Wyman notches season-best ride for Lion Fuel/BlackBerry Cylance/KWR Ducati team
MILLVILLE, N.J. — The KWR Ducati team scored two top-10 finishes this past weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park for the ninth round of the MotoAmerica Championship. Kyle Wyman finished 9th and 6th in Superbike races one and two respectively on his Lion Fuel/BlackBerry Cylance sponsored Ducati Panigale V4 R.
Wyman started the two-day event strong by finishing 3rd fastest in the first qualifying session with a time of 1:21.796, then followed up with a slight improvement to 1:21.674 for QP2 which was good enough for 7th place on the starting grid.
“I felt strong out of the gate on the bike,” Wyman said. “I was able to put down a fast time on new tires, but it was difficult for me to maintain the pace once we had more laps on them and the grip started to go away. With so little time in the two day events, we didn’t have an opportunity to experiment too much with the chassis setup, so we went into race one with a similar bike to what we started the day on.”
Wyman got an excellent start from the third row and rolled into turn one 4th on track, but lost positions battling a lack of grip on the bike and finished a lonely 9th place result. Wyman could not hold the pace and fought the bike all the way to the checkered flag.
“Race one was very difficult for me, and disappointing after such a good start to the day.” Wyman said. “From the start of the race it seemed we went the wrong direction with the setup and I was suffering from a lack of grip front and rear. It was frustrating, but it gave us valuable data to make a decision for Sunday.”
In comparison to Wyman’s 2017 total race time, where he finished 2nd in the Superbike race to Toni Elias, Wyman finished race one Saturday 49 seconds slower than his previous best race at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Changes for Sunday would net the team a big step in the right direction.
Wyman was promoted to 6th on the grid for Sunday after pole-sitter Garrett Gerloff scratched due to injury, and got off the line with another great start. He battled with Mathew Scholtz, Jake Lewis and Toni Elias over 3rd for the beginning laps, eventually losing out to the trio of challengers but settling into a 6th place spot and a 13 second gap back to Josh Herrin, in 7th. Wyman finished Sunday’s race two 17 seconds faster than Saturday, and recorded the 4th fastest lap of the race with a 1:21.174.
“Sunday’s race was probably our best result of the season on the Ducati, even though we’ve finished 6th earlier in the year,” Wyman said. “The two-day events are tough, but fortunately we made a great decision on Sunday and found some pace by softening up the front and rear of the bike. The Jersey track doesn’t have a ton of grip, so we were too stiff with the bike on Saturday. We’ve learned so much over the past few weeks that we can apply to Barber and I’m looking forward to getting down there.”
The final round of the 2019 MotoAmerica championship wraps up September 20-22 at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama.
Visit www.kylewymanracing.com for more news and updates.
More, from a press release issued by Weir Everywhere Racing:
Weir Everywhere Racing BMW competes in Superbike Class for fourth, fifth time of 2019 at MotoAmerica Championship of New Jersey
Team uses experience to improve lap times, bike setup on its BMW S 1000 RR
MILLVILLE, N.J. — The Weir Everywhere Racing BMW team made the step up to the Superbike Class for the MotoAmerica Championship of New Jersey and successfully used the experience to improve its BMW S 1000 RR package.
Despite being down on horsepower compared to its Superbike Class competition, the team raced its lightly modified Stock 1000 BMW package Sept. 7-8 on New Jersey Motorsports Park’s 2.25-mile Thunderbolt course. Rider Travis Wyman scored a 12th-place finish in Saturday’s race and an 11th-place finish on Sunday, improving his best lap time by about half a second in Sunday’s contest.
The team used the opportunity to experiment with new parts that aren’t legal in the Stock 1000 Class to better understand how to best set up its BMW package for Wyman. Among the changes the team made to the bike for the New Jersey event was a new set of custom-machined triple clamps, courtesy of team sponsor Evol Technology. The team’s hard work is expected to pay big dividends when it returns to Stock 1000 competition for the 2020 MotoAmerica season.
The Weir Everywhere Racing BMW team isn’t done competing in MotoAmerica Superbike this season. Wyman will be back on the Superbike grid for the final round of the 2019 season Sept. 20-22 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala.
Travis Wyman / #24
“I think we had as good a weekend as we could. We learned a lot more about how to best set our BMW S 1000 RR up for my riding style, and I ran the fastest laps of my career at this track. We tried some new parts this weekend that we hadn’t at the previous rounds we competed in Superbike at, including a great new set of triple clamps that Steve at Evol Technology designed and machined for us in less than 24 hours. We also tried new geometry and suspension settings that helped us lower our lap times over the course of the weekend. Obviously, we’d have liked to have been in the top 10 in both races, but overall, we accomplished almost everything we set out to at New Jersey. Barber is a track we struggled at last year, and we’re hoping to use the next round to find a set up that will work there for next season and beyond.”
More, from a press release issued by Altus Motorsports:
MotoAmerica: Altus Motorsports Tucker TerpTastick.com VP Lubricants Race Report “a difficult and unlucky weekend“ at New Jersey Motorsports Park
(Millville, NJ) The Altus team rolled into the compressed format two-day event at New Jersey Motorsports Park on a real high. The previous round had been the best of the season and everything pointed to that trend continuing: The weather looked like it was going to be good; the bikes were all running well; and all of the Altus riders had experience with and genuinely like the NJMP course. However, very little of Round 9 of the MotoAmerica Championship went to plan.
Liqui Moly Junior Cup: In the last round, Kevin Olmedo snagged his first win and he showed up at New Jersey aiming to get to the top step again. At the end of the first practice, he topped the timing chart and a win looked quite possible. He qualified second, meaning he would start Race 1 from the middle of the front row. Unfortunately, the long run to turn 1 from the starting line is often a hindrance to riders up front. Kevin got a great launch but was quickly swallowed up by the group behind him. In the foray into the first corner, Olmedo was hit from the inside. The impact was hard enough to bend his brake lever guard. He held his line and managed to only get pushed back to fourth. For the entire race, Kevin was part of a five bike breakaway fighting for the win. On the final lap, he used his superior corner speed to make an outside pass for second in an attempt to take first before the line. Unfortunately, it put him on a dirty part of the track and led to a very quick and massive highside. Bruised but not broken, Kevin gridded up on Sunday hoping for redemption. Having set the fastest time in the first race, he started from Pole. He spent most of the race battling with three other bikes for the second step of the podium. After leading the penultimate lap, the draft on the front straight put him in 5th into the first corner with a lot of ground to make up. He worked his way through the group and barely missed out on second place at the line. Olmedo heads into the final round in second place in the Championship.
Stock 1000: At the Pittsburgh round, Miles Thornton’s GSX-R 1000 ran perfectly for the first time this season. He approached Round 9 ready to continue building on the newfound confidence. And he did as much as he could. The MotoAmerica two-day format for the NJMP weekend meant the Stock 1000 class had only one race and sporadic time for practice and qualifying. Miles made the most of it. He spent his track time working on chassis setup and continuing to adapt to the bike. He dropped time every session. After the first few laps of the race, Thornton settled into 6th place and held it all the way to the finish. Now he heads to Barber Motorsports Park with complete confidence in his bike and ready to continue improving and closing the gap to the riders at the front.
Supersport 600: Lucas Silva could not catch a break this weekend in New Jersey. During practice and qualifying the bike felt great and his pace was good. He managed to qualify 8th fastest, putting him in the middle of the third row. Just past the halfway point in the race, Silva felt the front tire begin to squirm a little. But he was in 6th and gaining on 5th place, so he kept pushing. On lap 15 of 20, the tire gave way without warning, putting Lucas on the asphalt. He picked the bike up and remounted but the damage was too great to continue the race. He started the second race from 9th but only made it 3 laps before a bizarre crash. Coming through turn 3, Silva felt like his bike power was cutting out. He stood the bike up and was headed off the track. As he exited onto the grass, in spite of his braking, the bike did not slow. It was then that he realized his motorcycle had become entangled with another and he was being pushed off the track. His bike then snapped sideways and threw him violently to the ground. Lucas likes NJMP and leaving with two DNFs is disheartening. “This is tough but we will move on. The team has been great. I’m sore but I have a few weeks to heal up and then we go to Barber for the last round,” said Lucas Silva.
Before his crash at Sonoma, Jaret Nassaney was feeling better than ever on his GSX-R 600. After missing the last round to heal, he hoped to pick up where he left off. Unfortunately, his arm was still not back to full strength. As a result, he had to make compromises and modify his riding style. Starting from 18th, he spent much of Race 1 by himself and crossed the line in 14th, collecting some valuable championship points. Sunday his arm felt a bit better and he was able to drop his lap time by a few seconds. He finished in a solid 12th. “Obviously, I was hoping for more but it just wasn’t possible this weekend. Alabama will be interesting. I like that track but the new surface will mean everyone will be learning. I’m going to work on getting my hand strength back and finish the season strong at Barber,” said Jaret Nassaney.
“It was a tough weekend but there are a few bright points. It was great for Kevin to bounce back after the heartbreak of Saturday to ride smart on Sunday and, hopefully, lock-up second in the championship. Confirming that Mile’s bike is solid and seeing him continue to make progress was good. And for Jaret to come back from injury, ride hurt and be faster than he was in the past at New Jersey was impressive,” said George Nassaney.
More, from a press release issued by Franklin Armory Graves Kawasaki:
2019 OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED – ANDREW LEE IS A DOUBLE MOTOAMERICA CHAMPION
Andrew Lee achieved the goal he set himself at the start of the 2019 MotoAmerica Superstock Championship – becoming double National Champion, a feat he managed in style, leading the race at New Jersey to wrap up the title with another stunning victory.
Starting from the Pole, Lee was never headed, taking the chequered flag to win not only the race but the title in convincing fashion.
With back to back crowns now secured Andrew is hopeful of moving full time into the Superbike category in 2020, and with the pace he has shown both this year and last, you’d be hard pressed to bet against him making an impact!
Andrew Lee: “I had a difficult opening practice session but the team as ever did a great job to fix things and I was confident for qualifying. I took Pole after being fastest across the two qualifying sessions and I was looking forward to the race. We had good pace all weekend and I was keen to make a break when the race got underway. It was the almost perfect race. I led from the start and took my second National title in the way I wanted to since last year! I got off to a good start and am super happy with how the race and the season has gone. The Franklin Amory Graves Kawasaki crew are the best, my mom and dad, and everyone who has supported me this season thank you. I am so so happy and looking forward to the season’s final race and to seeing what next year brings!”
More, from a press release issued by Aguilar Racing:
RiderzLaw/Aguilar Racing Continues to Learn at New Jersey Motorsports Park
With a repeat of the 10th place and 9th place finishes from the previous round, Jason Aguilar was not happy with the results of the latest round at New Jersey Motorsports Park. However, the RiderzLaw/Aguilar Racing team did not leave discouraged.
Jason Aguilar: “New Jersey is a track that I have usually struggled at. But, aside from the mediocre results, there were several positives to take away. We have had so little time for testing this season, and we were able to use this weekend to test some new things. We tested a new clutch, which greatly improved my starts. We made some forward progress on suspension setup and testing of the different Dunlop front tire compounds available. The RiderzLaw/Aguilar Racing team worked so hard this weekend. I have to thank the whole crew for their efforts. We look forward to continuing these improvements and finishing strong at Barber Motorsports Park for the final MotoAmerica round.”
“I also need to send out a special thank you to RiderzLaw for their support this season. They are a special sponsor and have shown tremendous love and support for our team, and for MotoAmerica racing.”
Big Thanks to All of our Sponsors: RiderzLaw, Lexin, Honos, Torco, CL Auto Group, Moto Station, Graves Motorsports, Metric Method, TaylorMade Racing, Dunlop Tires, Yamaha Motor USA, FTECU, Superlite Sprockets, Motion Pro, Arai Helmets, Mithos USA, Alien Motion Batteries, SBS Brakes, EF Signs, SBK Paint, RFA Designs