BUELL AND BILANSKY PREVAIL IN ASRA PRO THUNDERBIKE Penalty Determines Winner After a Four-Bike Battle at Summit Point Summit Point, W.V. Hal’s H-D/Buell/Hal’s Speed Shop rider Dan Bilansky was declared the winner of the third round of the 2008 American Sportbike Racing Association (ASRA) Pro Thunderbike National series at Summit Point Motorsports Park after the apparent winner was penalized for blocking. Bilansky, riding a Buell XB12R Firebolt, crossed the finish line behind BMW rider Nate Kern, but Kern was penalized two positions for weaving three times to block Bilansky’s attempts to pass as the pair raced out of the final turn. The penalty moved Deeley H-D/Buell Canada/Ruthless Racing rider David Estok to second place, as Kern dropped to third. It was a fitting finish to a very dramatic Pro Thunderbike National that saw Bilansky, Kern, Estok and H-D/Buell of Frederick rider Bryan Bemisderfer battling for the lead for most of the nine-lap race. Bemisderfer set the tone for the weekend when he lapped the recently repaved Summit Point circuit on his Buell XB12R Firebolt in 1:16.821 to take the pole in qualifying on Sunday, setting a new Thunderbike lap record 1.2 seconds faster than the previous mark held by Estok, the defending Thunderbike champion. Kern qualified second at 1:17.102, followed by Bilansky and Bison Racing/Eagle H-D/Buell rider Walt Sipp, all under the previous Thunderbike lap record. Bilansky, Estok, Kern and Bemisderfer broke away from the field on the first lap, and all but Bemisderfer would swap the lead during the course of the race as the four riders passed and repassed. Bemisderfer dropped out on lap eight with a mechanical problem. Kern and Estok bumped in a turn on lap eight, causing Estok to ride off-track for a short time, as Kern took the lead with Bilansky on his rear tire. “On the white-flag lap, I showed Kern a wheel in the first turn, but I couldn’t pass him,” said Bilansky. “After that, he was really protecting the racing line and did not give me another good opportunity, so I knew I would have to get a good drive on him out of the last turn. On the last straight I was just inches from his back tire and pulled out of the draft to pass and he moved over to block me three times. He beat me to the line by a wheel.” Immediately after the race, ASRA officials penalized Kern two positions for making more than one move to break another rider’s draft. “I didn’t even need to protest,” said Bilansky. “The officials told me to just go to the dyno test, because everyone saw what happened. The Hal’s crew put a strong Buell under me again today, and I’m pretty sure I would have nipped him at the line if he gave me a chance to make a clean pass.” Sipp finished in fourth position, followed by Buell riders Seth Buchbinder, Joe Rozynski (Sound Waves/Hal’s Speed Shop) and Sam Rozynski (Sound Waves/Hal’s Speed Shop). Twelve of the 14 Thunderbike entries were riding Buell XB12R motorcycles. Despite the penalty, Kern retains the Thunderbike season points lead after three ASRA National events. Kern has 92 points, Sipp is second with 81 points, followed by Estok with 72. Bilansky, who missed one race, is fourth with 54 points. The next stop on the eight-race ASRA Pro Thunderbike schedule is the 8th Annual Virginia Festival of Speed, June 21-22, at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va. Buell Riders Win in Summit Point CCS Racing A record-setting 1,298 entries descended on Summit Point for MotoSport.com Championship Cup Series (CCS) sprint racing during the weekend. Ray Price H-D/Buell rider Jordan Richardson rode a Buell XB12R to win the Amateur Lightweight GP and Amateur Thunderbike classes. Bemisderfer won in Expert SuperTwins, and Ray Price H-D/Buell rider Carl Reid took the win in Amateur GT Lights on a Buell. To learn more about Buell motorcycles, visit your local Buell dealer today and experience the pure streetfighter attitude, style and performance only found on board a Buell. For the Buell dealer nearest you, pull into www.buell.com. More, from a press release issued by P.J. Jacobsen’s publicist: Jacobsen Finished Race For Friend Montgomery, New York ( May 28, 2008 ) –Summit Point, West Virginia served as the next race on the USGPRU schedule. PJ Jacobsen planned on running just the 250cc class under the Celtic Racing’s banner. On site, Veloce Racing offered Jacobsen a 125cc ride for the day. He would ride the Veloce prepared 125 in addition to the Celtic Racing’s 250 machine. Jacobsen came out of the gate strong in both qualifying sessions. The Veloce Racing prepared 125 clocked 1.18.582, a mere 2 seconds faster than last year times. Under the Celtic Racing’s 250cc machine, he also captured the fastest time with a 1.16.5. He would sit on the pole for both classes the next day. Racers tend to grab a good meal , relax, and get a good night sleep prior to race day, but if you are young like Jacobsen and his friends, winding down comes later in the night. Friend and fellow racer Alex Lyskawa and Jacobsen decided to trail ride on their scooters, played the bruising game and acted their normal boys will be boys roles. A chance for young racers to be “kids” when their hectic racing schedules consumes much of their time. When race day arrives it’s back to competitive mode. A casual hand shake and a good luck is always exchanged. Jacobsen is on his game. The 125cc class sees green and he is off with a good start. By the first lap he sits with a 2 second lead, by mid way he opens the gap to seven seconds. Teammate Nobi Iso is certainly behind and is closing in but PJ manages to take the win with a 5.6 second lead. On the pole once again, the Celtic 250cc machine capitalizes on another great start. Catching a bit of traffic, PJ is only leading by a second and needs to push forward if we wants the win. He loses the lead once and quickly regains on the gas with a four second gap and the win. The weekend ended tragically when Jacobsen lost a good friend. After a team meeting with Gilsenan, It was PJ’s decision to continue racing, knowing that it is what Alex would have wanted. PJ added a “77 Alex” on the bike and (they) won together. “I met Alex when we were younger. We both were into flat track and when his older brother moved on to Road Racing, so did I. Alex followed shortly after. We had a lot of fun together in Loudon and more recently the night before the race. He was nice to everyone and always had a great attitude at the track. I will miss him a lot, and I am sure he will be riding with me always,” adds PJ Jacobsen. More, from a press release issued by Garrett Willis’ publicist: Garrett Willis Keeps Podium Streak Going The weekend arrived to find the Willis family enjoying another holiday together at the race track supporting Garrett. This time it was an AFM race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma California. As usual for this time of year the weather was as spectacular as the scenery in Northern California. In his first start of the day in the 600 Production class Garrett got off the line fairly well and entered the first turn in second position behind David Anthony and continued to shadow him throughout the race. As the pair caught up to lappers Anthony was able to leave Garrett in Turn 2 to deal with a couple of lappers until Garrett could get by in Turn 4. In spite of the fact that he was able to reclose the gap Willis was unable to make a pass and finished the race in 2nd place. The highlight for Garret was that he set the fastest lap of the race at a 01:41.124. Willis was able to post consistent low 1:41.’s throughout the day on his club racing bike. Those times would have made him a credible competitor in some classes racing here in the AMA Superbike series professionally last weekend. Next up was 600 Superbike and this time Garrett was away with one of his favorite competitors Jeff Tigert the two Honda CBR600RR racers put on a good close race turning very similar lap times and ultimately Garrett was able to close within striking distance but had to abandon his up the inside attack before the finish line in the interest of not forcing a fellow competitor into to an unsafe position again this left him with another 2nd place finish. In regards to what he was able to learn this weekend Garrett said “I was really excited to apply a line I learned from watching Jake Zemke last weekend. When I used I could see the results as it immediately got me closer to the rider I was chasing so it makes me want to be more creative and open about line selection.” The next race on the schedule for Garrett is a WERA West round at Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City on June 6th-8th. More, from a press release issued by Foothills Triumph: DAYTONA 675 TRIUMPHANT IN THE MRA HASTINGS DOUBLE HEADER WEEKEND The Triumph Motorcycles America, FOOTHILLS TRIUMPH Daytona 675 piloted by Brad Hendry (#616) had another excellent debut in the ultra fast Motorcycles Racing Association (MRA) during their double header weekend over Memorial Day at the Hastings Nebraska Motorsports Park. In the Middleweight Superbike events, the Triumph Daytona 675 started from the front row in a field of some 30 riders. During the first event there was excellent and close racing between the Graves Yamaha of Josh Graham and the Daytona 675 with the Yamaha pulling ahead slightly on the straights while the Daytona 675 caught up in the in-field. The race finished with the Yamaha in first position closely followed by the Foothills Triumph machine in second place. In the second Middleweight Superbike race on Memorial Day the Triumph Daytona 675 holeshot the first corner and maintained the lead the whole race winning by a significant distance. In the feature on Sunday, the Triumph 675 had an excellent start from the front row in a field of 25 riders and into 3rd position at the first turn. Quickly the 675 was behind the Graves Motorsports race prepared Yamaha R6 of Josh Graham. For the next 10 laps close racing was experienced between these two machines. On the 11th lap Brad executed an excellent pass into turn 13 and opened up a 10 bike lead on the Graves Yamaha claiming the #1 podium spot. In the second Race of the Rockies GTU, the Triumph America Daytona 675 took the hole-shot on the start and assumed the lead with the Yamaha 600 following closely. There was close racing during the entire race with the Daytona 675 slowly pulling a good lead to again claim the first position. The Daytona 675 also claimed the fastest lap record for this event breaking Shane Turpin’s record by over .6 of a second. In both the Heavyweight Superbike races, the Daytona 675 starting from pole position in a field of 12 competitors quickly jumped into the lead. Crash Lowe on his Suzuki 750 gave excellent chase but just could not close the gap between the two bikes. The Foothills Triumph Daytona 675 claimed both first place podiums in these two events. With one second and 5 first place podium finishes on this double header weekend the Triumph Daytona 675 again established that it can compete with the fastest 600cc machines. “This Foothills Triumph race prepared Daytona 675 certainly showed its’ capabilities today. The top contenders were pretty equal on horsepower but the superior torque delivery of the Daytona 675 coupled with the excellent tire grip of the Dunlop NTec tires gave me the advantage that I needed to beat some really fast riders and gain those podiums” said pilot Brad Hendry. “As always special thanks to all my sponsors. When you are beating lap record times, your machine is really tested, and I was comfortable on every lap with my great equipment and support. ” More, from a press release issued by San Jose BMW Racing: Brian Parriott was on his game this weekend when he took San Jose BMW to the Winners Circle 2 times and on two different bikes! Race One saw Brian on our venerable R1200S (X-Bike) in the 750 Super Bike Race. Slugging it out through the whole race, coming down to a 3 lap shoot-out with a Suzuki GSXR. Pushing the bike so hard that he was sliding BOTH tires through most of the corners, Brian got the Gixxer in turn 11 to take the WIN. Race Two Brian mounted the new HP2 Sport for the Open Twins Race. A lone BMW in a sea of Ducatis, Brian got off to an excellent start and systematically SPANKED the Ducks into submission! Brian WON the race in convincing style, giving the HP2 it’s first West Coast Victory for BMW. Race Three was the quickest race of the day. Back on the HP2 for the Formula Pacific Race. This race is based solely on qualifying times regardless of the type or size of the race bike. The top 20 qualifiers punch it out in a drag race from corner to corner where the rider with the biggest spherical objects and the most horsepower usually wins the day. Starting mid-pack, Brian was right at the edge the entire race, attempting to keep up with the 180+ hp GSXR 1000 Suzuki’s. You wouldn’t have thought Brian was down some 40 hp on the leaders, the way he moved though the field and used his superior brakes and cornering ability to even the playing field. The HP2 crossed the line in 5th, leaving a string of shocked and awed Super Bikes in his wake! Race Four was 750 Production back on the R1200S. This race requires DOT (street) tires not race slicks. In a HUGE field of more than 50 race bikes, Brian started in the 42nd position based on points in that class from previous races. We had only raced this class once this year, so, it’s to the back of the pack. Brian put on a display of “how to race motorcycles” and “deal with traffic” as he powered his way through the field. With only 6 laps to get from the back to the front – Brian crossed the line in an amazing 2nd place! Infineon is a riders’ track – very complex and challenging. It can be a humbling experience for many unused to such a tight track with many blind turns and elevation changes. Brian has shown once again his prowess with these marvelous opposed twins against the best the world has to offer competition-wise. Go San Jose BMW Racing! More, from a press release issued by NCR-Ducati: NCR-Ducati Wins First and Second at Opening Round of Parts Canada Superbike Championship in the Thunder Class Calabogie, Ontario. NCR-Ducati Team completed the first round of the Canadian Thunder Championship with an impressive first and second place finish on the new Ducati 848. The Thunder Championship is a very competitive class which includes the New Buell 1125R, the KTM Super Duke R 990 and the new BMW HP2 Sport. The Ducati has a significant displacement disadvantage but yet is able to show the refined package that it is, start out of the box. Factory riders Valter Bartolini from Imola, Italy and Andrew Nelson from Kars, Ontario spent valuable time to set-up the razor sharp handling to the new flowing and demanding Calabogie Circuit in Ontario, Canada. On Thursday, lap times started with a best of 1:14.262 for Valter and 1:14.575 for Andrew. The team worked hard on power delivery and suspension changes and were able to drop the lap times to 1:11.730 for Valter and 1:12.235 for Andrew by Sunday morning practice. In parallel, NCR-Ducati entered a third bike based on a Ducati Paul Smart Sport Classic 1000. The concept was to use the Paul Smart as a starting point and build a NCR New Blue replica using all the factory goodies to enter the ST Class (air cooled). Guy Martin from MBP professionally built the replica in record time to enter the first round. The motorcycle was ridden by Patrick Chartrand for the first time on Thursday and started with laps in the 1:22 range but then was able to drop the times to a very respectable 1:16.799 by Sunday morning. Unfortunately, suspension changes before the race slowed Patrick down for the main event. The Thunder race was amazing in that NCR-Ducati had both pole and second position on the starting grid. Valter got an amazing start while Andrew got and average launch and found himself behind the Buell 1125R Floridian rider Dave Estok. Andrew didn’t want Valter to get away so he worked hard to pass Dave in the second lap. By then, Valter had set the fastest lap of the race with a 1:10.805 and was slowly pulling ahead. The race ended with NCR-Ducati’s Valter Bartolini in first, NCR-Ducati’s Andrew Nelson 4.4 seconds back in second place and Buell’s Dave Estok 14.2 seconds back in third. The new NCR packages for the 848 are available on the market, so do not hesitate to contact us or to visit our www.ncrstore.com web site. The NCR-Ducati team looks forward to the next round in Calgary on June 26-29th. Join us then!! For more information, contact Joe Ippoliti at www.ncrfactory.com or Jim McKenna at www.ducatiusa.com