RACE REPORT AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE PRO-TWINS CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 4&5 QUEENSLAND RACEWAY: 10 – 13TH JULY 2008 NOT ENOUGH PROGRESS FOR MARTIN IN PRO-TWINS. The Australian Superbike Pro-Twins Championship moved to Queensland Raceway’s Willowbank Circuit for a combined Round 4 and Round 5. Peter Martin riding the Sportsbike – ducationly.com Ducati 999S has consolidated 6th position in the Championship at the Mid-season Double Header and sits as the highest placed non Ducati 1098 rider in the Australian Superbike Pro-Twins Championship. The ‘Paper Clip’s’ fast straights into tight, rough and difficult corners challenged riders and in this environment Martin did not find a comfortable setting so as to be in contention. Martin worked hard to drop 2.2 seconds off his best lap time from his only previous visit in 2002, to record a new personal best Lap Time of 1:22.649 in the process of finishing 8th, 7th, 7th & 7th in the four races. Fast charging young gun Daniel Wheeler frequently challenged for the lead but could only keep Craig McMartin honest in the four races. Craig McMartin (Ducati 1098S) now leads the Championship with 325pts followed by Daniel Wheeler (Ducati 1098S 280pts), Mick Johnston (Ducati 1098S – 228pts) closely followed by Damian Sutton (Ducati 1098S 224pts) and Richard Liminton in fifth (Ducati 1098S – 199pts). Peter Martin goes into the Tasmanian Round in 6th position with 171 Championship Points, fourth highest placed Privateer and the highest placed non Ducati 1098 rider in the Championship. RIDER COMMENTS: “It is great that I have opened up my points lead to 73 points clear of 7th position but Richard Liminton in 5th place is now 9 more Points ahead and 28 Points clear, still beatable yet further than I intended”. “This is my second time at this Circuit, it’s deceptively simple yet tough, I like how it challenges me, it dares me to push harder and I did, although I did not beat the track I did not give up at any time. I tried every possible setting, line and trick I could and still my corner entry was compromised and my corner exit speeds were lower than intended. I expected better times and I expected to be more competitive”. “There is always more to learn in this Sport and after this round I can see more clearly that at this level, being able to ride well is not enough. I see the gap between where I am and where I intend to be, I need to bring more ‘Mongrel’ to racing to be competitive. I need to close the gap.” “On Thursday MA suddenly announced that the Championship status was being withdrawn from the ASC Pro-Twins Class due to low entry numbers. The Pro-Twins Competitors filed a formal Protest on various grounds which were heard on Sunday. The Protest was successful and the Championship status restored. It takes something like this to unite the Pro-Twins class competitors, very quickly we were able to act to protest MA disenfranchising the Class but the message is clear, next year we need more riders for Pro-Twins to be an ASC Championship Class.” “My thanks goes to Terry Hay of Shock Treatment for his patience when I was seeking suspension advice. My gratitude goes to Brett of SP Tools who used our Pit Area to show the SP Tool Range and for asking Aaron to Pit Crew for me. Thank you to Aaron for your tireless effort and the great attitude you brought to keeping the bike ready to go”. NEXT: Testing then Australian Superbike Championship Round 6 Symmons Plains, Tasmania, 29 31 August 2008. More, from a press release issued by Gerry Signorelli, Racing for a Wish/Rocky Mountain Kawasaki/Kawasaki Team Green: July 12th & 13th, 2008 Motorsports Park Hastings, Hastings, NE Signorelli posted impressive results once again this past weekend in Hastings, NE. Motorsports Park Hastings hosted Race # 5 of the Motorcycle Roadracing Association’s year long schedule. The weekend started with rain showers during practice early on Saturday. This is all too often the case in Hastings where the riders usually have to deal with rain at some point in the weekend. The wet morning practice session put a damper on trying out a few new suspension and gearing settings on Signorelli’s bike, but did afford him a valuable bit of wet track experience. The races began after lunch and Gerry had two on the schedule for the day, the Novice GTU and Novice GTO classes. He lead the points standings in each class championship coming into this round. GTU was first, with Signorelli demonstrating more of what he has shown all year. He took the hole shot into turn one and didn’t look back, opening up almost a ten second gap within the first few laps and setting a new personal best lap time at Hastings. He was then able to relax his pace and take his fourth consecutive victory in the Novice GTU class. Novice GTO was next with Signorelli again taking the hole shot into turn one. This time however his teammate tagged along with him and followed for 5 laps. Unfortunately Gerry was surprised to realize he was back there as he was passed on the brakes into turn four with a lap and a half remaining. Signorelli took it home to a second place finish, but more importantly, extended his points lead in the class championship. The last race was on Sunday, and looked to be a bit more difficult as he went up again the expert level riders in the Amateur GTU class. As he has done in most races all year, Signorelli again took the hole shot and lead into turn one. He has been superb off the line the entire season. After leading for two laps, he was relegated to second and in the subsequent laps, fell behind by a few seconds. He did not give up though and put his head down to get right back up on the rear wheel of the leader with a lap and a half left. He looked poised to put up a fight for a win and attempted a pass on the inside, on the brakes into turn thirteen with one lap left, but was not close enough to go through up the inside. Signorelli gave it one more go into turn one on the last lap, backing it in deep on the brakes. He unfortunately had to run wide and lost too much time to get back into first place. This race afforded him great experience and a few learning lessons being able to battle for the lead against a fast expert rider. The rest of the year will offer continued excitement in this class as Gerry actually moved into a tie for the lead in points in this competitive class. At the season half way point, Signorelli leads three class championships in points and continues to get faster every time he has shown up at a track. During the next month off of racing, as the schedule takes a summer break, Signorelli and the Make-A-Wish Team will be practicing, training, and seeking further sponsorship involvement. The next race will be held in Pueblo, Colorado, August 9th and 10th. Results from the weekend are summarized below: Novice GTU: 1st Place Novice GTO: 2nd Place Amateur GTU: 2nd Place