BARNES EARNS PODIUM IN 2007 DAYTONA 200 Team M4 EMGO Suzuki enjoyed an outstanding conclusion to the 2007 season-opening AMA weekend at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday. Following up on Geoff May’s Thursday third-place ride in the AMA Superstock race, Michael Barnes finished on the podium in the 66th running of the Daytona 200 while May picked up a top-five in the AMA Superbike final. Barnes got a terrific start from the second row in the famed 68-lap contest, leading the opening lap before settling into a heated battle with the lead group as they worked towards the first pitstop. After working through both pit stops without a hitch, Barnes and his Pirelli-shod GSX-R600 proved their durability by taking the checkered flag in third place. It was ‘Barney’s’ best Daytona 200 performance in ten attempts. “I’m pretty stoked,” Barnes remarked. “We’ve been working hard and the FX class is getting really competitive. To podium in the Daytona 200 is quite a thrill. “I’ve been on the Daytona podium a few times before in a few different classes, but this is the first time in the FX class and in the 200. It’s just a blast to be up here and the M4 EMGO Suzuki team is great. Pirelli tires have shown their commitment and their hard work. I’ve been with them for about seven years now and it’s exciting to see their progress. It’s fantastic to see them sweep the podium here at Daytona.” Barnes summed his feelings up, commenting, “It was just meant to be. I was supposed to be up here this weekend. This is for Vincent Haskovec.” Having already raced in both of his regular classes earlier in the week, May was free to compete in the premier AMA Superbike class aboard his Superstock-spec GSX-R1000. Just as he had done all week long, May got the better of a number of the categories’ factory stars, pushing to a fifth place finish in the 15-lap race. “I’m happy with that,” the Georgian said. “I just wanted to go out there and show what Team M4 EMGO Suzuki and Pirelli could do and just go have some fun. My race weekend was over on Thursday and I got to hang out and watch some Supercross last night. For me there was no pressure. I rode my own race and ended up top five. It was a good day.” The second round of the 2007 AMA roadracing championships will take place at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL on April 20-22. More, from a press release issued by Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki: ULRICH HAS ‘BEST DAYTONA EVER’ IN 2007 Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki opened the 2007 AMA Superstock season with a tremendous result this week at Daytona International Speedway. Chris Ulrich was fast from the opening practice and went on to secure his best-ever AMA race results at the famed circuit in Thursday’s race. After qualifying on the second row for the 13-lap final, posting the seventh fastest time of the session at 1:42.117, Ulrich figured to get away with the leaders early aboard his 2007 Pirelli-shod GSX-R1000. An early race incident forced Chris offline, however, yet he quickly recovered and put his head down to ultimately take the checkered flag in sixth position, an outstanding result to kick off the new season. The satisfied Ulrich said, “This is the best Daytona I’ve ever been to. I’ve been coming here racing AMA since 1998. 2007 is the best year I’ve ever had. It was just a very good weekend — a confidence building weekend. “We made a lot of changes to the bike and it was just good. I’m riding hard and I’ve got some new crew guys. Everyone is working really hard and the bike has changed so much set-up wise.” Ulrich is confident the Daytona round is a sign of things to come. “I’m looking forward to a really strong season. We started out right. We should have finished fifth but we had a small vibration coming through the rear. It didn’t work out but I’ve got great faith in Pirelli and my Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki crew guys. We’re going to put this thing on the box sometime this year.” The only negative for the squad this week was the absence of second rider Robertino Pietri. The reigning Venezuelan and Latin American Superbike Champion unexpectedly encountered difficulty obtaining his visa, preventing him from racing in the AMA season opener at Daytona, the scene of last season’s seventh-place run. “It’s a bummer that ‘Tino wasn’t here,” Ulrich remarked. “Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki does everything by the book. We do it as the law says. We ran into some problems getting his visa and getting him over here. What can you do? We’re going to do everything correctly to make sure our guy is here for the long run. “We missed Robertino. I think he could have had a strong finish. He did quite well here last year. This is his track and he’s quite light and small. He likes it. We probably could have had two Team RoadRacingWorld.com Suzuki bikes in the top eight, but it didn’t work out. We’re going to try to get his visa problems sorted so he can be with us next race.” The second round of the 2007 AMA season will take place at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL on April 20-22.