Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Hacking Backs-Up Podium Finish on Sunday Sonoma, Calif. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking turned out another great performance on Sunday as he earned his second-consecutive podium in the AMA Superbike race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. With his impressive finish on the Kawasaki ZX-10R, Hacking moved up to fifth in the points standings and is only five points behind fourth. In the AMA Supersport class, Attack Kawasaki’s Chaz Davies rounded out the top-10. Kawasaki Under the Kawasaki Tent Jamie Podium After a season-best finish on Saturday, Hacking repeated his stellar performance with another third place. With the progress the team is making to the all-new ZX™-10R, Hacking is confident they can continue to stay close with the competition. “I am definitely happy with the progress we have made in the past few weeks,” said Hacking. “We knew it wasn’t going to come overnight, but this is for sure a big boost for the team and a great way to head into the next race.” Improvements Check out what Jamie had to say about the race. Top-10 Davies battled throughout the race to work his way up to a top-10 finish. “Things didn’t really seem to go my way today, but I’m looking forward to the next race at Miller,” said Davies. “I like that circuit and hope we can make some changes in the right direction.” Going Home Davies is finally returning to his home in the United Kingdom where he will spend a week before heading to Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah for the next round of the AMA Superbike Championship. He’s been in the U.S. since the second round in April. “I’m really excited to go home and spend some time with friends and family,” said Davies. “I’ve been out here for awhile, and while I really do like California, I miss home.” Rapp Attack Kawasaki’s Steve Rapp ended his day early when he went slid out in turn five. “I was coming around one of the turns and hit some dirt or something on the track,” said Rapp. “Before I knew it, I was on the ground. It’s unfortunate, but Miller should be a good race in a few weeks.” Lonely Pits With Roger Hayden out with injury, the pits have been a little lonely with only one rider. There may be extra room but not having Hayden leaves a big presence to fill. Results AMA Superbike Series Infineon Raceway Sonoma, Calif. May 18, 2008 AMA Superbike Class 1. Ben Spies, Longview, Texas, Suzuki 2. Matthew Mladin, Henderson, Nev., Suzuki 3. JAMIE HACKING, DENVER, N.C., MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI 4. Aaron Yates, Milledgeville, Ga., Suzuki 5. Neil Hodgson, Isle of Man, UK, Honda 6. Eric Bostrom, Malibu, Calif., Yamaha 7. Miguel Duhamel, Las Vegas, Nev., Honda 8. Geoff May, Gainesville, Ga., Suzuki 9. Chris Peris, Calgary, Canada, Suzuki 10. Ryan Elleby, Irving, Texas, Suzuki AMA Superbike Points Standings 1. Matthew Mladin, Henderson, Nev., Suzuki, 242 2. Ben Spies, Longview, Texas, Suzuki, 233 3. Neil Hodgson, Isle of Man, UK, Honda, 181 4. Jason Disalvo, Stafford, N.Y., Yamaha, 175 5. JAMIE HACKING, DENVER, N.C., MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI, 170 6. Eric Bostrom, Malibu, Calif., Yamaha, 158 7. Tommy Hayden, Owensboro, Ky., Suzuki, 143 8. Miguel Duhamel, Las Vegas, Nev., Honda, 136 9. Aaron Yates, Milledgeville, Ga., Suzuki, 133 10. Matt Lynn, Ball Ground, Ga., Honda, 131 AMA Supersport Results 1. Ben Bostrom, Malibu, Calif., Yamaha 2. Jake P. Zemke, Paso Robles, Calif., Honda 3. Danny C. Eslick, Broken Arrow, Okla., Suzuki 4. Blake Young, Wanuakee, Wis., Suzuki 5. Josh Hayes, Gulfport, Miss., Honda 6. Josh Herrin, Dublin, Ga., Yamaha 7. Cory West, Eureka Springs, Ark., Suzuki 8. Michael Beck, Simi Valley, Calif., Yamaha 9. Aaron Gobert, Murietta, Calif., Honda 10. CHAZ DAVIES, KNIGHTON, UK, ATTACK KAWASAKI AMA Supersport Points Standings 1. Ben Bostrom, Malibu, Calif., Yamaha, 145 2. Josh Herrin, Dublin, Ga., Yamaha, 124 3. Jake Zemke, Paso Robles, Calif., Honda, 117 4. Blake Young, Wanuakee, Wis., Suzuki, 104 5. Danny Eslick, Broken Arrow, Okla., Suzuki, 98 6. CHAZ DAVIES, KNIGHTON, UK, ATTACK KAWASAKI, 92 7. Josh Hayes, Gulfport, Miss., Honda, 81 8. Cory West, Eureka Springs, Ark., Suzuki, 84 9. Aaron Gobert, Murrieta, Calif., Honda, 75 10. STEVE RAPP, MANHATTAN BEACH, CALIF., ATTACK KAWASAKI, 72 More, from a press release issued by Build Momentum: LeoVince Foremost Insurance Ducati Rider Finishes Fifth at Infineon Raceway Pegram in Third Place Overall in Formula Xtreme Series Sonoma, CA (May 20, 2008) – Larry Pegram, of the LeoVince Foremost Insurance Ducati Team finished fifth overall this past weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. The race at Infineon was the fourth of the ten race series. Pegram is currently in third place overall with 111 points. Pegram started the race on the second row of the grid after qualifying in seventh with a lap time of 1:38.357. He was in seventh place for the first four laps, and then he moved up to sixth on lap five where he stayed until lap 16 when one of the riders ahead of him dropped out with mechanical problems. Oddly enough, Pegram also finished in the fifth place in the 2007 race at Infineon Raceway. Pegram’s practice times for the weekend were 1:39.235 on Friday and 1:38.932 on Saturday. “We had a rough weekend trying to get the bike dialed in. We didn’t get to test at Infineon Raceway earlier in the season and we had problems finding the right setup so I could run with the leaders. I am not happy with the result, but it is still early in the season and we are still in the hunt for the championship,” commented Pegram. The Formula Xtreme race will be televised on SPEED Channel today, Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 12:00 PM ET (noon). The next race for the LeoVince Foremost Insurance Ducati Team will be May 30, 2008 at Miller Motorsports Park, in Tooele, Utah (www.millermotorsportspark.com). More, from a press release issued by Millennium KWS Suzuki: Millennium/KWS Suzuki’s Lee Acree injured at Infineon Raceway Sonoma, CA May 2008 — Millennium/KWS Suzuki sponsored by Suzuki of Orangeburg had a difficult weekend despite some extremely fast lap times from replacement rider Lee Acree. 2008 team rider Ben Thompson was injured at Auto Club Speedway two weeks prior and could not compete at Infineon, so 2005 Millennium/KWS Suzuki rider Lee Acree was brought in to ride in Thompson’s absence. It appeared the team had made a wise choice as Lee Acree went on to turn some extremely fast laps. In Superstock qualifying Acree used a Dunlop race tire to turn a 1:37.373 for fifth position. This put Acree on the inside of the second row for the start of the race. In Superbike qualifying, Acree qualified on the third row in the twelfth position with a time of 1:37.988. Acree got a great start for the Superstock race and spent the majority of the race battling for fourth position with Blake Young, Chris Paris, and Jason Pridmore. The four riders where only separated by a few tenths of a second and switch positions several times. On lap fourteen Acree got a great drive out of turn four and was closing quickly on former World Endurance Champion Jason Pridmore, when suddenly Pridmore’s engine failed and he slowed rapidly. With only a few bike lengths separating the two riders at well over 130mph there was no time to react and Acree made hard contact with the back of Pridmore’s Suzuki. Both Acree and Pridmore where transported to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. Pridmore was transported by ambulance and Acree by helicopter because of concerns about internal bleeding. Pridmore was released from the hospital later that afternoon with a mild concussion. Unfortunately Acree was admitted with a compound fracture of the left Tibia and Fibula just above the ankle. Acree had surgery to insert plates and screws at the hands of Dr. Roger Klein. Acree is expected to be out for around four months. Ben Thompson is scheduled to be back in action on the Millennium/KWS Suzuki GSX-R1000 at Miller Motorsports Park in two weeks. Lee Acree “We were having such a good weekend up until the point of the crash. The Millennium/KWS Suzuki GSX-R1000 is one of the best bikes I have ever ridden. Michael Godin and Chip Spalding did such a great job of setting the bike up and the Dunlop tires are simply amazing. I want to thank everybody at Millennium/KWS Suzuki for giving me this opportunity and the entire motorcycle racing community for all of their thoughts, prayers, and concerns.” Kevin Hunt (Team Owner) “We are very fortunate that Lee and Jason where not hurt any worse. That crash was one of the worst I have ever seen. I really want to thank Lee for coming out and doing such a great job and I am very sorry this happened. It was just one of those freak racing incidents that was truly nobody’s fault. We are having a rough couple of races with injuries and I want to thank all the sponsors for helping us out, especially LeoVince Exhaust, Suzuki and Millennium Technologies.” GET WELL SOON LEE!!!!!!!!!!!! More, from a press release issued by Corona Extra Honda: DOMINATION! CORONA EXTRA HONDA’S HOLDEN TAKES EVERYTHING AT INFINEON SUPERSTOCK RACE Jake Holden continued his SuperStock charge with a dominating performance at Infineon Raceway, taking his Corona Extra Honda CBR1000RR to pole position with a new lap record, leading most race laps and finally victory in the SuperStock race. Teammate Matt Lynn took a well deserved, and best finish to date, eighth place in the first SuperBike race but was taken out in the second by another rider finishing his chances of an even better placing. In blistering and unseasonable heat, SuperBike qualifying saw Matt having to settle for eleventh on the grid, with set-up gremlins holding him back. The crew ended up making a number of changes before the race in order to get the bike somewhat to Matt’s liking. At the drop of the flag Lynn quickly worked up a position by the end of the first lap and then started a race-long battle with Geoff May which moved them both up a position during their charge and which eventually Matt got the better of for a fine eighth at the checkered flag. The crew made some more changes to the bike before the second race and this seemed to fix some of the problems that had slowed him down in the first race. His lap times in the race immediately showed improvement and had him well in touch with the factory bikes of Desalvo, Du Hamel and Hodgson. Lynn closed the gap on the three and by lap fourteen was challenging for position and making his move to pass Desalvo when Jason went down trying to avoid a lapped rider. The Yamaha took out Matt’s front wheel and ended his race! A very dejected Lynn said: “I was going really well and had caught Jason, Miguel and Neal and knew I could get by them. We were passing a lapper who moved over and it looked like hit Jason. He went down and his bike took out my front wheel!” The finish has Lynn tenth in the SuperBike championship. The SuperStock race confirmed Jake Holden and his Honda CBR1000RR’s rise to dominance of this historically “Suzuki-Only class”. From the get-go of qualifying he was not going to be bested, posting a new lap record and pole position, nearly a second ahead of the second place qualifier! His time would have put him sixth in the SuperBike grid. Come the race, Jake settled for second after the start and stalked Yates for five laps before making his move to the front. He stayed at the head of the field for the rest of the race which was unfortunately red flagged two laps from the finish owing to a crash back in the field. After the race Jake said: “I got past Aaron and put my head down but could hear him all through the race so knew he would try a move near the end. I was getting ready to hold him off when out came the red flag!” Jake is second in the championship points. More, from a press release issued by Safety First Suzuki: Safety First Suzuki Bobby Fong Shows Impressive Speed at Infineon Safety First Suzuki headed to Infineon with just Bobby Fong while his teammate Gabor Rizmayer was off racing in wet conditions in Germany. The weekend started out well with Fong sitting 8th in Friday’s Supersport practice and 10th in Saturday practice. During qualifying, Fong got to try his first Pirelli qualifying tire and qualified on the third row in 12th position on his Suzuki GSXR600. Team owner, Kevin Hanson, commented on the weekend stating “I think we made great strides this weekend. At Fontana, Bobby could do the times of the factory guys with a tow. This weekend he did the times all by himself without any help. I’m really proud of how much he has matured as a person and a racer in the course of a year and how hard he worked in the off-season. For him to be just 17 years old and running with factory bikes and being in front of some well paid riders shows how much Bobby and our team is progressing. It’s unfortunate he crashed out of the race in 8th place because I think he would have had a great finish. I also want to thank Alan from Sportbike Dynamics this weekend for coming on as a local sponsor for the Infineon round. All of the guys worked hard this weekend and it’s great to see us getting better every weekend. I think we are starting to make some people nervous,” laughed Hanson. Bobby Fong gave his perspective on the weekend. “I thought the weekend went well up until the crash. We had a little shifter problem that we fixed from Fontana early in the weekend and I was up to speed quickly. The big thing I learned this weekend was to make sure I just stay relaxed when I ride. The harder I try and push, the slower I end up going during the weekend. It was pretty cool getting my first “Q” in qualifying even though I only got one. I kind of wasted it though because I tried too hard and overcharged the corners with it. I felt really good going into the race after we made a little spring change on our Penske shock during the Sunday morning practice. I felt I could do mid 38’s in the race without a problem. I got a good start in the race and it took Hayes awhile to get around me. I wasn’t pushing hard and was just kind of hanging out behind him and then hit a false neutral going into turn five. When it went back into gear, the back end came around on me. I almost had it saved and then got highsided off. Thankfully, my RS Taichi leathers and Puma boots did a good job of protecting me. I whacked my head pretty good and bit my lip, but my Bell helmet did its job well. I’m just bummed that we didn’t get the finish that we wanted for the weekend,” commented Fong. The team heads to Utah for the next round in the AMA Superbike championship at Miller Motorsports Park. Safety First Racing was formed in 2004 by police officer/racer, Kevin Hanson, based out of Chicago, IL. For 2008, Safety First Suzuki will be competing in the Supersport class in the AMA Superbike series Checkoutt www.SAFETYFIRSTRACING.com to see the latest line of apparel and performance products from Safety First Racing. Kevin Hanson continues to give away Bell bicycle helmets to elementary school children nationwide and educate children about the importance of helmet usage. More, from a press release issued by Brian Stokes: RYAN ELLEBY 8TH IN SUPERSTOCK 10TH & 12TH IN SUPERBIKE Privateer rider Ryan Elleby finished 8th in the National Superstock round at Infinion Raceway this weekend on his Foot & Ankle Specialist Suzuki 1000, taking him into the top 10 in the Championship points. He then went on to finish tenth and twelfth, consecutively, in the AMA Superbike Championship round. He was the top Pirelli rider in the Superbike races on Saturday and Sunday. A great weekend for the privateer team run by Brian Stokes and Ryan’s father, Dr. Doug Elleby. The team them moves on to the 5th round at Miller Motorsports Park in two weeks, coinciding with the World Superbike Round. More, from a press release issued by Rockwall Honda: ROCKWALL HONDA’S AARON GOBERT FINDS MORE SPEED AT INFINEON RACEWAY Rockwall Honda’s Aaron Gobert earned ninth place in Supersport and fifteenth in Formula Xtreme at Infineon Raceway at the track just north of San Francisco, CA, last weekend. The young team continues to show progress in the 2008 season. Gobert’s Formula Extreme race on Saturday saw a better result disappear when Gobert clipped his shift lever of his Honda CBR600RR on a curb. “The Formula Xtreme race was going good for us until the end. We were looking at sixth to equal our best result of the year, maybe even challenge for fifth if things would have gone our way at the end of the race,” said the Australian. “Unfortunately, the shift lever snapped off on a curb. I pulled in the pits but it was the white flag lap. I went right back out and ended up finishing fifteenth. Perhaps I should have stayed out and maybe gotten a little better result, but it was a solid race for us until the problem. The Dunlop tires worked well. The boys on the team are working hard and we’re getting the faster every weekend.” In Supersport, The former AMA Superstock champion earned a top ten result in the hyper-competitive class after bettering some quality racers on Sunday. “We raced with Chaz Davies most of the time and finished in front of him and Michael Barnes. We saw some good improvement this time out and qualified on the second row. In the race, I enjoyed dicing with some guys I regard as high quality racers to finish in the top ten. It was one of the best Supersport races in the history of the team. We’re not satisfied, but we are seeing the improvements we are working towards. Every time we put in a new engine in one of our bikes, we have more power. I am riding hard and we definitely see improvement.” Crewchief Gary Medley said, “We are headed in the right direction. Aaron is riding hard and we’re doing our best to give him what he needs. The mechanics are upping their game and that’s something we saw here at Infineon. We’re still a ‘work in progress’ but it’s nice to see us gaining more speed each race. Matt Worbes and I are going up to his shop in Oregon to work on some engines for Miller and Road America, which are both high-speed tracks. We’re looking for more in the next few races.” Gobert said the next round should be a good one. He won the Formula Xtreme race there last season in a torrid battle with then-teammate Josh Hayes. “I love Miller and have gone well there in the past. Our trap speeds weren’t that far off at Daytona and we think it will suit us. The goal is to qualify on the front row and find a way to jump up to the next pack of racers.” The Miller Motorsports Park round is May 29-June 1.