Team Hammer closed out Round 3 of the 2018 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Series at Virginia International Raceway in outstanding fashion, notching up three more top fives including a podium result.
That trophy came in Sunday’s MotoAmerica Supersport contest courtesy of Cory West, who continued to excel in place of the injured Valentin Debise aboard the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R600.
West was even more motivated to stand on the box on Sunday after falling just inches short of the achievement on Saturday. The Arkansas native made a much better start in Race 2 and immediately slotted himself in the midst of a six- to eight-rider pack — that once again also included teammate Nick McFadden on the M4 medAge Suzuki GSX-R600 — contesting third position.
Third became second following a crash up front and the fight was made even more intense as a result. Overtaking maneuvers came fast, often, and from unexpected areas with two spots on the podium there for the taking.
West established himself at or near the front of that pack with some late-braking heroics in Turn 1 on nearly every lap. He and McFadden positioned themselves in second and third on the penultimate lap, but some last-lap shuffling saw West ultimately take the checkered flag in third, with McFadden a scant 0.019 seconds back in fourth.
West came up 0.131 seconds short of the runner-up spot himself but felt vindicated nonetheless after narrowly missing the podium the day before.
The experienced West said, “That was a heck of a battle. I got a much better start than yesterday and put myself in a good position; I was in P4 or P5 in the beginning and settled in to let some laps tick off before I started making some moves. But man, the kids were on me today; I had to work for it every lap. We were battling for second and third, and I just tried to keep my passes clean but I was getting passed back from every angle. That made it tough but Team M4 ECSTAR Suzuki just gave me a phenomenal bike, and I wasn’t going to come out of here without a podium so I put my head down. I wanted second place, but I’m happy to get the team back up on the podium.
“All the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki boys have been working awesome for me. This is really fun. I’m a sub rider, and that makes two podiums, and I’m sitting third in the championship. I don’t want to go home!”
McFadden was equally impressive in fourth. A stronger race set-up compared to Race 1 allowed him to more fully demonstrate the depth of his potential as he continues to knock on the door for a Supersport podium finish of his own.
“It was a better day today,” McFadden said. “We worked overnight and figured a couple things out that allowed us to stay up in that battle for the podium the whole time. Big thanks to the M4 medAge Suzuki crew for working hard and sticking with me; I’ve been off the box by a tenth or less twice now. It’s a little frustrating, but we’ll get there.”
Third Supersport rider M4 RiCK! Suzuki’s Daytona Anderson suffered a DNF.
Meanwhile, M4 ESCTAR Suzuki Superbike ace Jake Lewis showed his courage, passion, and dedication once again by registering another top-five finish despite competing under the most difficult of circumstances.
Lewis took the checkered flag in fifth place for the fifth time in six races just days following the tragic passing of his father.
He said, “Honestly, I was really happy with how the weekend went. With everything going on this week, it was really tough on me mentally and physically with the passing of my dad. He’s been here at the track helping me each weekend ever since I was four years old. I struggled a little bit at the end of the races, but my team worked really hard for me. And the whole atmosphere was positive which was very important for me this weekend.
“Two top fives… I couldn’t ask for much more; that’s a really good weekend. We were pretty close to fighting with the leaders today after making some changes following Race 1. I feel like we’re stepping in the right direction. We’ve got five top-fives in six races — it’s time to make another step forward and get on the podium at Road America, one of my favorite tracks. I’m really looking forward to that weekend.”
Team Hammer will get a bit of time to regroup and come back healthy and ready to fight when the MotoAmerica season resumes at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI, on June 1-3.
About Team Hammer
The 2018 season marks Team Hammer’s 38th consecutive year of operating as a professional road racing team. Racebikes built and fielded by Team Hammer have won 68 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National races, have finished on AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National podiums 192 times and have won five AMA Pro National Championships, as well as two FIM South American Championships. The team has also won 135 endurance races overall (including seven 24-hour races) and 13 Overall WERA National Endurance Championships with Suzuki motorcycles, and holds the U.S. record for mileage covered in a 24-hour race. The team also competed in the televised 1990s Formula USA National Championship, famously running “Methanol Monster” GSX-R1100 Superbikes fueled by methanol, and won four F-USA Championships.
More, from a press release issued by Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda:
MotoAmericaRound 3 – VIRginia International Raceway
Progress is made, potential is shown
Alton, VA – The traveling carnival known as MotoAmerica made its way to the immaculate rolling hills of Alton, VA for Round Three of the Motul Superbike Championship hosted by VIRginia International Racway. As the caravans of entertainers arrived on scene, the stages were already being set. The paddock at specific rounds this season is being transformed into an even more family friendly experience. Alongside the canopies of the permanent performers, now stand concert stages and all sorts of moto-entertainment for MotoAmerica fans. All this adds up to an incredibly electric atmosphere at the already stunning venue.
For their part of the “Big Show”, the Genuine Broaster Chicken / Honda / RoadRace Factory crew were looking to continue building on the positive results from COTA. The small break between the rounds provided just enough time for the bike to receive some much needed attention, while giving Cam Petersen some time to train on team supermotos. One of the most important aspects of set-up day is the opportunity it provides for the teams to fully prepare for the upcoming weekend as well as providing a chance for the rider and crew chief to go over notes and discuss their plan for the weekend. The plan for this weekend? Build rider confidence, build upon the successes, and come away with more valuable points.
Friday morning is the first opportunity to shake the bike down. Qualifying Practice 1 (QP1) is an entire hour dedicated to establishing and fine tuning those items noted in the set-up day list while acquainting the rider with how the bike will perform when the lights go out. While Cam was turning laps, the crew was closely monitoring sector times and trap speeds. About half way through the first session, Cam was getting used to the bike and his times were improving while trap speeds were impressive. Cam would finish that first session in P11; a set-up issue was causing the bike to twitch during the rapid direction changes that are prevalent at the Virginia facility causing Cam to lose some speed in certain sectors. Fortunately, QP2 is just a few hours later so Cam and the CamP45 Crew can get right back to work and dial in the machine to ensure a solid placement in Superpole. Making the necessary adjustments in the set-up, the guys headed into QP2 confident that they could break the Top 10. As so they did! While the adjustments in set-up reduced the front end “twitch” and Cam finished in 10th, there was still more to do to help the front end feel of the machine.
Saturdays are crazy days at the carnival! Shortened morning sessions lead to Superpole, then opening ceremonies followed by parades of marching bands and then finally an afternoon full of races. For the team’s part, their morning session was extremely productive. Overnight adjustments paid off with respect to overall feel of the motorcycle and Cam was feeling strong about his chances for improving during Superpole. The crew prepped two special Dunlop Qualifiers to maximize Cam’s chances of going fast on the super sticky tires. These tires can change the dynamics of the bike, and with only two laps worth of life (one out lap and one hot lap) there’s typically not enough time to adjust. So the guys gave him two tires in order to accelerate Cam’s understanding of the interplay between sticky tires and fast motorcycles. It worked! Cam was able to put the bike in the 8th starting position before the session was called. This is his best qualifying performance of the year and it shows that the work both he and the crew are putting into the package is working.
Once the last member of the marching band had been cleared from the paddock, it was time to go racing. The weather was predicted to be a major issue for the series on Saturday; thunderstorms, rains and an arc were supposed to make an appearance. The clouds certainly looked threatening and the barometric pressure began rising immediately bringing back the “Microburst” memory of 2016. However, the weather stayed away and as Race One was about to start, the only concern the team faced was getting through T1 cleanly. As the revs soared and the sound reverberated through the countryside, the lights went out and race one was underway. To say that Cam made a good a start would be a proper understatement. Cam launched his Genuine Broaster Chicken Honda as if it was fired out of a cannon. As impressive as that was, it would be for not. There was a pretty serious incident exiting turn 3 which would bring out the red flag immediately. The race was on hold and Cam would have to do it all over again. The restart wasn’t as spectacular, but it was good. Cam made up a few positions by turn four. As the race progressed, Cam was looking good and the bike was running strong. While running a solid sixth place, the “twitch” appeared out of turn five and Cam lost a little ground on Jake Lewis in 5th. As Cam was trying to make up that gap under braking into turn seven, he hit a bump (compliments of the cars) that caused his bike to leave the track in an unanticipated manner. Another unfortunate retirement, however this time, everything seemed to be clicking. So the team was able to pull the positives out of that race and zero in for race two.
Sunday, the day of the big show. No elephants or loins or tigers, just more marching bands and colorful plumage displays from all in attendance. With a strong bike from race one, everyone under the team’s tent was feeling excited about their prospects for the last show of the weekend. Earlier in the day, Cam had been running in the 1:26 range on race tires. The strongest pace so far. Reserved optimism was building throughout the team as race two approached. This time, the sun was shining and the Virginia countryside was a vibrant green set amongst the blue sky and white billowing clouds. The bikes came to life as they anticipated the start and the crowd had gathered outside their favorite corners. As the starting lights went out, Cam didn’t make the heroic start from race one. He was able to gain a few places before the end of the first lap and was again showing some really impressive speed. By lap four however, Cam was fading back, still inside the top ten but losing ground on the main chase pack. Cam was running a solo race until four laps to go when Cam caught Bobby Fong running in 8th. The pair would trade places all the way to the checkers. Sadly, Cam would be snubbed at the line and finish in 9th just 0.048 behind Fong.
Overall it was a strong performance for the weekend. Despite the DNF in race one; there were some serious positive to take away from the weekend. Race one showed the strongest performance of the season so far and Cam was able to add to his point’s total. The team now moves onto Road America in a few weeks where they are looking to put on a bigger show at the National Park of Speed.
Cameron Petersen – #45
“Some highs and lows at VIR but overall a great weekend for the team. We made massive steps with the bike and showed some good pace, even though we didn’t get the results we were hoping for we are taking steps in the right direction. Can’t thank the team enough for all their hard work and can’t wait for Road America
Danny Walker – Team Principal
“The results don’t show our progress. Overall we took a huge step forward with our bike. The tons of hours Scotty and the crew are spending getting the new components to gel is really beginning to paying off. Cam had his best qualifying so far, P8.
The first six laps of the first race on Saturday were awesome. Getting a great start, and in the battle for a top five for the first segment of the race, was a much needed morale boost. Unfortunately, there’s a bump in turn seven and it caught Cam out. That little miscue ended our day prematurely.
Sunday was a bit conservative for Cam. We’re needing to get a few more finishes under our belts before we can really charge again. A rear traction problem did nothing to help his confidence and he brought the bike home for a top ten finish.”
Scott Jensen – Crew Chief
“Coming into VIR the team was feeing very positive based on Cams results at this track previously and some positive advancements found within the electronics package. By the end of day one, Cameron was happy with the bike and very excited to have the electronics working to suit his riding, which had us all excited to get racing!
Unfortunately, we had a crash in race one while running an impressive 6th place. Race two brought us a 9th place after running a consistent 23 lap race.
Now heading back to the shop and prepare the bikes for Road America!”