Larry Pegram Ends a Successful 2008 Season Fourth Overall in AMA Formula Xtreme Series Finishes the Final Race of 2008 in Sixth Place Advance, NC (September 30, 2008) – Larry Pegram ended the 2008 AMA Formula Xtreme Series in fourth place overall. His sixth place finish at Laguna Seca closes a season that started with a third place podium at the Daytona 200. The LeoVince/Foremost Insurance/Ducati rider put in a solid effort during his second full year running the AMA program for Ducati North America. Pegram and his team put the brand new Ducati 848 on the podium three times this season. Pegram’s first practice was a 1:27.731 and he qualified fifth with a 1:26.812. Weather conditions were somewhat erratic with a cool and foggy morning session. Last year at Laguna Seca, Pegram finished on the podium in second after battling with Attack Kawaski rider Ben Attard. “It was a good season for us, I would have liked to have finished in the top three but it wasn’t happening this weekend. The Ducati 848 is a fabulous bike and we accomplished a great deal this season learning the set ups for each track. The support from Ducati, LeoVince and Foremost Insurance was outstanding and made life easier for the team. I appreciate the hard work and commitment from all my team members, and all of our sponsors. I also want to thank the fans for their support throughout the season. We are excited about the 2009 season and coming back with a stronger effort with the goal of winning a championship,” commented Pegram. The Formula Xtreme race will be televised on SPEED Channel on Tuesday, August 30, 2008. About LeoVince Foremost Insurance Ducati Hebron, Ohio-based, LeoVince Foremost Insurance Ducati is a professional motorcycle road race team competing in the AMA Superbike Championship Series. The team is owned and managed by Larry Pegram, a third-generation motorcycle racer who competes in the AMA Formula Xtreme class on a modified Ducati 848. Additional information about the team can be found on their web site at www.pegramracing.com. More, from a press release issued by Jason O’Halloran’s publicist: BRITISH SUPERBIKE TOP TEN FINISH FOR O’HALLORAN AT SILVERSTONE Rd 11, 2008 British Superbike Championship Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire, England 26 – 28 September 2008 Jason O’Halloran and his SMT Honda team continued their forward progress in the closing rounds of this year’s British Superbike Championship leaving the penultimate round of this year’s series at Silverstone with a highly creditable seventh and tenth place finishes. The pair of top ten finishes came off the back of some very strong practice times set during Friday and Saturday sessions where he was consistently within the top ten. The strong lead up work unfortunately didn’t carry through to the three-tier elimination qualifying system used in the series. Having made it through to the second tier O’Halloran could not get his first soft rear tyre to work properly and when the second was fitted he was able to post a time of 1:27.805, but a loose exhaust held him back from being able to improve on that time and get him through to the final top ten shoot out. The opening 20-lap race saw O’Halloran, who at 20, is the youngest rider in the field, get away well with the field and held station for the opening laps and became embroiled in a five rider battle for eighth place at mid race. He maintained his lap times in the second half of the race with the final laps seeing him in a three-way battle for sixth. On the final lap however he was passed by Tristan Palmer and finished eighth. Race two developed into another five way battle, this time for tenth place. Having closed onto the rear of fellow Australian Billy McConnell, he was unable to put himself in a position to make a pass on the final lap and settled to finish behind him. His speed in the final laps of the race showed as he reeled off a 1:27.840 on the penultimate lap, just shading his fastest time set during qualifying. Post race checks by officials found that Gary Mason’s machine failed to comply with the technical rules and he was stripped of his placings in both races. The result of the findings saw O’Halloran promoted one position in each race and was credited with a seventh and a tenth from the two races. Jason “Our goal for the weekend was to finish in the top ten and we are very pleased that after a weekend full of hard work the team was able to achieve those results. As at Croft two weeks ago we were able to make forward improvements in each session. We were in and around the top ten on times during the free practice sessions, but ran into some technical dramas with the bike during the all-important qualifying session which unfortunately left us 15th overall and back on the fourth row of the grid. Our strategy during qualifying needs to improve as we really need to be on at least the row ahead to have a chance of posting further top ten results. The opening race went well for us. A steady start allowed me to get settled in to the race and we made steady inroads and worked our way forward. The final lap was frantic as I tried to get close enough to Gary Mason to make a pass on him, but instead I was passed by Tristan Palmer. Finishing eighth on the track was a good start to the day. For race two I had trouble getting off the line cleanly and lost a few spots on the opening lap. By the time I worked past a few riders the main group had cleared away and I ended up in a five way battle for tenth. My race pace in the final laps was good but I just couldn’t get into a position to get by Billy McConnell to grab tenth. All in all it proved to be a good weekend for the SMT Honda team and feel that we can run with the lead privateer teams in the field. With the amount of riding I’ve done here in the UK in recent weeks I am looking forward to returning to Phillip Island this weekend to take part in the Superbike support races at the Australian GP. I did some good times in our last test session there and am feeling confident of a strong result.” Remaining events for 2009 Australian GP (Superbike support races), Phillip Island (October 3 – 5) Rd 12 (Final) British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch (October 10 12) Rd 7 (Final) Australian Superbike Championship, Eastern Creek (October 17 19) More, from a press release issued by John McGuinness’ publicist: Silverstone frustrations for McGuinness John McGuinness’ run of points scoring finishes came to an end at Silverstone on Sunday when he finished 17th in the latest round of the British Supersport Championship. The Morecambe ace had been hoping to continue the form he had shown in the last 3 rounds but a spill in practice, and a qualifying lap spolit by another rider, meant he had a lowly starting spot on the grid and although he made up some places in the race, he just missed out on the points. The weekend couldn’t have started better for John when he posted the 4th fastest time in the opening free practice session on Friday but a spill in the afternoon meant he lost out on some valuable track time. Subsequently, he was still searching for the ideal set-up in qualifying and, with one of his flying laps compromised by a slower rider, he ended up placing 19th on the grid with a time of 1m30.057s, still only six tenths of a second outside the top ten! In the race itself, John battled manfully but had to settle for 17th at the chequered flag, albeit ust over 2 seconds outside of the points. Speaking about the weekend John said: “We’ve been chipping away this weekend and although we had a few problems with the bike, we found a good set up in time for qualifying. I went out in qualifying, put in a new tyre and did a good first sector, good second sector and then someone came across me at the chicane. I’d been really strong in free practice and was hopeful of maintaining my position in the top ten so it was really frustrating.’ ‘I felt more than capable of running in the top ten this weekend so to be on the sixth row was disappointing, to say the least, and when you’re that far back it’s very difficult as everybody is so good out there. We had a bike good enough to be in the points this weekend but luck was against us so I’ll be giving it absolutely everything at the final round to make sure I give the team, who again worked tirelessly all weekend, the result they deserve.’ Prior to the final round of the British Supersport Championship, John will be out in force at the annual Stars at Darley meeting on Sunday October 5 where he hopes to defend his crown on the Paul Bird Motorsport Honda Fireblade. More, from a press release issued by Connor Cummins’ publicist: Cummins impresses at Silverstone Conor Cummins made an impressive debut for Team Blackhorse Yamaha at Silverstone on Sunday when he finished in 9th place in the National Superstock Championship race. Riding in the series for the first time since Oulton Park in July, the Manxman improved his pace throughout the weekend and he was rewarded with another top ten finish. Racing for the team managed by fellow road racer Ian Lougher, Conor made a steady start in free practice but as he got the set-up of the machine closer to his liking, the times began to fall and he climbed up the order in qualifying. 16th in first qualifying, a time of 1m30.606s in the final session moved the 22-year old up to 12th overall and he lined up for the 15-lap race on the third row of the grid, confident that a good race would see him inside the top ten. With his usual fast start, Conor slotted in to 10th on the opening lap and, four laps later he was up to 9th as Marshall Neill made a mistake. Ninth became 8th on lap 9 when Alastair Seeley also dropped back and Conor found himself involved in a good battle with Jackson, Sam Warren, Martin Buckles and Howie mainwaring. The trio were never more than a few yards apart and although Conor was unable to fight his way to the front of the group, he crossed the line in a close 9th for 7 more championship points, also giving the team a top ten finish in their first appearance in the Championship. Conor will also be on board the Team Blackhorse Yamaha for the final round of the National Superstock Championship at Brands Hatch on October 10-12. More, from a press release issued by Safety First Racing: Bobby Fong Grabs Another Top 10 Finish for Safety First Suzuki Safety First Suzuki rolled into the last round of the AMA Superbike Series at Laguna a little battered. Rider, Bobby Fong, had spent the last few weeks healing from bruised ribs and a broken elbow following a big crash at Road Atlanta. Since Fong hadn’t ridden anything since Atlanta, it took a little time to shake the cobwebs off and get back up to speed again. Team owner, Kevin Hanson, commented on the weekend. “It was good getting back to Laguna where we had some great success earlier this year when Bobby finished fourth. I know it took him a little bit to get back up to speed, but he’s developed into a phenomenal rider for only being 17 years old. This weekend he came back and went even faster and got down into the 26’s. Bobby proved that he can run with top talent here in Supersport with guys that are earning a nice paycheck. So we’ll see what happens for Bobby Fong next year. I know I’ve had a great time helping develop him through our program the last two years and preparing him for the next step. One thing I’m really impressed with is how focused and dedicated he is to racing. Bobby has done everything we ever asked him and you forget how young he really is because of how mature he conducts himself,” commented Hanson. “I really enjoyed having Gabor here this year. I think it was a big boost to his confidence being able to see a track again that he had actually ridden on before. The proof was in qualifying when Gabor qualified right behind Bobby on the grid. I think Gabor has a lot of talent and I know he wants to come back and race here next year. Gabor rode well this weekend and definitely showed he can run closer to the front. I know he got pretty good at speaking English this year!” joked Hanson. Bobby Fong: Qualified 8th Finished 8th “I just want to thank all of my guys for all of their support this year. I had an awesome team of guys that really helped me a lot. I know it took me a little bit to get going this weekend, but I’m really happy that I went faster than the last time I was here. I rode as hard as I possibly could with the tire compound we had for the race. I just really want to thank everybody on my team for everything they did for me this year,” explained Fong. Gabor Rizmayer: Qualified 9th Finished 12th “I want to thank Kevin and the team for everything this year. I am happy with where I qualified, but not as happy with my race result. I learned a lot this year and I think the talent here is very good. Hopefully, I can come back next year because I definitely want to race here,” stated Rizmayer. Safety First Racing was formed in 2004 by police officer/racer, Kevin Hanson, based out of Chicago, IL. For 2008, Safety First Suzuki will be competing in the Supersport class in the AMA Superbike series. Checkout www.SAFETYFIRSTRACING.com to see the latest line of apparel and performance products from Safety First Racing. Kevin Hanson continues to give away Bell bicycle helmets to elementary school children nationwide and educate children about the importance of helmet usage.