ULRICH EARNS AMA SUPERSTOCK TOP TEN IN VIRGINIA Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki endured a difficult weekend at Virginia International Raceway as the recovering Chris Ulrich fought hard for a top-ten AMA Superstock result and Robertino Pietri crashed out of the final after showing impressive speed in the lead-up to the race. Venezuelan Pietri qualified his Pirelli-shod GSX-R1000 on the second row in the sixth overall position, qualifying with a best lap of 1:26.170. Meanwhile, Ulrich opened his race from the outside of the third row, qualifying twelfth with a fastest time of 1:28.014. Pietri raced in sixth position early in the contest, but he crashed out of the race hard while working lap 6, bringing out the red flag. Fortunately Robertino escaped without injury, but his day was over. Ulrich clawed his way up from 15th at the start to move inside the top ten, finishing ninth in the once red-flagged contest. With two races remaining for Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki in the 2008 AMA Superstock Championship season, Pietri is currently ranked seventh with 164 points while Ulrich, despite missing the Laguna Seca and Road America rounds due to a hand injury and riding at less than 100% since returning at Mid-Ohio, is ninth at 159. At the end of the weekend, Ulrich explained, “We messed around with some settings in practice and qualifying but we ended up going back to what we knew for the race. And in the race I just got tired — that’s all I had. This place is super physical and my fitness just isn’t where it needs to be after missing a lot of training following my injury. “My execution and lines weren’t perfect, either. That’s still coming back but we’re getting better. My hand is getting better too but I haven’t built my strength in it back up just yet. I need to go home and get in some training because I have to make up eight weeks on these guys. But we got ninth and beat one guy we’re chasing in the championship — which is good. “As for ‘Tino, fortunately he’s fine. He came off the top and hit the deck hard but bounced right back up. It’s a shame because he was quick. I know he is disappointed but he’ll come back strong in Atlanta. ‘Tino has a lot of fight in him and he’s always trying to do his best. “We’ve got two more rounds at tracks we both go very well at. Pietri’s form has been great and I was riding really well before I got hurt. We’ve had a bout of bad luck but we’re going to come back strong. We look forward to a few more top fives for the team before the end of the season, which would be a dream way to end the year.” Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will be back in action at Road Atlanta on August 29-31. More, from a press release issued by Buell: BUELL CLAIMS OVERALL MOTO-ST WIN AT HEARTLAND PARK Second Win of 2008 for 1125R Topeka, Kan. The No. 8 Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing Buell 1125R ridden by Shawn Higbee and Michael Barnes took its second overall SunTrust MOTO-ST series and Buell Motorcycle Company SuperSport Twins class wins at the Level 5 Heartland Park 500 presented by Hooters at Heartland Park Topeka on Aug 17. Despite a four-stop pit strategy that put the Buell squad at a one-stop disadvantage to the No. 75 Touring Sport Ducati 848 ridden by Doug Polen and Ryan Gordon, the No. 8 1125R was able to run a consistently fast enough pace to finish the 119-lap race with a one-minute, 36.262-secoond gap over the second place Ducati. “Early in the race we were concerned about front tire wear, and couldn’t run a full fuel load on the tires, so we changed our strategy to add another stop,” said Higbee. “That meant we needed to make up the gap with a faster pace, and we were able to do it.” The No. 8 narrowly missed claiming pole position the previous day when it failed a post-qualifying dynamometer test by a fraction of a horsepower, giving the position to the No. 1 Aprilia USA/Lloyd Brothers Motorsports Aprilia Tuono 1000R, which subsequently fell to fourth in the final order after a series of crashes. The overall and SST class wins are the second of the 2008 SunTrust MOTO-ST season for the Buell, following its debut win in the series’ third round at Road America in June. In the BMW Motorcycles GrandSport Twins (GST) class, the No. 70 James Gang/Hoban Brothers Racing Buell XB12R sponsored by Harley-Davidson/Buell of Appleton and ridden by Paul James, Jeff Johnson and Walt Sipp took third place and slipped from the lead in the GST class standings to second behind the No. 77 Ducati ridden by Frank Shockley and Brad Phillips, which took the class win. After the four rounds, the No. 77 Ducati team moved into first place in the GST Team standings with 156 points, followed by the No. 70 Buell team with 152 and the No. 69 Ducati team with 149. “We were pleased to extend our podium streak to eight straight in the GST class,” said Paul James. “Having Walt on the team with us was beneficial in developing our setup for Topeka, and he will ride for us again at the New Jersey round in two weeks. This is the home stretch and every point is critical in our chase for the championship.” To learn more about Buell motorcycles, visit your local Buell dealer today and experience the pure streetfighter attitude, style and performance only found on board a Buell. For the Buell dealer nearest you, pull into www.buell.com. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki News Service: Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing followed up yesterday’s AMA Superbike podium sweep at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia, with another one just like it on Sunday, marking the fifth such sweep for the Rockstar Makita Suzuki team of Mat Mladin, Ben Spies and Tommy Hayden. The second Superbike race of the double-header weekend again started with an all- Suzuki front row of the grid and ended with six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mladin notching his ninth Virginia win; his ninth win of the season; and his 72nd career Superbike win overall. Two-time and defending AMA Superbike Champion Spies started from pole position and brought home second place, successfully taking his 15th podium finish of the year. Rounding out the Rockstar Makita Suzuki podium in third place was again Hayden, who led the first lap of this 28-lap race. This finish is Hayden’s second podium in a row after being injured, and his sixth podium of the year. Currently, Spies leads the AMA Superbike title chase, Mladin is in second place and Hayden is in 10th. Mat Mladin: “It was a good race for us. It was a little bit cooler today and my Rockstar Makita Suzuki crew made a few changes to the GSX-R1000 that let me know that I could run a consistent pace. I tried to set a fast pace and pull away, and I was able to do that. VIR is a place that I’ve been able to win reasonably comfortably. It’s a traditional road course and it’s got a little bit of everything. I enjoy riding here. Right now, winning races is my priority and my goal, and if I can win a couple more races in Atlanta that would be fantastic.” Ben Spies: “We’re doing everything we can out there and we’re riding as hard as possible on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000. Thanks to my team for giving me a completely different motorcycle to race today though we just didn’t quite have enough for Mat today. But we’ll keep on riding as hard as we can every weekend. Even though we didn’t get the win, hats off to my team mates for a great race and going one-two-three for Rockstar Makita Suzuki.” Tommy Hayden: “I’ve really gotten my starts figured out in the last few weeks and that’s made a big difference for me. It was a less exciting race for the fans but I enjoyed being up there with my Rockstar Makita Suzuki team mates in first, second and third. My team mates are the best riders by far out here in my opinion and we are on the best bikes as well. It’s nice to have some momentum to finish off the season with and my goal is to be back up on the podium and keep the momentum going.” Superbike Results: 1. Mat Mladin (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) 2. Ben Spies (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) 3. Tommy Hayden (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) 4. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 5. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 6. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) 7. Neil Hodgson (Honda) 8. Geoff May (Suzuki) 9. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha) 10. Matt Lynn (Honda) More, from a press release issued by Corona Extra Honda Racing: HOLDEN TAKES SECOND FOR CORONA EXTRA HONDA IN VIR SUPERSTOCK Jake Holden continued his podium charge at this weekends AMA National at Virginia International raceway, taking his Corona Extra Racing SuperStock Honda CBR1000RR to second place in a drama filled race. Matt Lynn took his Honda CBR1000RR SuperBike to a best tenth in the second double header following an eighteenth in the first race, held back by a mechanical hiccup. Matt got down to business and lap times in SuperBike taking his new-from-the-ground-up Honda CBR1000RR to an excellent 12th on the grid, right next to the factory Honda of DuHamel. In the first race Matt got a good start and was making up some places when a brake problem slowed him down for a short while. The problem corrected itself and he set to catching the bikes ahead when his gear shift shaft broke bringing him into the pits. The crew did a frantic change and got him out again in short order. He put down a good pace and made time eventually bringing home the Honda in eighteenth place and in the points! Things did not go so well on Sunday with a high-side and hard get off in the morning practice. The crew rebuilt the bike in time for the start and a bruised Matt took to the grid. He rode a solid, conservative race and finished a fine tenth. Jake Holden was his usual lightning fast in SuperStock practice and qualifying, dicing with Yates for the top slot on the grid. A slight set-up issue coming off the corners robbed him of quick time by a few tenths and he settled for second on the grid. At the green flag Jake made his best start of the season but found himself squeezed into third at turn one. He charged for the next four laps nipping at the two in front until a red flag stopped the race. In the restart Jake did not duplicate his start and found himself in fourth. If took him a few laps to get past third place Chris Peris and go after the Yates and May who had broken away a little up front. The pressure on May told and he ran off the track leaving Jake to pick up the second slot, which he held to the finish. Jake said; “I took too long getting around Chris (Peris) and by then Aaron and Geoff had opened up a gap. I saw Geoff run off and was happy to take the spot!” Holden remains second in the points. More, from a press release issued by Jessica Zalusky’s publicist: Alton, VA- Jessica Zalusky wrapped up a successful weekend at Virginia International Raceway, August 15-17, for the ninth round of the AMA Superbike Championship, racing in both Formula Xtreme and Supersport. Zalusky qualified for both Formula Xtreme in drying conditions and Supersport with a best time of 1:34.244 aboard her Dunlop shod, Yamaha YZF-R6. In the Formula Xtreme race, Zalusky almost collided with another rider who lost control of his bike on the start and lost some ground on her competitors. Zalusky had tried to close the gap and finished respectively in 23rd position. In the Supersport race, Zalusky finished 29th. “I really wanted to do well at VIR and missed my opportunity in FX when I could have finished higher. I am content with both finishes, but am looking forward to improving upon my finishes. I’ve had the best time of my career racing the Yamaha YZF-R6, it is so fast and rides and handles like a dream,” Zalusky stated following the race. Following Virginia, Jessica will be a guest rider at an exciting trackday promotion held on August 20-21 and September 2-3 at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota. Yamaha and supporting Brainerd/Twin Cities area dealers have put together these events with NESBA and Brainerd International Raceway. Next on the AMA schedule for Zalusky is the last round for the season at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, September 27-28. Zalusky would like to thank her sponsors, crew, fans and supporters. If you would like more information on Jessica Zalusky and her upcoming races and promotions, visit www.roadracinggirl.com More, from a press release issued by Keith Amor’s publicist: Rain stops play for Amor at dismal Dundrod Keith Amor was denied his final opportunity of claiming an International race win in the 2008 season when torrential rain caused Saturday’s Ulster Grand Prix to be abandoned. The Wilson Craig Honda rider was hoping to crown an excellent season with a first time win at the Dundrod circuit but with severe weather hitting the whole of Northern Ireland, there was no chance of any racing taking place and cancellation was the only decision the organisers could make. With Wednesday’s practice sessions also cancelled, Keith’s only outings came in Thursday’s qualifying and with the track drying all the time, he was able to post some solid times. Fifth fastest in the Superbike class, Keith followed this up with seventh in the Supersport division, to ensure he was right in the mix in both classes. He also posted the 6th fastest time in the Superstock session despite only completing two laps after the engine blew on the Honda Fireblade. Sadly, that was the closest Keith or anyone else came to any race action and the colossal downpour on Saturday meant the entire race schedule was abandoned. Talking about the meeting Keith said: ‘What a disaster – I’ve honestly never seen rain like it. There was no way in this world that racing was going to happen on Saturday and we’d have been better off getting the water skis out! It’s a real shame as the circuit is awesome and the club have worked so hard on the safety side of things. I really feel for them and for all the fans that turned but the weather is something that is out of everybody’s control.’ ‘What practice we had was quite fraught and with the engine blowing on the Superstock machine we were going to have to race with a standard engine from a road bike! The times were good in all of the classes and I was quite happy with getting on the second row in all of them. Sadly, that was end of the week in terms of getting out on the circuit so let’s hope the club can rebuild and we can come back next year and have another go.’ More, from a press release issued by Ryan Farquhar’s publicist: Farquhar’s GP hopes thwarted by Ulster weather Ryan Farquhar’s hopes of success at Saturday’s Ulster Grand Prix were thwarted by the Irish weather and, after torrential rain hit the entire province, the organisers were left with little option other than to abandon the races, the first time in its 86-year history that such an outcome had occurred. Ryan came into the ‘Prix keen to add to his tally of 4 GP wins and his chances had been boosted by a late deal to ride the JMF Millsport Superbike and Supersport Yamaha’s alongside his regular Harker Kawasaki. However, right from the beginning of the event, circumstances conspired against the riders and Wednesday’s practice sessions also fell victim to the weather. Qualifying sessions were held on Thursday afternoon and Ryan was able to put his Harker Kawasaki into third place for the Superstock race, with his lap of 128.475mph inside the class lap record and only 0.767s off the pole position time. In the Supersport class, he took the R6 Yamaha to ninth on the grid in the drying conditions with times incredibly close. The wet Superbike session was not what Ryan required to set up the machine and with frequent visits to the pits to make adjustments, he was down in 17th. However, Thursday’s Dundrod 150 Superbike was also cancelled and with heavy rain falling all day on Saturday, the Ulster GP races were also called off with Ryan left to rue what might have been. Speaking on Sunday, the Dungannon rider said: ‘It’s really disappointing to have the meeting cancelled, especially as the organisers have put in so much work, but it’s just one of those things and there’s not a lot we can do about the weather – I’ve never seen floods like it. I was really looking forward to the Superstock and Supersport races as the bikes were working really well and I felt very confident that we would have been in contention for the wins so it’s a real shame.’ ‘We were struggling with the set-up on the Superbike as we simply didn’t have enough time to make the changes we wanted but, as it turned out, we never got the chance to race at all. Like, I say, there’s not a lot we can do about the weather so I’m looking forward now to the Manx Grand Prix. I’ve got some good machinery and I don’t think we’ll be too far away in either of the races so it should be good fun and I’m hopeful of grabbing some good results.’ Ryan will be riding Roger Winfield’s Paton and Honda machines in the Senior and Junior Classic Manx Grand Prix races with the races taking place on Monday 25th and Wednesday 27th August. More, from a press release issued by Seth Starnes’ publicist: All-Supply Racing would like to congratulate the team on a great weekend at VIR and an awesome 7th place finish for Seth at the finish line after starting dead last due to a technical infraction that will be protested first thing this week. “Starting 24th I was able to get up to 10th by the first red flag and with another great start was able to finish 7th by the end by gaining my last posistion at the finish line.” More, from a press release issued by Ducshop: Touring Sport Ducati One and Two at Topeka Touring Sport Ducati’s PS1000LE took its second consecutive victory in the GST National Championship of the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series this weekend at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas. The team also finished second in the SST National Championship on the team’s Ducati 848, closing the championship points gap to a mere three points on the factory Aprilia team. GST rider’s Frank Shockley and Brad Phillips took the lead from the RightsforBikers.com Ducati with nine laps to go and Shockley held on for the win against Justin Filice, increasing their championship points lead to four points. Doug Polen and Ryan Gordan struggled in the SST race, both suffering from food poisoning and Polen from leg cramps, and just couldn’t compete against the factory Buell. But the fourth place finish of the factory Aprilia team allowed the Ducati to close the gap on the Aprilia’s points rein. Both podium finishes strengthened Ducati’s manufacturer points standing. Ducati is leading the GST standings by 15 points and they’re now just three points shy of the SST points standing leaders. Ducshop proudly builds and maintains the engines of both the 848 and PS1000 and supplied much of the crew for the Kansas race. The team heads next to New Jersey for the penultimate round at Thunderbolt Raceway in just two weeks. More, from a press release issued by Heartland Park Topeka: BattleTwin & Superbike Shootout at Heartland Park Topeka Delivers Matt Hall takes home top spot in the inaugural event to win $5,000 TOPEKA, KS. – The Heartland Road Race Series BattleTwin and Superbike Shootout presented by Hooters drew national level racers to compete at Heartland Park Topeka. The race for cash purses was held before the Heartland 500 featuring SunTrust Moto-ST event held on Sunday, August 17. SunTrust Moto-ST racers including Doug Polen, Ty Howard, Michael Himmelsbach, Dustin Dominguez, Dane Westby, Danny Bilansky, Benny Carlson, Ryan O’Donnell, Eric Wilson, Eric Helmbach, Jeff Johnson competing in the Heartland 500 presented by Hooters used the inaugural event to get up to speed and test their machines against local talent. In the end, it was young gun Matt Hall of Kansas City Mo., who showed his speed and talent as the big winner of the day, taking the checker in the expert Middleweight GP, Unlimited GP and the premier race, Superbike against a stacked grid to take home over $6,000 in cash purses. “The day really went the well because of my motor. There was some great competition out there today and guys breathing down my neck, but everything just seemed to click today,” said Hall. Amateur racer Nick Salmen took home the win in the amateur races, superbike and Middleweight GP. Other winners of the day include Ryan O’Donnell, Kevin Weber, Dan Bilansky, Jeff Johnson, Brian Born and Melissa Appel all winning in their respective classes. FINAL ST (10 Laps) 1) 79 Ryan O’Donnell, 18:36.1 2) 422 Eric Wilson, 18:51.4 3) 427 Eric Helmbach, 19:06.4 FINAL GST AM (10 Laps) 1) 131 Kevin Weber, 20:21.6 FINAL SST (10 Laps) 1) 93 Jeff Johnson FINAL MIDDLEWEIGHT GP (10 laps) 1) 74 Matt Hall, 17:50.0 2) 131 Jeffrey Purk, 18:15.1 3) 79 Ryan O’Donnell, 18:18.4 4) 24 Scotty Ryan, 18:18.8 5) 791 Kurt Stock, 18:19.2 6) 22 Greg Anderson, 18:35.3 7) 46 Meghan Stiles, 18:47.6 8) 61 James Milroy, 18:52.6 9) 84 Scott Ackerman, 18:59.3 10) 67 John Deuser, 19:00.3 11) 12 Brent Wood, 19:01.4 12) 90 Nick Spooner, 19:13.2 FINAL MIDDLEWEIGHT GP AM (10 Laps) 1) 51 Nick Salmen, 19:24.7 2) 303 Phillip Gordon, 19:34.2 3) 179 Rich Wu, 19:34.9 4) 144 Gary Dick, 18:14.4 5) 109 Mike McConchie, 18:18.8 6) 507 Joseph Wolff, 18:41.7 FINAL LIGHTWEIGHT GP (10 Laps) 1) 11 Dan Bilanksy, 18:46.7 2) 98 Josh Smith-Moore, 19:26.8 3) 74 Matt Hall, 19:27.3 4) 427 Eric Helmbach, 19:54.9 5) 422 Eric Wilson, 20:01.4 6) 124 Kevin Clark, 20:27.9 FINAL LIGHTWEIGHT GP AM (10 Laps) 1) 481 Brian Born, 20:25.7 2) 27 Hector St. John, 20:27.7 3) 131 Kevin Weber, 20:29.2 FINAL UNLIMITED GP (10 Laps) 1) 74 Matt Hall, 18:14.1 2) 68 Dustin Dominguez, 18:25.9 3) 131 Jeffrey Purk, 18:32.5 4) 24 Scotty Ryan, 18:34.6 5) 145 Robert Oliva, 19:01.5 6) 74x Darnell Dorsey, 19:02.5 7) 118 Jason Swan, 19:17.7 8) 90 Nick Spooner, 19:38.8 9) 179 Rich Wu, 19:52.7 FINAL UNLIMITED GP AM (10 Laps) 1) 711 Melissa Appel, 19:51.8 2) 303 Phillip Gordon, 19:53.2 FINAL SUPERBIKE AM (7 Laps) 1) 51 Nick Salmen, 14:08.9 2) 303 Phillip Gordon, 14:09.6 3) 711 Melissa Appel, 14:19.4 4) 507 Joseph Wolff, 14:49.5 5) 109 Mike McConchie, 12:51.2 FINAL SUPERBIKE (20 Laps) 1) 74 Matt Hall, 35:03.0 2) 6 Mike Himmelshach, 35:38.5 3) 68 Dustin Dominguez, 35:50.5 4) 131 Jeffrey Purk , 35:50.8 5) 75 Doug Polen, 35:53.3 6) 11 Danny Bilansky, 36:04.8 7) 25 Ben Carlson, 36:14.1 8) 79 Ryan O’Donnell, 36:26.2 9) 145 Robert Oliva, 35:16.3 10) 84 Scott Ackerman, 35:19.5 11) 375 Brian Johnson, 35:19.9 12) 46 Meghan Stiles, 35:19.9 13) 61 James Milroy, 35:27.2 14) 118 Jason Swan, 35:33.4 15) 791 Kurt Stock, 30:54.3 16) 35 Ty Howard, 28:43.5 17) 21 Chris Carey, 15:43.4 18) 24 Scotty Ryan, 13:29.9 19) 213 Dane Westby, 15.401 Heartland Park Topeka, a multi-purpose racing facility located in Topeka, Kan. annually hosts National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), Sports Car Club of America (SCCA), World of Outlaws (WoO) and many other drag racing, road racing and dirt racing events throughout the race season. More, from a press release issued by Skunk Racing: HALE SWEEPS ALL FOUR AFM RACES ENTERED Skunk Racing sponsored rider Lenny Hale was at it again this past weekend for an AFM race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA. Climbing aboard his Pirelli shod Yamaha R6, Hale gave spectators and fellow racers their money’s worth as he cleaned house, winning all 600 and 750 races. Lenny began Sunday off with a bang in 750 Production leading from flag to flag on his 600 despite the displacement disadvantage. Within several laps Hale had opened a sizeable lead and put it on cruise control to bring home a first place in his opening race. Hale found himself in a bit of a predicament in 600 Production; as his mechanic was unable to set his tyre pressures in time before he ventured out for his warm-up lap. About the mishap Hale said: “I kinda had a feeling something was up cause the bike was chattering all over. I just figured one of my buddies was messing with my suspension or something when I wasn’t looking. The thing was tucking and sliding in and out of every corner it seemed like! Talk about an adrenaline rush!” As the green flag flew Hale began an outstanding battle with Garrett Willis swapping back and forth for the lead several times each lap. Lenny was somehow able to keep things in good enough order to come home with the win at the checkered, but not by a very large margin. After Lenny’s tyres were given time to cool off the pressures were checked and were found to be at 48 psi in the front and 41 psi in the rear. Quite a stretch from what Pirelli techs recommend of 28 psi front and 22 psi rear cold. After an interesting experience in the 600 race, 750 SBK was a breeze. Hale saw no trouble in jumping to the front and again had a runaway victory on his Yamaha R6. After the race Hale exclaimed “That 600 Production race was actually more fun! It took some of the fun out having things sorted out. With that high pressure it was like playing MotoGP on my PS2: slide, tuck, slide, tuck, save, almost highside, tuck, black mark, finish Haha.?” In the final race of the day Lenny was able to establish a lead on fellow rider Garrett Willis from the get go, until Garrett made a push and caught up. After trading paint for several corners Lenny got the better of it and went on to pull a bit of a lead and secure his fourth win of the day. After the day concluded Hale commented: “Well, I suppose this was one of the more exciting weekends that I’ve ever been involved with for sure. All the dicing was right up my alley. Seriously, if I could rub elbows with someone every race I would never get off my bike. I mean that is what racing is all about. I haven’t really worked out in 6 months I think, so I’m kinda surprised I made it through he day in one piece.” Lenny’s next race will be on the 30th and 31st of August at Pacific Raceways in Auburn, WA. More, from a press release issued by John McGuinness’ publicist: McGuinness sunk at Ulster GP There was disappointment for Morecambe’s John McGuinness at the weekend when Saturday’s Ulster Grand Prix was abandoned due to severe weather affecting all of Northern Ireland. With almost the entire month’s rain falling in one day, the organisers were faced with a relatively straightforward decision and although they delayed events as long as possible in the hope of a let up in the weather, the meeting was eventually called off at 2.00pm. McGuinness had been due to race in the Superbike and 250cc races and had looked strong in Thursday’s qualifying sessions around the 7.4-mile Dundrod circuit. The Padgett’s Honda rider put his 250cc Honda onto the front row of the grid in 4th place with a lap of 114.566mph whilst he also ended up 9th in the Superbike class, although he was confident that he would be at the forefront in the two big bike races on his TT-winning Honda Fireblade. Sadly, it wasn’t to be and the British summer again reared it’s ugly head to ensure that the weather grabbed all the headlines rather than the racing. Speaking later, John said: ‘I’m really disappointed that we didn’t get to race today but it was definitely the right, and only, decision that could be made. The rain was terrible and if there’s one thing we can’t control it’s the weather. I really feel for everyone involved, especially the organisers and all of the fans who turned up, despite the horrible conditions. The bikes were working well during qualifying but it wasn’t meant to be this year and I’ll have to wait another 12 months to see if I can grab my first Superbike win at Dundrod.’ John will now turn his attentions back to the British Supersport Championship with the latest round taking place on Monday August 25th at Cadwell Park.