Michael Gilbert, age 24, is putting his Michael Gilbert Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R Stock 1000 racebike aside this weekend so he can ride a FLY Racing/ADR Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R1000R in the MotoAmerica HONOS Superbike class at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS).
“Dave [Anthony] texted me about a week ago and asked if I would be interested in racing a Superbike for him, and things just moved really quickly,” Gilbert told Roadracingworld.com. “We’re obviously giving up third in the Stock 1000 Championship, but I feel that this is a pretty good opportunity to get into Superbike, see what we can do, and hopefully raise an eyebrow or two. We’re just going to do the best job we can.”
Gilbert will ride the Suzuki that Andrew Lee made his Superbike debut on at Barber Motorsports Park, after Lee’s entry on the Superbike Unlimited Franklin Armory Racing Kawasaki ZX-10RR was withdrawn due to that bike having an illegal ECU, software, and close-ratio Nova Racing transmission.
Superbike Unlimited has brought its Kawasaki into compliance with the MotoAmerica Superbike rules, according to a press release from the team, and two-time MotoAmerica Stock 1000 Champion Lee will be back on the ZX-10RR this weekend.
The Stock 1000 class will not be empty this weekend as Altus Motorsports Suzuki’s Cameron Petersen will be looking to clinch the 2020 Championship at IMS, and the South African can accomplish that feat with a strong finish in this weekend’s sole race.
With Gilbert leaving the Stock 1000 class, this opens the door for Travis Wyman, Stefano Mesa, or Alex Dumas to move past him in the point standings during the two remaining races. Dumas, age 18, will be back in action on his M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000R at Indy, after breaking his right arm in a crash at Ridge Motorsports Park in August.
Mesa will be doing double duty at IMS as he has decided to bring his new Mesa 37 Racing Kawasaki ZX-6R to race in the Supersport class in addition to riding his Kawasaki ZX-10R in Stock 1000.
Twins Cup class regular Hayden Schultz has also brought a Kawasaki ZX-6R to race in Supersport in addition to riding his Hayden Schultz Racing Yamaha MT-07 in Twins Cup.
After saying at New Jersey Motorsports Park that he was selling his Syndicate Racing/Apex Assassins Yamaha MT-07 and ending his season early, Jason Madama is back to race in Twins Cup at “The Racing Capital of the World.”
Rocco Landers has a good chance at clinching the 2020 MotoAmerica Twins Cup Championship this weekend on his SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki SV650. The only way Landers will not clinch the title is if Kaleb De Keyrel wins the race on his 1-833-CJ-KNOWS Accident & Injury Law Yamaha MT-07 and Landers fails to score any points at all.
On a normal MotoAmerica race weekend Trevor Daley works as a member of Toni Elias’ M4 ECSTAR Suzuki crew, but this weekend Daley is racing against Elias, and the rest of the field, in Superbike. Earlier this season, Daley, a veteran racer, finished second and third in two Canadian Superbike races on his Suzuki Canada GSX-R1000R.
The “MotoAmerica Superbikes at The Brickyard” event has attracted a lot of interest from the participant side of things, resulting in a total of 139 entries across MotoAmerica’s five classes (Superbike, Stock 1000, Supersport, Junior Cup, and Twins Cup), plus 23 entries in the Heritage Cup exhibition class.
COVID-19 protocols are in full effect this weekend at IMS. Everyone who enters the facility is required to fill out a medical questionnaire and undergo a temperature screening each and every day of the event.
Because of COVID-19 concerns, spectators will not be allowed inside the track, but a limited number of fans will be allowed to watch the races from a designated section of grandstands outside of the 2.5-mile speedway’s Turn One. What’s the attendance limit? One member of the IMS staff said the limit was 10,000 fans per day.
