GOBERT OPTIMISTIC GOING INTO REPSOL LUBRICANTS SUPERSTOCK OPENER
Pridmore could become race’s first three-time winner
PICKERINGTON, Ohio (March 4, 2005) — Aaron Gobert prepares to defend his Repsol Lubricants Superstock Championship when the 2005 series opens at Daytona International Speedway’s newly designed motorcycle course on Thursday, March 10. Gobert will be riding the No. 1 Graves Yamaha R1 and he hopes to become the first Superstock rider to win the race back-to-back since Britt Turkington accomplished the endeavor in 1993-94 when the class was known as AMA 750 Supersport.
“Having won the race last year gives me a lot confidence,” said Aaron, the middle of the three racing Gobert brothers from Australia. “At the same time the track is completely new and the competition is very tough.”
Gobert suffered what doctors at the time thought could be career-ending injuries at Daytona in 2002. But the gritty Aussie showed amazing recovery powers and actually came back and raced later that season. Many of the doctors that treated Gobert three years ago continue to follow his career.
Gobert called his win at Daytona the biggest of his racing career. He feels the new road course should make for unpredictable racing. “I don’t really know exactly how it’s going to affect the race,” he says. “It’s going to create a different nature of race with the infield being more like a sprint course. It’s going to be an interesting week that’s for sure.”
Yamaha fields the deepest team in Superstock racing with the Graves Motorsports Yamaha riders of Gobert, Jamie Hacking, Jason DiSalvo and Damon Buckmaster. The Yamaha pilots took four of the top six spots at Daytona last year. The top six finishers in last year’s race were separated by just eight-tenths of a second.
Kawasaki is another full-fledged factory team in the series. Brothers Tommy and Roger Lee Hayden spearhead Team Green’s effort. Gobert and Hacking nipped Tommy Hayden at the Daytona Tri-Oval finish line last year. He crossed the stripe just a fraction of a second behind the leader in what proved to be the closest racing in all of Bike Week last year.Â
Yoshimura Suzuki brings heavy hitter Aaron Yates to the match. Yates is a former Superstock (750 Supersport) champ and won the Daytona race in 1996.Â
Backing up Yates on the factory Suzuki team is the factory-backed squad of Jordan Motorsports Suzuki. Leading the way for Michael Jordan’s team at Daytona is Jason Pridmore. The Californian racing veteran could become the first three-time winner of the race.
“After the season I had last year I was ready to hang up my helmet and go golfing,” said Pridmore, son of three-time AMA Superbike Champion Reg Pridmore. “When this opportunity came along with Michael’s [Jordan] team it got me excited about racing again. We’ve assembled a great team and I’m looking forward to kicking things off at Daytona.”
Pridmore’s teammates are Steve Rapp, a fellow veteran, and Montez Stewart, the lone returning member from Jordan’s team last season.
The former Valvoline Suzuki team will sport the colors of a new primary sponsor this season in M4 Performance Exhaust. Vincent Haskovec rides for Team M4 EMGO Suzuki. A native of the Czech Republic, Haskovec led the Superstock points race much of the 2003 season. He’s hoping to find the combination to run up front again this year. He’ll team with newly signed former AMA Superbike Rookie of the Year Geoff May. May was the top privateer in AMA Superbike last year and getting a seat on a championship-winning team is the opportunity he’s been waiting for.
Eric Wood and Jimmy Moore make up the riders for Hooters Suzuki this year. Moore is a two-time AMA Superstock champ and could match Scott Russell and Tom Kipp’s record of three AMA Superstock/750 Supersport titles. Lee Acree (KWS/Millennium Suzuki) and Chris Ulrich (Roadracingworld.com Suzuki), both past AMA Superstock race winners, will further bolster a remarkable field of riders slated to race in the Daytona opener.
Road racing fans can catch the action on SPEED Channel on Thursday, March 10, beginning at 3 p.m. EST for three straight hours of live programming. Coverage starts with the final portions of Daytona 200 qualifying before switching into race mode with the Repsol Lubricants Superstock final at 3:45 EST, Thursday, March 10.
For additional information on this year’s March Classic races contact Daytona International Speedway at (386) 253-7223 or visit www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com.
More, from another press release issued by AMA Pro Racing:
MLADIN GOING FOR SIXTH AMA SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
New teams and riders add intrigue to Daytona Superbike field
PICKERINGTON, Ohio (March 3, 2005) — For the first 27 years of AMA Superbike racing no rider could crack the three-championship barrier. As the 2005 AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited takes the green flag on Saturday, March 12, at Daytona International Speedway, Aussie racing sensation Mat Mladin embarks on his quest to win an unprecedented sixth title.
Mladin, the defending champ and Daytona Superbike winner who turns 33 on Thursday of Bike Week, is the pre-season favorite on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000. This year Mladin will face a deep Superbike field. Eighteen factory or factory-backed riders are slated to compete at Daytona, in addition to a number of very good privateer entries.
Mladin turned in another record-setting season in 2004. He tallied eight victories in the 18-race championship and finished the season tied with Miguel Duhamel atop the all-time AMA Superbike wins list with 32-career victories. He hopes to carry that momentum into the 2005 season. He was the fastest rider in the first two days of pre-season Daytona tire testing before suffering a crash and breaking his left ankle. In spite of the accident Mladin was positive about his off-season.
“Aside from this incident, the opening two days of the test were very promising for us,” said the three-time Daytona Superbike winner. “The new Suzuki GSX-R1000 was very good and was quick through the speed trap there, so it’s all shaping up very nicely in that regard at present. We were quickest at the end of each day, which is always good. As with any of these tests where you are preparing a new bike there are lots of things to work through and so far so good.”
Mladin will come to Daytona this year not only as a rider, but a team owner as well. Mladin Motorsports is backing fellow Australian Marty Craggill, a former Australian Superbike champ, and the team will debut at Daytona.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to race in the United States for the 2005 season”, said Craggill. “To be associated with Mat Mladin Motorsports for the up coming season has really given me a boost, and I’m excited to be racing the new for 2005, Suzuki GSX-R1000.”
Neil Hodgson, a former World Superbike Champion from Great Britain, is coming to America to contest the AMA series on the Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin squad as teammate to Eric Bostrom. Hodgson is the highest profile rider in years to move from the world championships to AMA Superbike racing. The colorful Brit is hoping to give Ducati its first Daytona Superbike win in 28 years. Cook Neilson, Cycle Magazine editor at the time, rode a Ducati to victory in the 1977 race.
“I would like to make history and be the first rider ever to have won the British and World Superbike Championships and the AMA Championship,” Hodgson said. “Being back on the Ducati 999 is going to be so natural for me.” Hodgson rode a Ducati 999 to victory in World Superbike in 2003.
Another rider people have been waiting for several years to see full time in AMA Superbike is 20-year-old Texan Ben Spies. The former AMA Horizon winner and 2003 Formula Xtreme champ is expected to be a serious contender in his first Superbike season on the Yoshimura Suzuki. Spies will team with Mladin and Aaron Yates forming what many consider to be the strongest team in the series.
If having Hodgson and Spies as new additions weren’t enough, the late arrival of Kurtis Roberts to the Erion Racing Honda team brings another true title contender to the game. Roberts closed out the 2003 AMA Superbike Championship with two wins in the final three rounds before a disappointing season racing for his father’s MotoGP team last year. The three-time AMA road racing champ is enthused about racing the Honda CBR1000RR. He twice won the Formula Xtreme title on the Honda CBR900RR.
Miguel Duhamel and Jake Zemke are back on the factory Hondas. Duhamel, who would like to pull ahead of Mladin as the all-time AMA Superbike wins leader, is always a threat to win at Daytona and Zemke is anxious to score his first win at the Speedway.
Kawasaki will be represented by Josh Hayes on the Attack Kawasaki. Hayes scored a slew of strong finishes on the team’s ZX-10R in 2004. He’s confident that with a season of development under its belt the team will be even stronger in ’05.
Basketball legend Michael Jordan has assembled perhaps the strongest factory-support team in the history of the series. His Jordan Motorsports Suzuki squad will be three riders strong at Daytona headed by Jason Pridmore. Pridmore, 35, is a former AMA 750 Supersport Champion and Formula Xtreme Champion as well as 2003 FIM World Endurance Champion. He will try to follow in his father Reg Pridmore’s footsteps to become the first father/son combination to earn the AMA Superbike Championship. Steve Rapp and Montez Stewart will compete on Jordan Suzukis alongside Pridmore.
There are a number of solid factory-backed teams entered for Daytona. Larry Pegram, a former AMA Superbike race winner, has his strongest ride in years with the Team Hotbodies Racing Honda.Â
Two-time AMA Superstock champ Jimmy Moore will team with Eric Wood on the Hooters Suzuki. Two-time Superstock race winner Chris Ulrich is riding with backing from Suzuki as well on the Roadracingworld.com entry. Former AMA Horizon Award winner Tony Meiring is racing the Daytona Superbike event with Corona Suzuki and 2004 AMA Superbike Rookie of the Year Cory West kicks off his sophomore season on the Team Hotbodies Suzuki.Â
Daytona 200 mileage leader Rick Shaw is entered in the Daytona Superbike event, as is former AMA Supersport great Mike Smith.Â
The race will be nationally televised live on SPEED Channel starting at 11 am EST, Saturday, March 12.Â
For additional information on this year’s Bike Week races contact Daytona International Speedway at (386) 253-7223 or visit www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com.
From another press release issued by AMA Pro Racing :
HAYDEN LOOKING TO FOLLOW UP CHAMPIONSHIP WITH DAYTONA WIN
PICKERINGTON, Ohio (March 4, 2005) — Last year Tommy Hayden attained one of the goals he set out to accomplish when he began his professional career, and that was to win a national title. On Thursday, March 10, Hayden will try to cross off another long-time goal by adding a Daytona Supersport trophy to his collection. Hayden kicks off his title defense at Daytona International Speedway in round one of the Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship presented by Shoei.
Ever since AMA Supersport began at Daytona in 1987, it has usually been the most competitive race of Bike Week. The list of past winners reads like a who’s who of racing and includes two world champions. Hayden knows a good result at Daytona can give the kind of start to a season that’s needed to win the championship.
“I never really had much luck in the Daytona Supersport race,” said Tommy, the oldest of the three racing Hayden brothers from Owensboro, Ky. “Last year I finally got a podium there and I went on to win the championship, so it’s important to get the season started strong with a good result at Daytona.”
The race will run for the first time on the new 2.95-mile road course. Hayden likes the new configuration.
“The new track is a lot more technical than the old course,” he said. “I think it’s going to reward the better riders. With the old track you could lose quite a bit in the infield section and still make it up with all the drafting on the banking. Now you’re going to have to be fit and ready to work really hard in the infield section to do good there.”
Hayden hopes to become the third Kawasaki rider to win the Daytona Supersport final. Miguel Duhamel won the race on a Kawasaki in 1993 and Doug Chandler accomplished the feat for the team in 1998.
 “It would mean a lot to me to win the Supersport race at Daytona,” Hayden continued. “It’s one of those races that’s really important to the manufacturers and if you win it shows that you’ve done the work you needed to do in the off season. But the biggest thing is it puts you in a great position in the championship.”
Hayden sees his biggest competition coming from his brother and Kawasaki teammate Roger Lee Hayden. The youngest Hayden brother finished 2004 with three wins in the final four rounds and was runner up to Tommy in the final standings. Roger Lee was injured in a bicycle training crash last month, but is expected to be fit and ready to race by Daytona.
Yamaha returns with the same four riders, Damon Buckmaster, Jason DiSalvo, Aaron Gobert and Jamie Hacking, who raced for the team in Supersport last year. DiSalvo, 21, of Stafford, N.Y., is the defending Daytona Supersport winner. He gave Yamaha its first Daytona Supersport victory in 14 years and was the fastest of the Yamaha riders in pre-season testing at the Speedway.
Yoshimura Suzuki fields Texan Ben Spies. Spies was the only Suzuki rider to score a victory in Supersport last year.Â
A strong field of privateer teams hopes to challenge the factory riders at Daytona. Chief among them is Florida’s own Michael Barnes on a Prieto Racing entry. The racing veteran is a former Daytona Supersport winner and was extremely quick in pre-season testing at Daytona.Â
Former AMA Superbike Rookie of the Year Geoff May will make his debut on the Team M4 EMGO Suzuki GSX-R600 at Daytona. Aussie Ben Attard is expected to be a front-runner on the Attack Kawasaki. Team Hotbodies Racing’s Taylor Knapp turned a lot of heads at the Daytona tire tests and the young Michigan rider could be ready for a breakthrough season.
The Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship presented by Shoei is set for national live television coverage on SPEED Channel at 4:45 EST, Thursday, March 10.
For ticket information contact Daytona International Speedway at (386) 253-7223 or order online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com.
More, from a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing:
CARR TAKES ANOTHER STAB AT BECOMING FIRST FOUR-TIME DAYTONA SHORT TRACK WINNER
2005 AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship begins at Municipal Stadium
PICKERINGTON, Ohio (March 4, 2005) — The AMA Grand National Series kicks off 2005 with a new sponsor in Ford. While the series will run under a new banner Chris Carr is the one constant as he begins his mission to become a seven-time AMA Grand National Champion and first four-time winner at Daytona Beach, Florida’s Municipal Stadium on Thursday evening, March 10.Â
Round one of the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship gets its traditional start on the white crushed limestone surface of the Municipal Stadium Short Track. The riders will give the fans a preview of the Grand National with the Hot Shoe event on Wednesday night. The attention then turns to the national on Thursday and the one thing you can nearly always count on at Daytona is the unexpected.
Last year JR Schnabel broke through to win his first Daytona Short Track on a Yamaha. Schnabel will be one of the favorites this year, but many look to defending and six-time AMA Grand National Champion Chris Carr as the rider to beat.
Carr, the all-time wins leader among active riders from Fleetwood, Pa., will bring his fleet of No. 1 plate Quality Checked Certified Pre-owned Ford Racing machines to Daytona in hopes of becoming the first four-time winner of the prestigious kick-off race.
“We’ve been working hard this year as we do every year to get ready for Daytona,” Carr said minutes after getting off a practice track in South Carolina. “The team has been dialing in our KTMs to my preferences in hopes of racing those at Municipal Stadium. If they don’t work out we have the Rotax bikes to fall back on. Nothing’s really changed at Daytona. You’ve got to be ready to go as soon as practice starts and carry that on to qualifying. If you do well in qualifying it makes the rest of the evening a lot easier.”
Another rider to watch for at Daytona is Johnny Murphree on the Coziahr Harley-Davidson sponsored No. 20. The Paso Robles, Calif., native has scored podium finishes in each of the last two Grand Nationals at Municipal Stadium. “When it comes down to it, we need to beat Chris at our big races,” said Murphree of trying to wrestle away the No. 1 plate from the champ. “Daytona, Springfield – the TT, the Short Track and of course the Mile and we need to beat him in Peoria. Those are the key races.”
Joe Kopp has shown speed at Daytona, finishing runner-up twice in the last five years. He’ll ride the Latus Harley-Davidson/Jones Powersports No. 3 entry and try to break through to win his first at Daytona.
Kenny Coolbeth finished a career-matching best third in last year’s title standings. Coolbeth rides the Mid-American Harley-Davidson/Jones Powersports No. 31 and he too feels championship hopes begin and end with Carr. “He is the one to watch at every race. He doesn’t appear to have weakness in his program.”
Daytona will mark the final race for 46-year-old veteran and fan favorite Terry Poovey, of Euless, Texas. A two-time Daytona winner, Poovey is hoping to go out on a winning note riding his Pro Honda Oils-sponsored Hondas.
On Saturday, March 12, viewers will get to see taped coverage of the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship opener on SPEED Channel.
For additional information on this year’s Bike Week races contact Daytona International Speedway at (386) 253-7223 or visit www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com.
About AMA Pro Racing
AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the THQ AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Motocross Championship, the AMA Superbike Championship, the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship and the AMA Supermoto Championship. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracing.com.