Fantastic Farquhar takes Manx Grand Prix hat-trick Ryan Farquhar became only the second man to win three Manx Grand Prix races in a week when he won a thrilling Post Classic Superbike race last Friday. Riding Roger Winfield’s XR69 1000cc Suzuki, Ryan fought tooth and nail with similarly-mounted Mark Buckley with the duo never more than a handful of seconds apart but, having regained the lead on the fourth and final lap, Ryan’s task was made easier when Buckley retired with half a lap to go. The victory followed up those already taken in the 350cc and 500cc Classic races held on the famous Mountain Course earlier in the week. Ryan’s first race of the week was on Winfield’s Drixton Honda in Monday’s 4-lap 350cc Classic and with heavy overnight rain leaving a number of damp patches around the 37 and 3/4-mile course, conditions were tricky. Having sat in second early on, an opening lap of 98.954mph saw Ryan take over at the front and his lead over Chris Palmer stood at 15s, a gap that had stretched to 24s at the completion of lap two. However, conditions were worsening considerably with rain hitting the Island and the pace duly slackened, Ryan and Palmer holding station in first and second. This was how it stayed until the end and so Ryan’s week opened in perfect style with a 43s winning margin over Palmer. Onto Wednesday and the 500cc Classic race where Ryan lined up on Winfield’s 500cc Paton, the machine upon which he won the corresponding race in 2009. Riding with the number one plate, Ryan seized control to lead comfortably at Glen Helen and with an opening lap of 107.378mph, the fastest of the race, he was already 40 seconds ahead. However, he opted to refuel at the end of the lap and with the machine struggling to fire-up, his advantage disappeared and he dropped back to 4th. That meant there was work to be done but he duly clawed back the deficit to lead again at half race distance and from there on in, Ryan continued to extend his lead and he completed the four laps over 1m50s clear of runner up Palmer. That just left Friday’s Post Classic Superbike race and Ryan’s lead at the end of the first lap stood at 6 seconds over Buckley with Michael Dunlop having stopped on the Mountain. However, although he increased his advantage to 8 seconds at Ramsey on the second lap, by the time they’d reached the Grandstand, Buckley had overcome this deficit to hit the front by 1.32s. He pressed on to leave Ryan 8s in arrears at Ballaugh on lap 3 but the Dungannon ace then began to eat into the lead and by the time they swept through Glen Helen on the final lap, he was ahead albeit by just 0.6s. This had increased to 3s at Ballaugh but Buckley then retired at Kerromoar and that allowed Ryan to come home for a comfortable win, following in the footsteps of Dan Kneen who won three races during the 2008 festival. Speaking later, a delighted Ryan said; “It was a tough week for all of us but to come away with a hat-trick, especially in the Classic races, is brilliant and feels pretty special. When we set off in the Classic 350cc race conditions were pretty good apart from the odd damp patch here and there but on lap 3 it was pouring down and the mist was coming down so I was almost sure the red flag would stop us at the end of the lap. For us to have a 4th lap was a bit crazy to be honest so I backed right off and just brought the bike home. It’s the first time I’ve won the 350cc race so I was very happy although what happened to young Wayne Hamilton later in the day obviously put a real dampener on it.” “The wee bike was going very well but we had a few problems with the others, having a misfire all week on the Paton and lots of issues with the valves on the big Suzuki. The 500cc race started well and conditions were pretty good but I lost a bit of time at the pit stop and then the misfire returned between 7000 and 9000 rpm. At one stage, I thought I was going to have to pull in but I was able to nurse the bike home for another win. In the Post Classic race, I settled into the race early on and it was nip and tuck betwen Michael and myself early on although he went out on the first lap. Then on the 2nd lap, the bike appeared to be running out of fuel and went off on one cylinder and that allowed Mark to overtake me. He’d also caught me up on the road and it’s always hard to pull away once that’s happened but I dug deep and managed to get back into the lead and his retirement obviously gave me a bit of breathing space.” “It’s always tough competing on the Mountain Course but, overall, it’s been an enjoyable fortnight once more although the serious accidents have overshadowed things and I’d like to pass on my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of those riders we’ve lost this last couple of weeks.” Ryan now returns to domestic action and the Killalane road races being held this weekend. More, from a press release issued by Sportsbike Ducationly Racing: RACE REPORT Rd4 AUSTRALIAN PRO-THUNDER CHAMPIONSHIP WINTON MOTOR RACEWAY VICTORIA : 2 4 SEPTEMBER 2011. SURVIVAL OF THE FINISHERS. The Australian Pro-Thunder Championship arrived at Winton and stared down the tricky, rough and technically difficult Victorian Circuit last weekend. The Circuit probably won the contest and the Championship is now wide open as a result. Sportsbike Ducationly rider Peter Martin overcame a number of technical issues and finished consistently well in every race to move up to 9th in the Overall Championship and consolidate 4th in the Formula One division with two rounds remaining. The rough and tight Winton Circuit proved difficult for big bikes and claimed last years Champion Craig McMartin (Irving Vincent 1000) and this years series leader Angus Reekie (KTM RC8R) before racing commenced. By the last race the 20 strong field had dwindled to just 11 finishers with four going out in the last race. Brad Glennan (Triumph 675) now leads the Championship on 240 points, second is Angus Reekie (KTM RC8R – 217 points), third is Richard Liminton (Ducati 1198S – 213 points), fourth Sophie Lovett (KTM RC8 158 points) and fifth is Mick Johnston (Ducati 848 153 points). Peter Martin (Ducati 1198S) is 9th in the Championship with 105 points. RIDER COMMENTS: PETER MARTIN Australian Pro-Thunder #31 “I was determined to improve in the Championship and it was not easy out there. I missed Friday practice due to other commitments, Saturday Qualifying was cut short after 4 laps when Angus Reekie crashed and I did not make it back out. I had to use the three Saturday races to make changes and bring my times down. I was having difficulty mid corner, Terry Hay simply wound up the rear pre-load and said, ‘give that a go’. The change worked brilliantly. I had more confidence in the bike and went two seconds faster in race three. Don’t change a thing let me push that set up tomorrow I said.” “Sunday is the Australian Championship and it is the real racing. With light on and off showers before Qualifying, it was difficult to know if wets or slicks were the best option. As I did not have Pit Crew I had to decide early. A shower came through just as we were due out to Qualify and I had slicks on. It is not the first time for me in the wet on slicks and while I was confident I could get my times down, discretion was better than taking a risk, I put a time on the board and pitted.” “The pivotal race was race three on Sunday, a first lap, four bike pile up brought out the red flag (all riders OK) and excluded front runners Darren Lewis, Adrian Pierpoint, Lachie Thomas and Nathan Mahboub from the restart. Here was my chance. I got off the line badly though, so I put my head down to catch up, I closed to the back of a group on lap two and then for no apparent reason the motor died in the fast sweeper. I just kept control, I checked fuel and kill switch all OK, turned everything off and tried to start – it started and so I resumed. New plan; catch up again. I set my best time of the weekend and brought the bike home in 8th. The moral of the story; never, ever give up, always finish races.” “Without the support of Terry Hay (Shock Treatment), Grant Hay (Shock Treatment), Barry Jones (Jones XL), GAS Honda at Wangaratta, Craig White (WRP), Series promoter Terry O’Neil and Race Secretary Gloria Langsdale, I would not have been at this meeting. Thank you all for your efforts, encouragement and support.” More, from a press release issued by KTM/HMC Racing: HMC/KTM Race Team Report New Jersey Motorsport Park Millville, NJ – HMC/KTM Superbike Race Team rider Chris Fillmore returned to the AMA Pro Superbike Series for his third race of the season aboard his KTM 1190 RC8 R race bike in the developmental season for KTM and its Superbike effort. The final round of the series was held at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Fillmore had a successful start to the weekend qualifying 8th fastest leading into Saturday’s first race. He had a good start in Saturday’s race and was running 11th for the opening laps. Unfortunately, shortly into the race, Fillmore high-sided in a slick turn and ended his afternoon. Luckily uninjured, Fillmore returned to the pits to rest up for Sunday’s main race while his team quickly went to work to repair the bike. In Sunday’s race, Fillmore got off to another good start and was again sitting in 11th position on the first lap. On lap two, Brett McCormick crashed in front of him resulting in a red flag race. McCormick was quickly helped up and the officials announced a full restart. On the restart, Fillmore got a good jump and was sitting in 9th. He fell to 12th in the first few laps and by the halfway point had dropped back to 15th. He quickly got back up to speed and passed into 14th. McCormick dropped out of the race on the next lap moving Fillmore to 13th. Fillmore made the pass for 12th and capitalized on Larry Pegram heading to the pit area to move into 11th. A lap later, Steve Rapp crashed allowing Fillmore to move into the top ten. When the leader, Tommy Hayden, crashed it moved Fillmore into a solid 9th place. He remained in 9th until the seventeenth lap where the bike suffered an electrical issue and he had to withdraw from the race. He was credited with 18th overall. “I was feeling pretty good in today’s race. I felt like my speed was consistent and I was improving with each lap and would have liked to finish inside the top ten,” remarked Fillmore. “Unfortunately we encountered an electrical problem which caused me to not finish the race. This is still our developmental year so we know we will be stronger when we return for a full season. I am really excited to be here and can’t thank my Team Manager Mitch Hansen, HMC Racing and KTM enough for giving me this opportunity.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: San Marino Grand Prix debrief with Hirohide Hamashima Round 13: San Marino GP Post-race debrief Misano World Circuit, Tuesday 6 September 2011 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium, Hard. Rear (asymmetric): Medium, Hard The San Marino was won by Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo who sealed his third victory of the season to close in on Casey Stoner in the championship standings after the current leader finished third, just behind Dani Pedrosa. This means Stoner’s championship lead is now 35 points with 125 points still available from the remaining five grands prix. The weekend was very hot and humid, and although a few rain drops fell on Friday and again on Sunday at the start of the race, conditions remained dry. It was the first time that Bridgestone had selected asymmetric rear slicks for Misano in the single tyre era, and the laptimes were fast. Already from Friday morning the leaders were under the lap record, Stoner set a new pole position record, and Lorenzo set a new lap record. Hirohide Hamashima Assistant to Director, Motorsport Tyre Development Division This year asymmetric rear slicks were selected for Misano what effect did they have? “I think that we can see clearly from the laptimes that the pace was much faster this year, and whilst we cannot attribute it all to our tyres, we can at least say that the asymmetric rears offered a distinct performance advantage. To be under the lap record from the very first session of the weekend on a Friday morning is very unusual and impressive indeed and that pace continued for the weekend. In qualifying, Casey set a new pole position record, and in the race Jorge set a new lap record and new total fastest race time. This shows us that outright grip was high and durability and consistency over race-distance were also good. “The objective of selecting asymmetric slicks for Misano this year was to increase rider feeling and thus safety on the lesser-used left side of the rear tyres and to offer a performance advantage, and I can happily say that I believe we achieved both of these.” Many lap records have been beaten since 2009, so why is it such a big deal to set a new pole record? “Simply because most of the current pole position records were set before the single tyre situation started in 2009, so in the era of tyre competition. This was when qualifying tyres were used designed to provide maximum grip at the expense of durability, lasting only a handful of laps. From our experience, qualifying tyres are in the region of one second a lap faster than race tyres. Now, since 2009, we no longer use qualifying tyres so Casey’s pole position record was set on race tyres. This is only the eighth pole record that has been set since 2009 and of those, two were at Silverstone and Aragon which were new circuits last year, one was at Assen which was shortened by 13m in 2010, and two more were at Mugello and Indianapolis which had new and improved surfaces. Of course, this cannot be credited just to tyres and this improvement in laptime also demonstrates the hard work of the manufacturers in improving machine performance year-on-year. “This gives an idea of the level of performance during the San Marino GP over the weekend, and I am very pleased indeed with this, especially as we saw that exactly the same tyre compounds as used by Casey on his pole record lap were used in the race to set a new best total race time, so clearly the additional performance of our asymmetric rear slicks was not at the expense of durability. I believe this shows the level of development we are still doing with our MotoGP tyres, and that we are not simply standing still now there is no tyre competition.” More, from a press release issued by Witchkraft Racing: WITCHKRAFT RACING/SPORTBIKETRACKGEAR.COM WRAP UP 2011 SEASON AT AMA PRO FINALE AT NEW JERSEY MOTORSPORTS PARK The AMA Pro season finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park posed a series of formidable challenges often found in racing. The Witchkraft Racing/Sportbiketrackgear.com team started off on a good note, dropping time every lap and qualifying in 14th position, their best qualifying yet in their young season of running in Daytona Sportbike with rider Kyle Wyman. The most promising news early-on was having their bike at the top of the speed charts in P1 by sessions’ end – a strong start in the highly competitive Daytona Sportbike class. As the grid took off in Daytona Sportbike race one, the added laps would show a faster pace as the Honda East of Toledo-backed machine would move up to 11th place, closing on 10th and 9th place in what was shaping up to be another top ten result. However, a mechanical issue mid-race forced an early end for the team and with it, a surprising end to the weekend. Crew Chief Joe Kraft commented, “We had a mechanical issue today that ended our weekend early. We were moving up through the field and felt we had a very strong package this weekend – and were on pace for a very good result. It’s very disappointing, as it’s rare that we’ve had a mechanical issue, so this was certainly unexpected. However, we looked at the data and are fairly certain what happened. It’s an easy issue to fix, moving forward.” Kraft continued, “After how well Mid-Ohio went, we put in a lot of hours to make sure we were ready for New Jersey. We went through everything possible on the bike, but some things in racing are simply out of our control. In the end, we’ve learned a great deal this year in our first AMA Pro season. Thank you to the great crew who has worked with us this year and also thank you to the AMA for being so accommodating to a new team like us. It’s been a great experience and we are quite excited for next season. There are certainly things we will continue to improve and build on, but all-in-all I’m extremely happy with the team and where we’re at right now, as our plans continue to move forward.” Congratulations also to Jeff Wrobel, who completed his first AMA Pro season in the Supersport class. Jeff finished 19th place in both Saturday and Sunday’s races and ended the season 12th overall in the AMA Pro Supersport East standings. Witchkraft Racing would like to thank the following people who have made their season possible: Doug Cornett, Matt Kraft, Aaron Bagwell, Gabe Miller, Jaci Myers, Sheryl Fork, Randy Fork, Brian Van, Eric Johnston, Jamie Hanshaw, Charlie VanValkenburgh, George Hoffman, Joe Green, Rick Lee, Mary Lee, Chuck Graves, Shane McCoy, Dusty Schaller, Kris Zdral, Dave Conforti, Garrett Andrews, Geoff Maloney, Jason Levitt, Nick Piccolo, Chris Van Andel, Will Hall, Marion Cornett, Audrey Menarik, Chris Taylor, David Podolsky, Matthias Schaub, Eric Wood, Jan Wood, Tom Beagle, Chuck Giachetto, Mike Fitzgerald, Alex Bird, Rich Cronrath, Alexa Kreuger, Brian Stokes, Garry Hayes, Jeff Wrobel, Amanda Kelly, Bill Prodoehl, Rob Hancock, Jake Arch, Jeff Gibson, Richard Harris, Kyle Wyman, Todd Karam, Aaron McKean, Ron Piazza, Erin Higinbotham, Ciaran Ward, Lance Lau, Sean Dwyer, Brandon Bones, Jim Conquest, Becca Livingston, Marty Matuszak, Scott Casber, Ray LaRue, Howard Rosner, Laurel Allen, Andrew Trevitt, Chris Kruzel and especially – Gina Kraft and Marsha Kraft. More, from a press release issued by Brammo: Brammo Wins 2011 TTXGP North American Championship Ashland, OR, September 6th 2011–Brammo, Inc. a global leader in the electric vehicle industry, won the TTXGP North American Championship series for electric motorcycles on Sunday, September 4th at Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, Utah. Brammo ended the North American 2011 season with a convincing demonstration of technology, experience and talent. The result this weekend confirms that Brammo is indeed the leading electric vehicle innovator with its Brammo Power battery pack and vehicle management system. Brian Wismann, Director of Product Development for Brammo, said, “I am extremely pleased with the performance and result put in by the Brammo team today. Finishing on the podium is a great way to wrap up our North American Championship winning season. We have a great deal of work ahead of us if we are to successfully defend our title next year as the pace of electric motorcycle racing is continually increasing.” Steve Atlas who has ridden the Brammo Empulse RR all season stated, “I never would have thought going into this that we would come away as National Champions. It’s a real credit to the people at Brammo that they can build a bike that’s both fast enough and reliable enough to win a national championship.” Atlas continues, “All I did was twist the right grip and enjoy the ride! I started out a skeptic, but I have to admit I’m now pumped about the future of electric motorsports!” About Brammo Brammo Inc is a leading electric vehicle technology company headquartered in North America. Brammo designs and develops electric vehicles including the Enertia, Empulse and Engage motorcycles. Brammo is an OEM supplier of its innovative Brammo Digital Drivetrain™ systems including the Brammo Power™ battery pack and Brammo Power™ vehicle management system. Brammo has vehicle distribution and marketing operations in North America, Europe and Asia.For more information, please visit www.brammo.com The following are trademarks of Brammo, Inc. in the United States or other countries or both; Brammo®, Enertia®, Empulse®, Engage®, Encite®, Brammo Digital Drivetrain®, Brammo Power®, the Brammo logo and bulls head graphical device. More, from a press release issued by Racedays Promotions: Josh Day sets Pole position and new lap record, but no joy for Racedays in STK 600 race at Nurburgring WSBK USA’s Joshua Day continued to prove his talent and outstanding ability to master new tracks after setting pole position and a new lap record at this weekend’s World Superbike championship Nurburgring round. Day had only one dry session on his Revolution Racedays Kawasaki before final qualifying, and was still searching for the optimum set-up until a change of fork spring mid way through the session. There then followed a classic battle for pole between Day, Honda’s Van Der Mark and Yamaha’s Metcher and Lanusse all four riders having won races this season. Metcher looked to have clinched P1 until, with only 20 seconds of the session remaining, Day put together a perfect lap to take his first pole position of the season. The race start saw Van Der Mark take the hole-shot, with Day, Metcher and Duwelz in close attendance as the four started to break away at the front. Given Day’s proven race pace the team were hopeful for a repeat of Silverstone’s race victory, but Nurburgring’s infamous turn 1 dashed these hopes as the young Orlandan tucked the front of his Ninja ZX 6R whilst trying to pass for the lead. Lucky to slide away unharmed, Day remounted and put in a spirited ride to finish fifteenth. Van Der Mark rode well to an unchallenged victory in front of the battling team mates Metcher and Duwelz. Metcher’s second place now gives him the championship lead with a 24 point advantage over Josh Day in third. More, from a press release issued by Michael Jordan Motorsports: MICHAEL JORDAN MOTORSPORTS RACES ONTO THE PODIUM AT NEW JERSEY SEASON FINALE Millville, NJ (September 6, 2011) The Michael Jordan Motorsports (MJM) team and riders Ben Bostrom and Roger Lee Hayden got stronger as the season progressed and their hard work paid off, with podium finishes at the 2011 AMA Pro National Guard Superbike Championship finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, New Jersey this weekend. Bostrom finished a very close second on Saturday and was fifth in Sunday’s race. After battling to fourth place in Saturday’s contest, teammate Hayden made an impressive charge through the field on Sunday to finish third. Jordan Suzuki’s Bostrom had his best ride of the 2011 season on his Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R1000, finishing a close second place in Saturday’s race after staying on the leader’s tail until the very end. Sunday’s race was a barnburner, with Bostrom using his third-place qualifying position to get a great start and trade for podium positions throughout the race. On the last lap, Bostrom ran off the track but recovered to finish in fifth place. “It was a great weekend,” Bostrom said. “The Jordan Motorsports boys had an awesome bike. I came out swinging and the pace wasn’t so fast in this last race because there was a dogfight at the front and the guy at the front was trying to protect his lead, and it kept the pace pretty moderate. It made for an incredible race and probably one of the best races of the year because it kept everyone in it. My bike was really special and real fun to ride all weekend. It’s the most fun I’ve had on a motorcycle in a really long time. I really enjoyed that fight; the thrill and the adrenaline of never knowing where you’re going to finish. I was just enjoying the fight with everybody and hot dog, I wish they were all like that!” In Saturday’s race, Hayden used his National Guard Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000 to duke it out with older brother Tommy Hayden and Blake Young for the last podium position, with Roger Lee ultimately finishing fourth. On Sunday, Hayden overcame a poor start to charge from eighth place at the mid-point of the race to a well-deserved third place and the final spot on the podium. “In the second part of the race, I had fallen all the way back to eighth place,” said Hayden about Sunday’s race. “I started moving forward with ten laps to go. I figured I better make a push if I wanted to get on the podium. It was a crazy race people crashing and guys all over the place. I got lucky a few times; some people went wide and I slipped in a few gaps. On the last lap, I closed up on Blake. He had a moment coming out of the esses section there. I got a good drive and I tried to get up the inside of him there, but he was able to hang on and close the door. I ended up third a pretty good race for me and a good way to end the season strong for me and the team; something to build on for next year.” In the final 2011 AMA American Superbike Championship series rider point standings, Bostrom finished in fifth place and Hayden finished in sixth place. ABOUT MICHAEL JORDAN MOTORSPORTS: Legendary NBA star Michael Jordan formed Michael Jordan Motorsports in 2004 as a result of his passion for motorcycle racing. His mission is to bring a new level of excellence and style to the motorcycle racing industry. For more information on MJM, please visit www.23race.com, www.twitter.com/23race and ~http://www.facebook.com/23race~. Michael Jordan Motorsports is proud to partner with: Jordan Brand (a division of Nike), National Guard, American Suzuki, Upper Deck, Hanes, Gatorade, Bazzaz, MMI – Motorcycle Mechanics Institute, Vortex Racing Components, Gemini Racing, K-Tech Suspension-Orient Express Racing, Maxima Racing Oils, K & N Air Filters, Dainese Leathers, AGV Helmets, Ancra Tie-downs, Chicken Hawk Racing Tire Warmers, Armour Bodies, DID Chains, FMF Racing Exhaust, Factory Pro Dyno, Roclun International, Hannspree, STAR Motorcycle School, Motion Pro Tools, Zero Gravity Windscreens, with transportation provided by Eastside Trucking. More, from a press release issued by Vesrah Suzuki: VESRAH SUZUKI FINISHES UP THE 2011 AMA PRO RACING SEASON AT NJMP. In AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Race Two at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville NJ Vesrah Suzuki riders had mixed fortunes. Cory West finished 6th after just getting passed at the line to take away a second top 5 finish for the weekend. Taylor Knapp suffered a crash and a DNF after a competitor had an issue directly in front of him. Cory ended the 2011 AMA Pro Racing Daytona SportBike season in 5th place while Taylor ended up 8th in the points. Vesrah Suzuki AMA Pro SuperSport riders improved on their Saturday performances. Corey Alexander came back from his DNF in AMA Pro SuperSport Race One yesterday to claim a top 5 position today in Race Two. Stefano Mesa moved forward 2 positions from yesterday finishing up in 8th place. Mark Junge Team Owner Vesrah Suzuki “The team made a lot of progress in its second year of AMA Pro Racing competition and I am proud of my riders and crew for what they have been able to accomplish. I have to thank all of the team sponsors for their support in 2011 and look forward to working together in 2012.” Cory West Vesrah Suzuki #57 “Today’s race was a little tougher than yesterdays. I struggled with my first lap performance and really had to play catch-up. By the time I got into a good rhythm the leaders had already pulled a pretty good gap. Lucky for me there was a red flag and I got another shot at it. I was a little closer to the leaders on the restart but I still found myself out of striking distance. I had a good fight for 5th position and just came up short and finished 6th. I’m a little disappointed that I couldn’t finish out the year with another trip to the podium, but it just wasn’t our day.” “It’s been an amazing season though and I am happy with how competitive we’ve been weekend after weekend. The new Suzuki GSX-R 600 is an amazing bike and it certainly helped me get closer to the top step of the podium. I can’t thank my Vesrah Suzuki crew enough for the opportunity they have given me this year. Big thanks to Mark Junge, Tony Pogue, the rest of the team and all of the team sponsors. I’d also like to thank my personal sponsors Shoei, Pilot, Held, and Gaerne. I can’t wait to start it all over again next year at Daytona! See ya in 2012!!!! Taylor Knapp Vesrah Suzuki #44 “It’s been one crazy weekend. The Suzuki GSX-R 600 was working really good for me today We found a rear shock setting at Laguna that I really liked a lot and it was working so good that we didn’t change a clicker all weekend. I got a decent start for the 10-lap run after the red flag and was riding really hard and just started passing people and really going forward. I got a really good run going onto the back straight when the rider in front of me had a mechanical issue and I ran right into the back of him causing me to crash. It felt like a Daytona replay all over again and I’m really disappointed that I couldn’t finish the race because everything was working so well. I can’t thank the Vesrah Suzuki crew enough for a good year Mark Junge, James Lickwar, Tony Pogue, Don Dougherty, Chuck Desimio, Sean Goff, Mike Himmelsbach with Penske, and Pat Alexander from American Suzuki I couldn’t have done it without them.” Corey Alexander Vesrah Suzuki #5 “This weekend didn’t go exactly as I had hoped it would but it ultimately could have gone much worse so I’m thankful for that. My Vesrah Suzuki was very strong all weekend but we lacked what we needed to be able to run with the front 3 guys in either race. I’m happy to finish the year with another top five and I couldn’t have done it without everyone’s support. I have to give a huge thanks to my mechanics Barry and Tim, we had a very up and down year together but we achieved some great things and I couldn’t imagine getting my first win with anyone else working on my bikes. I also have to give a big thanks to Mark Junge at Vesrah Suzuki along with all of his guys for giving me a great opportunity to be on the best GSX-R 600’s in the paddock and having faith in me all year. Most importantly I have to thank my Uncle Richie as for without him I wouldn’t even be a part of this sport and around all of these great people. There are just too many people to thank; so many people have helped to get me where I am, so all that I can say is thanks everyone! I have high hopes for 2012, see you all next year.” Stefano Mesa Vesrah Suzuki #37 “My warm up session was really good – I went out with a completely different set up on bike and it felt better than yesterday but the times didn’t look good so we did a little bit of changes for the race. The race was awesome but scary as I got a good start but in the first turn almost got run off of the track and it was a huge pack. Once things cleared I was 10th and really close to all off them and ran well moving forward until I got chatter and had to slow down. I have to thank Mark and Vesrah Suzuki for the opportunity to ride for them, my crew James & Don for all of their hard work and my Mom and Dad along with my personal sponsors – Bell Helmets, Leo Men’s Underwear, Addict by Bosi, Motoprimo & Studio 299.” Vesrah Suzuki wants to thank all of their sponsors for their support for the 2011 season Vesrah, American Suzuki, Rockstar Energy Drink, Nielsen Enterprises Suzuki, Penske Racing Shocks, Traxxion Dynamics Fork Components, Yoshimura, Catalyst Racing Composites, Sudco Int., Bazzaz, Factory Pro, Maxima Racing Oils, Vortex, DID Chain, GPR Stabilizers, Trek Bicycles, GP Tech, Active, Pilot, Suzuka Tire Warmers, Pit Bull & Road Rage Designs