DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. Upwards of 100 riders and 39 high performance Sport Twin motorcycles among three classes have been entered for Saturday’s historic 8 Hours At Daytona, the inaugural event in the new SunTrust MOTO-ST Series. The teams and riders will do battle on the 3.56-mile, 14-turn layout at Daytona International Speedway beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET, all with the goal of writing their names in the history books as the first winners in SunTrust MOTO-ST history. In addition to it being the first race in series history, Saturday’s eight-hour endurance race will also mark the first motorcycle night race at the “World Center of Racing” since 1985. The 8 Hours At Daytona entry list features several established names in motorcycle endurance racing in addition to several looking to make names for themselves in this inaugural event.
When looking for big name riders and teams, one need look no further than the top of the entry list to find the No. 3 M4 EMGO Suzuki SV1000S with riders Michael Barnes, Geoff May and Chris Ulrich. The M4 EMGO Suzuki team, which was founded 26 years ago by Bruce Hammer and John Ulrich, is the winningest team in American endurance racing and the squad looks to add to its long list of accomplishments this weekend. The team has also entered the No. 18 Suzuki SV1000S for the same trio of riders. Both bikes are entered in the Buell Motorcycle Company SuperSport Twins (SST) class””featuring motorcycles making between 90 and 118 horsepower””which should produce the overall winners.
Among the chief competitors to M4 EMGO Suzuki in the SST class should be the No. 46 San Jose BMW R1200S with top American BMW rider Nate Kern, Belgian former Grand Prix and Superbike star Stephan Mertens and Californian Brian Parriott. The team will also field the No. 4 BMW R1100S for Tom Montano and Craig McLean in the BMW Grand Sport Twins (GST) class.
Another strong SST team comes from Spain in the form of Belson Brumos Ducati Motorrad. Sharing the team’s No. 59 Belson/Brumos Ducati 749R will be Spanish endurance champions Daniel Ribalta and Kenny Noyes. Likewise, the BMW Cycles Daytona entry for Floridian Mike Ciccoto, Texas native John Haner and Australian Warwick Nowland will also be an SST team to watch. Haner is a consistent top-10 finisher in AMA competition, while Nowland is a two-time World Endurance Champion and they will share the No. 83 BMW Motorcycles of Daytona BMW R1200 with Ciccoto. The No. 83 is a number made famous at Daytona by Steve McLaughlin, the winner of the first AMA Superbike race in 1976 on a BMW and a member of the MOTO-ST Advisory Board.
The GST class””for bikes ranging in horsepower from 75 to 90″”will primarily feature a battle between Buell and Ducati motorcycles in addition to the aforementioned entry from San Jose BMW. Among those to watch from the Buell brigade include San Rozynski, Joe Rozynski and Don Bilansky aboard the No. 35 Sound Waves/Veateh Motorsports Buell XB1200 and the No. 70 James Gang Racing Buell XB1200 in the hands of Paul James, John Fox and Greg Avello. Fox and Avello are current racers in American endurance events, while Fox is a public relations representative for Buell. Leading the charge for Ducati will be the No. 19 DucatiToronto.com Ducati 1000. The No. 19 machine will be co-ridden by Canadians Pat Barnes, Robert Trottier and Matt McBride, who is one of the top Superbike riders in Canada.
The Sport Twins (ST) class, for bikes making less than 75 horsepower also boasts a strong field. The No. 9 Pair-A-Nines Kawasaki Ninja 650R will feature riders Jimmy Filice, Brian Stokes and Nick Cummings on the team which is managed by the famed Gary Nixon. Filice is a former AMA champion and Grand Prix winner, while Cummings will be substituting for the injured Jay Springsteen. The ST class will feature the first major entry from a Korean manufacturer in Hyosung Motor USA. The No. 13 Hyosung Motors/Double Life Corp. Hyosung 650 will be ridden by up and coming AMA racer Cory West and Dustin Dominguez. Another ST team sure to draw some attention is the No. 16 Team HurtByAccident.com Suzuki SV650 of Mark Crozier, Steven Breckenridge and Nicole Hoffman, who is also a full-time employee at NASCAR. Hoffman is one of two women listed on the 8 Hours At Daytona entry list, the other being Melissa Berkoff, who is also competing in the ST class. Berkoff is sharing the No. 87 Speed Werks Racing Suzuki SV650 with Brian Kcraget.
Pirelli has been named as the sole supplier of SunTrust MOTO-ST tires for the inaugural 8 Hours At Daytona as well as the first full season of competition in 2007. All competitors will use Sunoco GT unleaded fuel and horsepower limits will be enforced by a Dynojet chassis dynamometer, and the starting grid will be determined by the order in which race entries were received.
The SunTrust MOTO-ST riders will get their first look at the Daytona International Speedway road course in a two-hour practice session on Friday evening beginning at 5:00 p.m. ET. Saturday’s schedule calls for brief warm-up sessions for all classes beginning at 8:00 a.m. ET, followed by an autograph session at 10:00 a.m. The 8 Hours At Daytona is scheduled to take the green flag at 1:00 p.m. ET. Live Timing and Scoring data for all sessions will be available via the official web site of the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series, www.moto-st.com, and a one-hour highlight package from the race will air on SPEED at some point in the fourth quarter of 2006. Tickets to the 8 Hours At Daytona may be purchased online at www.moto-st.com, or www.moto-st.com, or by calling 1-800-PIT-SHOP.
MOTO-ST is organized by Professional Motorsports Productions of Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) of Pickerington, Ohio. The Grand American Road Racing Association, based in Daytona Beach, Fla., provides the series with administrative and commercial support. The MOTO-ST advisory board features some of the most respected individuals in the world of motorsports, including AMA Hall of Fame members, respected motorcycle racing journalists and renowned officials from various forms of road racing. Learn more about MOTO-ST at www.moto-st.com,