This past weekend was an eventful one for Markbilt Racebikes at the CCS NJMP Pierelli Diablo Challenge, Round 2. Despite the blistering heat. Markbilt Racebikes dominated the podium all weekend long boasting 8 wins and 16 podium finishes. Rider Eric Stump set a burning new track record with a 1:05.775 lap time and then went on to break it with a even better lap time of 1:05.754! “What a fantastic way to kick off the inaugural weekend for our new location next to New Jersey Motorsports Park! I can’t thank riders Eric Stump, Mike Selpe, James Fotinopoulos, and Mike Aboyoun enough for the incredible effort they put forth over the weekend despite the extreme heat. It was great to see so many of our bikes on top of the podium all weekend long and then to set a new track record was just outstanding” commented Mark Rozema. Markbilt Racebike riders posted wins in: Pirelli Diablo Challenge, MWSS, MWSB, MWGP, HWSB, HWSS, LWGP& F40 and are currently leading the championship in most of those classes. Markbilt Racing is a full service race shop with a new state of the art 7200 sq ft facility located adjacent to the New Jersey Motorsports complex. For more info visit www.markbiltracing.com More, from a press release issued by Sylvain Barrier’s publicist: FIM Cup Superstock 1000 Round 5 Misano (Italy) June 27, 2010 Useful points for Barrier Sylvain Barrier finished in ninth position at Misano, scoring important points for the championship where he is still in fifth position in the standings. The result could have been a little bit better because Sylvain was coming back strongly when suddenly the race was stopped with a red flag because a rider crashed and his motorcycle was standing on the track. This ninth position gives Sylvain the opportunity to stay with the leaders of the championship in the standings. This is only half season, with five races to go, and a better position in the standings is the goal for Michel Garnier’s team. The winner of the Misano race was again Ayrton Badovini, who has won every event since the beginning of the championship. Maxime Berger did well to finish second, in front of Michele Magnoni. There was a nice group fighting for the fifth place, with Bussolotti, Baz, La Marra, Giugliano and Barrier. They had to cross the finish line in that order because of the red flag. Michel Garnier (team owner): “Sylvain did not have a good start, and then he progressed and gained positions. But these races are too short, there are not enough laps. It is a shame that the race was stopped with a red flag because he could have passed some riders in front of him.” Sylvain Barrier: “My start was average, as the clutch is not easy to use. Its margin is very small. I was I the middle of the pack in the early stage and I didn’t want to take chances. I stayed for while behind Beretta, who is difficult to pass. I chose to go straight one time, better than crashing. I was careful. It was difficult, but I gave everything I had.” Race result: 1. Badovini A. (ITA) BMW S1000 RR 18’21.537 (151,924 kph); 2. Berger M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 2.576; 3. Magnoni M. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 2.807;4. Antonelli A. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 3.872;5. Bussolotti M. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 15.071; 6. Baz L. (FRA) Yamaha YZF R1 16.266; 7. La Marra E. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 16.449; 8.Giugliano D. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 100016.721; 9. Barrier S. (FRA) BMW S1000 RR 17.043; 10. Petrucci D. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 19.830 Championship standings: 1. Badovini 125; 2. Berger 66; 3.Magnoni 63; 4.Giugliano 53; 5. Barrier 47; 6. Antonelli 41; 7.Baz 37; 8. Bussolotti 37 6th round of the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup: July 11 in Brno (Czech Republic) More, from a press release issued by Warr’s Racing: McWilliams sets pole and fastest lap but things didn’t all go to plan… Round 2 Mallory Park June 27th… It was Jeremy McWilliams of Warr’s Racing who led from the start, with classic bike racer Gourlay slotting into 2nd and Mike Edwards of Riders going 3rd. McWilliams, victor last time out, initially appeared to have built a gap before Gourlay fought his way back. McWilliams set the fastest lap of the race on lap 5 but this was not enough to keep Gourlay at bay. As the leading duo started to pull away, Edwards in 3rd was locked in a battle with Torquil Paterson of Edinburgh H-D, swapping places a number of times. Back up front, Gourlay eventually took the lead going around the outside of McWilliams at Shaw’s Corner on lap 12. As the pair began the penultimate lap of the 15 lap race, McWilliams re-took the lead at turn one just as Darren Fry of Black Bear Racing crashed out, bringing out the red flag. With the result counting back a lap, Goulay was awarded the win with McWilliams in 2nd and Edwards 3rd. McWilliams team mate Darren James set the fastest trap time of the weekend and finished 7th to build on his points tally. Afterwards McWilliams said “I let Gourlay pass me so I could bring some pressure to bear and intended to nail it with two laps to go, which is exactly what I did. The trouble was that the race got red flagged and although I was in the lead I got 2nd place. That’s racing for you! The bike and crew performed brilliantly all weekend and I got pole and fastest lap. I’m looking forward to Knockhill which should suit my riding style more.”There’s no time to draw breath as the series heads to Scotland for Knockhill on 2-4th July. Warr’s Racing would like to thank its partners, Rossetts Mercedes-Benz, Mobil 1, Alpinestars, Muc-Off, Dunlop, SBS, Deeley Canada, Capit Performance, CV Graphics, Foga Systems, Teng Tools, Harris-Performance More, from a press release issued by Chris “Opie” Caylor’s publicist: Opie Brings it on Borrowed Bikes! During this past weekend, Komodo sponsored Opie Caylor overcame almost everything that stood in his way in route to multiple victories, even on borrowed bikes! Normally, Opie is on his tried and true Suzuki GSXR750, but it developed an engine noise during Fridays final practice session at a WERA Sportsman Series event being held at Road Atlanta. Opie partially disassembled the engine and determined that riding it would only create more damage. Not willing to just pack it up, Opie searched the pits and was fortunate enough to have a couple of friends who were willing to help him out. Opie got his first taste of Luie Zendejas’ 2008 GSXR1000, that is built and maintained by KWS Motorsports, in Saturday morning warm-up. After the first session on the bike, Opie said “First time out on the bike, she’s good. There are some things that I want to change chassis wise but I’ve got something I can work with!” Along with help from Eric and Brad from Ohlins USA, Opie developed some chassis solutions that would help the bike work better for him and put them to the test in the Heavyweight Solo 16. From the fifth row on the grid, Opie slotted into fourth entering turn one and stayed in that position until the back straight. After passing Chris Steele and Mike Wheelis, Opie set off after Lee Acree. He jumped the gap to Lee in 2 laps and then started stalking him. “I sat on Lee once I got to him. It was a long and hot race and I didn’t want to overheat my Dunlop tires or myself. Once I joined Lee at the front, I just tried to settle into a rhythm and conserve. Just after halfway, Lee looked back at me exiting turn 7, so I turned around and looked back and saw that someone was coming to us. Now, I know three’s a crowd so I decided to start looking for a way past.” And Opie found his way past on lap 10 of 16 and then set about opening up a gap. “I made a couple of questionable passes on lappers just trying to open up a gap. I never hit anybody, but my tires touched the dirt a time or two,” said Opie. After the pass for the lead, Opie turned the fastest laps of the race and went on to win by over 13 seconds. More importantly, Opie learned more about what he needed from the bike in hopes of more wins on Sunday. Sunday morning warm-up went quite well as the changes that Opie made produced lap times that were as much as 1.2 seconds per lap quicker than even in the race the day before. Opie’s first race of the day was Formula One Expert. From the second row, Opie positioned himself into second place behind Brian Stokes. With only six laps to do the business, Opie immediately started looking for a way past. On lap three, Opie got the perfect drive off of turn seven and drafted past Brian on the back straightaway. Opie led lap four across the stripe and tried to open up an advantage however, Brian’s bike seemed to be a bit quicker down the backstraight and drafted back past Opie that lap. One lap to go and Opie knew that his best chance would be down into turn ten. As Brian and Opie entered turn ten for the last time, they encountered 2 lapped riders. Brian went down the inside while Opie took the outside. “I thought I had him going into ten that last lap. There were two lapped riders and I tried the outside when Brian went down the inside. I thought it might work but those two guys started coming over on me so I was almost into the grass!” Opie missed the win by 4 tenths of a second to take second. In A Superstock, Opie was out for revenge. Again from the second row of the grid, Opie entered turn one in second place. Going onto the back straight, Opie had a dice going with Scott Carpenter who was racing an identically prepared KWS built GSXR1000. Opie got the lead at the end of lap two and put his head down. He began opening up a gap and was lucky to get the win due to a red flag on the next lap. WERA rules state that if there is a red flag, the results go back one lap and you get credited with that position. Thankfully, Opie was already in the lead on that lap. For the last race of the day, B Superstock, Opie was taking a huge gamble! When Opie’s bike broke, he was left without a 750 to race. Marietta Motorsports customer and Novice Racer Patrick Jernigan agreed to allow Opie the use of his 750 for the race. The only problem was that Opie had never ridden this bike before, ever! With the warm-up lap being his first lap ever on the bike, Opie gridded up on the middle of the third row. With a strong start, Opie outdueled AMA Supersport winner Huntley Nash for the second spot into turn two. Opie started hounding leader Jimmy Merck whose bike was faster down Road Atlanta’s long back straight. Opie passed Merck and then was repassed again on the backstraight. Opie knew he had is hands full with Merck if he didn’t do something soon. “I knew that I had to put a pass on Jimmy and make it stick! I felt that if I could get a pass on him and hold him off to turn one, I could put a good enough lap together to build myself a little cushion.” Opie got it done on the next lap, strung together a couple of laps in the 1:30’s and went on to win by 6 seconds over Jimmy Merck and Huntley Nash. After the race, Opie offered this, “It’s unbelievable really. It just goes to show me how blessed with friends, I truly am. After my bike broke on Friday, I was pretty bummed thought about packing it up and going home. But I really wanted to race and if it weren’t for Luie or Patrick, I wouldn’t have had that opportunity. I’m just really thankful and humbled all at the same time. If you had asked me on Friday if I thought I would have come away from this weekend with three first places and a second place finish, I would have said no way, with what happened with my 750. We’ll get it fixed though and we’ll come back even stronger. And again, if it weren’t for Luie or Patrick, I would’ve sat around and watched it all from the pits so again, big thanks to them!” More, from a press release issued by EDR Performance: The June 26-27 OMRRA event at Portland International Raceway saw Christopher Ancien take four wins in four classes. Riding his EDR Performance-built ZX-6R, Chris was able to take victories in both 600 Supersport and 600 Superbike as well as the bigger 750 Supersport and 750 Superbike classes. Chris was delighted to keep his 2010 win streak going, saying “It’s been a great start to the 2010 season. I have a super fast bike, awesome suspension and the Dunlop tires were amazing again. I just want to keep this streak going.” Eric Dorn of EDR continued, “It feels great to be back working with a talented rider like Chris. We worked together in the past and won, so to be undefeated in 600 so far really shows our team combination works well. Chris has a ton of talent and with Dave at GP and Barry at KFG Dunlop helping out we just hope to keep this momentum going all season.” So far in 2010, Ancien has gone unbeaten in both the 600 Supersport and Superbike classes. Ancien is a multi-time class champion in OMRRA and is sponsored by Beaverton Kawasaki, EDR Performance, KFG, GP Suspension, Dunlop tires, Sharkskinz, Lockhart, Woodcraft, Motul and Cascade Tracktime.