BG KAWASAKI AND CANADIAN DAN KRUGER TAKE CHENDU, CHINA BY STORM-THE OVERALL WIN IN THE INAUGURAL SUPERBIKE RACE April 16-17, 2011: Chendu Circuit-Mainland China Weather Conditions: Unpredictable at best (Race was run in dry conditions) Spicy food, Panda bears, and unpredictable weather”¦ That sums up Chendu as a City. Fun, fun and more fun is what sums up Chendu’s race track. In the first of 3 rounds as part of the new Chendu Race Series being promoted by BG Motorsports, BG Rider Dan Kruger from Canada (Racing with a broken wrist and finger) took a convincing win on his BG prepped Kawasaki ZX10 by 30 seconds over 2nd place. However the real story this weekend was the weather. With the weather changing every hour, it was impossible to determine if the guys should be on rain tyres, DOTS, slicks, or a combination of both. With a field of 18 riders all dealing with the same issue, it was a busy weekend for tyre changes to say the least. Riders were seen changing their knee sliders throughout the weekend as the trakc was abrasive and allowed for aggressive lean angles that saw most riders dragging their knees for probably 30% of the track. Saturday, Dan qualified on top during the first qualifier with a 1:40.269 but 2nd place was only a little over a second of that pace so Dan felt he needed to go out and set a new pace for qualifier 2 Sunday morning just to protect pole position. 10 minutes before the 2nd qualifier, with 1/3rd of the field on rain tyres, 1/3rd on DOTs, and 1/3rd on slicks, it was a real game of tyre choice and Dan noticed a dry line starting to form and decided at the last minute to change back to slick tyres. A complete set of tyres changed and balanced in under 5 minutes. It was hectic but the team worked well under pressure and the choice paid off as Dan put in a blistering time of 1:37.359 on lap 3 on a drying track and immediately came in confident he had secured pole position and to give his ailing wrist a rest. He ended up qualifying over 3.5 seconds quicker than the next rider. He couldn’t believe how well the team worked together. The race was run in dry conditions and Dan took the lead from the start and everything was going as planned until there was a crash and the race was red flagged. Upon the re-start, Dan had a poor start and took half a lap to pass the race leader. At that point, there was no turning back. He put in a fast lap of 1.37.220 and then realized he could finish the remaining 9 laps in the 1.38 range and comfortable win. The crowds were scattered around the track and in the stands and full of amazement as they are only used to seeing cars race at this track. They were cheering and it was clear that the Superbike race was the highlight of the weekend for them. The weekend started out with BG establishing a new First Aid division as they needed to use a circular saw to remove Dan’s fiberglass cast right before first practice. Dan broke a few bones in his hand during Round 1 of the Pan Delta Event in Zhuhai last month. He rode with some pain this weekend but the win and huge fun kept the pain off his mind for the most part. We would like to thank all our sponsors including BG, Titanic Kawasaki, Speedmaster, Pirelli, Arlen Ness, Berik, Ohlins, Suomy, and more”¦ Back at it June 1st for a private track/Press day with Rueben Xaus promoting Arlen Ness/Berik Leathers followed by round 2 of the Pan Delta Series in Zhuhai, China in mid-June. More, from a press release issued by Team Honda Racing: Round 3 at Hidden Valley Raceway 18th April 2011 Team Honda Racing experienced all that motorcycle racing has to offer at Round 3 of the Australian Superbike Championship at Hidden Valley 15th 17th April. One highlight of the weekend was definitely #47 Wayne Maxwell topping the time sheets in Saturday’s first qualifying session with a lap time of 1:07.497 sec and then a strong 3rd on the timesheets for Q2. #27 Jamie Stauffer also looked strong going into Superpole and did not disappoint on his CBR1000RR with a lap time of 1:07.518 sec which seemed difficult to beat. However, Josh Waters was able to do so by the smallest of margins, taking Superpole by only .004 sec. Sunday’s racing looked set to be successful for the developing Honda team, however the big points haul was not to be with mechanical trouble causing both bikes to DNF in Race two. Maxwell looked very strong in Race 1 as he weaved his way from 8th position off the start all the way through to 2nd and was eyeing off the race leader when he briefly lost the front end and crashed out of the race. Maxwell: “This was not the weekend we were looking for, but as a team in development it just means there will be a lot of hard work to be put in before the next event. I know the team will make sure we are good to go for Round 4 in Perth.” Stauffer, starting from P2 on the grid faired much better in Race 1 to finish in 3rd place. Stauffer: “Some events are definitely better than others! Getting a 3rd in the first race means more points on the tally although we have a lot of work to do in Perth now that we didn’t finish the second race. I almost got the Superpole, just missing it by .004 sec which was incredible. It isn’t long until Round 4 now so we will be more determined than ever to get the CBR1000RR back to the pointy end of the field.” Team Principle Paul Free is looking to Round 4 in Perth with a steely determination now and is the man with a plan for Team Honda Racing. Free: “There are some races that will stay in your memory forever and some you would rather forget. That’s racing. The Team Honda Racing CBR1000RR will be on the work benches this week and we will sort out any issues. It is as simple as that. It was great to see Jamie’s Superpole lap, he was going for it; it doesn’t get much closer! Watching Wayne moving through the field from 8th to put pressure on the leader was also impressive. The Honda CBR1000RR has shown its strength in the field and the pace is there, it is up to the new Honda team to put the Honda at the front. I have a very solid plan now on just how to do this from what we learned at Round 3 so we will see what unfolds in Perth.” More, from a press release issued by Road & Track Cycles and Suspension: Road & Track Cycles and Suspension would like to congratulate Brandon Altmeyer #291 for his accomplishments during the WERA race weekend on 4/16-17 2011. Brandon finished 1st in E Superstock Expert and 2nd in V5 on his 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 250. R&T enjoys working with Brandon and hopes for continued success racing in both the CMRA and WERA road racing series. Keith Hertell Road & Track Cycles and Suspension 146 W. Rhapsody Ste.B San Antonio, TX 210.348.9707 More, from a press release issued by Racedays Promotions: Orlando’s Josh Day makes his mark in the European Superstock 600 Championship American racer Joshua Day showed his rivals he is a force to be reckoned with in the European Superstock 600 championship, after his first race aboard the Revolution Signs Racedays Kawasaki. Day qualified a credible twelfth in his first visit to the notoriously tricky Assen circuit despite losing his quickshifter to an electrical gremlin in the session. A lightning race start saw the young Floridian move up to third place and make a break with the leading group until an ambitious move by Yamaha’s Nelson Major at turn one ended with Day taking to the grass and Major retiring from the race. Day rejoined in tenth place and was involved in a five bike battle until the photo finish, finally ending the race in ninth place. Josh Day ”Assen was a tough weekend – it’s a difficult track to set up for and a lot of the guys here had their set-up already from previous visits but I was happy where we ended up considering our limited track time. I’m looking forward to Monza which should suit the Kawasaki well.” More, from a press release issued by Donny Odom: Young Guns Tyler Odom and Benny Solis used the Chuckwalla Valley Motorcycle Association (CMVA) races April 16 at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway (CVR) to further prepare for their 2011 AMA Pro seasons. Under hot and sunny conditions, Odom was able to set a new overall CVMA lap record for the counter-clockwise direction of CVR with a 1:49.153 on his Erion Honda CBR600RR during qualifying for the Supersport Middleweight race. Odom went on to win the race from pole position. Honda CBR600RR-mounted Solis also qualified on pole position for his class, Formula One, but was not able to complete his race. Odom and Solis plan to be back in action during the official AMA Pro Racing test May 2-3 at Miller Motorsports Park. Odom and Solis are sponsored by Erion Racing, Dunlop, Roadracingworld.com, Guardian Commercial Realty, Go Green Asphalt, Clement Supports, Murray Company, Alpinestars and Honda Pro Oils. Solis is also sponsored by Oakley and Red Bull.