TigerTeam Racing Takes a Top 20 Finish at Fontana. At the Fontana AMA Superbike double-header, TigerTeam Racing’s Jeff Tigert came back from an incident on the warm-up lap in Race One, with a 17th place finish in Race Two. Tigert’s finish–which matched his qualifying effort that saw him 17th fastest on the grid–was a bit of a let down, following his recent wins in AFM and WSMC competition. Despite being up to 10 mph down in the trap speeds, Tigert managed to qualify right behind the Yamaha of former factory rider Larry Pegram, and only three spots down on the CBR1000RR of Erion Honda rider Kurtis Roberts. “Qualifying went really well but even with the kit motor we were way down on the trap speeds,” Tigert admitted. “It’s just so frustrating, working so hard, getting in a good position, only to get taken down by someone in the second turn on the first lap.” After a late night that saw Tigert and his crew get his Marin Cycleworks CBR1000RR back into running shape, Tigert took the grid for race two, making his way past the 1000cc Suzukis of Tony “The Tiger” Meiring and former 750 Supersport champion Jimmy Moore en route to his 17th place finish. “I’m okay with it,” Tigert explained. “But the bike didn’t quite feel the same after the fall. According to the dyno, it wasn’t running the same. I was just a fraction of a second behind Pegram in qualifying, and he managed to finish 10th. That just makes me think of how well I could have finished if everything went the way we planned it.” The next event on the TigerTeam Racing schedule is the third round of the AMA Superbike championship, which will be held on May 13-15 at Infineon Raceway–Tigert’s home track. More, from a press release issued by Joe Rocket, which does not make it clear exactly which of the mentioned racers actually wears Joe Rocket leathers, although we’re pretty sure Aaron Yates, Neil Hodgson, Jason DiSalvo and Jamie Hacking don’t, so why they’re in a Joe Rocket press release is a mystery to us: ROCKET RACERS SPLIT SUPERBIKE WINS The Rocket Racing Team again proved to be the toughest on tarmac, taking 8 podium positions with three victories during this past weekend’s AMA Superbike showdown at the California Speedway. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Superbike rookie sensation Ben Spies snatched his 1st ever Superbike race win Saturday, in race #1 of the doubleheader format. The 20 year old Texan used true race craft to outride veteran contenders Aaron Yates and Neil Hodgson, landing himself on the top step of the podium in Winners’ Circle. In Superbike race #2, Mat Mladin returned to dominant form and showed the rest of the field the fast way around the track, from his 40th career pole position, all the way to the checkered flag. Mladin was joined on the podium by Ben Spies, who finished second. Building momentum on his win at Barber Motorsports Park, American Honda’s Jake Zemke dueled with teammate and fellow Rocket Racer Miguel Duhamel in the action packed Formula Xtreme race. Zemke prevailed victorious and now leads the FX Championship with 104 points to Miguel’s 103. In Supersport excitement, reigning Champion Tommy Hayden hounded his arch rival Jamie Hacking lap after lap. Tommy fought the good fight but ultimately settled for 2nd place aboard his Kawasaki ZX-6RR. Roger Lee Hayden joined his brother on the podium, finishing third. The Jordan Motorsports Team was proudly represented on the Superstock podium by Rocket Racer, Steve Rapp. Riding his Suzuki GSX-R1000, Rapp waged war against Graves Yamaha YZF-R1 machines of Jason Disalvo and Jamie Hacking. Finishing a commendable 3rd place, Steve Rapp lives to fight another day. Superbike rookie Ben Spies currently leads the Superbike Championship with 155 points over Mat Mladin’s 152. The Rocket Racing Team returns to action May 13-15 at Infineon Raceway in sunny Sonoma, California. More, from a press release issued by Team Embry: Lynn Earns Top 15 Finish in AMA Superstock at Fontana FONTANA, Calif. Team Embry’s Matt Lynn saw California Speedway for the first time last week, but the 20-year-old caught on quickly and rode to a finish of 14th in the Repsol Lubricants Superstock Series race on his Suzuki GSX-R1000 on Saturday, April 30. Lynn had a difficult time during round two of the season at Barber Motorsports Park, held just one weekend before the California Speedway event. He arrived in California with a new outlook and a new tire contract with Pirelli, and things turned around quickly for the Ballground, Georgia resident. “At Barber we thought we had a good setup from the start. But I was having to work too hard to do mediocre laps times,” explained Lynn. “Finally I ran out of time for getting the bike set up. I actually went faster on my backup bike! “At Fontana, we got plenty of track time on the promoter test day. Right off the bat with the Pirellis we were about where we needed to be on setup. The seconds started coming off my lap times pretty quickly.” The first race of the weekend for Lynn was the 17-lap Superstock race, for which he qualified 16th. He found himself in a pack of four riders who traded positions for nearly the entire race, and was able to secure 14th. “I lost a couple of positions on the start, but gained them back into turn one,” said Lynn. “We were down some horsepower, but it was a good battle for the whole race. I’m happy with the results- it’s my highest AMA finish so far.” Lynn also raced his Team Embry Suzuki GSX-R1000 in both AMA Superbike races at California Speedway. He finished 23rd in race one on Saturday, fighting pain from a crash that morning. The second Superbike race on Sunday saw Lynn finish 24th. “I really learned a lot at Fontana,” concluded Lynn. “All in all, the weekend was a success, especially since it was my first race weekend on Pirellis. Everything is going along smooth. I’m looking forward to the next round at Infineon Raceway. I think things will go well there.”