Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki’s Mercado Wins in AMA Pro SuperSport Debut

Braselton, Ga. Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki’s Leandro Mercado earned his first win during his debut in the AMA Pro SuperSport race on Sunday at Road Atlanta. With only one appearance in the first two races, the win soars him into third overall in the eastern region points for the class. In the AMA Pro SportBike race, Jamie Hacking earned a top-five finish, while Roger Hayden went down and finished 31st. Mercado also rode in the race, finishing 13th after a 15th place start.

Number One For Mercado Mercado got out to a great start from his seventh spot on the grid and was in the lead by the third lap. A handful of riders, including Mercado, fell when it started to rain on the back section of the track. Eventually the red flag came out on the same lap and Mercado was able to come in and receive limited repairs. With the bike not fully recovered from the incident, Mercado rode smoothly and capped off an up-and-down weekend with an impressive win on the Ninja® ZX™-6R.

“I am very, very happy to get the win today,” said Mercado. “It has been a crazy weekend, but this is great. My team has really done a great job fixing up my bike after a few crashes this weekend. It’s been fun and I am looking forward to the rest of the season.”

Top Step Although this isn’t Mercado’s first time standing on top of the podium, it’s his first career AMA Pro SuperSport win. Mercado won two AMA Rookies Cup races last year on a 125cc machine and now he has proven a good fit on the 600cc Ninja ZX-6R motorcycle.

“I really like the bike,” said Mercado. “It has a lot of power and handles really well. I am excited for the rest of the series.”

Double Duty This weekend, Mercado was pulling double duty as he raced in his primary class, the AMA Pro SuperSport East and in the AMA Pro SportBike class. As of now, Mercado plans on focusing his efforts on the AMA Pro SuperSport East for the rest of the season in hopes of earning his first professional championship.

Top-Five Hacking rode a hard-fought race to finish fifth for the day in the AMA Pro SportBike class.

“It was an interesting race,” said Hacking. “A lot of people went down or went backwards and I tried to capitalize as much as I could. I did the best to earn points for the championship because that is what we are concerned with.”

Improvement Hacking improved on his finishing position from Saturday’s race and is looking forward to an upcoming test session to help progress the Ninja ZX-6R before the next race at Barber Motorsports Park in May.

“We did make small improvements this weekend and I really think the test at Infineon Raceway will be a huge help in getting more set-ups for future races. We were running pretty good here, but we are still learning the machine”

Getting Back Into The Rhythm With Road Atlanta being Hayden’s first race back, the weekend went fairly well with each session out on the track being better than the last. Although he crashed during Sunday’s SportBike race, it was a productive first weekend back with the team.

“I wish I could have brought home a win for the guys this weekend,” said Hayden. “I am very happy to be back and every time out on the track I felt better. The more seat time I get the better. The guys did great. I didn’t have any problems and if I needed changes, the guys were on it.”

Saturday Night Outing Just up the road from the races at Road Atlanta, another racing series took to the track in Commerce, Ga. The AMA Dragbike Series brought out fans from all around including drag race fan Hacking. After races finished Saturday, Hacking and a few friends made it to Atlanta Dragway to watch fellow Kawasaki rider Rickey Gadson compete.

One Month Off The Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki boys have roughly four weeks until the next race at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala.

“It’s a good time to regroup and make sure we have everything together before the next race,” said Hacking. “It will be great to get out and test, but I’m looking forward to Barber.”

Results AMA Pro Road Racing Series Road Atlanta- Braselton, Ga. April 5, 2009

AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Results 1. Daniel Eslick, Broken Arrow, Okla., Buell 2. Josh Herrin, Clovis Calif., Yamaha 3. Chris Peris, Calgary, Canda, Honda 4. Taylor Knapp, Lapeer, Mich., Buell 5. JAMIE HACKING, DENVER, N.C., MONSTER ENERGY ATTACK KAWASAKI 6. Chaz Davies, Carlsbad, Calif., Aprilla 7. Jason DiSalvo, Las Vegas, Nev., Suzuki 8. Micheal Barnes, Boca Raton, Fla., Buell 9. Steve Rapp, Hawthorne, Calif., Yamaha 10. Michael Beck, Simi Valley, Calif. Yamaha 13. LEANDRO MERCADO, LODI, CALIF., MONSTER ENERGY ATTACK KAWASAKI 31. ROGER HAYDEN, OWENSBORO, KY., MONSTER ENERGY ATTACK KAWASAKI

AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Point Standings 1. Daniel Eslick, Broken Arrow, Okla., Buell, 109 2. JAMIE HACKING, DENVER, N.C., MONSTER ENERGY ATTACK KAWASAKI, 99 3. Josh Herrin, Clovis Calif., Yamaha, 96 4. Martin Cardenas, Miami, Fla., Suzuki, 81 5. Jason DiSalvo, Las Vegas, Nev., Suzuki, 77 6. Chaz Davies, Carlsbad, Calif., Aprilla, 72 7. Jake Zemke, Paso Robles, Calif., Honda, 60 8. Chris Peris, Calgary, Canda, Honda, 53 9. Steve Rapp, Hawthorne, Calif., Yamaha, 45 10. LEANDRO MERCADO, LODI, CALIF., MONSTER ENERGY ATTACK KAWASAKI, 39 16. ROGER HAYDEN, OWENSBORO, KY., MONSTER ENERGY ATTACK KAWASAKI, 25

AMA Pro SuperSport Results 1. LEANDRO MERCADO, LODI, CALIF., MONSTER ENERGY ATTACK KAWASAKI 2. Josh Day, Orlando, Fla., Yamaha 3. Joey Pascarella, Vacaville, Calif., Yamaha 4. Armando Ferrer, Sunrise, Fla., Suzuki 5. Kris Turner, Chattanooga, Tenn., Suzuki 6. Kyle Wyman, Macedon, N.Y., Yamaha 7. Ryan Clay, Gainesville, Ga., Yamaha 8. Huntley Nash, Marietta, Ga., Yamaha 9. Derek Wagnon, Fort Worth, Texas, Suzuki 10. Reese Wacker, Orange Park, Fla., Suzuki

AMA Pro SuperSport Point Standings 1. Joey Pascarella, Vacaville, Calif., Yamaha, 46 2. Kyle Wyman, Macedon, N.Y., Yamaha, 33 3. LEANDRO MERCADO, LODI, CALIF., MONSTER ENERGY ATTACK KAWASAKI, 31 4. Josh Day, Orlando, Fla., Yamaha, 27 5. Ryan Clay, Gainesville, Ga., Yamaha, 27, 6. Kris Turner, Chattanooga, Tenn., Suzuki, 23 7. Reese Wacker, Orange Park, Fla., Suzuki, 23 8. Russ Wikle, Huntsville, Ala., Suzuki, 22 9. Huntley Nash, Marietta, Ga., Yamaha, 18 10. Alex Lazo, Axton, Va., Yamaha, 18

More, from a press release issued by Corona Extra Racing Honda:

NINTH AT ROAD ATLANTA FOR JAKE HOLDEN AND CORONA EXTRA HONDA SUPERBIKE

Corona Extra Honda Racing’s Jake Holden took a best ninth on the Corona Honda CBR1000RR Superbike at this weekend’s event at Road Atlanta. He placed tenth in the other Superbike race.

Jake struggled getting the bike set up for the tricky Road Atlanta track and commented: “I am having a hard time getting the gearing right. Last year we just used five gears but are trying all six now. It’s upsetting the bike when I drop into first!” Jake qualified on the third row in eleventh, disappointed he was unable to get the bike set up to his liking with the very limited practice time.

Race one was run on a lovely sunny day. Jake got a fair start getting up to 9th after lap one. He settled into the position but was always struggling with the same gearing issue from earlier practice and qualifying. He lost the position on lap three and a little later lost touch with tenth and settled for a lonely eleventh for most of the balance of the race. He moved up a position through a mechanical problem for another rider by the flag! Afterwards Jake said; “I just couldn’t get comfortable with the gearbox and decided to play it safe!”

The crew made a number of changes for race two trying to address the gearing issue. Morning practice saw Jake a full second faster than the day before so there was hope that the changes could be successful for the race. With dark rain clouds looming and intermittent sprinkles the race got underway with Jake in 10th after lap one. Unfortunately though Jake was running faster than on day one and was able to stay with the lead pack but could not make a dent in the group. Eventually he was able to pass the Ducati of Pegram, taking ninth, and then close on Bostrom for eighth but ran out of time so settled for ninth at the flag. Jake said: “I thought we might have sorted stuff out but I just couldn’t make it up on the guys in front. I could see where I was losing out. My times were close but I was on the edge and didn’t want to throw it away!”

More, from a press release issued by Factory Aprilia Millennium Technologies:

The Factory Aprilia Millennium Technologies Team Scores a Top Five Finish at Road Atlanta.

Braselton, GA April, 2009 The Factory Aprilia Millennium Technologies Team scored its first top five finish of the season with rider Chaz Davies in Daytona SportBike Race One at Road Atlanta this weekend. Davies backed the finish up with a sixth place finish in Race Two. Ben Thompson made huge strides forward and fought back from a difficult starting position to finish just outside the top ten in Race Two with an eleventh place finish on Sunday and a thirteenth place finish on Saturday.

Friday morning qualifying has become the most important part of the weekend. The new two by two rolling start procedures make it very difficult to make up ground, so a good starting position in critical to get results in the two races later in the weekend. Team rider Chaz Davies was able to squeak into Superpole for the first time this year with a tenth position finish in qualifying. The tenth position in qualifying goes first in Superpole. Chaz admittedly left a few tenths out on the track, but improved his time by two tenths of a second. Fortunately most of the other competitors went slower and this resulted in a fourth place qualifying position on the second row. Thompson and crew struggled with set up in qualifying and although only seven tenths off Davies time, he was qualified in the seventeenth position.

Davies got a great start in Daytona SportBike Race One, jumping into a six bike pack fighting for the lead. Davies spent the majority of the race battling for the third position in an ultra tight lead pack. When the red flag came out on lap nineteen for two downed riders Davies was scored in the fifth position. Thompson and his crew dialed in the set up early on Saturday and Ben was able to turn lap times that would have put him in a solid top ten finish but large groups of slower riders and a shortened race kept him just outside the top ten in the thirteenth position.

After a solid pair of finishes on Saturdays Race One, and a few more discoveries with the Aprilia RSV1000R chassis set up, the team was very hopeful going in the Daytona SportBike Race Two on Sunday. The race started well with Davies moving immediately to the third spot and battling for the lead. Unfortunately Davies had two on track incidents and lost approximately ten seconds. Davies fought back from as far back as ninth place in the last half of the race to finish in a solid sixth place. Thompson had the speed and the skill to finish in the top ten in Sundays race but was hit from behind by another rider who was crashing going into turn twelve. Despite being forced off track and suffering damage to his LeoVince exhaust system, Thompson was still able to finish in the eleventh position.

Chaz Davies “It was a good solid weekend. It felt really good to run up front and I think with a few more advances with the bike, we can win one of these races soon. Rocky Stargel, Jimmy Le, and the rest of the team worked really hard this weekend and gave me a great bike. The team has a little break to do some development on the bike, but I am ready to go to Barber tomorrow!”

Ben Thompson “We made a lot of progress this weekend and we had a really good bike by the end of the weekend. Michael Godin, Jim Cambora, and Marty Ashmore made some huge strides forward with the bike and I can’t thank them enough. We got caught up with a few incidents involving other riders and that is disappointing, but we had the pace to finish in the top ten and that is very encouraging. We have some good ideas we are going to try over the next few weeks and we should be really good at Barber in May.”

Kevin Hunt (Team Owner) “The team has done an amazing job in developing the Aprilia RSV1000R in the short time that we have had it, and I couldn’t be happier with the progress that has been made. We need a few more little things to get us to the next level and we are committed to finding them. I would like to thank Aprilia USA, Millennium Technologies and all the other sponsors for all their efforts to get us to this point. “

More, from a press release issued by Buell:

Eslick and Buell Grab Daytona SportBike Championship Lead

Takes Third Season Win and a Third Place at Atlanta aboard 1125R

East Troy, Wis. (April 6, 2009) Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing/RMR/GEICO rider Danny Eslick jumped into the championship points lead in AMA Pro Racing’s Daytona SportBike class with a come-from-behind third season win and a third place finish at Road Atlanta April 4-5, leap-frogging Attack Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking to take a 10-point championship lead into the next round at Barber Motorsports Park the weekend of May 1-3.

Eslick rebounded from a ninth place qualifying position in Friday’s Superpole shootout to finish third in Saturday’s Race 1, which was cut short on lap 16 by a red flag caused by two separate late-race crashes. Eslick worked his Buell 1125R into the middle of a tight, multi-rider battle for the lead after a restart erased the early lead of Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke. The race was won by Team M4 Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas, with Attack Kawasaki’s Roger Lee Hayden in second. Taylor Knapp finished tenth on his Latus Motors Buell 1125R in his Daytona SportBike debut, while Eslick’s GEICO Powersports/RMR teammate Michael Barnes finished 11th.

“Before the pace car came out, Jake [Zemke] was gone,” Eslick said. “I don’t think anybody had anything for Jake that first little bit. The safety car came out and sucked him back in right there, so that was kind of nice for me. I got a big draft down the back straightaway and got by, and we went back and forth for a few laps. It’s just good to be on the podium. I’ll definitely take it, because the guys that [were] ahead of me in the points were behind me (in the race), so I’ll take it.”

In Sunday’s second round of the double-header, Eslick took an early lead from polesitter Jason DiSalvo (Team M4 Suzuki), battled briefly with Zemke, who later crashed out, and closed out the race in thrilling fashion with a wheel-to-wheel run to the checkered flag with Graves Yamaha’s Josh Herrin through lapped traffic.

“When we first got in the lappers, I don’t think they knew we were there,” said Eslick. “When we were coming around for the white flag, those guys definitely moved out of the way and let us race. I took a peek over and there he [Herrin] was. Out of Turn 10, driving up out of the right-hander, I got a good drive and we were both on the gas. I wasn’t going to let out to not make a little contact, but it was driving out towards him. It was a great race. He tried as hard he could and it was great. It was an awesome race for Bruce Rossmeyer and RMR Buell.”

Knapp finished a close fourth, just 0.065-second behind Erion Honda’s Chris Peris, who made a last-lap pass for the position. Barnes finished eight to make it three Buells in the top ten.

Both weekend races displayed close, multi-brand racing action, with six different brands of motorcycles finishing in the top eight positions of each race, and after the first five rounds of the 2009 season Eslick leads the Daytona SportBike class with 109 points, followed by Hacking (99), Herrin (96), Cardenas, (81) and DiSalvo (77).

SunTrust Moto-GT

The No. 41 Liberty Waves Racing Buell 1125R of Eric Pinson and Eric Haugo finished second in the two-hour SunTrust Moto-GT race on Saturday to take the lead in the GT1 championship standings after placing third in the season opener in Daytona. The riders, who led 10 laps of the race, passed the leading No. 4 machine of Hawk Mazzota and Ryan Ellerby when their Aprilia ran out of fuel on the final lap. The GT1 class and overall win went to the Team Hurtbyaccident.com Suzuki of Armando Ferrer and Rodolfo Ramirez.

The James Gang/Hoban Brothers Racing/H-D/Buell of Appleton No. 70 1125R finished sixth in the GT1 class after a crash on lap 39. The Moto-GT debut of the Old Glory H-D/Buell XB12R in the GT2 class was marred by problems with a broken aftermarket exhaust pipe header that ended their race after 15 laps.

Founded by visionary motorcycle designer and former privateer racer Erik Buell in 1983, Buell Motorcycle Company, a subsidiary of Harley-Davidson, Inc., produces sport motorcycles, motorcycle parts, accessories and apparel, including the 1125R superbike and air-cooled XB-series Ulysses, Firebolt, and Lightning. To learn more about Buell motorcycles, or to locate the dealer nearest you, log onto www.buell.com.

More, from a press release issued by Syndicate Motorsports Management:

RED FLAG SAVES DAY”¦.AND ESP/VENEMOTOS YAMAHA’S WEEKEND

April 7, 2009 (Reno, NV)”” Team ESP/ Venemotos Yamaha had an eventful Sunday at Road Atlanta, both riders were relaxed heading into their respective finals. Although Robertino Pietri had just missed out on Superpole, and the chance to qualify in the top ten, he and the ESP/Venemotos crew kept working on the setup of the Yamaha R6 and felt they had the race pace necessary for a solid top ten finish. Pietri’s race would come to a premature end when the Venezuelan rider tucked the front end on lap thirteen in corner ten after another riders engine blew in the same corner and left oil on the track.

Josh Day’s Sunday was even more eventful, complete with emotional highs and lows, which seemed to dog the Orlando, Florida rider all weekend. On Saturday, Josh had qualified his ESP/ Venemotos R6 on pole, and then, with a few minutes left in the session, crashed his machine. The Yamaha R6 was extensively damaged and required replacing the forks, fuel tank, subframe, and bodywork. The ESP/ Venemotos crew did an admirable job of getting Josh’s machine ready for Sunday’s race. Sunday morning practice saw Day struggle with the fork setting on the newly rebuilt R6 front end. They made some changes for the race, and lined up on pole for the Sunday afternoon Supersport finale. When the lights went out, Day rocketed to the front and was leading going into turn six when he tucked the front end and crashed. Josh was able to pick up the bike and restart it, but he was dead last and the new AMA rules necessitate riding into the pits so AMA officials can inspect the track worthiness of a crashed machine. After his pitstop, Josh set about chasing after the field and with his head down he was catching the tail end of the field. On lap three, half the leaders went down when a localized rain shower put rain on the track and the race was red flagged. When the field was re-gridded for the restart, Josh was still at the back of the pack but at least now the leaders were in sight. When the field came around after the first lap, Josh had passed half the riders in front of him and set after the leaders. Within three more laps he was battling for podium positions. Although he couldn’t catch Leandro Mercado, Day and the whole ESP/ Venemotos couldn’t be happier with the second place finish.

Robertino Pietri: “My ESP/ Venemotos R6 was really good today in the race. Unfortunately, I lost the front in ten when I ran over oil from another riders blown engine. The good news is no injuries, so I’ll head back down to Venezuela for training to get ready for Barber. My ESP/ Venemotos R6 is handling great and Barber is a track where you need your bike to really handle well in order to make a great lap time. “

Josh Day: “What a day! Start on pole, crash on the first lap””again, re-start dead last and then get a do-over when the race gets red-flagged. I don’t think I’m going for pole anymore, it seems like bad luck! I can’t thank the ESP/ Venemotos crew enough for my first AMA podium. Hopefully, this is the first of many more to come this season. We’ve got Barber coming up next and I like that track a lot, I just wish we were racing next week, not next month.”

Phil Allison: (ESP co-owner) “That red flag really saved our weekend. After Tino went down in oil we were bummed, but we were looking forward to the Supersport race where Josh was starting on pole. When they went by the first time I was looking for Josh and was hoping I just missed him, then we realized he went down on the first lap””again. Luckily, he picked up the bike and was able to get it going. When the red flag came out, we realized we were still in this race because even if Josh was gridded at the back he had a lot more speed than most of the field. I can’t believe how many riders he passed on that first lap, and how fast he got behind Mercado. Second place almost feels like a victory today after Daytona and the first lap here.”

For Sponsorship inquiries contact Murph at Syndicate Motorsport Management, LLC: (+1) 831 464 3458 or email: [email protected]

Team ESP/ Venemotos Yamaha: Evan Steel Performance is a small, personal, specialized shop located in Tucson, Arizona that deals with all aspects of motorcycle road racing. ESP bikes have had some of the highest trap speeds in their classes at AMA Nationals, as well as the highest top speed at start/finish at the 50th annual Macau Grand Prix. In 2008, ESP scored a very rare privateer podium at the VIR AMA National in the Superstock class with Chris Peris. ESP is open to any level of racing, from basic race prep to planning a season at the Nationals.

ESP can be reached at (520) 294 3050 or www.evansteelperformance.com