NCR Continues to Lead the Canadian RACE Heavyweight Championship! This past weekend saw another trademark fierce battle between NCR Factory rider Derek Vammus and Jim Proulx on his Kawasaki Superbike. During qualification, Derek was able to turn consistent 1:09.5’s which equaled the previous record of 1:09.495 he set in the previous round at the end of May but it was only good enough for second in qualifying. NCR continued on the bike set-up and ended up improving the bike handling tremendously and also thanks to Sandy at Pro6 and Dunlop tire. The race saw Derek drive third into turn one and then quickly challenged for second. Derek didn’t want Kawasaki rider Jim Proulx to get away in front so he used the NCR Millona’s quick handling to carve his way into second. Then by half way throught he first lap at the beginning of the long back straight, Derek was right behind Jim. Derek would have an advantage in the light weight and lots of torque of the NCR Millona to gain at the first half of the straight only to give it up at the three quarter mark due to the high horsepower of the superbike but then gain under braking at the the end of the straight. This continued for a few laps until Vammus was able to pass Proulx at the hairpin at the halfway mark of the race. Vammus then led for a while until the second last lap when Proulx dove into Derek on the inside at the end of the back straight and “pushed” Derek to the outside of the track. Derek was able to save the bike and avoided both of them crashing and had to settle for second….for this time!!! Derek Vammus and the NCR Millona improved their lap times to an unofficial 1:09.08 which he turned consistently throughout the race. Derek was quoted as saying “we improved the set-up of the NCR Millona a lot and the last minute gearing change helped the drive out of the turns quite a bit. I’m looking forward to the next round where the circuit will be the demanding, tight and technical Long Track which I enjoy a lot”. NCR and Derek Vammus lead the Race Heavyweight Superseries by one point over Jim Proulx. Stay tuned!!!! More, from a press release issued by Millnic Media Honda: Millnic Media Honda another 5th Overall – July 2nd, 2007 Braselton, Georgia For the second race in a row Millnic Media Honda scores a top 5 overall in the WERA/AMA National Endurance Roadrace Series. In class the team of Melissa Paris, Steven Breckenridge and fill in rider Josh Hayes placed 2nd, just 17.02 seconds behind the class winner. With team rider Greg White still on the injured list AMA Superbike Series Superstar Josh Hayes took up the slack. All three riders on the team stepped up their game over the 6 hour endurance race to have a very successful weekend. At one point Millnic Media Honda was placed 3rd overall and first in class. Unfortunately during the course of the race there were five red flags. At one point the Millnic Media Honda team was caught one lap down on the overall race leaders, and their competition just ahead in the distance was not when a red flag came out. The rules dictate that at the restart MMH Racing would be a lap down on the in-class leader. The rest of the race was spent clawing their way back into contention for the class win. With just under 30 minutes to go, and rider Josh Hayes lapping some three seconds a lap faster than the 1st placed bike in the Medium Weight Superstock class the red flag came out and ended the race early. That red flag wiped out any chance the Honda CBR600RR mounted team had of winning on that day. Still very satisfied with 2nd in class and 5th overall the team was happy to put round 4 in the bag. With these top five finishes Millnic Media Honda continues to place themselves in articles and stories about the WERA/AMA National Endurance Series. The next round will be July 14th at Grattan Raceway in Michigan for another 6 hour event. The unanswered question, will Greg White be healthy enough to return to competition or will Josh Hayes get the call once again? Stay tuned to find out. For more information on the Millnic Media Honda team and the sponsors who support the team check out ~http://www.mmhracing.com ` For more information about WERA and the race this weekend check out ~http://www.wera.com~ More, from a press release issued by Hydrex Honda: Top tens and race wins for Hydrex Honda. The Hydrex Honda team had a successful weekend despite atrocious weather conditions at Knockhill for round seven of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship. Karl Harris qualified on the second row of the grid and brought it home in both wet races in tenth and eighth places respectively. Meanwhile his road racing team-mate, Guy Martin competed at the Cock o the North road races at Oliver’s Mount in Scarborough where he entered and won six races. The weather at Knockhill had a big impact on the racing and during the singular Superbike qualifying session the heavens opened giving the riders only approximately ten minutes of dry track time as Harris explained, “I was happy with qualifying, we only got ten to fifteen minutes of dry time before the rain came in but I got a good time in and was on the second row so I was happy with that.” The rain continued on race day and Harris had some tyre difficulties, “Race one was not so good to be fair; I thought I had a problem with the bike but it turned out to be the tyres. All the Dunlop runners were on the same tyres at Mondello but they had some new tyres out for Knockhill and we found out after the first race. The tyre wasn’t bad in the wet but when it started to dry out it was like being on an ice rink,” he said. For race two the team went for a different tyre as Harris went on to say, “We got a different tyre for race two and it was great for the first ten to fifteen laps then it went off. If I had had that tyre in the first race it would have been ok.” Harris has a close call during race two when he lost the front in the tricky conditions, “I lost the front but managed to save it and ran off track. I was lucky to be fair, the result wasn’t too bad but not where I want to be especially in the wet I want to be on the podium,” he concluded. Martin had a very successful weekend of racing at the Cock o the North event, winning four Superbike races and two 600 races. “Our weather was a bit wet but nothing compared to Knockhill. I won the first Superbike race on Saturday which is a heat for the Sunday race. It was a dry race and it was good. For some reason I wasn’t anywhere near the lap record pace which I took about 4 years ago on a proddie bike with slicks. Now I’ve been here on really trick machinery and still can’t get near it!” said Martin. The first 600 race turned into a two way battle with Martin and road race veteran Ian Lougher, as Martin says, “Me and Lougher had a right ding dong, but I took him on the last corner on the last lap.” In the second Superbike race Martin romped home with a healthy ten second lead. The racing continued on Sunday and once again Martin took the Superbike win, “In the Superbike race it was Dwyer Agnew who pushed me a bit but I won by 10 secs. Then for the 600 race it was pouring down, but at least the track was completely sodden and it was me and Lougher again. He took on the second to last lap and I thought “I’m not letting him get away with it.” So I did a bit of a do or die move on the last corner, there was a gap just not a very big one. So I did him on the last corner, he ran straight on and I won!” he grinned. The last race of the day was the Cock o the North feature race as Martin explained, “Again it was myself and Lougher but I got him on the last lap. I’m impressed with him, he has been racing a long time but he is still hungry for it,” he said. The next event on the roads for Martin is the Southern 100 from 9th 12th July on the Billown circuit on the Isle of Man. While Harris prepares for Oulton Park and there is a good chance Martin will join him there. “I’m looking forward to Oulton. Actually we have a few tracks coming up now that I like. Knockhill is not the best track for me. I like Oulton, Croft and Cadwell so I’m hoping for a good run,” concluded Harris. The eighth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship will take place on the 13 15th July at Oulton Park. British Superbikes – Knockhill Race One Result 1 – Jonathan Rea – Honda – HM Plant Honda – 21.28.015 2 – Ryuichi Kiyonari – Honda – HM Plant Honda – 21.34.863 3 – Leon Haslam – Ducati – Airwaves Ducati – 21.36.866 4 – Shane Byrne – Honda – Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport – 21.41.797 5 – Chris Walker – Suzuki – Rizla Suzuki – 21.48.332 6 – Tom Sykes – Honda – Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport – 21.50.009 7 – Gregorio Lavilla – Ducati – Airwaves Ducati – 21.56.237 8 – Ollie Bridewell – Suzuki – Team NB – 22.10.966 9 – Sean Emmett – Suzuki – Samsung Superbike Team – 22.11.567 10 – Karl Harris – Honda – Hydrex Honda – 22.14.722 British Superbikes – Knockhill Race Two Result 1 – Jonathan Rea – Honda – HM Plant Honda 2 – Leon Haslam – Ducati – Airwaves Ducati 3 – Ryuichi Kiyonari – Honda – HM Plant Honda 4 – Tom Sykes – Honda – Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport 5 – Shane Byrne – Honda – Stobart Vent Axia Motorsport 6 – Chris Walker – Suzuki – Rizla Suzuki 7 – Leon Camier – Honda – Honda 8 – Karl Harris – Honda – Hydrex Honda 9 – Sean Emmett – Suzuki – Samsung Superbike Team 10 – Ollie Bridewell – Suzuki – Team NB More, from a press release issued by Hawk Kawasaki: Hawk Battle hard to no avail. Hawk Colchester Kawasaki made strong progress in qualification, and were looking forward to even stronger on race day at Knockhill Circuit this weekend, 1st July. Scott Smart former winner at Knockhill for Hawk, suffered through no fault of his own when he was involved in a heavy crash during Sunday morning’s warm up session when he was taken out by Yamaha mounted. Tommy Hill Smart damaged his shoulder extensively and despite battling on bravely for the team he was unable to complete the first Superbike race and was forced to pull in on lap 12 of the 22 lap race. Commenting “I’m gutted about the crash that I had in morning warm up, I was hit by Tommy and had no where to go. I landed heavily on my left shoulder but wanted to try and race as I didn’t want to let the team down who had been working so hard all weekend. It’s a long way to come to end up injured in a warm up session. I’m not happy but hopefully I will be fully bike fit for Oulton.” Peter Hickman has struggled in recent races and has suffered a number of crashes denting his confidence, which had a knock on effect at Knockhill. Wanting to ride a safe race Hicky rode steady after qualifying in 18th position but could only salvage 23rd position in the race and brought the Hawk Colchester Kawasaki home safely. It was decided by the team to not run him in the second race and the situation will be reviewed for the next round at Oulton Park in a few weeks time. He said “It’s been a tricky couple of months and I’ve never had so many crashes. It’s really taken effect and hard to get your head back in full form and think positive. I knew that I had to finish and I just wanted to bring the Kawasaki home in one piece in the first race. I knew I was struggling with my times and therefore it was decided that I best not go out in the second race as it wouldn’t do me any favours. I hope I can get things sorted by Oulton and get back in the points.” Superstock Cup rider David Hallett made his debut at the 1.27-mile long Scottish circuit and was unlucky during the race to be caught up in a crash at the hairpin which left him with no where to go after moving up from 29th to 17th on the 1st lap. Due to the horrendous weather conditions the scheduled second race was cancelled and is to be rescheduled for later in the season. He moves on to Oulton Park confident he can match his excellent ride there earlier this year. Stuart Hicken commented “Conditions have been terrible this weekend, but I must thank all my staff for there continued hard work, the results don’t show all the hard work currently being put in from the Chief technician to hospitality staff, we will move on to Croft on Wednesday for testing and look forward to our next meeting at Oulton Park.” More, from a press release issued by Birchall Racing: TOP FOUR FOR BIRCHALL RACING AT ASSEN. The 2.830 miles circuit at Assen in Holland was the venue for round three of the 2007 FIM World Sidecar Championship for Mansfield’s Sidecar racing brothers Ben and Tom Birchhall. This round was held as a support race to the MotoGP World Championship series. Ben and Tom were in fifth place after the first qualifying session, just a fraction of a second off pole and afterwards, Ben said, “Tom and I are happy with the way things have gone so far and we’re looking forward to the second qualifying session on Friday.” The second session was trouble-free and held in very damp conditions but unfortunately the brothers were unable to improve on their fifth qualifying place from the previous day. Ben said the weather for race day was forecast to be better and he hoped they would have a good race, finish well up in the points and improve on the team’s fifth place at Brands Hatch earlier in the month. Ben and Tom felt comfortable and made a good confident start to the race, but after an incident in the fourth lap, the race was red-flagged, so after clearing the circuit, a restart was made. Once the race got underway again, Ben and Tom made good progress, gradually moving through the field, overtaking the teams of Schlosser and Hänni and Gatt and Randall. Ben said “We were steadily gaining on third place by a second a lap but we ran out of time so had to settle with a fourth place finish.” Birchall Racing are now lying fifth in the FIM World Sidecar Championship and are looking forward to the next round at Sachsenring, Germany from July 13-15 where they will race alongside the MotoGP. This coming weekend July 7-8 Ben and Tom will be racing at Donington Park in the Derby Phoenix race series. Information on the team can be found here ~http://www.birchallracing.com/~ Link to FIM World Sidecar website ~http://www.superside.com/index.html~ More, from a press release issued by Go Big Racing: GO BIG RACING WRANGLES UP A SOLID WEEKEND IN CALGARY CALGARY, Ala. – July 3, 2007 – Go BIG Racing’s Paul Glenn secured the series points lead in the Amateur 600 Sport Bike class with two 4th place finishes at this past weekend’s doubleheader of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship held at Race City Motorsport Park. Recuperating rookie, Ross Millson, achieved his best Pro Superbike result with a gritty 11th place finish in Sunday’s feature race. With the cancellation of Friday afternoon’s qualifying sessions due to severe weather, Keene Ontario’s Paul Glenn found himself starting from 5th on the grid for Saturday’s Round 2 of the International MotorcycleSUPERSHOW Amateur 600 Sport Bike class. “They gridded us according to Thursday afternoon’s test times.” said Glenn “we were starting to get a handle on our setup and it was a shame we couldn’t get in a few qualifying laps on Friday …but it was for everyone safety that the sessions were cancelled.” Glenn got a good start and quickly joined the intense battle amongst the top AM 600 competitors, where he was able to move his No. 79 Go BIG Racing Suzuki GSX-R600 into 4th place. Israel Johnas of Oak Lake, Man. won the International Motorcycle SUPERSHOW Amateur 600 Sport Bike class with Calgary’s Matt Schmidt in second on a Suzuki GSX-R600 followed by Marie-Josee Boucher of Quebec City. Sunday’s top six AM600 results were a carbon copy of Saturday’s. With the AM 600 win in the First Round at Mont-Tremblant, and his two 4th place finishes in Calgary, Glenn will head to the doubleheader weekend at Mosport with the points lead the International Motorcycle SUPERSHOW Amateur 600 Sport Bike class. Go BIG Racing’s rookie Pro rider arrived in Calgary nursing a severe puncture wound to his right thigh, from an accident that occurred during a morning practice session for the third round of the regional R.A.C.E. Super Series, at Shannonville Motorsport Park. “Earlier in the week it was looking doubtful that I would be able to race this weekend.” said Millson. “My right thigh was swollen to almost double the size of my left”. “With the great care and guidance from Doc Walker and team trainers Mike and Angie Hallman, I felt I could attempt to race.” Saturday’s 2nd Round of the Yoshimura Pro 600 Sport Bike saw Millson battle through the pain to bring home his No. 39 Suzuki GSX-R600 in 14th. Later in the day, Millson earned a 13th place finish in Saturday’s Parts Canada Superbike feature. Round three of the doubleheader Canada Day race weekend, found Millson crossing the line in 15th in Sunday’s Yoshimura Pro 600 Sport Bike final. In Sunday’s Parts Canada Superbike feature, Millson, carrying TSN’s on-bike camera, achieved his best Pro Superbike result with a determined 11th place finish. Earlier in the season, Millson had set a personal goal to break into the top 10 in the Superbike class by mid-season. Although 11th place was just shy of his goal, Millson was pleased with the weekend’s results. Next up for Go BIG Racing is the SunTrust MOTO-ST, Road America 500k endurance race, being held at Road America – Elkhart Lake, WI – July 7-8, 2007, and then off to Mosport International Raceway, for Rounds 3 & 4 of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship – Doubleheader Weekend – July 12-15, 2007.