Damian Cudlin has given the German built KALEX AV1 it’s dream road race debut with pole position and the race win at the first round of the German Pro Thunder Championships at Schliez on the weekend. After recently taking on a development role with the team, Cudlin soon went about putting the machine through it’s paces and shocked the paddock with it’s rapid increase of speed. After a timid start, the KALEX crew transformed the bike over the remaining practice sessions as Cudlin soon got comfortable with the unique machine. “This bike is really unlike anything else I’ve ever ridden.” Cudlin explained. “It’s incredibly light weight and it’s braking power is mind blowing. It’s also one of the most agile bikes I’ve ever ridden. It’s a buzz to ride.” Using an Aprillia Mile engine, the KALEX engineering company designed the rest of the machine from the ground up. A computer designed frame, swingarm, and Carbon Fibre body are all used in the AV1’s armoury, sparking much interest from industry insiders. Using the final qualifying session as a chance to “see what this thing could do” Cudlin stormed to the pole position lap time. “Getting pole was a real surprise as we were really treating it all as a testing session, but I once I got comfy on it, I really wanted to see what the bike was capable of. It sure surprised a few people.” Cudlin grinned. Starting from pole, Cudlin blasted into the lead and was never headed in the 12 lap race, winning by 5 seconds, leaving a hoard of Ducati 1098’s in it’s wake. “I’m really happy to have steered the AV1 to it’s first race win and am so pleased for the KALEX crew.” Cudlin said after the race. “They’ve really done a great job with this machine and I’m really excited to be playing a part in something with so much potential. I’m sure this won’t be their last race win.” Cudlin will do more development work with the KALEX group as plans for production of more AV1’s grows. To see more of this unique machine visit www.kalex-moto.de More, from a press release issued by Millennium KWS Suzuki: Millennium/KWS Suzuki Gets Eleventh at Rain Soaked Road America. Elkhart Lake, WI June 2008 — Millennium/KWS Suzuki sponsored by Suzuki of Orangeburg finished just outside the top ten at a very wet AMA Superstock race at Road America. Although Team rider Ben Thompson has seen his injured hand improve remarkably, Thompson only had three days to rest between the Miller Motorsports Park and Road America rounds of the AMA series. Thompson had broken his right hand at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana California in May and had two plates and fourteen screws installed by famed orthopedic surgeon Dr. Arthur Ting. Qualifying for both Superstock and Superbike were both held in dry conditions and Thompson put on a great performance on his Dunlop shod Suzuki GSX-R1000. In Superstock Ben qualified on the second row in the sixth position with a time of 2:17.052. In Superbike Thompson qualified in the thirteenth position with a time of 2:17.951. Although blisteringly fast in the dry, Sunday’s Superstock race would be Thompson’s first experience racing in the rain at an AMA national event. With only limited chances to practice in the wet conditions, Thompson’s learning curve had to be very steep to figure out the difference between the extremely grippy Dunlop N-Tec slicks and the specialized Dunlop rain tires. Thompson got a great start and was racing with the lead group early on, but had to check up to avoid Jordan Suzuki’s Geoff May who had an early off track excursion. This was enough for Thompson to lose touch with the lead group. Thompson did a great job of riding a smart race and bring the bike home with a solid finish. Superbike did not go as well with an early retirement in both races. In Superbike Race One, Thompson had a problem with the clutch on the start. In Superbike Race Two, Thompson encounter some brake problems and decided to pull in for the safety of everybody on track. Ben Thompson “It was a pretty difficult weekend with mixed weather conditions over the entire event. My hand is defiantly getting better but I am looking forward to the having the five week break before the next event so I can come back 100%. The team is working really hard and we have had some bad luck with the Superbike, but I feel confident that we will be back up to speed by the next round at Laguna Seca. I really want to thank everyone at Millennium Technologies for coming out and supporting us this weekend.” Kevin Hunt (Team Owner) “I think some of the guys are still trying to dry out from this weekend. It was wet and then dry and then very, very wet. The guys did a great job adapting to the conditions and they did everything they could to get Ben to the front. We have short break to get everybody home for a few weeks and get everything ready for the second half of the season. This has been a pretty long run for us being based on the east coast. The truck left in April to go to Barber and has not been back since. We are really looking forward to getting everything back home for a little while. I really want to thank Millennium Technologies for all their hospitality at Road America. Thank You.” More, from a press release issued by M2S Agency: Garrett Willis Doubles Up on Podiums Again at Miller WERA National After enjoying a weekend of spectating at the World Superbike round at the Miller Motorsports facility courtesy of Pro Honda Oils and Chemicals Garrett Willis returned to the facility one week later to do some racing of his own at the WERA National Round at Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City Utah. A rained out practice session on Saturday meant that Friday’s quick practice session was all that the field would see before Sunday’s race program. The first race of the day for Garrett was the 600 Superstock which saw Willis pull the holeshot only to get shuffled back to 6th in what he described as “first lap mayhem”. He then let the order settle in and worked his way back to the front ultimately finishing a close 2nd to race winner Chad Lewin. Next up was the 750 Superstock where Garrett ran as high as 3rd place before narrowly missing the podium with a 4th place finish. Going to the line on his Honda CBR600RR in the 600 Superbike race Willis rocketed off the start in 2nd position and then dropped back to 6th before moving back to the front and wrapping up another podium spot with a 2nd place result. The highlight of the weekend again for Garrett was being able to set the fastest lap for a 600 at the meet, being the only 600 rider in the 1:55’s with a 1:55:15. Looking back over the weekend Garrett said “It was really cool getting to watch the top AMA and World Superbike riders out here last weekend and the whole time I was looking for things I could use this weekend and I think I put some of them to good use and turn some good lap times. This track is probably one of the most fun I’ve ever ridden and has good rhythm and flow.” The next race on the schedule for Garrett is a WERA West round at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 27th-29th. More, from a press release issued by Misti Hurst: Another Successful Weekend for Slednecks Racing Teams’ Josh Galster and Misti Hurst, Despite Stormy Weather, Schedule Changes, and Limited Trackside Support Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin Slednecks rider’s Josh Galster and Misti Hurst enjoyed another successful weekend, finishing 19th and 26th in the wet/dry AMA Supersport Race this stormy Sunday. Arriving for their first time at Road America in Elkhart Lake, after a 25 hour drive in a Ford Cargo Van with three passengers, complete with a Wallmart chair acting as the center seat, Galster and Hurst faced extremely difficult weather conditions while trying to learn the new track. Thursday’s promoter practice was socked in with extreme fog and rain. During the last session Hurst, tailing teammate Galster, found a patch of slippery sealer in the last corner and crashed. Unhurt she returned the bike to the pits and with the help of Jason Farrell and his support crew, got her bike fixed and ready for practice the following morning. Privateer racers with limited funding, the two California Superbike School coaches were running the team solo this weekend with no trackside support and no mechanic and had to rely on the folks from the Speed Tech Motorsports pit to help. “Jason, Jaegar, Keith, Steve, Rebecca and crew were so awesome this weekend. We had an amazing time and thank them immensely for sharing their pits with us!” said Hurst. Friday’s practice session was dry and Galster and Hurst worked hard to get up to speed on the extremely fast track. Josh was going good by the end of the day with a time of 2:28.7 while Hurst was still struggling and 8 seconds off the estimated qualifying time. After a brief Saturday morning practice on a dry track, the afternoon qualifying session also took place in the dry, with black clouds hovering in the distance. Because of the extra events at this round including Moto ST and the Red Bull Rookies Cup, the entire group of AMA Supersport riders had just 20 minutes allotted in order to qualify. 15 minutes into the session a red flag was flown due to a motorcycle lying in the middle of the track. Looking on the timing and scoring screen, both Galster and Hurst were happy to see that they had made the grid. “I was so happy that we had both made it!” said Hurst, “First time at the track and we were both in the race, ya!” However, the AMA officials decided to cancel the remainder of the session and after some deliberation, disregarded the session entirely and decided that Sunday morning’s practice would instead be used as qualifying. “I was pretty upset when I heard this,” explained Hurst. “I worked my butt off running my fastest laps ever right off the bat. I qualified, and then they tell us we have to do it all over again, it didn’t really count? It’s unfair to us privateer riders that don’t really have the budget to suddenly have to spring for another set of tires for a “new” qualifying session Sunday morning, the pair arrived at a soggy and stormy Road America and the morning’s practice-turned qualifying-session took place in heavy pouring rain. Both Galster and Hurst came into the pits only to find out that neither of them had made the 110% cut off time. In fact, nearly 15 riders didn’t make the required qualifying times. “That sucks.” said a soggy Josh as the two stood dejected under their dripping canopy. As they prepared to pack up and leave for the day, they found out that the AMA was actually going to allow everyone to race. “It was so confusing and on-again-off again, that we just threw up our hands and said “whatever.” said Hurst “You qualified. Nope, just kidding you didn’t really. Try again tomorrow. Oh, you didn’t qualify. Just kidding, you actually did, you can race today.” The Supersport race took place at 2:00pm on a wet but rapidly drying track and was started in two waves. Galster in 28th position and Hurst in 31st were in the second wave. Both riders on Kawasaki ZX6’s got rocketing good starts, but after two laps the race was red flagged due to a back straight crash and the race was restarted with new grid spots. Without crew to help the riders change tires, make suspension changes or add gas, Galster and Hurst went back out on the drying track on full rains with their wet race set-ups. Galster, last on the grid now for the first wave of riders got a good start and moved his way up through the pack as high as 15th place and was within close proximity to the likes of Harrin, Gobert, Barnes and Beck. He persisted and was aiming for his first top 15 finish when his fuel light came on early and he had to try to conserve. On the final lap the bike began sputtering and bogging and barely made it up the final hill across start finish. 4 riders got by him right at the end and he finished with another top 20 in 19th place. “I was bummed out for sure, but what can you do. Next time we won’t make that same mistake.” said Galster Hurst, grabbing the holeshot from the second wave led that group of riders all the way to turn 9 even after a violent slide out of turn 5. Hanging with a few riders from the first wave and only passed by two from the second, Hurst ran a fairly uneventful race and happily crossed the line in 26th position. “A great way to end a crazy weekend,” she commented. “It was fun!” Slednecks Racing would like to thank their outstanding sponsors and fans. Stay tuned at www.mistihurst.com or www.slednecks.com and watch for them at Laguna Seca in July. RIGHTSFORBIKERS.COM TAKES THE GST WIN Round 3 of the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series at Road America, June 6-7 proved to be a triumphant race for RightsForBikers.com. Running in the GrandSports Twins Class, this top-ranked two-wheeled team took their No. 59 Ducati PS1000LE to victory, earning not only the win, but the pole and a sixth place overall as well. Flying the Czaia & Gallagher P.A./PIAA banner, pilots Justin Filice of Modesto, Calif., and Armando Ferrer of Caracas, Venezuela, ran an outstanding race from start to finish. “This was just an incredible event for us,” said team owner and well-known Florida attorney C.J. Czaia. “Justin (Filice) did an amazing job. He really stepped up the pace. We brought in Armando from Venezuela to ride with him and he also did a great job. This is our first victory in this class and it is definitely sweet.” In addition to their win, RightsForBikers.com also took fourth in GST on their No. 69 Ducati PS1000LE with Jason Edmonds and John Linder aboard. Severe thunderstorms in the area forced a delay to the start of the race, which then had to be shortened from its originally scheduled three hours or 78 laps to 36 laps for one hour and 40 minutes. “Wow, this is just awesome,” said an obviously elated Filice. “This is my first road race win ever and I am definitely pinching myself to make sure it is real. The guys had our Ducati really hooked up. It had great power and our Pirelli tires were unbelievable. I have to give a lot of credit to my dad, who along with Springsteen took the ST Class win. It was slippery out there in the beginning, but my Dad led me around early on and showed me some spots I could use a little more throttle. He really helped a lot.” “I am excited to be here,” exclaimed Ferrer. I was happy to ride with Justin and I hope to be able to do so again. To run with RightsForBikers.com for the first time and to be able to win the GST race is really something. I want to thank C.J. for giving me this opportunity.” “I really have to take my hat off to everyone on our crew,” sums up Czaia. “In this type of team racing winning often depends on race strategy. When a race is shortened like this all the pre-planned strategy goes out the window. Add in the rain and a whole different approach is needed. My guys really put it together and their efforts largely contributed to our win. They are the best.” The SunTrust MOTO-ST Series roars back into action July 20 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala. “Round 4 will mark the debut of the series at Barber,” adds Czaia. “And, we are all excited about going to a new track. We have heard great things about the track and will certainly be hoping to once again put our Ducati on the Podium.”