(4FR)Four Feathers Racing’s Palmer Kling had an exciting weekend at Roebling Road Raceway on 3-20-11 for his first Wera National Challenge event. Palmer got to ride his 4FR Toyota/Lucas Oil sponsored Moriwaki MD250H on Friday and come to terms with his first purpose built race machine after spending the last few years racing minis. The day went well and he broke in his new bike, leathers, and Arai helmet under sunny skies. Saturday consisted of two short practices followed by a family day at the beach with his dad, Kerry, his mom, Michelle, and his younger brother, Preston while the national endurance race was held. Sunday morning was unfortunately no day at the beach for the 4FR youth program rider. During his first morning practice session, Palmer was forced off track by a fellow competitor at nearly 100 mph! He slowed his machine down as much as possible before he eventually crashed. Luckily he was not injured and his family crew was able to ready his machine for his next practice session. Palmer steadily got back in his grove and started to enjoy himself again. He was entered in a lightweight race against grown men on much larger faster machines in which had fierce battles and said he “had a blast” and ran his fastest times of the weekend. Palmer’s focus at his first national event was the 125GP class. This is the race that his machine was built for and is on nearly equal footing with the rest of the field. He has been waiting all winter for the return of race season. He has been chomping at the bit to ride his new machine as an official 4FR rider and make everyone proud. Palmer absolutely annihilated his competition and won his first Wera National 125GP race by over 12 seconds! He rode smart, built a huge lead, and maintained it to the finish, riding more like a seasoned veteran than an eleven year old novice. “We are very proud to have Palmer Kling as our 4FR Toyota/Lucas Oil Youth Program rider this season. We congratulate him on his incredible first weekend as a team rider and know that he has what it takes to achieve his dreams. All we require of him is to have fun and he definitely enjoys racing, Palmer winning races is just icing on the cake for us.” said team principal and program creator Scotty Van Hawk. “We are very fortunate to have the support of our many 4FR team partners for this program and would especially like to thank Lucas Oil for helping us make dreams come true.” About 4FR– Four Feathers Racing Inc. is a non for profit public benefit company that uses the motorcycle racing platform to make a positive impact on the world one mind at a time. 4FR is proudly supported by Toyota, GreenerAcres.org, Scion, Lucas Oil, MavTV, K&N, Arai, RS Taichi, Race Tech, Moto Liberty, FMG, GoPro Inquiries are always welcome by email [email protected] Follow the team on the web at www.fourfeathersracing.com Social Media-Twitter/ @scottyvanhawk – Facebook /ScottyVanHawk More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Qatar Grand Prix debrief with Hirohide Hamashima Round 1: Qatar GP Post-race debrief Losail International Circuit, Tuesday 22 March 2011 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Extra Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard The 2011 MotoGP season started this weekend with the first race in Qatar, which is unique because it is run in the desert and at night. Since the test on 13-14 March conditions were windy which meant a lot of sand was blown onto the circuit, making it slippery and leading to graining. During the weekend though the weather conditions improved, particularly on Saturday and Sunday, and the track surface became cleaner meaning the times got faster, peaking during the qualifying session. The Repsol Honda Team dominated the weekend with Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa constantly at the top of the timesheets, and it was Stoner who took victory on Sunday night with Pedrosa in third, behind hard-charging Jorge Lorenzo. Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima Director, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development The race was run three weeks earlier this year than in 2010. Did this make any difference from a tyre perspective? “Conditions this year were certainly cooler with track and ambient temperatures about seven degrees Celsius lower. This caused the track to be a little slippery, especially coupled with the dirty surface early on in the weekend, but we still used the same tyre compounds as last year with no problems. The operating range of our tyres is more than sufficient to deal with a change of ten degrees Celsius in track temperature. The laptimes were fast too, especially during the qualifying session.” How big a role did sand on the circuit play throughout the weekend? “We experienced quite high winds for most of the week until the Saturday of the Grand Prix which left the track quite sandy, especially for the first free practice sessions. As more laps were completed it got cleaner, but during free practice one and two in particular we experienced some graining of the softer option rear tyre because of the sand. Graining occurs as the rear tyre loses traction and starts spinning, so this gives us an indication of how slippery it was at first. Nevertheless, this is one of the unique challenges of the Losail circuit so from past experience it was expected.” The pace in qualifying was very fast how was tyre performance in general? “Overall I am satisfied with tyre performance this weekend. To lap within 0.2seconds of the outright pole position record, set on qualifying tyres in 2008, using race tyres is very impressive. Throughout the weekend the extra hard front tyre was the preferred option as it provides more stability under braking and is more durable, although some riders did use the softer option and had no problems with it. In the rear, the harder option was the favourite throughout the weekend because of its added durability and resistance to graining, though on the softer option in qualifying the times were very fast indeed which shows the level of grip it was producing once the circuit had cleaned was very high. “During the race durability was good. Casey and Jorge were able to lap within 0.6second of their respective fastest times until the end of the race and Andrea set his best on the final lap, which is a strong sign of tyre performance right until the end. We have confidence in the consistent and high quality of our tyres from last year to this and I am happy that the teams do too as this allows them to make good setups based on last year’s data. A good rider, bike and tyre package is very important to get the most out of our tyres.” More, from a press release issued by Seton Interceptor Racing: Seton Interceptor Racing Duo Debut at Brands Hatch The new Seton Interceptor Racing duo of Sam Warren and Ben Burke took the occasion of the opening round of the 2011 NGRRC championship at Brands Hatch Indy for their first taste of competitive action ahead of the 2011 British Supersport and National Superstock seasons (19 March). Friday’s practice and qualifying sessions were blighted by rain but this aided the Colchester-based outfit in gaining valuable wet set-up data ahead of the Easter Weekend British Championship opener. The riders were greeted with a slick frozen Paddock Hill and racing had to wait until the track had thawed out, the Saturday afternoon providing some of the warmest weather of the year to date. Sam set a blistering pace, consistently posting sub-50 second laps to qualify in pole position for the Air Racing 600 opener. Australian Ben, at the Kent circuit for the first time in his career, improved steadily throughout practice to line up on the fifth row. Despite the persistent attentions of Max Hunt, Sam held off to secure his first win of the year for Seton Interceptor Racing. Ben put the Seton Interceptor Yamaha YZF-R6 into the top ten, coming away from the meeting with invaluable circuit knowledge to carry onto the first round in four weeks’ time. Phil Seton: “Although we were racing, this weekend was all about testing. Ben needed to learn the track and Sam needed to learn the 600 style of riding on a track he knows. Friday was not the best conditions, however, we did learn about setting up the DDS shocks for the wet. Saturday showed Ben is fantastic off the line and deserved of his new nick name “lightening”. Sam won both supersport races and although he seemed disappointed not to break into faster times I felt he achieved everything we set out to do. Track condition was not the best so I wasn’t disappointed.” Sam Warren: “It has been good to be back in competitive situations again. We’ve ticked some boxes as far as starts and riding in the wet, which we did on friday’s test. I didn’t quite make the progress on times today I’d have liked to, so we now need to go back and analyse how we can improve. All in all though, a productive weekend and a big “thank you” from me to everyone who has helped out this weekend.” Ben Burke: “Had a good two days over all. Rain slowed our progress on the first day, although we did obtain vital wet settings. Saturday was the first time I have ever seen ice on a track! When things warmed up racing began and I bettered my time with every outing. I am confident we will have a good package for the first round. It was good to finally ride on such an historic track.” More, from a press release issued by Shandra Crawford on behalf of Bryce Prince: Bryce Prince Grabs Four Podiums In The Rain At WSMC Mar 22, 2011 Bryce Prince won the 600 Modified Production class and came away with three additional podium finishes at Willow Springs International Raceway this past weekend during WSMC’s third round event. In very cold, wet conditions with rain steadily falling ranging from drizzle to downpour- Prince stacked up results consistently with his Yamaha YZF-R6. The 18 year old young gun started off with a 3rd place finish in 600 Superstock, followed by another 3rd in 650 Superbike. Running up against the liter bikes in the premier Toyota Formula 1 class, Prince came away with a 3rd. With water standing on the track on streams running across it during the heaviest part of the storm, Prince came away with the win in 600 Modified Production. ” Today was a lot of hard work,” said Prince. ” I was having some setup issues that were causing me some handling and tire wear problems. I got a great start and was in 2nd place for the first two races, but the bike set up was off and I burned through my tires way too quickly to maintain good enough traction to stay on pace. I was running Dunlop full rain tires, and I was just burning through them after three laps. I came in after 600 Superstock, we made some adjustments, and the bike felt better for 650 Superbike, but we still burned through the tires too fast. One more adjustment before the F1 race did the trick I ran four seconds faster than I had been in the previous races. I had a good time hanging on to Chris Duran on his R1, but couldn’t quite get him. I didn’t have a race suit, so I was riding in just my perforated leathers. I was so cold after the F1 race, I could hardly get off the bike. I was soaked to the skin and freezing, but the bike was finally feeling really good, so I knew I had to get through one more race. I got a great start in my fourth race, and just stayed ahead of everybody. “I’ve never ridden a 600 in the rain before. I started out the morning hating it, but once the suspension and set up adjustments were made, the bike settled down and I really had a good time. I want to thank my sponsors for all their help and support this weekend: Motoyard Track Days, Knology Tuning, Dunlop tires, Motorex, Heroic leathers & gloves, Factory Bodyworks, Zero Gravity. I also want to thank my friends and family too, especially for standing out in the rain all day. I really appreciate all of your help and support.” Bryce Prince’s next event will be WERA West at Las Vegas Classic Course, April 2-3, 2011. For more information go to: ~http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bryce-Prince-The-Prince/188511334520359~