Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing Dominates Second Barber Superbike Race Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Mladin, Spies & Hayden sweep the podium Round 3 AMA Superbike Series Birmingham, Alabama Barber Motorsports Park April 18 – 20, 2008 Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing swept the AMA Superbike podium in the second of two AMA Superbike races at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, on Sunday afternoon. A large crowd turned out to see six-time AMA Superbike Champion follow up Saturday’s win with a victory on Sunday. This win is Mladin’s third win of the season, his seventh win at Barber and his 66th career AMA Superbike victory. Defending AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies charged hard on his Suzuki GSX-R1000 but was unable to catch his teammate. Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden also put in an impressive ride and picked up his second podium of the year and of the weekend by finishing behind Spies. Mat Mladin: “Today was a great day for me and my guys, and it was a great day for the Rockstar Makita Suzuki team. For me, it was a pretty good race. I just tried to put in a good, solid ride and be consistent. Our goal all along was to come out and win as many races as possible. We’ve gone three for three, we’ve gotten both pole positions and led the most laps so I reckon that’s not too bad. Hopefully, we can do it again next weekend at Fontana.” Ben Spies: “We got a not-so-good start and then I made my way into second place but I just couldn’t keep Mat’s pace. But we’re going to some tracks that I like and we’re going to keep giving it all we’ve got. He’s riding really good right now and we’re chasing him so we’ve got to step it up. I have to thank my guys for building me a new Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 last night after I crashed yesterday. Now we’re focusing on Fontana next weekend and we know what we need to do. We just need to go faster.” Tommy Hayden: “Rockstar Makita Suzuki one, two, three that’s the way it should be and I’m just glad to do my part to make that happen. It feels good to be up on the podium twice this weekend and thanks to my team for everything. We did a lot of work this winter and we’ve come a long way. I’m definitely happy with today’s race, even happier than yesterday. I felt like I got a bit of a gift yesterday with Ben crashing. Today, I really had to earn this one. I just tried to keep my head down. It was a hard race but it feels good to start off the season with two podiums. My goal was to get more podiums right out of the gate and hopefully I’ll keep on seeing these guys a little more often.” AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers: 1. Mat Mladin, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing 2. Ben Spies, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing 3. Tommy Hayden, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing 4. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha 5. Neil Hodgson, Honda 6. Eric Bostrom, Yamaha 7. Aaron Yates, Jordan Suzuki 8. Miguel Duhamel, Honda 9. Matt Lynn, Honda 10. Geoff May, Jordan Suzuki AMA Superbike Points Standings: 1. Mat Mladin, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing 2. Jason Disalvo, Yamaha 3. Tommy Hayden, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing 4. Ben Spies, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing 5. Neil Hodgson, Honda 6. Miguel Duhamel, Honda 7. Geoff May, Jordan Suzuki 8. Jamie Hacking, Kawasaki 9. Aaron Yates, Jordan Suzuki 10. Chris Peris, Suzuki More, from a press release issued by Roadracingworld.com Suzuki: ULRICH THIRD IN BARBER SUPERSTOCK Chris Ulrich earned the first-ever AMA podium finish for Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki on Sunday afternoon at Barber Motorsports Park, claiming a spectacular third-place result in the Superstock final with a charge to the podium. Starting from the second row after qualifying seventh (1:27.769) on Saturday, the Californian found himself in seventh position following the first of 17 laps. He bettered his position to fifth place on lap 2 and quickly stretched out a gap behind him. What looked to be shaping up to a lonely ride for a fine top-five result became considerably more nerve-racking when first Blake Young, and later Geoff May, crashed out of contention in front of him and Chris found himself in third on lap 13. Ulrich brought his Pirelli-shod GSX-R1000 home safely, claiming his first top three of the 1000cc Superstock era. He was a race-winner in the previous version of the class, AMA 750 Supersport. Venezuelan Robertino Pietri nearly added to the team’s joy, working his way up from tenth after qualifying on the third row (9th — 1:27.940) into an intense four-rider duel for fourth. Unfortunately, Pietri crashed out of seventh on the race’s final lap and was ultimately credited with 19th. Colombian Santiago Villa fought up from 29th to 21st in the race after qualifying 22nd (1:31.119). After standing on the podium to receive his trophy, Ulrich said, “Well for sure I didn’t really expect to be up here 100%. My start was good and I was sitting in fifth and trying to run Blake down. He was just pushing too hard and he tucked the front. Then I was trying to hang on to Geoff and he was just edging away and I needed to think about my tires. I just decided to take fourth and then I came over the hill and saw him on the ground and I couldn’t believe it. “After that I saw ‘+10′ on my board and, man, I just made sure I didn’t crash. It’s been a long road to get back on the podium. It’s very difficult and a few of these guys are very, very fast and they’re on good equipment. To get out of Barber with a podium at what I would say is Pirelli’s toughest track on the entire tour is fantastic. “I can’t thank my crew and my team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki and Pirelli enough. We kind of gambled on a race tire and we’ve got a new tire technician who knows what he’s going. I’m just looking forward to a long hard season and a lot of fun racing, that’s it.” Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will be back in action next weekend at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA for the third round of the AMA Superstock Champion on April 25-27. More, from a press release issued by American Suzuki: Jordan Suzuki’s Yates Wins Barber Superstock Race Roadracingworld.com Suzuki’s Ulrich rounds out the podium Round 2 AMA Superstock Series Birmingham, Alabama Barber Motorsports Park April 18 – 20, 2008 Michael Jordan Motor Sports Suzuki’s Aaron Yates celebrated his 15th career AMA Superstock victory by winning Sunday afternoon’s 17-lap AMA Superstock race at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. This is also Yates’ third consecutive AMA Superstock win at the scenic Barber facility. Yates was joined on the podium by Roadracingworld.com Suzuki’s Chris Ulrich. Ulrich came into the Barber race with a fourth-place finish at the season-opening round at Daytona International Speedway. These results put Yates and Ulrich in first- and second-place overall, respectively, in the AMA Superstock championship points chase. Aaron Yates: “I really enjoy the Barber race track a lot. You’re always doing something going uphill, going downhill, jumping over a curb. You’re always turning and the track flows really nicely. The Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000 handles that excellently.” Chris Ulrich: “For sure, I didn’t expect to be on the podium. I got a pretty good start on my Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R1000 and then some guys crashed in front of me. I was trying to hang on to fourth place and I came over the hill and saw another rider down. At that point, I just tried my best not to crash. To get out of Barber with a podium is fantastic. I cant’ thank my Roadracingworld.com Suzuki team enough. I’m racing against some really fast guys and I’m looking forward to a long, hard season.” AMA Superstock Top 10 Finishers: 1. Aaron Yates, Jordan Suzuki 2. Jake Holden, Honda 3. Chris Ulrich, Roadracingworld.com Suzuki 4. Jordan Szoke, Kawasaki 5. Ben Thompson, Suzuki 6. Brett McCormick, Kawasaki 7. Geoff May, Jordan Suzuki 8. Francis Martin, Suzuki 9. Scott Jensen, Suzuki 10. Randall Kienast, Suzuki More, from a press release issued by M4 EMGO Suzuki: BLAKE YOUNG FOURTH IN ALABAMA SUPERSPORT Team M4 EMGO Suzuki rounded out a terrific weekend at Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday by placing all three of the team’s riders in the Supersport top ten. Blake Young led the way, scoring his second top-five result of the season in the hotly contested class. Opening his race from the front row after qualifying third for the 17-lapper aboard his Pirelli-shod GSX-R600, Young got a strong start and ran in second position for the race’s first two laps. As the race settled in, the Wisconsin native found himself battling with Steve Rapp for fourth position. Young set his opponent up for a final lap pass and timed his maneuver perfectly, edging ahead for fourth by just 0.013 seconds at the checkered flag. Colombian Martin Cardenas won his own battle with Josh Hayes, moving ahead of the two-time Formula Xtreme champion on lap 14 to claim the sixth position. The team’s third rider, Cory West, also enjoyed a solid outing in the Supersport race, crossing the stripe in ninth, less than a tenth of a second off of eighth. Young didn’t fare as well in the Superstock race. Coming off his impressive runner-up finish at Daytona, he once again displayed his front-running speed, qualifying third and leading the opening lap. However, he crashed out of fourth while working lap 6. He remounted and returned to the pits where his crew repaired his GSX-R1000. He reentered the race and put in a few more laps before ultimately retiring from the race. At the end of the weekend, Young said, “I was actually pretty happy with the 600. We got off to a good start and I was running second there for a little bit. I ended up getting in my comfort zone and couldn’t quite keep pace with the guys battling for the win. I was riding with Rapp a lot of the race. I was just conserving my tires and trying to see where I could get by him to make a move on the last lap and it ended up paying off at the end. “I got him right at the start finish line. It couldn’t have been more than a hundredth between us. Going into the last turn I just did the high-low thing. I got right on his rear wheel and came out of his draft and we were able to get by him. Explaining his spill in the Supersport contest, Blake said, “I got into the roller coaster turn and just got some momentum going over the curb and the bike started pogo-ing as I was tipping it in. I just carried a little too much corner speed there. If I would have just done things a little bit different $B!D (B coulda, shoulda, woulda. It happened and we came back in and the guys fixed the bike and we got back out and circulated a bit and did what we could. “Next weekend is a whole new weekend and I can’t wait. I’m looking forward to it after this weekend on the 1000. I’m looking to going good there and redeeming myself. More, from a press release issued by Honda: Results Round 2 AMA Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham. Temperature: 21 degrees Climate: Windy, sunny. Crowd: 28,000 Learning Weekend for Honda in Alabama American Honda’s Neil Hodgson and Miguel Duhamel gained valuable experience during the weekend’s Superbike races at Barber Motorsports Park that they plan to put to good use when they return to California for the team’s home race next weekend. Hodgson threatened to take his first podium of the season in Sunday’s third round of the AMA Superbike Championship, held on a sunny day in front of 28,000 fans. The former World Superbike Champion was chasing the fourth placed rider when he made a pair of costly mistakes while braking hard for a downhill left hand hairpin. On successive laps, and in the same corner, the penalty was one placing. But two laps from the finish he fought back to regain one of the spots and finish fifth. He’d also finished fifth in Saturday’s Superbike race, in which he was hampered by a bad start. Duhamel finished just behind Hodgson in Saturday’s 28-lap race. Sunday he had less success. In an effort to gain positions, the team tried a different set-up for the scenic and undulating 2.38-mile track. Unfortunately, the new set-up wasn’t effective and Duhamel struggled to keep pace with the riders just ahead. He finished eighth. The teams now get little rest. Next weekend the series moves to California Speedway in Fontana, just northwest of American Honda’s headquarters in Torrance, California, for the fourth and fifth rounds of the championship. Neil Hodgson, 5th, 5th “Saturday, everything was about the start really. I got it all wrong. I had a bad first two corners and the race were over really. I had a similar race Sunday, but I didn’t get the bad start. Similar lap times and stayed consistent. You know, I feel like we weren’t that far off the podium today. I was fourth for a while. I made a couple of mistakes and then got, not flustered, but then started trying a little bit too hard and then lost my rhythm. We know where we need to improve the bike, I know where I need to improve myself. And I think I’m pretty confident we can turn up at Fontana (California Speedway) next weekend and be either on it or close to the box. At this stage, that’s pretty much all we can do. What we need most is, I think, we have to try to eliminate some chatter. The problem is mid-race to the end, the chatter’s not allowing us to actually throw the bike into the corners; you’ve got to roll into the corners. It’s really hard; once you lose a bit of grip it starts chattering. You then almost got to sit back and change your riding style. And it almost looks like you’ve given up, but you’ve not, but you’ve got to be extremely aggressive with it and it’ll hop and you’ll miss the apex. So you have to ride slightly different, which is very frustrating. But we’ve got some rough ideas about how to fix that. ” Miguel Duhamel, 6th, 8th: “Today was not quite as good as Saturday. Today I got a decent start, not as good as yesterday, but that wasn’t the big problem. We tried to make the bike better but we made it not quite as good as yesterday. But it was still good enough to race up there and Aaron (Yates) and I were having a great battle out there; unfortunately it was for seventh. I was hoping to stay in touch with those guys, but I wasn’t able to pull it off. We take what we learn from here and go to Fontana (California Speedway) and try to do better. ” American Honda Road Race Manager Ron Heben: “We didn’t have so bad of a weekend. Obviously, we challenge ourselves when we qualify so poorly. Qualifying seventh and 11th is going to make your job really tough for Neil and Miguel to get up there on the podium and that’s really where we want to be. We’re going to get there. We’ve just got to keep working at it. There were a couple of bright spots this weekend, but certainly we’re not satisfied with what we’ve got. The new bike continues to show improvement and hopefully Fontana (California Speedway) we can take another step forward and get our guys on the front row and put the new Honda on the box. ” Saturday Superbike: 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 2. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha) 3. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) 4. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) 5. Neil Hodgson (Honda) 6. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 7. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 8. Geoff May (Suzuki) 9. Chris Peris (Suzuki) 10. Jordan Szoke (Kawasaki) Sunday Superbike: 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 2. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 3. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) 4. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha) 5. Neil Hodgson (Honda) 6. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 7. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 8. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 9. Matt Lynn (Honda) 10. Geoff May (Suzuki) Championship Standings: 1. Mat Mladin (113) 2. Jason DiSalvo (88) 3. Tommy Hayden (85) 4. Ben Spies (84) 5. Neil Hodgson (76) 6. Miguel Duhamel (67) 7. Geoff May (65) 8. Jamie Hacking (63) 9. Aaron Yates/Chris Peris (600 More, from a press release issued by Pirelli: Ulrich Rides Pirelli to Superstock Podium Rome, Georgia: The AMA Superstock final on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park had Chris Ulrich back on the podium for the first time since Superstock went to 1000cc, on his Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R1000, using Pirelli Superbike Slicks. This to-date culmination of Ulrich’s climb back to the top of the class is no surprise to those watching his consistent advance throughout 2007. While times have been dropping for nearly all riders, none can compare to Ulrich’s diminishing lap times over the last 16 months. This finish puts Ulrich at second in Superstock points. The 2007 — and multi-time — Parts Canada Superbike champion, Jordan Szoke, showed up for a little pre-season track time and kicked at the AMA Superstock podium steps with his fourth-place finish, some ten seconds from Ulrich. Fellow Canadian Brett McCormick took sixth while Francis Martin, another multi-time champion in the Canadian series, finished eighth, with Scott Jensen earning ninth, rounding it out at five Pirelli riders in Superstock’s top ten results at Barber. Blake Young, who had qualified on the front row, fell in the race and at its conclusion was credited with 31st. The race was won by Aaron Yates. Sunday’s Supersport race came to a close with Pirelli riders placing fourth through sixth, with Blake Young leading the way for the M4 EMGO Suzuki team. In fifth was Steve Rapp on an Attack Kawasaki followed by Young’s teammate Martin Cardenas. Also finishing in the top ten were Cory West in ninth and Chaz Davies in tenth, respectively riding for M4 EMGO Suzuki and Attack Kawasaki and all using Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa DOT racing tires. Young is now third in Supersport points with Rapp, Cardenas and Davies recorded as fifth through seventh. After two rounds of the 2008 AMA Superbike series Pirelli has earned seven podiums, exceeding its to-date number from its record-setting 2007 season. More, from a press release issued by Build Momentum: LeoVince Foremost Insurance Ducati Team Finish 4th in AMA Formula Xtreme Class at Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, AL (April 21, 2008) – In the second race of the season at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, Larry Pegram, of the LeoVince Foremost Insurance Ducati Team finished 4th overall. Pegram started the race on the second row after qualifying in sixth with a lap time of 1:27.337. After lap one, Pegram was in seventh place, but by lap two he was in fifth and fighting for fourth. Pegram stayed in fifth place until lap nine when the rider in second place (Josh Hayes) crashed moving Pegram up one position to fourth overall. Pegram’s practice times for the weekend were 1:28.566 on Friday and 1:28.210 on Saturday. Last year at Barber Motorsports Park, Pegram finished 6th overall. He was running in 4th when an improperly installed face shield blew off his helmet, forcing him to finish the race at a significant disadvantage. “We shaved 1.6 seconds off our qualifying time from last year, but it wasn’t enough. The Formula Xtreme class is much faster than last year. The new Ducati 848 is an amazing bike, we just need to spend more time working on the setup and dialing the bike in for me. Each race we learn more about the bike and its handling capabilities. I am looking forward to the Fontana race next week,” commented Larry. Pegram spent time signing autographs at Ducati Island and the Foremost Insurance booth. Many Ducatisti showed up to meet Larry and express their support for him and the team. The next race for the LeoVince Foremost Insurance Ducati Team will be April 26, 2008 at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. More, from a press release issued by Millennium/KWS Suzuki: Millennium/KWS Suzuki Scores a Top Five Finish at Barber Motorsports Park Leeds, AL April 2008 — Millennium/KWS Suzuki sponsored by Suzuki of Orangeburg had an excellent weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. This was the teams first outing on their new 2008 Suzuki GSX-R1000’s and despite some initial set up issues the team was able to pull everything together for their first top five finish of the year. In order to maximize track time the team used Superbike qualifying for practice and set up. Despite making several changes to the chassis through out the session, Thompson was able qualify with a time of 1:27.953 for the sixteenth position. Using the info developed in Superbike Qualifying the team was able to apply those setting to the Superstock bike and Thompson was able to use the incredible grip of the newest generation of Dunlop N-Tec tires to qualify fifth with a time of 1:27.027. This put Thompson on the inside of the second row. Racing is filled with many variables, most of which you cannot control. In Superbike Race One Ben Thompson found one of those variables. Thompson got a great start, unfortunately Ben drug the shift lever through turn five on the first lap and snapped it off, necessitating a pit stop. The team made the repair in a hurry, but Thompson was still a lap down. Thompson rode around for the remaining laps with ESP’s Chris Paris who finished in the ninth position; this gave the team confidence for Superbike Race Two. The Superstock race is the focus of the weekend. Thompson got a great start and was racing in sixth position on first lap. In turn two of the second lap Thompson lost traction and crashed for over 40 feet, wearing a hole in his elbow and running over his own right foot. Some how, some way Thompson was able to save it and only lose four positions. For the next fifteen laps Thompson battled with a group of four riders. Thompson eventually passed all the riders in his group, which led to a last lap battle with reigning Canadian Superbike Champion Jordan Szoke. Thompson finished in the fifth position on his LeoVince equipped GSX-R and is now fifth in Superstock points, ten points back from second position. Third place finisher Chris Ulrich on the Roadracingworld.com Suzuki was behind Thompson in turn two when he almost crashed. “That was the craziest save I have ever seen” said Ulrich. “I thought for sure Ben was down, his whole body was on the ground. I was blown away when I saw his number was still on the board a few laps later.” One hour after Ben’s fifth place Superstock finish and grinding a hole in his elbow, Thompson mounted the Millennium Technologies Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike for Superbike Race Two. The team made a few adjustments based on what they learned in the Superstock race and Thompson got off to a good start but developed front suspension chatter as the track temperatures increased. This made the bike very difficult to ride and Thompson did a great job maintaining a consistent pace and finishing in the thirteenth position. After three races Thompson is currently fourteenth in Superbike points, fifteen points back from the ninth position. Ben Thompson “The weekend started off pretty tough and we didn’t get a lot of track time, but the Michael, Chip, Dustin, and Greg worked really hard and stayed up all night to get all the bugs worked out of the new bikes. I can’t thank those guys enough for all their hard work. In the end we got some pretty good results. We had a lot of little issues that were out of our control and I think with a little luck we will be on the podium soon. I really want to thank all the sponsors for their support especially K&N Filters, Fieldsheer, and Bell Helmets.” Kevin Hunt (Team Owner) “This is the first time we have ever been disappointed with a top five finish. Ben rode great, the team worked hard, and with a little luck we would have been on the podium. The good news is, it’s early in the season and we are off to a great start. The guys are on their way out California and we will go at it again next week. I want to thank all the sponsors for all their support. We have some of the best sponsors in the series and they have stepped up big time to help us get the season started and I am very excited to be able to give them some good results right from the beginning.” More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Attack Kawasaki’s Rapp Finishes With Another Top-Five in Birmingham Birmingham, Ala. Attack Kawasaki’s Steve Rapp rode to a top-five finish during the AMA Supersport race at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala, while teammate Chaz Davies rounded out the top-10. In the second AMA Superbike race of the weekend, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking experienced a problem and finished in 21st. Rapp Again In Top Five Rapp earned his second top-five result of the weekend with his solid finish in the AMA Supersport. He got a decent start and kept up with the pack to finish fifth. “The bike was running great and I am definitely happy to walk out of this round with two top-five finishes,” said Rapp. “It could have been worse and I’m excited to go to Fontana next weekend. We can keep up the energy and come out with some better finishes.” Start to Finish Davies started 10th on the grid and held that position from the rest of the race. “My race didn’t exactly go how I had wanted,” said Davies. “I was hurting for grip most of the race and could never really get a push. The bike felt really good and I am really looking forward to the race next weekend in Fontana. We had some really good tests there and I know we can pick up the momentum.” Beautiful Day The fans packed Barber Motorsports Park for a great weekend of racing. Kawasaki fans were treated to an autograph signing on Sunday, with the line for Jamie Hacking going all the way down the stretch of the tent and beyond. Jamie Hacking Hacking started the second AMA Superbike race in his qualifying position in seventh and maintained that position for much of the race. Halfway through the race, his on board dash showed “low battery power” and eventually pulled off to the track. He finished 21st. “The bike was showing me low power and I was doing the best I could,” said Hacking. “Obviously this race didn’t go as we had hoped, but Fontana has been good to us. I really think we can come out with a good result.” Keeping the Tuck One of the Davies’ best racing forms is his tuck. With as tall as he is, about six foot, he is able to pull in his body to create the best possible aerodynamics on the straight-aways. AMA Superbike Series Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, Ala. April 20, 2008 AMA Supersport Results 1. Josh Herrin, Dublin, Ga., Yamaha 2. Ben D. Bostrom, Malibu, Calif., Yamaha 3. Jake P. Zemke, Paso Robles, Calif., Honda 4. Blake R. Young, Waunakee, Wisc., Suzuki 5. STEVE RAPP, MANHATTAN BEACH, CALIF., ATTACK KAWASAKI 6. Martin Cardenas, Medellin, Columbia, Suzuki 7. Josh Hayes, Gulfport, Miss., Honda 8. Danny C. Eslick, Broken Arrow, Okla., Suzuki 9. Cory West, Eureka Springs, Ark., Suzuki 10. CHAZ DAVIES, KNIGHTON, UK, ATTACK KAWASAKI AMA Supersport Class Points Standings 1. Ben Bostrom, Malibu, Calif., Yamaha, 71 2. Josh Herrin, Dublin, Ga., Yamaha, 69 3. Blake Young, Waunakee, Wisc., Suzuki, 53 4. Jake Zemke, Paso Robles, Calif., Honda, 52 5. STEVE RAPP, MANHATTAN BEACH, CALIF., ATTACK KAWASAKI, 50 6. Martin Cardenas, Medellin, Columbia, Suzuki, 50 7. CHAZ DAVIES, KNIGHTON, UK, ATTACK KAWASAKI, 48 8. Danny Eslick, Broken Arrow, Okla., Suzuki, 44 9. Tommy Hayden, Owensboro, Ky., Suzuki, 42 10. Bobby Fong, Stockton, Calif., Suzuki, 39 14. ROGER HAYDEN, OWENSBORO, KY., MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI, 29 AMA Superbike Class 1. Matthew Mladin, Henderson, Nev., Suzuki 2. Ben Spies, Longview, Texas, Suzuki 3. Tommy Hayden, Owensboro, Ky., Suzuki 4. Jason Disalvo, Stafford, N.Y., Yamaha 5. Neil Hodgson, Isle of Man, UK, Honda 6. Eric Bostrom, Malibu, Calif., Yamaha 7. Aaron Yates, Milledgeville, Ga., Suzuki 8. Miguel Duhamel, Las Vegas, Nev., Honda 9. Matt Lynn, Ball Ground, Ga., Honda 10. Geoff May, Gainesville, Ga., Suzuki 21. JAMIE HACKING, DENVER, N.C., MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI AMA Superbike Points Standings 1. Matthew Mladin, Henderson, Nev., Suzuki, 113 2. Jason Disalvo, Stafford, N.Y., Yamaha, 88 3. Tommy Hayden, Owensboro, Ky., Suzuki, 85 4. Ben Spies, Longview, Texas, Suzuki, 84 5. Neil Hodgson, Isle of Man, UK, Honda, 76 6. Miguel Duhamel, Las Vegas, Nev., Honda, 67 7. Geoff May, Gainesville, Ga., Suzuki, 65 8. JAMIE HACKING, DENVER, N.C., MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI, 63 9. Aaron Yates, Milledgeville, Ga., Suzuki, 60 10. Chris Peris, Calgary, Canada, Suzuki, 60 21. ROGER HAYDEN, OWENSBORO, KY., MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI, 23 More, from a press release issued by Liberty Motorsports: Kelsey and Liberty Motorsports struggle through the Barber AMA Supersport race Liberty Motorsports Park Sponsored Danny Kelsey finished 27th in the AMA 600 Supersport race held April 20th at Barber Motorsports Park. This was Kelsey’s first ever trip to Barber and his first professional race. The team felt confident going into the weekend that a top 25 finish was reasonable to expect and a top 20 finish may even be possible. With Kelsey quickly learning the track on his trusty GSXR-600, Friday morning practice placed him 32nd among his 50 competitors. The team talked with the Georgetown, Texas rider and made some changes that should have helped him deal with some of the problems he was having in some of the transition areas. Saturday warm up showed that changes probably helped as he posted the 25th quickest time after Friday evening thunderstorms provided track conditions that may not have been conducive to finding out the effectiveness of the changes. It was hard to gauge as his times were slower, but again he did move up the standings in terms of the timed speed of his peers. Qualifying on Saturday showed that the changes were the wrong way as the warm and dry track made the GSXR-600 a handful for the young Texas rider. On lap 14 of the qualifying session, the ill-handling Suzuki tucked the front in the Turn 12/13 area and the result was a heavily damaged race bike. The crew worked until late Saturday night to repair the bike, but ominous issues looked to be on the Horizon as it was discovered both wheels were bent and this lead to a check of the chassis. It appeared the triple clamps where twisted about 2 mm. With no spare clamps, the team used Sunday morning to verify if the machine would even be safe to race. Sunday warm-up showed the chassis to be mostly alright with a tendency for the front to tuck on right hand turns. Kelsey made the grid and soldiered on to a credible 27th place finish on his #344 Suzuki GSXR-600. Danny Kelsey will compete in the Atlanta and Mid-Ohio rounds this season. The team was proud of the grit and determination the young Texas rider showed and will work to raise the level of support for him.