Geoff May Finishes Fourth Aboard The #00 Yamalube/Westby Racing Yamaha R1 In Superstock 1000 Race 2 At Circuit Of The Americas
Austin, TX – With a scant number of laps aboard the #00 Yamalube/Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1, rider Geoff May continued his steep learning curve in MotoAmerica Superstock 1000 Race 2 on Sunday at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA).
Geoff improved on his seventh-place finish in Saturday’s Race 1 and finished just off the Superstock 1000 podium in fourth place. The Yamalube/Westby Racing team worked diligently over the past few days to get Geoff comfortable on the new motorcycle, and their efforts paid off. The dry track conditions in Sunday’s race also helped, giving Geoff a more consistent race surface on which to exploit the performance characteristics of the brand-new-for-2015 R1.
Starting from twelfth position on the grid, and the sixth-fastest Superstock 1000 rider in qualifying, Geoff was able to make good progress during the race, which resulted in a respectable fourth-place result.
The Yamalube/Westby Racing team will continue to develop their brand-new R1, and they’re looking forward to returning to action next weekend at the Road Atlanta Superbike Challenge in Braselton, Georgia.
More, from a press release issued by Team Hammer PR:
ANTHONY AND M4 SPORTBIKETRACKGEAR.COM ON THE PODIUM IN TEXAS
Team Hammer kicked off a new era of motorcycle road racing in the United States in spectacular fashion this weekend in Austin, Texas. The new MotoAmerica series opened for business on the biggest stage imaginable,sharing the spotlight with the superstars of the MotoGP World Championship at the Circuit of the Americas. Long-time AMA standout David Anthony made the most of that opportunity, securing a podium result in his first-ever ride with M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki.
The Australian put his GSX-R600 on the second row, qualifying in sixth position with a time of 2:14.983. He then demonstrated his mastery of changeable conditions in Saturday’s race, battling up to third in the Supersport season opener despite treacherous rainy conditions that caught out a number of front-runners.
“The weather was changing,” Anthony explained. “It was a raining a little bit, and then it was raining a lot. It was very different conditions from one part of the track to another part of the track. With the water coming down, we had some little rivers out there and everything. It was very inconsistent, the conditions out there.
“This is the first time being out on the Supersport bike in a long time. We ran Superbike for quite a few years now — as long as I can remember. To jump in on a different program… everything is different for me. I’ve never ridden for a team like this before. It’s just totally different, so to be out there and get the result and be on the podium… what more could I ask for?”
Anthony entered 2015 coming off a breakthrough Superbike season in 2014. He scored the first premier class podium result of his career, and then backed it up with another runner-up result en route to fifth in the final championship standings. Now he finds himself with the added of advantage of being able to rely on the experience and expertise of his M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki crew, which allows the talented racer to focus solely on his riding as opposed to the daily concerns of also running his own race program.
Anthony explained, “I’ve always had a good team around me, but when you’re the man in charge, it makes it a bit hard. You’ve got to think about other things, and it’s not just riding the bike. Now it’s my job to ride the bike; that’s what I do. I can put everything into training. I’m a motorcycle racer now, not a team owner. Before this, I was always a team owner first, motorcycle racer second. So far I’m liking it. We were pretty close in the dry. So either way — wet or dry — I think we would have been pretty close. Moving forward, we’re definitely looking to get some more podiums.”
Teammate Melissa Paris also picked up three positions on her qualifying position in the race. After qualifying 16th at 2:23.913, Paris came home in 13th position in the ’15 season opener.
There’s no time for Team Hammer to catch its collective breath; the 2015 season picks right back up next weekend (April 17-19) at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, for Round 2.
This year marks Team Hammer’s 35th consecutive season of operating as a professional road racing team. During that time, racebikes built and fielded by Team Hammer have won 59 AMA Pro National races, have finished on AMA Pro National podiums 137 times and have won five AMA Pro National Championships, (the most recent in 2012), as well as two FIM South American championships. The team has also won 133 endurance races overall (including seven 24-hour races) and won 13 Overall WERA National Endurance Championships with Suzuki motorcycles, and holds the U.S. record for mileage covered in a 24-hour race. The team also competed in the televised 1990s Formula USA National Championship, famously running “Methanol Monster” GSX-R1100 Superbikes fueled by methanol, and won the F-USA Championship four times.
More, from a press release issued by Geiger Media Global:
Weekend in Austin leaves GEICO Suzuki’s Chris Ulrich wanting more
AUSTIN, Texas — After getting off to a fast start in the second MotoAmerica Superbike race, GEICO Suzuki rider Chris Ulrich’s day came to an early end at the Circuit of the Americas following a mechanical issue.
“I got a really good start today and was riding in the top 10,” Ulrich said. “I was looking to keep moving up from there. I had a good pace going and knew I could pick those guys off as the race went on and we got stronger.
“Around Lap 3 or 4 though, I went to downshift and it popped out of gear, causing me to lose a little ground. Then on the back straightaway it pushed wide and I didn’t really understand why, so I lost time there as well. The next time around the bike shut off just like it did in qualifying, which was a problem caused by a speed sensor. Right then I thought, ‘This isn’t good.’ I came in, we changed the speed sensor, and I went back out.
“A few laps later the bike was good and I got back into a rhythm with good lap times. We were a few laps down, but we just wanted to finish the race at that point. A couple of laps later though the bike died over in Turn 8. I made it to Turn 11 before it wouldn’t go anymore, and that was the end of my day.”
Despite not finishing the race like he had hoped, Ulrich was able to pull a few positives from Sunday’s showing that the team can use to prepare for the next round of competition.
“The good thing about today is that we showed a good pace,” Ulrich said. “Especially with all the challenges from yesterday, we can work off of that and go on from there. It was also good to be able to be up there racing in the thick of things today.
“We’ll take what we learned, go on home, make some changes, and then head on to Atlanta.”
Ulrich and the GEICO Suzuki team will look to rebound next week when the MotoAmerica series heads to Road America for the third and fourth rounds of racing action.
More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing:
Sensational Victories for the YZF-R1 at MotoAmerica Series Debut
The YZF-R1 dazzled during the opening round of the MotoAmerica Series, which saw Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha team’s Josh Hayes and Cameron Beaubier tied for the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship lead after a thrilling double one-two at Circuit of The Americas (COTA).
Despite Saturday’s challenging track conditions during a rain soaked first race, defending Superbike Champion Josh Hayes had a great start off the line and did not relinquish his lead once. Teammate Beaubier was not far behind. Starting from pole, he positioned himself in the top three early on in the race and soon moved up the order. He took second over the line, making it a one-two result for the all-new YZF-R1 on its 2015 MotoAmerica Series debut.
The second race on Sunday was dry and brought even more excitement. The Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha riders had fans on the edge of their seats when Hayes tried to take the lead from Beaubier in the last turn of the final lap. It was a brave move by the veteran rider, but the youngster wasn’t willing to give up the victory. He quickly shut the door and took his first win of the season with scuffs on his leathers from his teammate’s front tyre.
The MotoAmerica’s Superstock 1000 class also saw some great racing action from Yamaha. The Superstock series races conjointly with Superbike, but this didn’t faze RoadRace Factory/Yamaha rider Jake Gagne. He rode his Superstock YZF-R1 to a win in his class and was fourth overall, leaving all Superbike competitors behind him except for those that stood on the rostrum. On the Superstock podium he was joined by fellow Yamaha rider Tyler O’Hara in third.
Gagne followed up on this success in the second Superstock 1000 race by mirroring the double-podium claimed by the YZF-R1 in the Superbike category. Once again he finished on the top-step, this time with Taylor Knapp Racing’s Taylor Knapp grabbing third.
The MotoAmerica Supersport class had only one race scheduled at COTA on the Saturday, but the Yamalube/Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha Supersport team made sure to make it count. Rider JD Beach didn’t let the difficult moist track conditions catch him out and smoothly rode his Yamaha YZF-R6 to the win, with teammate Garrett Gerloff following in second place.
Yamaha comes away from COTA with two victories and two second places in Superbike, along with two wins and two third places in Superstock 1000 and a one-two in Supersport, leaving the teams in high spirits for round two of the MotoAmerica Series at Road Atlanta this weekend.