Racing Performance Services goes to Daytona with 3 riders representing the company’s suspension products and services. AMA veterans Ricky Orlando and Ty Howard will lead the team with up and comer Justin Meyers looking to gain experience and get a credible finish. With the late arrival of the 2005 Kawasaki ZX-6R and the corresponding required race parts, Orlando was left with less than 2 days to shake down the bike before loading up for the famed banking of Daytona. Ty Howard will be pulling double duty in the 600 Supersport race as well as the Daytona 200. Despite early delivery of his Supersport R-6 and the GP Tech FX R-6, Howard was left with little setup time on either bike as the need to develop quick-change hardware left the Texas rider without either R-6 to ride during the pre-season. Justin Meyers has been put himself in an intensive off-season program that has seen the Colorado rider frequent Laguna Seca, Fontana, Pahrump, and several other facilities constantly over the last several months. RPS is very excited about the team’s line-up for the 64th running of the Daytona 200. Ty Howard Howard spent much of the off-season recovering from a shoulder injury. This did not diversely affect the tough Texan and Ty looks to be back in top form. Racing in both the Supersport and FX classes does not concern Howard, although the main focus is on the 200. Ty went on to mention, “Geoff Maloney of GP Tech is providing a really trick R-6 for the 200 that I can’t wait to throw a leg over. I really feel confident with the preparation that Geoff puts into the race bikes and the suspension tuning of RPS that there is no reason we can’t have a great finish!” Ricky Orlando The Colorado rider who has seen many years in the AMA ranks spent much of the off-season regrouping after an excellent 2004 AMA season. With a 6th place finish in last year’s 200 and great television coverage during his excitement in the chicane, Orlando has had to switch gears a bit to get ready for Daytona 200 that is not based around the traditional Superbike class structure. Fortunately for Ricky, he has one of the most diverse backgrounds any racer could ask for and he also credited one particular person that constantly gets him on the racetrack. Orlando took a moment to note, “I can’t thank Marv Rosencrans enough. He has really poured it on to get the bike together in basically less than a week. I am also excited about the new Traxxion Dynamics Cartridges, although we weren’t able to put in a full test, the initial feeling from them is excellent.” Justin Meyers The young Colorado rider spent much of the 2004 season turning heads by running up with some the fastest Colorado veterans during his rookie expert year. Meyers took some time to thank those for both last year’s success and this years continued efforts, “I really want to thank Marcus McBain of RPS and of course the Comcables team in Colorado. It takes a lot of individual efforts to provide the level of success I have enjoyed. With such good people around me, I always feel confident that my motorcycle will perform the way I need them to.” The excitement at Daytona begins Wednesday March 9th and RPS owner Marcus McBain is looking forward to helping these riders do their best.