For decades professional racers around the world have experienced the performance advantages that Bel-Ray powersports lubricant provide. This weekend Bel-Ray’s professional racers will be competing in MotoGP, World Motocross and Supercross competitions. MotoGP The Bel-Ray sponsored Power Electronics Aspar team comes to the Jerez Circuit in the South of Spain confident that they can provide a strong finish. Team riders Randy DuPuniet and Aleix Espargaro both raced to top 15 finishes at the first round in Qatar, and their familiarity with the Jerez circuit should prove helpful for this weekend’s event. The team had good results in winter testing at Jerez and team rider DePuniet expects to be the first of the CRT bikes in the standings at the checkered flag. He spoke about lacking some confidence in Qatar due to track characteristics but in his words “it should be a different scenario at Jerez.” Teammate Espargaro added, “I am very motivated for this weekend. We were faster than our rivals at Jerez during the IRTA tests so we’ll be looking to confirm that this weekend.” Coming into Jerez, DePuniet is ranked 13th and Espargaro 15th in the points standings. Moto 2 The Moto2 series continues this weekend in Jerez, Spain. This will mark the home round for the Bel-Ray backed Mapfre Aspar team. Both team riders Toni Elias and Nico Terol have won events at the popular Spanish circuit. Despite struggling in the opening round in Qatar both riders come to their home Grand Prix confident of their abilities and are aiming for podium positions. Elias called the Jerez circuit his favorite on the Grand Prix tour with special memories of past victories and a unique atmosphere. He added that he was feeling positive for the event. Terol explained that the track has always been good to him in the past and that the combination of fast and slow sections that really suit his riding style. Following round 1 of racing, Elias is 13th and Terol is unranked in the overall season’s standings. Moto 3 Bel-Ray sponsored Bankia Aspar joins the rest of the World Championship series in Jerez, Spain this upcoming weekend. For the 26th consecutive year the series comes to this famous racetrack known to the local motorcycle fan as “The Cathedral”. With the large crowd expected winning this event is a must for every Spanish rider. Both team riders, Hector Faubel and Alberto Moncayo, hail from Spain and despite struggling at round 1 in Qatar, they are confident of a top finish in Jerez. The team made several changes to the set-up and engine performance in hopes of providing the riders the extra advantage necessary for a top finish. Faubel spoke about the changes and the teams ability to react quickly to issues, calling them the best team in the championship. He added that they “need to keep working hard to achieve our objective of podium finishes.” When asked about how it would be for him to win in front of his home country, Moncayo said, “This is the race every Spanish rider wants to win but as you can imagine for a local rider such as myself it would be extra special. I’ll be giving my best to make it happen on Sunday.” After the opening round Faubel is ranked 12th and Moncayo 14th in the world championship point’s standings. World Motocross Round 2 of the FIM World Motocross Series continues this weekend at the Monterostao Circuit in Fermo, Italy. Both MX1 and MX2 classes will be in action and Bel-Ray racers will be on hand competing. Coming off their excellent first and third place overall finishes last weekend in Bulgaria, Tommy Searle and Joel Roelants of the Bel-Ray sponsored Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit team, are considered top contenders for a podium this weekend. The duo traded wins in Bulgaria, a trend they hope to continue on Sunday at the Italian circuit. The Bel-Ray entry in MX1 class action, Team CP377 Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit, also had success last weekend in Bulgaria. After winning the opening moto in a dominant manner, Christophe Pourcel, settled for second in moto 2 and second overall while teammate Sebastien Pourcel overcame a disappointing fifteenth place in moto 1 to score a strong sixth place moto 2 finish, food for a tenth place overall finish. In the World Championship points standings Christophe Pourcel is currently ranked fifth and Sebastein is ranked fifteenth in the MX1 class while in the MX2 class points standings Searle is ranked second and Roelants is third. AMA Supercross As the AMA Monster Energy Supercross series draws to a close Bel-Ray’s teams continue to compete each weekend looking for the top spot on the podium. With all four original Dodge/ Sycuan Casino/ Hart and Huntington/ Bel-Ray racing team riders, Josh Hill, Josh Hansen , Ivan Tedesco and Kyle Partridge still out due to injuries suffered this season, fill in riders Kyle Regal and Tyler Bowers will be in Salt Lake City to represent the team. Last weekend, at Century Link Field, in Seattle, Washington, Bowers finished 16th and Regal was 17th after both riders experienced crashes in the main event. Coming into the open air Rice-Eccles Stadium this weekend in Salk Lake City, Utah, weather and the altitude can sometimes cause issues with bike setup and racer preparation. The thin mountain air will cause the bikes to have less power, something that is critical on the start. With that in mind Bowers spent time this week practicing starts, something that he hopes will pay dividends on Saturday night. “It is critical that you get out front in these 450-class races,” said Bowers. “I wasn’t very good out of the gate in Seattle and it cost me a bunch of spots” he added. Regal confirmed Bowers feelings of a critical start by saying “as soon as that gate drops you just pin it and go like heck.” With only 2 rounds left in the series both riders are expecting to leave Salt Lake City with good results. The West Coast Lites series continues on Saturday night for Bel-Ray sponsored Team Rockstar Energy Racing Suzuki. After a disappointing main event last weekend in Seattle Martin Davalos is looking to rebound and close out the series with a podium finish. Despite competing up front early in the main event, Davalos fell over in a corner and had trouble restarting his bike. He charged back to a 14th place finish. Teammate Jason Anderson overcame a poor start to work his way through the field to an eventual 6th place finish. With only the Salt Lake City and Las Vegas rounds remaining top finishes are necessary to cement their positions in the points series standings. Follow all of Bel-Ray’s racers in action each week on www.belray.com and www.belrayracing.com. More, from a press release issued by Bankia Aspar Team: JEREZ, THE ONE EVERY RIDER WANTS TO WIN BANKIA ASPAR pair Héctor Faubel and Alberto Moncayo highly motivated for first home race The MotoGP World Championshp sets out on its summer road trip across Europe this weekend as the Jerez circuit hosts the second round of the season and the first of four races to take place on Spanish soil across the 2012 calendar. Whilst it has been confirmed that there will be less than four races in Spain next year the Jerez round has at least been retained for 2013. This will be the 26th consecutive year that the circuit known to locals as ‘The Cathedral’ will play host to Grand Prix racing. Over the years it has become the place for Spanish motorcycle fans to make their annual pilgrimage and celebrate their passion together, making it the one event that every Spanish rider is desperate to win more than any other. The BANKIA ASPAR Moto3 team has been working around the clock since the opening round in Qatar to try and improve the performance of the KALEX-KTM machine. Work has centred mainly around set-up and engine performance, with bench tests showing up the need to make alterations to the exhaust. The team’s technical sponsor ARROW have moved swiftly to provide a completely new system for Jerez whilst KALEX have also come up with some ideas to improve the handling of the bike, which has so far proved strong under braking but difficult to turn in mid-corner. After a disappointing start to the campaign the BANKIA pair hope to make the most of these updates to challenge for the positions they know they are capable of. Héctor Faubel: “We struggled all weekend in Qatar but we have some new things to try here in Jerez. We have the best team in the championship, with the capacity to react quickly even though we are only one race into the season. So there is no need to panic just yet, we just need to keep working hard to achieve our objective of podium finishes.” Alberto Moncayo: “It is going to be a busy weekend because we are going to have to try to be on the pace from the very beginning whilst at the same time testing out some new things on our bike. I am looking forward to it and so are the team. This is the race every Spanish rider wants to win but as you can imagine for a local rider such as myself it would be extra special. My best finish here so far is a sixth place from my first year and I have been out of luck since. I finished on the podium here once in the Spanish Championship so I still don’t know what it is like to win a race at my home track. I’ll be giving my best to make it happen on Sunday.” More, from a press release issued by Indianapolis Motor Speedway: MotoGP RACE PREVIEW: GRAND PRIX OF SPAIN INDIANAPOLIS, Thursday, April 26, 2012 – A preview of the Grand Prix of Spain MotoGP World Championship event April 29: Race: Grand Prix of Spain Date: Sunday, April 29 Round: Second of 18 races in 2012 Circuit: Jerez Circuit, Jerez, Spain Distance: 27 laps on 13-turn, 2.748-mile circuit 2011 Winner: Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha 2012 Points Leader: Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha U.S. Riders: Nicky Hayden, sixth, 10 points; Ben Spies, 11th, 5; Colin Edwards, 12th, 4. TV: MotoGP: 8 a.m. (ET) Sunday, April 29, SPEED. Moto2: Noon (ET), Sunday, April 29, SPEED. Moto3: Noon (ET) Tuesday, May 1, SPEED. Web: www.motogp.com Twitter: @MotoGP LAST RACE Jorge Lorenzo passed reigning World Champion Casey Stoner with three laps remaining and held on for victory Sunday, April 8 in the Grand Prix of Qatar, the 2012 season opener. 2010 World Champion Lorenzo, from Spain, rode his factory Yamaha to victory by .852 of a second over Dani Pedrosa, Stoner’s teammate at Repsol Honda. Stoner ended up third, 2.908 seconds behind Lorenzo. Yamaha Tech 3 teammates Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso finished fourth and fifth, respectively. 2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden led the American contingent, finishing sixth on a factory Ducati after chasing a tough fight with Alvaro Bautista, Stefan Bradl and Hector Barbera over the closing laps. WHO’S HOT Jorge Lorenzo: Spaniard Lorenzo surprised many by winning the season-opening Grand Prix of Qatar from the pole since reigning World Champion Casey Stoner led all three preseason tests. Lorenzo’s Yamaha M1 chassis appears to avoid the “chatter” vibration problem under braking and acceleration that is plaguing the Honda RC213V machines of Stoner and Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa. The good times could keep rolling for Lorenzo at Jerez, as he has won this race the last two years. Cal Crutchlow: Brit Crutchlow was among the top six in all three preseason tests on his Monster Tech 3 Yamaha, and he backed it up by finishing fourth at Qatar. Crutchlow could be the breakthrough rider in the premier class during his second season in MotoGP. WHO’S NOT Casey Stoner: Australian Stoner led all three preseason tests but faded to a disappointing third on his Repsol Honda at the Grand Prix of Qatar after suffering from painful arm pump over the closing laps. The team’s RC213V also is suffering from troublesome “chatter” vibration under braking and acceleration. History indicates Jerez isn’t a good spot for Stoner to rebound, either. His best finish at Jerez is third, in 2009. Valentino Rossi: After suffering through the first winless season of his career in 2011, Italian Rossi’s troubles continue at Ducati. He finished 10th at Qatar and called the Ducati GP12 “unrideable” in a stunning diatribe to the Italian media after the race. Rossi had a controversial collision with Casey Stoner last season at Jerez that eliminated Stoner from the race. BY THE NUMBERS Seven-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi is scheduled to make his 200th career start in the premier class at this event. Only Alex Barros (245) and Loris Capirossi (217) have made more starts … Casey Stoner has recorded 16 consecutive podium finishes, the fourth-longest streak in 500cc/MotoGP history. The last time Stoner finished outside of the top three was this event last year … If Moto3 points leader Maverick Vinales of Spain wins this event, he will become the youngest rider ever to win four consecutive Grand Prix events. Vinales, 17, won the last two races of the 2011 season … Romano Fenati of Italy finished second in his Grand Prix debut in the Moto3 class at Qatar. He’s the first rider to finish on the podium in his debut across all classes since Noriyuki Haga placed third in the 500cc class in the 1998 season opener at Suzuka, Japan. 2012 tickets: Tickets for the 2012 Red Bull Indianapolis GP MotoGP event, scheduled for Aug. 17-19 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, are on sale now at www.imstix.com, by calling (800) 822-INDY or (317) 492-6700 or by visiting the IMS Ticket Office at the IMS Administration Building at the corner of Georgetown Road and 16th Street between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (ET) Monday-Friday. Tickets for groups of 20 or more also are on sale. Contact the IMS Group Sales Department at (866) 221-8775 for more information. Information on camping at IMS during the Red Bull Indianapolis GP is available at www.imstix.com. Hotel package information can be found at visitindy.com/redbull .