HAYDEN & YOSHIMURA SUZUKI PODIUM AT COTA SBK
Yoshimura Suzuki had a solid season opener at round one of the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas at the weekend as the series shared the spotlight with the stars of MotoGP and raced in front of a weekend crowd estimated at 120,000 fans.
Roger Hayden put his #95 Yoshimura Suzuki in the spotlight when he led early during Sunday’s AMA Superbike race two at COTA despite getting his GSX-R1000 completely sideways through the ‘esses’ on the opening lap. In the end Hayden finished third for the second time and heads to Road Atlanta next weekend a close third in the standings.
Hayden took third on Sunday in spite of an issue with his bike’s front tyre, but Hayden said that the silver lining was the fact he’s confident he can run for wins under normal circumstances.
“I led the first couple of laps but I was struggling because of a front tyre issue (on Sunday),” Hayden explained. “I realised it was best to just ease off a little bit and try to finish the race. It’s too bad for the team because it was something that was out of our control. We’ll move on to Road Atlanta and try to do better.”
Hayden took away the knowledge that the team’s rigorous off-season has paid dividends.
“Some of the hard work the team has done in the off-season really showed up this week in the race. We had the fastest bike down the back straightaway. I gained some confidence this week and so did the team because we feel like we’re right there. The great thing with this team is we were all disappointed with third place. It just shows you we’re not going to be satisfied until we start winning.”
Jake Lewis made his AMA Superbike debut aboard his Yoshimura Suzuki and scored a fifth and fourth. Lewis is fourth in the series standings after the opening weekend. The on-again, off-again rain in Austin hampered Lewis’ progress.
“I didn’t get as much dry time on the bike as I would have liked with all the rain,” Lewis said. “It was my first race on the 1000, so with that and dealing with the rain I didn’t feel very confident and didn’t get the results I was hoping for. We got some decent points and we’ll move on to Road Atlanta. We’ve got some work to do, but we’ll keep chipping away and hopefully move towards the front.”
Yoshimura Suzuki is back in action this coming weekend, April 17-19th at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia.
COTA AMA Superbike Race 1 Results:
1. Josh Hayes (Yamaha)
2. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)
3. Roger Hayden (Yoshimura Suzuki)
4. Bernat Martinez (Yamaha)
5. Jake Lewis (Yoshimura Suzuki)
6. Chris Ulrich (Suzuki)
7. Elena Myers (Suzuki)
8. Mathew Orange (BMW)
9. Ricky Orlando (Kawasaki)
10. Aaron Hersh (Suzuki)
COTA AMA Superbike Race 2 Results:
1. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)
2. Josh Hayes (Yamaha)
3. Roger Hayden (Yoshimura Suzuki)
4. Jake Lewis (Yoshimura Suzuki)
5. Chris Fillmore (KTM)
6. Elena Myers (Suzuki)
7. Bernat Martinez (Yamaha)
8. Aaron Hersh (Suzuki)
9. Ricky Orlando (Kawasaki)
2015 AMA Superbike Championship Points:
1. Cameron Beaubier – 45
2. Josh Hayes – 45
3. Roger Hayden – 32
4. Jake Lewis – 24
5. Bernat Martinez – 22
6. Elena Myers – 18
7. Chris Fillmore – 15
8. Ricky Orlando – 14
9. Aaron Hersh – 13
10. Chris Ulrich – 10
More, from a press release issued by Team21Motosports:
McGraw Powersports Racing/ Team21Motosport Rider Elena Myers Has Successful Debut Weekend at COTA
Atlanta, GA – McGraw Powersports/ Team21Motosport rider Elena Myers had a successful weekend making her Superbike debut at MotoAmerica’s opening round at Circuit of the Americas. Finishing seventh with wet conditions in race one and sixth in race two with dry conditions, Myers was very pleased with the weekend.
“This weekend was a huge step forward for myself and the team,” says Myers, rider and team owner. “With each session I made continual progress with not only my riding, but getting more comfortable with the new 1000, and improving the setup. My team did a phenomenal job making sure my bike was prepared and ready to go each session. It’s been so strange being a team owner and rider because I’m in charge of so many different bodies within the team but I don’t think the weekend could’ve gone any smoother. The competition is extremely tough this year and I’ll be training even harder to try and close the gap to the front pack. I’m looking forward to bringing this momentum to Road Atlanta this coming weekend.”
“I really want to thank all my sponsors, fans, and personal supporters for getting me to this point. It wouldn’t have been possible without the help of everyone so I’d like to take a moment to say thanks to the following: McGraw Powersports, Suzuki Motor Corp., CAS Group, Yoshimura, Woodcraft, Armour Bodies, Maxima, DynoJet, Spiegler, FreeWheeling Suzuki, Arai, GiMoto and Marietta Motorsports.”
More, from a press release issued by Kyle Wyman Racing:
Millennium Technologies’ Wyman scores valuable points in wet MotoAmerica Supersport debut
AUSTIN, Texas — Millennium Technologies rider Kyle Wyman started off the 2015 MotoAmerica road racing season with a top-10 finish at this past weekend’s series debut at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. Wyman faced wet race conditions and piloted his #33 Millennium Technologies/KWR machine to a respectable 8th place on Saturday.
“I’m happy to have gotten the season started with a solid finish,” Wyman said. “Although it’s not where we feel we should be finishing as a team, whenever the conditions become dodgy like they were we can’t leave too disappointed with a top ten finish. My crew is doing an amazing job and I didn’t want to create more work for them by throwing my bike down the road.”
The rain threat didn’t become apparent until moments before the start of the 12-lap final, as crews were forced to change to wet condition tires while on the grid. The riders would only get to see one rainy warm-up lap around the 3.426-mile circuit before the green flag dropped for the start of the race.
“I was definitely looking forward to having a dry race after all of the progress we made on my Millennium Technologies machine,” added Wyman, who started in 8th position on the grid. “We felt like we had a big advantage with our dry race setup, but didn’t get an opportunity to give it a whirl. The beginning of the race I wasn’t very comfortable at all, and lost touch with the leaders. Towards the end the rain came down harder and I felt more and more comfortable the wetter the track was getting. I only wish we had more laps towards the end. However I can’t thank my sponsors enough and I’m super excited to get to Road Atlanta next week; it’s my favorite track on our schedule.”
MotoAmerica’s next stop at Road Atlanta takes place this coming weekend, April 17-19, 2015 for the Honda Superbike Championship of Atlanta.
To obtain the same performance services and parts that Kyle uses for your motorcycle or powersports vehicle, visit www.mt-llc.com to view Millennium Technologies products and services.
Stay up to date with KWR by visiting www.kylewymanracing.com
About Millennium Technologies:
Millennium Technologies is a premier supplier of high performance engine services and parts for many types of vehicles, notably in the powersports market. Starting in 1997 as a Nickel-Silicon-Carbide cylinder relating and servicing company, Millennium Technologies has branched out into complete service for cylinders, heads, crankshafts and top-ends and also supplies relevant parts such as pistons, gaskets, camshafts and more by working with OEMs, dealers, race teams and weekend mechanics. Millennium Technologies is also the parent company of its extended branches Revolution Performance, Xport CNC Services, Ballistic Performance Components and Forward Motion. For more information visit www.mt-llc.com
About Kyle Wyman Racing:
Kyle Wyman Racing (KWR) was formed in 2011 as a motorcycle road racing team focusing on healthy sponsorship opportunities for companies within and outside the motorcycle industry. KWR is the 2012 AMA Pro Harley-Davidson series championship winning team and current partner with Millennium Technologies family of companies. For more information visit www.kylewymanracing.com
More, from a press release issued by Latus Motors Racing:
Bobby Fong battled through Supersport for the first Round of MotoAmerica
Austin, Texas – The Latus Motors / Castrol / Triumph team was confident going into the Supersport race after Bobby showed such positive results in both Practice and Qualifying. Weather played a huge part in yesterdays race. We expected a dry race but just as the riders lined up, the rain started to fall. We made a hasty decision to change to our rain set up and we were glad we did.
Team owner George Latus stated, “Bobby rode a really smart and great race. He was able to stay with the lead pack, made a number of great passes and swapped places 1-4 for a good part of the race. He also set the fastest race lap. Unfortunately, while going for the lead on the last lap, he crashed. Still, like a true warrior he picked the bike up and finished the race in 9th place gaining valuable points. We have a race next weekend in Atlanta and look forward to another great performance from Bobby.”
Bobby Fong stated, “I ran out front taking it easy and staying out of trouble. I just waited for other people to make mistakes and used those opportunities to advance. On the last lap I was in second place and it started dumping rain. It was really hard to see, my shield fogged up and rain started dumping into my helmet. I went hot into a corner, hit a seam in the middle of the track and ended up crashing. There were a lot of positives this weekend but not the results we wanted. Luckily, we were able to salvage some points. We now know we have a great bike set up for the rain and we just want to move to the next round. I want to thank my team for all of their hard work and of course, my sponsors.”
Great work to the top finishers JD Beach, Garrett Gerloff and David Anthony. We are looking forward to Round 2 in Atlanta next weekend.
Team Latus Motors is supported by: Castrol,Triumph, Latus Motors racing, GE Capital, Freedom Road Financial, K-Tech, Hindle exhaust, ET, Cortech, Shoei, Grinder, Hindle, Galfer, Dyno Jet, Bickle, Vet Motorsports, Catalyst, Zero Gravity, Helimot, Superlite, Cafe Racer XXX, Grifter Company
If you are interested in team sponsorship, please contact [email protected]