the shoulders at Laguna however is fairly small what we would normally cover with symmetric tyres. However, last year the riders expressed a great desire for asymmetric tyres at Laguna Seca, so we brought them this year to give the riders more confidence to push hard and attack.” What about front tyre performance during the race? “The majority of the riders used the harder option front slicks but Mika Kallio finished ninth using a softer option front, so this shows that both specs were working well. During the race many riders reported a feeling of closing the front, or movement in the front tyre under braking and corner entry, but the harder option provided more stability than the softer which is why it was ultimately the faster choice, and we can see from the laptimes that performance was still good. There were some crashes during the race, but Hector retired with a broken chain and Alvaro fell as a result of contact. Dani, Marco and Aleix all fell at the left-handed turn seven and reported the bumps to be the cause.” More, from a press release issued by Syndicate Motorsport Management: IRON HORSE BMW/ SPEEDCELL/ ESP SUPERBIKE CAPTURE ANOTHER TOP 10 FINISH IN AMA SUPERBIKE (Monterey, CA) “” The Iron Horse BMW/ Speedcell/ Evan Steel Performance Superbike made it’s third AMA American Superbike appearance at Laguna Seca this past weekend. Rider Chris Peris and the ESP crew continued development of the highly sophisticated BMW S1000RR. Development of the German made Superbike has been ongoing since the team’s last AMA appearance in Sonoma, where they secured a solid top ten finish. Friday’s first practice showed that the talented ESP crew’s hard work had paid off. At the end of the session, Peris was in sixth position with a time of 1:26.3. The time was a mere 1.3 seconds off of pole time and the closest the team had been to P1 since switching to the BMW. Saturday’s two qualifying sessions would determine the grid for Sunday’s final. The morning session saw the Iron Horse BMW/ Speedcell/ ESP team continue to improve the setup of the machine, posting a 1:26.1 lap time, for a provisional position of ninth. During the second and final qualifying session on Saturday, the team chose to work on a race setup for Sunday’s race versus an all out one lap flyer. Even though the team was looking for a race setup, Chris was able to improve his lap time to a 1:26.0, running a string of laps in the mid 1:26’s, for a final grid position of eleventh for Sunday’s race. The Phil Allison built motor was consistently at the top of the speed charts throughout the weekend including second fastest Superbike overall in the first qualifying session, and the highest trap speed in qualifying session number two. On Sunday morning the team was greeted with gray skies, cold temperatures, and fog. The fog was so thick on Sunday morning that AMA Pro Racing had to cancel the morning warm-up because of safety concerns””the marshals could not see from one flagging station to the next. The lack of morning warm-up was a bit of a concern for Peris as the team had made a major chassis adjustment overnight. Peris’ concerns were alleviated when AMA officials decided to have a ten minute warm-up immediately preceding the race. The adjustments the team had made to the chassis helped the overall balance and feel of the S1000RR through Laguna’s fast and flowing turns. When the lights went out, Peris had his best launch of the 2010 season aboard the BMW and was with the lead pack of ten riders. As the race wore on, Peris was embroiled in a four way battle with Bostrom, May, and McCormick. At the finish line, Peris was ninth, after posting the seventh fastest lap of the race with a 1:25.62″”less than a second off the fastest lap of the race a 1:24.69. The ESP crew was rewarded with another solid top 10 finish, once again demonstrating the strength of the BMW S1000RR platform. With stock wheels, brakes, calipers, and an anorexic budget, the Iron Horse BMW/ Speedcell/ ESP Superbike was capable of running with the much more developed, full time Superbike teams and riders. The S1000RR is now back at the ESP shop in Tucson, AZ where the crew is working on refining the handling package and chassis setup to track conditions and rider preference. Although the team would like to contest the remaining AMA Superbike rounds, the budget is not currently in place. The whole crew at ESP is grateful for all the contributions and fundraising efforts of fans, friends, customers and family that made their participation in the Laguna Seca round possible. Team Iron Horse BMW/ Speedcell/ ESP is actively seeking sponsorship to campaign as many additional AMA rounds as possible in 2010. For Sponsorship inquiries contact Murph at Syndicate Motorsport Management, LLC: (+1) 831 464 3458 or email: [email protected] Team Iron Horse BMW/ Speedcell/ ESP Win on Sunday, sell on Monday. Team Iron Horse BMW/ ESP was created to maximize the strengths of both organizations. Iron Horse BMW is focused on their customers’ ownership experience. ESP is an independent sport bike shop that focuses on the racer and track day rider. This is the reason Iron Horse BMW teamed up with ESP. ESP understands the sportbike market, and they have the skills and experience Iron Horse BMW needs to be able to sell the S1000RR to new customers with the knowledge only racing provides. Iron Horse BMW/ESP will use their racing experience to further develop the S1000RR. Team Iron Horse BMW/ ESP will use AMA Superbike competition to develop chassis, suspension and motor parts and accessories that will be made available to S1000RR owners, allowing them to enjoy the BMW S1000RR for years to come. Evan Steel Performance Evan Steel Performance is a small, personal, specialized shop located in Tucson, Arizona that deals with all aspects of motorcycle road racing. ESP bikes have had some of the highest trap speeds in their classes at AMA Nationals, as well as the highest top speed at start/finish at the 50th annual Macau Grand Prix. In 2009, ESP clinched the Supersport East title with numerous victories. In 2008, ESP scored a very rare privateer podium at the VIR AMA National in the Superstock class with Chris Peris. ESP is open to any level of racing, from basic race prep to planning a season at the Nationals. ESP can be reached at (520) 294 3050 or www.evansteelperformance.com Iron Horse BMW Iron Horse BMW is Arizona’s premier BMW dealer, located in Tucson, Arizona. Iron Horse is dedicated to providing their customers with the best possible ownership experience. The staff are passionate and avid motorcyclists from motocross to roadracing and everything in between. They have the experience and ability to help riders get the most out of their motorcycles. To make your dream of S1000RR ownership a reality, contact Iron Horse at (520)327-0773 or www.ironhorsemotorcycles.com