Dominating Bobby Fong Wins Team Hammer’s 75th
Brea, CA — M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Bobby Fong concluded the combined WorldSBK/MotoAmerica Superbike weekend at Laguna Seca in spectacular fashion with a wire-to-wire victory in a one-sided MotoAmerica Supersport race.
Fong sprinted into the lead from the start and never looked back. The Californian shot to an immediate gap on the opening lap as he hustled his GSX-R600 racebike around the undulating circuit and then proceeded to apply the pressure on his pursuers from the front with his sheer pace.
Fong’s nearest rival crashed out while in pursuit, clearing the way for a blowout victory. Fong worked up a four-second advantage before easing his way to a 1.603-second margin of victory at the flag.
The win was Fong’s fourth of the season and gave him an 18-point lead in the MotoAmerica Supersport championship standings.
The victory also marked the team’s 75th AMA Pro and MotoAmerica race win.
Fong said, “Honestly, I had one of the best bikes out there — again — thanks to my M4 ECSTAR Suzuki team. It’s good to get the win for Suzuki, I know they wanted it here at Laguna Seca, one of their home races.
“We’ve got the championship lead now, so we’ve just got to keep the ball rolling as we move on to my home round at Sonoma Raceway in a month’s time.”
Teenager Sean Dylan Kelly continued to impress in his rookie season of racing in MotoAmerica. The second M4 ECSTAR Suzuki Supersport pilot left the grid in seventh at the start of the 19-lap race, and gradually worked his way into fourth position.
Meanwhile in Superbike, Jake Lewis followed up his Saturday top-five with an eighth-place ride in Sunday’s race aboard his M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000.
Lewis got away in his qualifying position of seventh and held that spot over the race’s opening half before solidifying eighth.
The 2019 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship will resume in just under a month as the series arrives at Sonoma Raceway on August 10-11.
More, from a press release issued by Hudson Motorcycles:
Another podium win for 2Wheel Legal/Hudson Motorcycles Richie Escalante on his Yamaha R6!
(Above) Richie Escalante (54). Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Escalante leaves Weathertech Laguna Seca Raceway tied for 3rd place in the Motoamerica Supersport Championship! With only one day of racing in the supersport class this weekend, Escalante had a great practice and qualifying on Friday coming in P6 both sessions . The team was able to pinpoint some changes that needed to be made and got them done! Saturday was our day to enjoy some great racing from World Superbike and Motoamerica Twins Cup, Supserstock 1000 and Superbike teams! During Sunday’s qualifying, Escalante was able to work himself into P3 securing a P4 starting position on the grid! With a great start, he positioned himself into 4th and had a great battle with PJ Jacobsen until the very end finishing in P3 for his 4th podium of the season!
Team Owner Mark Shinder states: “I couldn’t be prouder of our rider and our team! We continue to grow and develop with every race and I am thankful for all the hard work, dedication and camaraderie under our canopy.”
Thank you to all our sponsors and your continued support. 2Wheel Legal, Akropovic exhaust, Bel Ray Lubricants, Vortex EK, Vesrah, Motion Pro, Velocity Tape, Sprint Filter, Dynojet, CoreMotoUSA, Galfer, Shoei Helmets USA, Coxx Radiator Guards, Stomp Grip and Spidi.
More, from a press release issued by Jayson Uribe Racing:
Laguna Seca Top Ten For Jayson Uribe
(Above) Jayson Uribe (36). Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Jayson Uribe secured another top 10 finish in the latest round of the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship on Sunday at the 2.238-mile WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The MotoAmerica series was once again supporting the prestigious Motul FIM Superbike Championship providing Jayson the opportunity to mingle with the thousands of fans that frequented the Paddock Show as well as show his on track speed.
A strong start and his consistent pace enabled him to move quickly into the top 10 where a race long duel for ninth ensued. At the flag Jayson was credited with six valuable points and his third top ten finish of the season!
A crash on Saturday afternoon in the opening 23 lap encounter didn’t detract from what was a successful weekend for the #36 rider, both on and off track.
For the second successive year Jayson was the standout performer in the on stage SBK Songfest, his rendition of One Man Band by Old Dominion bringing the crowd to their feet.
The next round of the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship takes place at another Californian circuit – Sonoma Raceway in early August.
Jayson Uribe: “I’m walking away from this weekend with much more knowledge than I started with. We had some ups and downs, but in the end, we salvaged a solid result with a P10 on my Honda. Also, I had the honour of singing on stage with my buddy Michael Hill at the Paddock Show! Always a fun time when the WorldSBK crew are in town! Huge shout out to my crew for putting in the work to get my bike race ready. With engine troubles on Friday, and an incident with Kyle Wyman on Saturday, we all had our work cut out. Also, a big thanks to Honda USA for their hospitality and kindness!”
More, from a press release issued by Weir Everywhere Racing:
Travis Wyman battles aboard BMW to score fourth-place finish at MotoAmerica Championship of Monterey
Weir Everywhere Racing rider competes in third Superbike race of 2019, maintains fourth place in Stock 1000 standings
(Above) Travis Wyman (24). Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
MONTEREY, Calif. — Weir Everywhere Racing BMW rider Travis Wyman show patience and great racecraft when he won the battle for fourth place in the Stock 1000 race at the MotoAmerica Championship of Monterey.
In front of the stars of the Superbike World Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca July 12-14, Wyman showed he was a rising star in the MotoAmerica series by using a end-of-the-race push to come out on top of a four-way battle for fourth place. Wyman’s performance allowed him to maintain fourth place in the Stock 1000 Class standings with five races remaining in 2019.
The team kicked off the weekend by posting the fifth-fastest time in the Stock 1000 Class’ only practice session. Wyman ended up qualifying eighth while the team worked on finding an ideal set up for its BMW S 1000 RR. The set up came into its own toward the end of the 12-lap Stock 1000 race, as Wyman got a good start and moved up two positions on the first lap. He moved up two more positions on Lap 8 and finished the race in fourth place despite experiencing heavy wear on his rear tire.
In Sunday’s Superbike race, Wyman put in a conservative effort to maximize the team’s ability to gather data on his BMW S 1000 RR. The team tested out some Superbike-spec parts on its BMW to learn more about the motorcycle’s handling characteristics. Wyman started the race in 13th and finished in 12th while generating lots of data points over the race’s 23-lap distance.
The MotoAmerica series has a three-week break before the next round Aug. 10-11 at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. Wyman claimed a third-place finish in his first time racing a BMW at the track in 2018, and he will be aiming for similar results or better in 2019.
Travis Wyman / #24
“We knew this weekend was going to have some difficulties simply because we did not race our BMW package at Laguna Seca last season. Racing in both Saturday’s Stock 1000 contest and Sunday’s Superbike race gave us the most seat time we’ve put in on our BMW on one track. I knew that having that much track time would allow us to Laguna Seca in a much stronger position as a team. In the end, our BMW S 1000 RR performed even better than we expected, and it felt great to win a tough battle for fourth place in Stock 1000. I would have liked to have pushed harder in the Superbike race, but the arm pump problem I’ve been struggling with this year really flared up during the race. While we were hoping for a podium finish, the Laguna Seca round was ultimately a successful one for us.”