Retired former professional Superbike racer Chris Ulrich celebrated a special milestone Saturday at Road Atlanta when he gave his 1000th ride on his Dunlop M4 Suzuki GSX-R1000 two-seat Superbike, and it was only fitting that the special ride go to a special person, professional race car driver Katherine Legge.
“I have a newfound respect,” said Legge, who currently races a factory Acura NSX in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and previously raced in the IndyCar series. “I didn’t know what to expect, so I guess I got what I expected, which was really nuts. (laughs) It was awesome. Everything about it was so extreme, like how close to the ground we were. The braking I’m kind of used to, so that part wasn’t a surprise to me. But how much you lean and how the wheelie goes and how much strength you actually need to hold on to one of these things…it’s impressive. These guys are nuts.”
During their three-lap ride Ulrich and Legge reached 164 mph on the back straightaway and recorded a lap time of 1:38.64. That’s less than seven seconds away from a time fast enough to qualify for this weekend’s MotoAmerica Superbike races at Road Atlanta!
“Katherine adapted quite quickly,” said Ulrich. “She knows speed, but she doesn’t know motorcycles. So I just rolled out as I usually would with any other passenger and built speed gradually until we got to Turn Seven. Then I tapped on her hand and squeezed her elbows like I would with anyone else and gassed it up. Her timing was actually really, really good going side to side, and that lap time, it was really fun to be able to do that lap time. She did great, and I was happy to have her on the bike.”
Team Hammer, which has been racing for 37 consecutive years, started its two-seat Superbike ride-along program in 2000 as a way of educating members of the media about the sport of motorcycle road racing and as a way of promoting motorcycle road racing events and motorcycling in general. Ulrich has been the primary rider for the program since 2004, and over the last 13 years he has now given 1000 two-seat Superbike rides without a single incident.
“I’m really pleased that we’ve been able to share the two-seat Superbike with hundreds of members of the media and spread the word about motorcycle road racing across the United States,” said Ulrich. “We’ve also used the two-seat rides to raise a lot of money for the Roadracing World Action Fund, which I think is an equal accomplishment. I’m happy about reaching the 1000-ride milestone and honored to have the opportunity to spread the word about motorcycle road racing in the United States. I look forward to another 1000 rides and beyond.”