Australian Damian Cudlin is quickly making a name for himself in the IDM German Supersport Championship after another sensational podium at Oschersleben on the weekend. Cudlin maximised his World Endurance experience of the twisty Motopark Arena to qualify 7th for the weekends races on his Dunlop shod SKM-Bike Promotion Yamaha, before heavy rain lashed the circuit. Opting for ‘dry’ settings, Cudlin lost early ground on the leading group in the wet conditions of the opening race, but fought back as the track began to dry, crossing the line in 4th place. “I didn’t feel comfortable at all in the beginning and I was sliding around a lot in the wet conditions” Cudlin explained. “But I knew it was going to dry out and as soon as it did I found my feet again and came home strong. I just wish the race had been 5 laps longer.” Sunday’s second Supersport race produced a cracking show for the huge crowd, when an eight bike freight train fought it out for the win. Cudlin, who narrowly missed a turn 1 collision, joined the party on lap 5 and began to move his way through the pack. Fighting grip issues on the last 3 laps, Cudlin wrestled his R6 into podium contention with one lap to go. In a thoroughly entertaining last lap showdown with Russian Vladimir Ivanov and Frenchman Sebastian Diss, Cudlin made a stunning pass on the final corner to snatch the final podium place and finish in 3rd. “That was hard work but a lot of fun.” Cudlin beamed at the finish. “I was stuck behind a couple of guys early on in the race and really worked my tyres getting past. Once I felt them sliding around underneath me I tried to save the right side for a final lap attack and it worked perfectly.” “I’ve really got to thank Dunlop who have worked hard to get these tyres working so well, and also my team who really gave me a bike that was great to ride. I know it can sound like a broken record when riders thank the right people, but I wouldn’t be 2nd in the championship right now without their help.” Cudlin now trails German Arne Tode by 30points in the title race but believes there are many more chances to claw back the difference during the season, although insisted that the pressure is heavier on the German. “There’s a lot of racing left and we are only getting stronger as a team. Nobody thought we’d be 2nd and challenging for the title this year so I’m really treating every race as a bonus. If I’m still in the hunt with one round to go, then I’ll start thinking about the championship. Right now I just want to win some races.” Cudlin will race at the Nurburgring for the first time in two weeks when the IDM series continues. More, from a press release issued by Kenny Kopecky: Kopeckys’ May month of Motorsports Veteran roadracer Kenny Kopecky returned to Willow Springs International Raceway with his 2005 WSMC championship winning Ducati 999R-05 and a rental 250 Ninja on Sunday, recording a pair of 4th place finishes in two distinctly different classes. Kopecky actually rode his first race of the day on a RACEBIKERENTALS.COM Ninja 250 in the clubs’ new Ninja Cup race sponsored by Advanced Kawasaki. After first riding the bike Sunday morning in the warm-up sessions, Kopecky found himself going from 4th, to 2nd, and back to 4th all on the first lap. Class points leader Wes Totsubo controlled the 8 lap race from the drop of the green flag, riding with ease to his third consecutive victory. Kenny was able to close on Clinton Whitehouse and Joel Hermoso late in the event, actually passing Hermoso in turn one just after getting the white flag. However, a crash in turn 9 brought out a red flag and the race scoring was considered final after concluding 6 laps with Kopecky officially finishing .548 behind Hermoso and .948 behind Whitehouse in 2nd. The riders were all smiles after the event…each having great fun on the little bikes. The top 5 riders all eclipsed the former class lap record, with Joel Hermoso setting the fast lap in the race at a 1:43.127 Kopeckys’ second race of the day came very late on the schedule in the B.O.T.T. Heavyweight class. After having been undefeated since 2005 with 19 straight wins in this class, the now 49-year old Kopecky harbored no illusions of victory this time out! During Saturdays’ WSMC practice, Kenny found his conditioning far from satisfactory at a 1:26 pace (around 2.5 seconds off his own class lap record times) and knew that staying near the current crop of monthly participants was unlikely. Indeed, at the start of the 20 mile contest Buell racer Shawn Higbee launched with perfection into an immediate and commanding lead, running early laps nearly two seconds faster then the pursuing Ducati racers. Kopecky was able to move from a second row grid position into 2nd thru turn one, but could only watch briefly as Higbee “simply vanished”. Just before completing the first lap class points leader Eric Nolan (Duc 1098) rode past Kopecky down the front straight to gain control of second, with Matt Cusumano (Ducati 1098R) using his bikes superior speed to move into third two laps later. Kenny was able to up his pace a bit, finding his nearly four year old MotoForza 999R to be more stable through Willow’s long fast turn two then Cusumanos’ brand new 1098R. Kopecky was able to briefly repass Cusumano for third, and the pair both began to gain on Nolan. With two laps to go and some slowing on Nolans’ part due to lappers all three riders closed up together. Cusumano again moved past Kopecky and was able to also pass Nolan on the front straight. Kopecky finished .25 behind Nolan, with Cusumano just .87 ahead in his run to second place. Afterwards Kenny said “It was absolutly all I could physically do to stay near those 1098’s today…those new bikes are superior on the straights here at Willow so we just cornered a bit harder to stay in touch. I was more worked then ever…it’s a great reminder to the younger racers that if you want to compete at a higher level, even in club racing, physical training is required! That said, it was still a ton of fun chasing these guys around the track.” Kopecky also raced the WSMC Streets series second round just two weeks ago, carding three wins and a close second on his MotoForza prepared Husqvarna SMR-510. “That bike is easy to ride compared to a fast Ducati Superbike on the big track, so even after being off of it for six months we were faster then ever at Streets two weeks ago”. Kenny found the recent re-paving of turns 3 and 4 at Streets to be helpful and is hoping to make the final two rounds of the WSMC Streets series in October and November. Kopecky has also been participating in some car track events recently…last week driving his Evo at Streets of Willow with plans to participate next weekend with the NASA car group at the big track. That will make it four straight weekends at the track for Kenny, a rarity for him these days. Kenny added “Yes, after being away from the track for so many months, May is our big push to get out and have some fun with the car and the bikes! It’s nice to get out and see some of our friends, and it’s always fun to try going fast at Willow”. More, from a press release issued by Feisty Racing: NINTH FOR GRAYSON IN 2008 OPENING CLUB MEETING Feisty Racing’s Susie Grayson pulled off a well-earned ninth place in the opening meeting of her UK race schedule at New Era’s Brands Hatch meeting yesterday. Riding in the Feisty Stealth colors, which are more black than pink, this was Grayson’s first outing in the UK this year on her 2007 Yamaha R1 and followed her third place in the European Women’s Championship in Misano late last month. Riding in the Probike and Open classes, Grayson found the power delivery of the R1 suited Brands Hatch Indy well but with only 10 minutes of qualifying allowed, she had little time to familiarize herself with the track on the new bike. Grayson’s R1 is built to Superstock-spec and it was obvious from the start she would have trouble with straightline speed as some of the litre-bikes are in Superbike trim. She said: I’ve not ridden Brands on my R1 before, and was interested to see how such a large and quick bike would handle round the tight and twisty Kent track. The answer is very differently. “For practice and race I realised I wasn’t using the gears as much as I needed to. I needed to get the fear out of my head of rear-wheel lock when changing down quickly. The bike comes with a slipper clutch and when I realised what I was doing I managed to start correcting this in the second race.” Starting from 15th on the grid in both the 10-lap Probike races, Grayson managed to haul herself up to 13th in each but said the weekend was more about getting to know the bike on shorter tracks and just putting in laps. In the Open race, Grayson started from the back of the grid, and managed a great start. In contrast to her style in the first two outings, Grayson made a lunge up the inside at Paddock Hill instead of riding around the outside. This worked and she made up ten places in two corners before setting about clawing her way into the top ten. She said: “The Open was increased from six 6 laps to 15. Because we didn’t hear the earlier announcement, we suddenly had to throw an extra six litres of fuel in the tank just as we were removing the tyre warmers. “Also my rear Dunlop was completely knaackered before the race even started, so asking for another 15 laps was a bit much. I found myself sliding about quite a bit, but this isn’t such a bad thing as it helps get used to mixed conditions. Also I was shattered as there was only a 10-minute break after race two. Still, I managed plenty of 51 and 52-second laps but not breaking into that elusive 50s barrier. “Happy with the result though, and now I have a target for the Brands Hatch Ladies Race on May 31-June 1.” For further details, go to www.bikegirl.co.uk More, from a press release issued by Keith Amor’s publicist: More success at the North West 200 for Amor Falkirk’s Keith Amor put in an excellent performance at the International North West 200 road races on Saturday and the Wilson Craig Honda ace bounced back from a practice crash to score no less than five top ten finishes from his five races, three of which were inside the top six. The crash occurred at the Ballysally Roundabout during Tuesday evening’s opening practice session and although Keith was uninjured in the spill, he was unable to use the Superbike version of the Honda Fireblade for the two Superbike races. Undeterred, he concentrated on the Superstock and 600cc Hondas and qualified first and second respectively in the two classes whilst he was also comfortably inside the top ten in the Superbike class despite being up against the more powerful machines. With ideal racing conditions on Saturday, Keith opened his account with a solid 10th place in the first Superbike race and he followed this up with an excellent fifth in the extremely hard fought Supersport 600cc race, less than five seconds off the race win. The racing was nothing short of spectacular and it was even closer in the Superstock race and although Keith was again in 5th place at the chequered flag, he was, only 1.4 seconds adrift of first place and the race could have gone to any of the first 8 riders! With a quick tyre change, Keith was back on the grid almost immediately, for the feature Superbike race and, on the same Superstock machine once more, he finished in a superb 7th place whilst also lapping at 122.381mph, which was quicker than the Superstock lap record. He ensured his day ended on a high note with another fifth place, this time in the second Supersport race, and he also had the honour of setting the fastest lap of the race. “Overall, it’s been a good day’s work and although I’m a little bit disappointed that I wasn’t able to convert the front row starts into wins or podiums, we were in contention in every race and I was really happy with my riding during the day. Unfortunately, the crash in practice meant I was unable to use the Honda Superbike but the Superstock machine is an awesome bike and it was very pleasing to be comfortably inside the Superstock lap record during the feature NW200 Superbike race.” “The bikes are all handling really well and the Dunlop 211’s are, in my opinion, the best tyres in the world. The grip they were giving me was unbelieveable and I was able to make up so much time through corners like Mathers Cross as the front tyre was planted the whole way through so I’ve got to say a massive thank you to all the guys at Dunlop for their support and hard work.” “Big thanks to the team as well and to Phoenix Honda for giving me such a great Superstock bike. I’m feeling confident going into the TT and we just need to get some good practice and set-up time on the Superbike so we’re in contention for all of the races. It would be great to get on to the podium so, hopefully, luck will be on or side and we’ll come away from the Island with some top results.” Practice for the Isle of Man TT races commences on Saturday 24th May with the opening Superbike race taking place on Saturday 31st May. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Andreas Meklau raced to two fourth places at the weekend’s International German Superbike Championships (IDM) second round at Oschersleben and stands third in the series. But it was Belgian Werner Daemen who was the top Suzuki team member to cross the finish line, finishing third in both races. Andreas Meklau was fourth in each heat and for the first time this season, Dominic Lammert was also on the starting grid. The 20-year old new talent recently underwent an operation on his meniscus, and took 7th and 6th place. Both heats at the Motorsport Arena were won by Martin Bauer (Honda), followed by Jörg Teuchert (Yamaha). Andreas Meklau: “I’m disappointed with the result. Martin Bauer is riding in another league at the moment. That shows that we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us. The only highlight for me was the last three rounds in the first heat. I was able to catch up with Werner Daemen and Kai Borre Andersen (MV Agusta). Andersen then wanted to overtake Daemen but missed the racing line in a wide arc. I immediately took advantage of this opportunity, dived into the gap, and took the place away from Andersen.” Dominic Lammert: “I didn’t have any big expectations for these heats. It was touch and go right up to the start whether I could race because of my leg. The injured area really started to hurt on the tenth lap but I wanted to hang in there and get some important points.” Evren Bischof – Team manager: “Andreas Meklau made the best of his starting position after the changeable training conditions but we have to re-evaluate his chassis settings as he is clearly lacking grip on acceleration out of the corners. And we can build on Dominic Lammert’s results. He hasn’t ridden in dry conditions for one month so we couldn’t adjust the bike any further – that’s our next task. If he is healthy again in two weeks, a place in the top five is possible.” 1st heat: 1st Martin Bauer (A-Honda), 2nd Jörg Teuchert (D-Yamaha), 3rd Werner Daemen (B-Suzuki). 4th Andreas Meklau (A-Suzuki International Europe), 5th Kai-Borre Andersen (NOR-MV Agusta), 6th Roman Stamm (CH-Suzuki Switzerland), 7th Dominic Lammert (D-Suzuki International Europe), 8th Chris Zaiser (A-Ducati), 9th Christian Kellner (D-Ducati), 10th Günther Knobloch (A-Ducati). 2nd heat: 1st Martin Bauer (A-Honda), 2nd Jörg Teuchert (D-Yamaha), 3rd Werner Daemen (B-Suzuki). 4th Andreas Meklau (A-Suzuki International Europe), 5th Roman Stamm (CH-Suzuki Switzerland), 6th Dominic Lammert (D-Suzuki International Europe), 7th Olivier Depoorter (B-Suzuki), 8th Günther Knobloch (A-Ducati), 9th Kari Vehniäinen (FIN-Yamaha), 10th Mattias von Hammerstein (D-Honda). Points: 1st Bauer 100, 2nd Teuchert 80, 3rd Meklau 58, 4th Daemen 56, 5th Stamm 37, 6th Andersen 24, 7th Zaiser 23, 8th Vehniäinen 22, 10th Giuseppetti 20.