Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Mladin Wins Unprecedented 7th Superbike Championship Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Hayden brings home 2nd at VIR Round 10 AMA Superbike Series, Race 2 Alton, Virginia Virginia International Raceway August 14-16, 2009 Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Mat Mladin won his seventh AMA Superbike Championship with two races remaining in the series at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) in Alton, Virginia, on Sunday afternoon. Mladin finished second in Saturday’s race and then clinched the title when he finished ninth in Sunday’s race at the double-header Superbike weekend. Mladin’s career with Suzuki has spanned 13 racing seasons and in that time the Australian’s record-setting ways have been remarkable. With Suzuki, Mladin now has an unprecedented seven AMA Superbike championships and an astounding 78 AMA Superbike wins. Additionally, Mladin has a record number of career pole positions with 62 and he is also the only rider to take every pole position in a single season 10 out of 10 in 2005. Finally, he also holds the record for being the rider with the most AMA Superbike wins in a single season 12 victories in 2007. With plans to retire at the end of this year, Mladin and Suzuki have truly been formidable. Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate Tommy Hayden fared very well at VIR. The Kentucky rider finished fifth in Saturday’s race and then improved upon that significantly on Sunday by bringing home a second-place finish. This result is Hayden’s ninth AMA Superbike podium finish of the season. Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Blake Young struggled a bit, finishing sixth on Saturday and seventh on Sunday. Even so, the rookie Superbike rider ran with the frontrunners during both races. Mat Mladin: “It’s nice to get the championship done and all wrapped up”¦ My Rockstar Makita Suzuki guys are fantastic and it’s been a pretty amazing run. We’ve won a lot of championships as a team and over the last 10 years it’s been pretty amazing from the first one I won in 1999 all the way through to this year. What with Ben (Spies) winning three over the last few years, it’s hard to believe that there will be that many championships won in a 10-year span again by one manufacturer. It’s been nice to be a part of it and it’s been fun building it.” Tommy Hayden: “Definitely today was a lot better for me. I got a lot better start on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 and I put myself in a lot better position. Also, my crew did a great job overnight and that’s when the biggest improvement we made all year happened, from Saturday to Sunday. So my hat’s off to them they definitely gave me a bike that I was a lot more comfortable on today and I could push and ride it the way I wanted to. Also, congratulations to Mat he’s had an awesome career and he’s been a great teammate, I’ve learned a lot. I have big shoes to fill now with him gone but I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully, I can keep up the standards that he’s set over the last few years.” Blake Young: “It was a good weekend for us in that we learned a lot. I think that we have the potential to run up front but we missed the set-up a little bit this weekend. But sometimes that’s how it goes and we’ll try to take what we learned this weekend and apply it to the last two races at New Jersey.” Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing will race next at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, New Jersey, the weekend of September 4-6, 2009. AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers: 1. Josh Hayes, Yamaha 2. Tommy Hayden, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing 3. Ben Bostrom, Yamaha 4. Larry Pegram, Ducati 5. Aaron Yates, Jordan Suzuki 6. Taylor Knapp, Suzuki 7. Blake Young, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing 8. Neil Hodgson, Honda 9. Mat Mladin, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing 10. Jake Holden, Honda AMA Superbike Points Standings: 1. Mat Mladin, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing 2. Tommy Hayden, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing 3. Josh Hayes, Yamaha 4. Ben Bostrom, Yamaha 5. Larry Pegram, Ducati 6. Blake Young, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing 7. Aaron Yates, Jordan Suzuki 8. Geoff May, National Guard Jordan Suzuki 9. Taylor Knapp, Suzuki 10. Jake Holden, Honda More, from a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing: Mladin Takes 7th AMA Pro American Superbike Title as Yamaha Sweeps VIR with Hayes and Herrin Perfect Weekend for Hayes; Herrin Doubles in Daytona SportBike; SuperSport East Title Day’s ALTON, Va. – Mat Mladin (No. 7 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000) clinched a record-extending seventh AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike presented by Parts Unlimited championship Sunday at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) where Yamaha riders Josh Hayes (No. 4 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) and Josh Herrin (No. 8 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6) each earned the title of Big Kahuna for sweeping the weekend’s races. Hayes led every lap from the Superpole in both yesterday’s race and the Sunday American Superbike final while Herrin raced from fifth on the grid to first in both AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL races. The near-perfect performance was Yamaha’s first AMA Pro Road Racing double-class sweep in history. “All of these guys have been riding great this weekend,” said Hayes, who also swept the Mid-Ohio weekend two races ago. “Today’s race was considerably faster than yesterday. Everybody was just riding good and the R1 was definitely the bike to have this weekend. Congratulations to these guys. Congratulations to Mat, he’s a deserving champion. He’s won all of these races, he deserves it and I hate that he’s going away because he’s definitely someone that we learn from on the race track. Congratulations to him.” Hayes raced after his wife and fellow competitor Melissa Paris (No. 13 MarkBilt Yamaha YZF-R6) suffered a tibia/fibula fracture of her right leg in a multi-rider incident at the start of the Daytona SportBike race two hours before the American Superbike final. Paris was transported to Danville Regional Medical Center (DRMC) for treatment while Hayes prepared to race. “That’s never easy and no one likes seeing someone they love get hurt,” said Hayes, who saw his wife right after the incident at the VIR Medical Center. “Melissa’s a racer and she’s tough too. When I saw her in the medical center she hadn’t shed a tear yet. She’s tough, you know. When I got into this I knew part of being a motorcycle racer is sometimes you fall down, you break bones, things like that happen. Had she hit her head, something like that, it might have been a tougher story today. A broken leg is terrible, but it’s part of this sport. As soon as we’re done here I’m going to go check on my wife and see what we’ve got to do to make her comfortable. Had I not won today, it would have been really tough to show my face to her again after yesterday and I’m really glad I could do this, and do it for her.” Mladin beat Hayes into Turn 1 at the race start, but the Yamaha rider retook the lead in the same turn one lap later and steadily pulled away from the field. Hayes crossed the finish line 6.830 seconds ahead of Tommy Hayden (No. 22 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000). Hayes’ teammate Ben Bostrom (No. 2 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) charged through the field from 12th on the starting grid to take the final podium spot for the second consecutive day. Hayes now has five American Superbike wins this season, second only to 10 victories by Mladin, who sealed the championship with a steady run to ninth place on Sunday. Mladin’s American Superbike title is his first since 2005 and his other championships came in 2004, 2003, 2001, 2000 and 1999. “It’s nice to get it done and tie it up,” said Mladin, who recently announced he will retire at the end of this year. “That’s about it really, we’ve done a lot of hard work at the start of the year and then, the last couple of months, been going through the motions. These guys will battle it out from now on and into the future. It’s been a great career and I’m really looking forward to being able to go for a run every day because I want to, not because I have to.” Mladin’s No. 7 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 team also clinched the 2009 American Superbike Team Championship. “These guys are fantastic,” Mladin said. “It’s been a pretty amazing run. We’ve obviously won a lot of championships as a team over the last 10 years. It’s been pretty amazing from the first one in 1999 all the way through to this year, with Ben (Spies) winning a few, three in the last few years. It’s hard to believe that that many will ever be won in 10 years again by one manufacturer. It’s been nice to be part of it and part of building it. It’s been good fun.” Hayden, the only rider still alive in the championship heading into Sunday’s race, had a great battle with Bostrom for second place. “I knew someone was right there and then I could start hearing Ben when he closed up on me,” said Hayden, who has finished in the top three in half of this year’s 18 races. “He got by and I was following him for a few laps. I thought I could get back by him and maybe I could run a better pace the last five or six laps and it kinda worked out. I was able to get by, stepped it up a little bit and got through traffic good. Then I was pretty smooth after that. Congratulations to Josh on an awesome weekend, Ben pushed the whole way, and definitely to Mat. What an awesome career. He’s been a great teammate, I’ve learned a lot.” Bostrom’s third-place showing was his eighth top-three finish of the year. “I didn’t think I had much for Josh today, he was really, really unstoppable this weekend,” Bostrom said. “Mat and Josh are pretty incredible here, and Tommy’s had a lot of wins as well. I did enjoy the race actually, it was pretty hairball at the first turn. The Yamaha was great, it went through the guys and by the time I got back up to second I had either used up myself or my tire. I don’t usually get to race Tommy, that was enjoyable. Josh set sail. Mat was chillin out, like ‘I’ve got this thing worked out and I’ve won the war.’ The worst thing about it is losing Mat Mladin, he’s the greatest champion we’ve had in this sport and the benchmark for every one of us. It’s the reason I’m riding this class, this year, I came to race him.” Larry Pegram (No. 72 Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing Ducati 1098R), who is the year’s only other race winner, finished fourth. Aaron Yates (No. 23 Brand Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000) rounded out the top five. Although Mladin has clinched the American Superbike championship with his current total of 427 points, the remainder of the top five are close heading into the season-ending race at New Jersey Motorsports Park on Labor Day weekend. Hayden is second with 348 points, Hayes has jumped to third with 344 markers, Bostrom is fourth with 315 points and Pegram is a close fifth with 313 points. Sunday’s action from the Big Kahuna will air in a two-hour show on SPEED tonight at Midnight ET (9 p.m. PT). Daytona SportBike Double Herrin went two-for-two after another AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL thriller and withstood a late charge from a resurgent Danny Eslick (No. 9 GEICO Powersports/RMR Buell 1125R), who crossed the finish line 1.874 seconds behind the winner. Herrin’s teammate Tommy Aquino (No. 6 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6) rebounded from a spill in yesterday’s final to finish third. “That was a real fun race,” Herrin said. “As soon as I heard the Buell coming I just tried to hold him off for a couple more laps so I could run away. It ended up working out exactly how I wanted to. My pit board said there were three laps left, and there were four laps left, so I actually had to make an extra lap. It was a really good race, everybody rode a good race, it was clean and lots of fun.” After an uneventful ride to seventh place yesterday, Eslick returned to form on Sunday and charged to the front from 12th on the grid. On Lap 19 alone he moved from fifth to second, taking the final spot in a daring move by Herrin in the dirt. Herrin took the spot back later in the lap but both riders were battling for first place the lap after that when leader Roger Hayden (No. 95 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) over shot a corner. “I guess I forgot about the championship for awhile, I don’t know,” Eslick said. “I didn’t really think about it too much, just tried to ride a good, hard race and go forward. We made some changes overnight to the bike, nothing real major. We knew it wasn’t anything real big that was holding us back, just made some adjustments on the shock and changed the gearing a little bit. Just those two small things made all the difference. We were able to run the pace there at the beginning or at least stay consistent and not let the guys get too far away, just run good laps. I knew I had something going I just didn’t know I was going to be that strong at the end.” Aquino, who has hit the podium at least once per weekend in the last three events, had high praise for his Team Graves Yamaha crew that worked on his bike until the early morning hours last night. “My team did such a great job,” Aquino said. “They put a lot of work in. I did buy a big Band-Aid magnet at the store to bring some humor to it. They made the bike to almost perfectly how it was yesterday. I felt really good yesterday, just where I was today. The race was crazy. I was at the back, at the front. The race was just really hard, it was hot out there.” Pole-sitter Taylor Knapp (No. 54 Latus Motors Racing Buell 1125R) also recovered from a Saturday lowside to finish fourth while Hayden, who led a race-high 14 laps, completed the top five. Knapp led the opening lap of the race and the only other leader was Jake Zemke (No. 1x Erion Racing Honda CBR600RR), who ended up seventh after running up front for three laps. Martin Cardenas (No. 36 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600) finished 11th as he struggled with a broken right hand sustained in Friday’s practice session. That result and a ninth place finish in Saturday’s Daytona SportBike final has seen him lose 17 points to championship leader Eslick after coming into the race tied at the top of the standings. Eslick now has 357 points, Cardenas has 340 markers and Herrin further improved in third with 321 points. Sunday’s race was red flagged and completely restarted after an opening lap incident in Turn 1 that saw riders Paris and Brent Lyskawa transported to DRMC. Lyskawa’s precautionary CT scan was negative. Later in the Daytona SportBike race, Jason DiSalvo (No. 40 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600) was treated at the track medical facility after his right knee hit a curb at speed while running third. DiSalvo rode his bike off course and retired after the incident. He was examined and released by the VIR Medical Staff after X-Rays were negative. DiSalvo has a deep bruise on his right knee. Sunday’s action from the Big Kahuna will air in a two-hour show on SPEED tonight at Midnight ET (9 p.m. PT). SuperSport Title Day In Sunday’s AMA Pro SuperSport presented by Shoei final, Josh Day (No. 4 Team E.S.P. Yamaha YZF-R6) continued his recent hot streak straight to the East Division championship with his third consecutive victory. Day turned in another dominating ride from the pole and led J.D. Beach (No. 73 Rockwall Performance/Red Bull Yamaha YZF-R6) across the finish line by 9.881 seconds. Day clinched the SuperSport East title one race before the season-ending event in New Jersey. “We’ve really got good momentum going so far, these past three races have really been good for us,” said Day, who also won at Mid-Ohio and Topeka. “I’m so glad we’ve been up front, running and winning races so far at the end of the season. I wish we could have done it at the beginning but we also have the East Championship wrapped up, so I’m pretty excited about that. I’ll be ready for New Jersey at the end.” Beach came out on top of a great battle with Garrett Carter (No. 31 Ridersdiscount.com/Woodcraft Yamaha YZF-R6) who finished third. “Me and Garrett had a great battle,” Beach said. “We battled before at Mid-Ohio, so I knew he was good and smooth. With two laps to go, or one lap to go, he got ahead of me. I knew all weekend I’ve been coming out of the last turn good so I just tried to get a good drive. I ended up getting it and just getting by him.” Carter, who won earlier this year at Barber Motorsports Park, gave the competition in SuperSport high marks. “I tried to get the best drive I could, but J.D. got me on the line,” Carter said. “Congratulations to Josh for winning the championship. He’s riding amazing, can’t even stop him, I don’t even know what to do. Hopefully we’ll go to New Jersey and give Josh a run and J.D. and everyone else. It hasn’t just been one rider up front the whole time. It’s really been great competition out there, three or four riders out at the front is really fun to race with.” Day’s current total of 158 points is out of reach of the competition. Russ Wikle (No. 5 Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R600), who finished 10th Sunday, is second with 90 points and Beach has moved to third with 86 markers. Leandro Mercado (No. 92 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) was Day’s distant but closest challenger coming into the VIR weekend, but his title chances went away when he lowsided while chasing Day in second place. Mercado was uninjured but fell from second to fourth in the championship standings with 81 points. Joey Pascarella (No. 25 LTD Racing Yamaha YZF-R6), who was also unhurt in a Lap 1 lowside, is fifth in the standings with 78 points. Just after Pascarella’s incident, Cory Rech (No.7 AB1 Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R600) crashed and the race was red flagged and restarted. Rech, who was part of the winning GT2 team in yesterday’s SunTrust Moto-GT race, was transported directly to DRMC for a fracture of his right femur after the incident. Highlights of today’s SuperSport race can be seen in a two-hour show on SPEED tonight at Midnight ET (9 p.m. PT). AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. From its Daytona Beach headquarters, the organization operates and manages AMA Pro Road Racing, which includes AMA Pro American Superbike, AMA Pro Daytona SportBike, AMA Pro SuperSport and AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT. AMA Pro Racing also manages and works closely with the day-to-day operational organizations of the AMA Pro Flat Track Championship and the AMA Pro Supermoto Championship Series in addition to other two-wheel and ATV series. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com. More, from a press release issued by Pegram Racing: PEGRAM SCORES FOURTH IN VIRGINIA SUPERBIKE Alton, VA — Foremost Insurance Pegram Ducati’s Larry Pegram had another strong run in the Sunday AMA Pro American Superbike race at Virginia International Raceway. Pegram and Ducati, winners of three 2009 AMA Pro American Superbike races, earned yet another top-five result. Larry charged towards the front, passing Mat Mladin and Blake Young in the middle portions of the 23-lap race. Larry challenged for a podium finish and eventually crossed the finish line on his Ducati 1098R in fourth. “We ran a good pace today and it was a fun, tough race,” said Pegram. “I got there, I just couldn’t make the passes so I was waiting until the end and unfortunately had some problems with lapped traffic.” “Lap-time wise, I was pretty even with Ben (Bostrom) and Tommy (Hayden). I think we were on pace with them and behind Josh (Hayes) a little,” said Pegram. “Fourth place is a good finish but we were hoping for a little bit more this weekend. This has historically been a tough track for us but we showed we can compete here and we’re looking forward to New Jersey now.” The season finale in New Jersey is August 4-6. For more information on Team Foremost Pegram Racing please visit www.pegramracing.com. To learn more about Ducati’s line of racing inspired motorcycles and the 1098R that Larry piloted to victory at Road America and Kansas, please visit www.ducatiusa.com. More, from a press release issued by LTD Racing: PASCARELLA FIFTH IN SUPERSPORT, NASH 20TH IN DAYTONA SPORTBIKE AT VIR Alton, VA — LTD Racing had a dramatic day at the track at VIR on Sunday, one that challenged not only the three fast teen racers but the mechanics, as well. At the end of the day, the team had three top-ten results in SuperSport as well as another top-20 finish in Daytona SportBike. Huntley Nash backed up yesterday’s 19th place with 20th in Sunday’s Daytona SportBike race. Despite being collected in a crash that caused a red flag, the LTD Racing crew was able to perform the repairs to his machine (including the radiator) and he restarted from the rear of the grid. Huntley, in his first weekend racing Daytona SportBike, made progress throughout the race to earn his second result inside the top 20. “The first start was crazy and I got caught up in the chain reaction,” said Nash. “The crew did a great job getting my bike ready for the restart.” Despite finishing 19th and 20th, Nash was classified 21st overall due to the way AMA Pro calculates the prize money and he did not receive any purse for the weekend. For the Supersport race, Huntley ran with a tight group contesting fourth much of the event. “I was feeling pretty good. After the red flag, I got a good start and was up to fifth for a lot of the race. I had a good battle with Reece Wacker and Joey (Pascarella) and Lloyd Worrell. Joey got past and then Lloyd got by at the end but we were pretty happy with seventh.” Doing double duty was rewarding for Nash. “I feel really exhausted but that considered I feel great,” said Nash. “The team got me on a good program for riding both classes and it helped. Hey, I’m ready for round two.” Joey Pascrella ran as high as second before the red flag, but a crash and subsequent restart at the rear meant a fifth place result was the best he could do on Sunday. The former points leader did his injured arm no favors in the fall, either. “I was pretty upset when I crashed. I was running second,” said Pascarella. “The team got the bike repaired and I started at the back. I got a good start and then after that I tried to ride smart because I didn’t want to hit the ground again. I was happy to move up to fifth. We’ll take it. I want to thank the mechanics for working so hard for us. It meant a lot.” Tomas Puerta earned ninth in the race, assuring all the LTD Racing Yamahas finished in the top ten. “The race was going good but the pace was pretty hot. The other guys I was racing with were going quite fast and I struggled to keep up with my injured wrist. I’m not quite fully recovered yet. I felt like I needed to finish and get points and I was able to get ninth.” LTD Racing will return to action September 4-6 in New Jersey. More, from a press release issued by Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki: WIKLE SECOND IN AMA PRO SUPERSPORT EAST POINTS Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki continued to make progress during the penultimate round of the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing season at Virginia International Raceway. Chris Ulrich found some more positives with his ’09 GSX-R1000 and left the weekend optimistic that the team is headed in the right direction while Russ Wikle picked up a top-ten result in SuperSport to enter the final race of the East Division season ranked second in the points. Ulrich helped initiate a new program by legendary tuners Yoshimura by running a customer engine at VIR as Yosh prepares to offer those services in the paddock next season. The Californian qualified 14th fastest at 1:26.856 for the weekend’s twin 50-mile AMA Pro American Superbike races. Saturday’s final was a grueling affair with the bike’s set-up proving uncooperative, further exasperating the difficulties created by the hot and humid conditions along with a less than ideal start. Chris battled up from 18th after the opening lap to finish 13th. Sunday’s setting was much improved but another imperfect start and an early incident that tore off his knee puck prevented him from finishing higher than 12th. “I think there are a lot of positives from the weekend,” Ulrich said. “Right off the bat we got a new engine from Yoshimura and that helped quite a bit. It’s a new deal for them; they’re going to offer customer engines next year and they wanted us to try it out. I was happy to be a part of that and my guys were on board and positive about it. “We looked pretty good in qualifying on Friday but we went with a different combination and different rear tire on Saturday. It turned out over race distance it was really difficult to ride the bike that way. We faded and it was physically draining; my right shoulder was very sore after that. “This morning we changed the gear back and did some other stuff. We went to the shorter gear and it made life easier so we went back to Friday’s setting but it turned out in the race we needed a little bit taller gearing. It cost us some speed down the front straight but everywhere else it was pretty good. “Yesterday’s race was so hard but we got a 13th. Today’s was a lot easier but we shot ourselves in the foot both days with bad starts. Today I got in on the first lap in the chicane and stuck my knee into the curb and my knee puck went flying off and ripped my suit open. I was pretty lucky Dainese has pretty good protection there and I didn’t damage my knee. It just meant I had to ride the race without a knee puck but I still went faster than yesterday’s race and the gap was closer.” Ulrich heads into the season finale ranked 12th with 139 points. Russ Wikle continued to show competitive form in the AMA Pro SuperSport class, qualifying on the second row aboard his Suzuki GSX-R600 at 1:31.404 in eighth position and then picking up a tenth-place race result in Sunday’s race. While he was unable to challenge for a podium finish at VIR like he has on multiple occasions this season, Wikle sits second in the SuperSport championship standings on 90 points with just one East Division round remaining. Chris said, “Russ struggled a little bit. I think the time off will do him some good because he can go back to being a teenager for a little bit, go home and hang out with his friends, and then come out fresh in New Jersey. Sometimes in racing when you spend so much time on the road and if you’re not really used to it, it can burn you out. That said, Russell is still doing well. We all worked with him at the WERA weekend and tried to help educate him about what different changes do to his motorcycle and we got some positive things out of that.” Unfortunately, Colombian Santiago Villa suffered a setback this weekend, injuring himself in a crash and being forced to sit out the two AMA Pro Daytona SportBike races. “Santiago broke his leg,” Ulrich said. “That’s tough luck for the toughest man in racing. He did the right thing this time instead of gutting it because there could be some serious damage.” Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will head to the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing season finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park on September 4-6. “I think New Jersey is going to be good for us,” Ulrich said. “We’ve got Thursday practice and we’ve got the bikes to a decent baseline. We’ll work on our game a little bit. We’ve got a couple weeks off so I’ll get some training in and have some fun and them come out swinging at New Jersey. “I’d like to close the season out strong for the whole team. I worked hard to develop that K9 by myself and now we’ve got some good help. This year has gone really fast and it’s been a weird year but we’ve got positives things going.” More, from a press release issued by Buell: Eslick Regains Daytona SportBike Lead at VIR Sunday Podium Lifts Him to 17-point Advantage over Cardenas East Troy, Wis. (August 17, 2009) Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing/RMR/GEICO Powersports rider Danny Eslick regained sole possession of the AMA Pro Racing Daytona SportBike championship lead with second and seventh place finishes this weekend at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va. Eslick charged through the Daytona SportBike field Sunday to finish second, improving on his 12th place start and 7th place finish in Saturday’s race. Polesitter Taylor Knapp (Latus Motors Racing) rebounded from a disappointing finish on Saturday, when an off- course excursion dropped him to 17th place, to finish fourth on Sunday, equaling his best result of the season. “I forgot about the championship for a few laps there,” Eslick said about battling to the front of the field in Sunday’s race. “It was probably eight laps from the end. I don’t know what happened, I wasn’t in there real deep, [but] I lost the front end and was down. I said ‘I can’t crash!’ I somehow landed back on top of the bike. I mellowed out for about two corners and then I was back on the gas. I could see the guys in front of me kind of falling back to me a little bit because they were racing back and forth. I was doing pretty consistent lap times [and] I caught up to them and made quick work of the first couple guys. I kind of got stuck behind Tommy (Aquino), and we battled back and forth a few laps.” Eslick credited his improved Sunday form to setup changes his team made overnight to his Buell 1125R: “We knew it wasn’t anything real big that was holding us back, just made some adjustments on the shock and changed the gearing a little bit. Just those two small things made all the difference. We were able to run the pace there at the beginning or at least stay consistent and not let the guys get too far away, just run good laps. I knew I had something going. I just didn’t know I was going to be that strong at the end.” With two races in the 2009 Daytona SportBike championship remaining, Eslick heads into the September 4-6 final round at New Jersey Motorsports Park with a 17-point lead over Team M4 Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas, 357-340. In other Buell results from the VIR double-header, Eslick’s teammate Michael Barnes finished 38th and 32nd, respectively in Daytona SportBike, Bartels’ H-D-Buell/Higbee-racing.com’s Shawn Higbee finished 18th and 34th, and Walt Sipp Racing’s Walt Sipp finished 27th and 34th. In American Superbike weekend results, Higbee finished 18th and 16th. All were racing Buell 1125Rs. Liberty Waves Nabs Podium Spot in Moto-GT The Liberty Waves/H-D/Buell of Antelope Valley team of Eric Pinson and Eric Haugo survived a battle of attrition to finish second overall and second in the Moto-GT1 class at VIR to maintain their second place position in the championship standings. The James Gang/Hoban Brothers H-D/Buell of Appleton team of Jeff Johnson and Paul James finished fifth in Moto-GT1 despite suffering three crashes during the two-hour race. “We just tried to stay on our path,” Pinson said. “With our crew and everybody, this thing was just flawless. The Buell was just working great and I want to thank all those Liberty Waves people. Without these guys we wouldn’t be able to do anything.” With two races to go in the Moto-GT season, the Liberty Waves squad is 11 points behind VIR race winners and points leader Crozier Motorsports in the GT1 standings. Bilansky Holds ASRA Pro Thunderbike Lead at Barber Hal’s H-D/Buell/Hal’s Speed Shop rider Dan Bilansky leads the Pro Thunderbike standings in the ASRA Michelin Pro Series by 29 points after riding a Buell Firebolt XB12R to a second-place finish at Barber Motorsports Park. Ray Price Harley-Davidson/Buell rider Jordon Richardson was third. Bilansky’s closest rival in the series, Hal’s Harley-Davidson/Buell/Hal’s Speed Shop rider Joel Spalding, finished fifth. The race was won by Nate Kern, who led every lap on a BMW. “Kern had the fastest bike here all weekend,” said Bilansky. “We are on new tires this year and just couldn’t find a good set-up for the bike and this track until Sunday morning, and then I could not get up to speed in time to make a difference. We are still in good shape for the championship and added to our points lead, so from that perspective it was a good day for us.” Buell rider Sam Rozynski (Soundwaves.com/H-D/Buell of Frederick) was fourth, followed by Spalding and the Buell of Joe Rozynski (Soundwaves.com/H-D/Buell of Frederick). After eight events on the 10-race 2009 ASRA Michelin Pro Series Thunderbike schedule, Bilansky leads with 200 points, followed by Spalding with 171 points, Joe Rozynski with 156, Sam Rozynski with 147, Kern with 127. The next event on the ASRA Michelin Pro Series schedule is the End of Summer Cyclefest, Sept. 19-20, at Virginia International Raceway, Alton Va.. Buell Riders Win Nine Motorsports.com CCS Sprints Buell riders won nine races in a double-header weekend of Motorsports.com CCS sprint competition at Barber Motorsports Park. Richardson rode a Buell 1125R to a pair of wins in Amateur Heavyweight Superbike and Amateur SuperTwins, and to a win in Amateur GTO. He also won Amateur Thunderbike on a Buell XB12R. Kegel H-D/Buell rider Jay Smith rode a Buell XB12R to wins in Amateur Lightweight Superbike and Amateur Thunderbike. Spalding rode a Buell 1125R to a win in Expert SuperTwins. 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, 1125CR café racer, 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 Honda: Results Virginia International Raceway AMA Pro Road Race Superbike at Virginia International Raceway Saturday, Sunday, August 15, 16, 2009 Weather: Sunny, warm Temperature: 31C Hodgson takes Corona Honda to hard fought eighth at Virginia International Raceway Corona Extra Honda’s Neil Hodgson began the penultimate AMA Pro Road Race event with a sixth place in his one-lap Superpole run, but building on that proved difficult on a weekend which ended with the Englishman enduring the scariest moment of his career. Hodgson arrived at Virginia International Raceway with damaged left shoulder greatly strengthened, the result of a rigorous weight-lifting regimen in the two weeks since the previous race. Hodgson knew the shoulder would be put to the test at VIR, which has a number of changes of direction and elevation changes along it’s 3.62 kms. But the promise of a good result was dashed almost immediately on Saturday when he discovered a troubling issue that left him with a vague front end feeling. The 2003 World Superbike Champion could do little more than soldier on to the end, where he hoped to find an answer. It would turn out that his front tire wasn’t suitable for the race. Sunday’s race was more promising, with Hodgson engaged in a battle for sixth place in the early running. He admitted that his pace in the early going prevented him from showing more and as the field spread out, and his shoulder weakened, he found himself battling hard for seventh. So hard, in fact, that in his bid to steal seventh place he ran off the track just past the finish line at 266 kph. (He finished .009s out of seventh.) Then followed a harrowing run through a grass field that included a few jumps and finally silence when he brought the Honda CBR1000RR to a safe stop. Yamaha rider Josh Hayes won both races with teammate Ben Bostrom finishing third both days. On Saturday, Mat Mladin (Suzuki) was second and on Sunday it was his teammate Tommy Hayden. Mladin finished ninth on Sunday and clinched the 2009 AMA Pro Road Race American Superbike title. Hodgson and the Corona Extra Honda team now have two weekends off before heading to the season finale at the newest venue on the calendar, New Jersey Motorsports Park on the Sept. 5-6 Labor Day holiday weekend. Neil Hodgson: Saturday 11th,Sunday: 8th . “Just such a tough race, so frustrating. I can’t hang with the faster guys; unfortunately, I can’t do that pace. I had a consistent race if you look at my lap times. I pretty much did the same lap time throughout the race, but I need to be going half a second lap quicker in the beginning or three-quarters to run with the guys. I probably had more tire left at the end than someone like Blake (Young), because he obviously ran the pace and then dropped back. Just frustrating. Last five laps, as well, I’m just worn out. I’m riding with half an arm. Running off the track was the scariest moment of my career, genuinely, because when you crash, normally, it happens in a heartbeat and you’re down and you deal with it, but that was horrendous. We do 167 mph as it goes right and, literally, I’m on the grass at 165 mph. And instantly when I hit the grass I thought I was going to be alright, and then the bike took off as it just went down in compression or whatever, it shook its head. And I thought ‘I’m definitely going down’ and I just thought, ‘Oh my shoulder,’ because I knew if I went down I were going to tumble. And I’ve never hung on as hard in my life, seriously. I just had the most violent tankslapper, controlled it, and then it went airborne again and did the same thing again, lost control of it. And then got it again and it did it one more time and I managed to scrub enough speed. I expect the shoulder to be stronger in New Jersey, because I did improve it between these two races. I like the layout and it’s not as physical. It would be just really nice to end the season on a high, obviously for myself, but for the team as well. And whatever happens next year happens, but it’d be just good to put it on the box for everybody. ” Tim Saunders, Team Principal “Saturday’s race was unfortunate. We were anticipating Neil being able to continue the good form he’d shown in Superpole, but it wasn’t to be. So he put that behind him and was riding well on Sunday, but just wasn’t able to crack into the upper echelon. We know he’s still being held back and we know that everyone is working as hard as they can. Having seen how well he went in New Jersey, and how determined he is to end the season on a high note, we’re looking forward to the season finale. ” Sunday Superbike: 1. Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 2. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) 3. Ben Bostrom (Yamaha) 4. Larry Pegram (Ducati) 5. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 6. Taylor Knapp (Suzuki) 7. Blake Young (Suzuki) 8. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 9. Neil Hodgson (Honda) 10. Jake Holden (Honda) Saturday Superbike: 1. Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 2. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 3. Ben Bostrom (Yamaha) 4. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 5. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) 6. Blake Young (Suzuki) 7. Jake Holden (Honda) 8. Taylor Knapp (Suzuki) 9. Michael Laverty (Suzuki) 10. Jeff Wood (Suzuki) 11. Neil Hodgson (Honda) Championship Standings: 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 427 2. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) 348 3. Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 344 4. Ben Bostrom (Yamaha) 315 5. Larry Pegram (Ducati) 313 6. Blake Young (Suzuki) 264 7. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 248 8. Geoff May (Suzuki) 212 9. Taylor Knapp (Suzuki) 183 10. Jake Holden (Honda) 170 11. Neil Hodgson (Honda) 143 More, from a press release issued by Paradigm Racing: August 16, 2009 (Alton, VA) – It was a weekend of steady progression and ultimately success for Paradigm Racing. The weekend began tentatively with the team searching for the ideal setup. Initially, rider Bobby Fong qualified in 15th position in Friday’s Basic Qualifying session. However, a great deal of progress was made between the Basic and Final Qualifying sessions. By the conclusion of the Final Qualifying session Saturday morning, the team had improved to an 11th place starting position for the weekend’s two races. Race 1: Race 1 was a battle of attrition from beginning to end. The race included numerous crashes as the conditions and technical nature of the track caught many riders out. However, Fong was able to run a smart race at a very competitive pace. Fong had a tough start, but began to pick riders off one-by-one almost immediately after the green flag was waved. He maintained his pace throughout the race and finished in 6th position. Race 2: Race 2 saw some of the closest racing of the year with thrilling racing action and countless passes throughout the field. The action began with the green flag and did not end until the checkered flag waved. Fong had a much better start in the second race. He immediately began to engage in numerous tight battles with several riders. At race’s end, he finished just three-hundredths of a second behind 5th place finisher Roger Hayden. Ultimately, Fong brought the Paradigm Racing Yamaha R6 home in 6th position for his fourth top ten in a row. Rider Bobby Fong: “Both of this weekend’s races were crazy from the first lap to the last. VIR hasn’t always been my favorite track. I have had some tough weekend’s here in the past, but we made a lot of progress throughout the weekend and came away with some good results. Once we got the bike dialed in, it was just a matter of seizing opportunities as they presented themselves. We carried a lot of momentum with us from the last round, capitalized on it, and now we are looking to carry even more momentum into the last round in New Jersey,” said Fong. Crew Chief Perry Melneciuc: “It’s always about finding the right setup. I feel like we accomplished that goal here at VIR and Bobby rode great in both of the weekend’s races. We struggled a little on Friday, but were able to find a good direction and ultimately put the Paradigm Racing Yamaha R6 up where it should be. Finding the right setup at VIR can be tricky at times, but the team pulled together and got the job done. Momentum can be a huge factor in racing and we plan on building on that going forward. New Jersey is a new track and it presents us with a great opportunity to display what we are capable of. I’m definitely looking forward to racing there in a few weeks,” Melneciuc said. Paradigm Racing will return to action on September 4-6 at New Jersey Motorsports Park for the AMA Pro Superbike Championships Weekend. For more information on Paradigm Racing, please visit: www.paradigmracing.net or follow the team on Twitter at www.twitter.com/paradigmracing.