Both KTM Superstock riders in the points at Brands Hatch KTM and Team KTM Maehr Superstock celebrated their best ever race weekend at the tradition-rich, 3.703 km British racing circuit of Brands Hatch with both riders Rene Maehr and newcomer Pauli Pekkanen finishing in the points. Rene Maehr crossed the line in thirteenth place while his new Finnish team-mate Pekkanen came in at fourteenth in a race run in very difficult conditions. Rain just before the race made the choice of tyres tricky and vital, a situation further complicated as the track dried out in the final stages. Maehr opted for intermediates while Pekkanen decided on an intermediate for the rear tyre and a wet tyre for the front, a choice that meant the Finnish rider lost some ground in the closing stages of the race. The result was a testament to both the riders’ skills and to the KTM 1190 RC8, which was only launched earlier this year in Europe and is in its first year of racing. In practice Maehr was twenty first and Pekkanen twenty sixth so both were able to significantly improve on race day. Both riders and the team were delighted with the results, especially as the FIM Superstock 1000 World Cup is one of the toughest competitions in motorcycle racing. “I am naturally very happy with this result,” Maehr said. “Today we had very difficult conditions for the race but I managed to choose the right tyres. All the team worked really well and my thirteenth place is a big success for me, the bike and the entire team.” Pekkanen, who raced for the team for the first time in Brno, Czech Republic, was also delighted. “I had a fantastic start and I was able to overtake about five riders in the first curve. I managed to stick with Rene all the way. I just had to hold back a bit at the very end because the front tyre was starting to wear.” The team now has a month to prepare for round eight when they return to the UK to race at Donington Park Raceway on September 7, 2009. More, from a press release issued by Steve Plater’s publicist: STEVE PLATER IN THE POINTS AT BRANDS HATCH Lincolnshire race ace Steve Plater scored a fine 11th place on his debut for Italian team Triumph Italia BE1 Racing in the World Supersport race at Brands Hatch on Sunday. Plater, from Woodhall Spa, was deputising for an injured rider and was drafted into the team as a last minute replacement on Wednesday. He met up with the team on Thursday prior to the first free practice session on Friday when he took the opportunity to acclimatise himself to the Triumph and make adjustments to suit his riding style. Steve explained: “I was called up at the last minute due to an injury to one of their riders. Everything is going very well and I have gelled with the team members and also the machine. It’s the first time I have ever ridden a three cylinder 675 Triumph but I am quite comfy on the machine and have progressed all weekend in every session. In free practice on Saturday I didn’t actually go any faster but we learned an awful lot, changing different things on the bike, enough to go pretty much a second faster in qualifying. I am quite happy with 11th place on the grid as it will help me get a better position in the race. “Result wise for the race, a top 10 would be nice. The Triumph is working really well and the chassis is also working well for me so we are just hoping for some good weather and a top 10 finish which would be a good result for the team and also for myself.” But the weather didn’t behave as predicted and regular showers disrupted the action throughout race day. Starting from a third row grid position Plater was running in 10th place on the opening lap but rain was never very far away and began to affect the pace, which saw him drop back to 14th place until officials eventually decided to stop the race on lap nine. At the restart Plater began to edge his way forward and was sitting in a comfortable 11th position ready to pounce on the riders ahead when a serious accident involving Craig Jones brought out the red flag and a result was declared at 15 laps. Plater was awarded 11th place to pick up five championship points and headed straight from the track to prepare for his eight-hour World Endurance race on Saturday at Oschersleben in Germany. “It was an eventful race with the changeable weather and the red flag for rain, which should have come earlier. Everyone was riding around sticking their hands up in the air for two laps,” explained Plater. “I am happy with the machine, we had one or two problems in the first half of the race so we made some changes for the re-start and went better. My lap times were very good, and I was faster than the four or five riders in front of me but didn’t have the time to pass them before the red flag came out once again. It was disappointing really because it could easily have been eighth or ninth instead of 11th.” Steve is back in action on Thursday when he joins the Yamaha Austria World Endurance team for qualifying practice in preparation for Saturday’s eight-hour event at Oschersleben in Germany. The race is due to start at 3pm CET (2pm UK time) and set to end at 11pm CET (10pm UK) More, from a press release issued by Ben Spies’ publicist: SPIES GOES FROM SURGERY BED TO SUPERBIKE POLE AND PODIUMS Texan turns in a gritty performance at Mid-Ohio LEXINGTON, Ohio No one has ever questioned the toughness of Ben Spies. He’s won races and championships in the past when less than 100 percent healthy, but this weekend’s performance in the AMA Superbike doubleheader at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course set a new standard of determination for the two-time AMA Superbike Champion. Just a week and a half removed from a surgery bed, Spies came to Mid-Ohio sore from an appendix operation and lighter by seven pounds as he recovered from infection. Write it off to youth and exuberance, sheer talent, or the miracles of modern medicine – whatever the case Spies came to Mid-Ohio and exceeded all expectations. Immediately after his surgery some speculated that Spies may not even race at Mid-Ohio, not only did he show up and race, he went on to earn the Superbike pole setting a new Mid-Ohio motorcycle track record of one minute, 23.639 seconds. Spies then toughed out a long and grueling weekend by earning two second-place finishes gaining critical championship points in his quest to earn his third consecutive AMA Superbike title. While he lost some ground in the points chase to Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate Mat Mladin, who turned in a brilliant two-win weekend earning his 70th-career victory, Spies minimized the damage that might have been done to his series lead under the circumstances by turning in such a solid performance. “That was a heck of a weekend,” Spies said. “I had so many people coming up to me and congratulating me on getting the pole. It felt great to have that kind of support. There’s no question I wasn’t 100 percent, but overall I felt like I was improving dramatically even during the race weekend. I met my goals for Mid-Ohio and I’m encouraged by my progress. I should be back to full strength very soon.” Spies leaves Mid-Ohio with a 27-point lead over Mladin in the AMA Superbike standings. At this same point last season Spies led his teammate by just 17 points. “I’ve got some work in front of me no doubt,” The defending champ Spies said when talking about the remaining five rounds of the series. “You’re never satisfied with any lead until the season is over, but I feel like I’m in a decent position. I’m recovering quicker than I thought, and I’ve got two weeks before we race again in Virginia. It’s probably going to be a good battle to the end just like it was last year.” The series now moves to Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va., on Aug. 15-17, for the Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals, presented by Dunlop & Rockstar. Spies has never won a Superbike race at VIR. He hopes to change that in two weeks. More, from a press release issued by Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki: CHALLENGING WEEKEND FOR PIETRI AND ULRICH AT MID-OHIO Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki encountered a difficult weekend at Mid-Ohio with both Chris Ulrich and Robertino Pietri dealing with bad luck and injury while hoping to just escape from the weekend with as many points as possible. Pietri, already fighting hard to find a good set-up aboard his Pirelli-shod GSX-R1000, was one of the riders caught out in Saturday’s chaotic AMA Superbike race crashing in an oil spill. The Venezuelan quickly recognized the severity of the situation and acted quickly, running to a corner worker station and waving the red flag himself hoping to prevent any further incidents. Suffering from pain in his lower back following his fall and racing aboard his backup machine, Pietri managed to finish in the Superstock race’s top ten, equaling his qualifying position of ninth in the 16-lap race. The result allowed ‘Tino to maintain fifth in the AMA Superstock Championship standings with 164 points following seven of ten races. “It just wasn’t quite there this weekend so at some point we just decided to limit the damage and I think we did that,” Pietri admitted. “We’re still fifth in the championship. “The worst thing about the weekend was the crash in the Superbike race. We didn’t need that, but it was nobody’s fault. Overall, we were already struggling to find speed and then had to switch to the backup bike. My guys worked so hard this weekend. My crew just did a great job. Some weekends are good and some are bad and this was a tough one, but I think we did good just to manage what we did.” Ulrich is still recovering from his Road America practice crash, becoming physically able to squeeze his palm in just the past week. Despite being very limited due to his injured hand, he gutted out the weekend, qualifying 16th fastest overall. The Californian also suffered from misfortune during the race when an issue with his rear brake forced him into the pits before he returned to the fray to ultimately finish 22nd in the 16-lap contest. Ulrich said, “I can’t even squeeze a five-pound exercise grip at the moment and it definitely makes it tough to throw the bike around here. I know in my head I can get the bike into the corners better but I physically could not do it. I’m pretty sore but we just needed to get some points. “Unfortunately in the race I came off the back straightaway and I thought there was something wrong with the engine. But it turns out there was some debris in the rear brake caliper and it pulled me all the way to a stop in turn seven. I got it free and came in to check with my guys to make sure there was nothing wrong. It’s bumming me out because otherwise we probably could have scored ten more points than we did. “But I’m happy to be on a motorcycle and happy to be racing again. I got myself in a little battle with some of the guys which was kind of fun. From here we’ll go to the Atlanta test and we’ve got some time to heal up before VIR. But it’s difficult when you know you can beat these guys and run in the top five but your hand is screwed up. We’re ninth in the championship, five out of eighth and 12 out of seventh and I think I can get those guys. Top seven wouldn’t be too bad considering.” Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will travel to Road Atlanta for a testing session before heading to the next round of the AMA championships, which will take place on August 15-17 at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, VA. More, from a press release issued by Team M4 EMGO Suzuki: FANTASTIC RACES FOR YOUNG AND CARDENAS AT MID-OHIO Team M4 EMGO Suzuki rounded out a spectacular AMA weekend at Mid-Ohio on Sunday by collecting two runner-up finishes to go with Martin Cardenas’ podium result in Saturday’s Formula Xtreme race. Cardenas continued his tremendous weekend performance with an outstanding runner-up result in the 16-lap Supersport contest. The Colombian and teammate Blake Young jumped straight up to the front from their second-row starting positions aboard their Pirelli-shod GSX-R600s. Cardenas moved into first on the opening lap of the race and Young joined in behind him in second on the following lap. Martin held down the lead for the race’s opening five laps before he found himself chasing after title leader Ben Bostrom from second. Cardenas kept the pressure on the former AMA Superbike champ and closed back to within a second on lap 12 of 16. However, his attentions soon turned to fighting off multi-time AMA champion Josh Hayes. Hayes stole the position on the lap 14 but Cardenas came fighting back with a late braking maneuver on the final lap. The two swapped the spot momentarily one more time before Martin secured the position for good and held Hayes at bay to the checkered flag. “Today was a great race,” Martin said. “I got another good start like yesterday and at the beginning I was fighting with my teammate for a couple of laps. I led for about five laps and then Ben came by and I just tried to stay with him. On the last couple laps Josh came by and I waited for the last lap to get him in the braking on the back straight because I was feeling good there all weekend. And that’s what I did and it worked out. “The bike was great and I really want to thank the team — my mechanics, Suzuki, and Pirelli.” Young carried on to an excellent fourth-place finish while Cory West fought his way up from 11th on the grid to finish seventh, giving Team M4 EMGO Suzuki three riders in the race’s top seven. Young put in a thrilling ride in the day’s Superstock contest as well, racing for the win throughout aboard his GSX-R1000 and leading late before ultimately taking a close runner-up result. Blake pressured title leader Aaron Yates for the race’s first 13 laps before taking a turn at the front on lap 14. Yates got back by on the following lap and Young chased him to the flag, finishing less than a second off of a second-straight victory in the class. “I was on the front row and I got a really good start,” Young remarked. “I was second going into the first corner but those guys were going good all weekend long and I didn’t know how long I was going to be able to run up there, if I was even going to be able to run up there. I didn’t have too much of a game plan, I just wanted to see how it played out. I got comfortable out there and made some charges but I couldn’t quite beat Aaron on this day. My tires held up great for me this weekend, Pirelli really came through.” Team M4 EMGO Suzuki will look to continue their recent run of form at the next round of the 2008 AMA roadracing championships at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, VA on August 15-17. More, from a press release issued by Honda: AMA Superbike Championship at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Sunday August 3, 2008 Weather: Warm, sunny Temperature: 27-degree ambient The American Honda team of Neil Hodgson and Miguel Duhamel rebounded from their worst day of the season to nearly finish on the podium in Sunday’s Superbike race on the Honda Supercycle Weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. One day after Hodgson suffered engine problems, and carded his first DNF of the season, and Duhamel crashed twice in a race that was red-flagged three times, started four times, and run over two hours and 15 minutes, Hodgson finished fourth with Duhamel sixth. “It’s a tough, tough day, but I guess these things happen if you stay around long enough,” Duhamel said on Saturday. “I also want to thank Neil’s guys for really helping my guys put the bike back together for me. They all worked hard.” Sunday’s results were more indicative of how the weekend began. Hodgson qualified on the front row, in fourth, for the first time this season. “I normally screw up qualifying and manage to squeeze myself onto the second row so it’s the first time I’ve been on the front row all year so I’m well pleased,” he said. Hodgson was one spot off a podium position when his engine failed on the eighth lap of Saturday’s race. The race was stopped when a trio of riders crashed in the oil and water. One lap earlier, Duhamel had high-sided exiting the Keyhole right in front of Hodgson, who did well to avoid him. But with a lengthy delay to clean the track, the team was able to repair the fallen machine and Duhamel made the re-start, but one lap down. The second start ended on the first lap when the leaders crashed on water a spectator had spilled on the track. Duhamel’s race ended four laps into the third start when he was fell in the debris of a rider who’d crashed just in front of him. The veteran riders put that behind them and set out to battle each other on Sunday. Hodgson and Duhamel fought over fourth until the third lap when Hodgson took control. But one small mistake prevented him from staying in the draft of the third place rider and he was consigned to fourth. There was a late challenge from Aaron Yates, but the Suzuki rider crashed on the 18th of 26 laps. Duhamel had his own fight with Tommy Hayden (Suzuki), the older brother of Repsol Honda’s Nicky Hayden. Hayden was slightly better on corner exit, while Duhamel was better mid-corner. But Duhamel ran into brake problems that cost him any chance of making a late run. Both races were by Mat Mladin (Suzuki) from teammate Ben Spies. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) finished third both days. Neil Hodgson DNF, 4th I think, well I know, I was overrevving the bike in a few spots on the limiter, but the engine had got a lot of kilometers on it and unfortunately I think I just asked too much of it and it went pop. But it went pop right on the racing line. I instantly went off the racing line to the edge of the track and then onto the grass and then toured around on and off the track on the grass, but unfortunately where it went pop, that’s where all the crashes were. So I’m sorry for anybody that crashed. I feel really bad about it. But I’ve crashed in oil before. Unfortunately, it’s one of the downsides of racing. Sunday I actually got a start and then forgot to turn the traction control on and had a bit of a moment and just lost a bit of time coming out of the Keyhole. And Miguel got back past me. By then I’d just lost that little bit of a tow that I desperately needed all weekend really to try to at least have a go at racing for third. So once that went, there was nothing I could do. I just rode on my lap time that I could ride around without it chattering, which is about a 25.0, which is about the maximum I could do, really. Miguel Duhamel DNF, 6th On Saturday, I just highsided the bike. It was real late and it was really big. Normally the traction control catches it and it does the work for you. For whatever reason that time it just kept coming around and coming around and by the time I tried to catch it it was too big and it spat me off. I think Neil did an incredible job to miss me because it spat me back onto the racing line. I thought for sure that someone was going to hit me and I was really, really lucky not to have someone run into me. On the second one I hit debris and a little bit of fuel because I was not even leaned over that much. I was thinking about going straight and the front end just locked up and threw me on the ground. I thought, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ Of everybody who went through there, I was the only guy who hit the right spot and went down. Today we just put one bike together and went out and had a couple of meetings after warm-up this morning and made some correct choices and obviously the bike was quite a bit better. Still a little bit of a brake issue with the front brake coming in. It was braking, it was stopping, but the lever was coming back and I had to adjust it a lot and it was costing me some time to Tommy (Hayden). I thought I had something for Tommy at the end, but he put his head down, put in some really good laps at the end. All that put together, we finished where we finished. But I’m happy with the lap times, I’m happy we were able to kind of keep Neil in sight. American Honda Road Race Manager Ron Heben Yesterday was one of those days you quickly want to get over and look forward to today. Actually, I have to compliment the whole team, the riders and everybody, that they were able to put that behind them and came out this morning and we had a great first practice warm-up. And we’re still not where we want to be, but there are signs that we are making some improvement. Neil got on the front row, which is a big plus. And we know that’s where we need to be both with Neil and Miguel. So we go to Road Atlanta and test a couple of days and continue to try to march forward. And VIR, we’ve had some good luck there and we look forward to being there. Sunday Superbike: 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 2. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 3. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) 4. Neil Hodgson (Honda) 5. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) 6. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 7. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha) 8. Geoff May (Suzuki) 9. Chris Peris (Suzuki) 10. Kenny Noyes (Suzuki) Saturday Superbike: 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 2. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 3. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) 4. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha) 5. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) 6. Roger Hayden (Kawasaki) 7. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 8. Geoff May (Suzuki) 9. Chris Peris (Suzuki) 10. Scott Jensen(Suzuki) Championship Standings: 1. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 476 2. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 449 3. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) 377 4. Neil Hodgson (Honda) 344 5. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha) 339 6. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 311 7. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 288 8. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 284 9. Geoff May (Suzuki) 264 10. Chris Peris (Suzuki) 230 More, from a press release issued by Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki: MICHAEL JORDAN MOTOR SPORTS WINS IN OHIO Aaron Yates Podiums in 7th Straight AMA Superstock Race Lexington, OH (August 4, 2008) Michael Jordan Motor Sports Suzuki’s Aaron Yates won Sunday’s AMA Superstock race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. This is Yates third win for the Jordan Suzuki team and his seventh consecutive Superstock podium finish in the class. Yates, who qualified for the pole position for the 16-lap event, got off to a good start, quickly grabbing the hole-shot on his Suzuki GSX-R1000. Yates put his head down and held the lead until lap 14 when he was briefly passed by the Suzuki ridden by Blake Young. Yates was able to get by his competitor on lap 15, where he remained and crossed the checkered flag with a 0.931 second margin of victory. Yates was awarded an additional point each for the pole position and for leading the most laps, in addition to 36 points for the race. He is currently leading the overall AMA Superstock points standings by 31 points. Yates’ teammate, Geoff May qualified for second position and ran a strong race in third place for 11 laps, before he was overtaken. May charged hard toward the last podium spot, crossing the finish line in fourth place. A rookie with Jordan Suzuki, May has earned three Superstock podium finishes, including his first AMA National win, in six outings with his new team. He is currently third in overall points in the AMA Superstock championship and ninth in the AMA Superbike standings. The next stop for the Jordan Suzuki team and the AMA Superbike Series is Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia August 15-17, 2008. For more information on the Jordan Suzuki team, visit the race team website at www.23race.com. Fans can watch the AMA Superbike Championship series on SpeedTV. Legendary NBA star Michael Jordan formed Michael Jordan Motor Sports in 2004 as a result of his passion for motorcycle racing. His mission is to bring a new level of excellence and style to the motorcycle racing industry.