KRIS TURNER JOINS TEAM M4 SUZUKI Kris Turner will attack his rookie season of AMA road racing competition with Team M4 Suzuki support aboard a Suzuki GSX-R600. The Chattanooga, Tennessee resident will challenge for the 2009 AMA ProSuperSport East Division crown, while also putting in select AMA Pro Daytona SportBike rides, along with a few non-points-paying appearances in AMA Pro SuperSport, West Division. Just 16 years old, Turner has already demonstrated incredible potential. After getting his start aboard motocross bikes at the age of three, he graduated to road racing in 2005 aboard a YZ85 in SEMRA and progressed to a 125 in WERA the following season. In 2007 Turner took part in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup and was regularly one of the fastest riders on the track, scoring a pair of podium finishes while performing on a global stage. Kris took another step forward in 2008, claiming USGPRU 125cc GP and Moriwaki MD250H race victories, taking part as a wild card in the 125cc World Championship race at Indianapolis, and earning the 2008 WERA/Roadracingworld.com Young Gun Award due to his tremendous performance at the WERA Grand National Finals at Road Atlanta aboard a Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600. Turner backed up his GNF showing by finishing runner-up in the ASRA Superbike National and fourth place in the ASRA Factory Pro SportBike National at Daytona International Speedway, again aboard the M4 Suzuki. “I’m pretty excited to finally get to race with the big guys,” Turner said just over a month before the 2009 AMA season opener. “I feel pretty lucky to be working with the M4 Suzuki team. They’ve already helped me a lot and I think it’s the best deal I could have right now. “I’m stoked and I know I’m going to gain a ton of experience this year. I can’t wait for Daytona to come around. It’s good I’m going into Daytona with some experience there under my belt. I’m comfortable on the track and I’m comfortable with the bike, so I’m heading in there with a lot of confidence,” added Turner. Team M4 Suzuki Crew Chief Keith Perry said, “We got to work with Kris a little bit last year and clearly he has some natural ability — there is no doubt about that. He’s coming off of racing two-strokes and last year he got his first real experience with four-strokes. I think he may have had some growing pains at first, but he really adapted well to the 600. He’s coming to grips with the bike real well and I don’t think there will be too many 16-to-19-year-olds that will be able to handle him in the SuperSport class. “I’m looking forward to working with him and seeing how the year turns out for him. We’ll be building and maintaining his bikes and providing him with a very high level of support, so 2009 should really be a good year for him.”