Hendersonville, North Carolina: In preparation for the upcoming AMA Superbike Series, Team Latus Motors Racing had a successful outing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this past weekend, taking advantage of track time with WERA West. During the testing, team Latus Motors Racing riders Josh Bryan and Alan Schmidt were able to record a high number of laps around the Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s Classic (Outer) Course. The team’s Dunlop shod Buell 1125R under went minor changes throughout the weekend, culminating with a new front-fork solution that the riders reported gave the Buell more front-end feel. The Öhlins suspension used by Team Latus was looked after by Öhlins Road Race Manager Mike Fitzgerald during the test. The team thanks Sean Clarke from WERA for allowing Bryan and Schmidt time on track with WERA 600 Superstock machines, allowing them to get a gauge of racing against their upcoming competition. Team Latus Motors Racing owner George Latus was kept abreast of the test via phone, due to other commitments not allowing him to attend. The Ronnie Saner prepared Buells are now headed back to the team’s shop in Oregon with the benefit of a solid platform of settings to be used in readying the motorcycles for the team’s first official outing in competition at the opening round of the 2009 AMA Superbike series at Daytona International Speedway. Öhlins USA distributes and services the world’s leading performance suspension for automobiles, motorcycles, and ATVs. Öhlins develops its proprietary and innovative suspension components at the highest levels of racing from open-wheel car racing, to Moto GP, to off-road competition on two and four wheels. Öhlins USA also provides training for service centers and dealers. www.Ohlinsusa.com More, from a press release issued by Motion Pro: WERA West, Round 2 Las Vegas Speedway. Motion Pro sponsored racer Peter Lenz set the mark for young talent at Las Vegas Classic Course this last weekend. At only 11 years old, Peter won 3 expert classes during the races on Sunday. He was the youngest expert rider competing all weekend, riding against riders like Benny Solis, and Austin DeHaven, both of whom have international experience. The weekend was full of ups and downs for Peter. He had a tough job ahead of him learning the intricacies of his newly acquired 1996 Honda RS125 GP bike and just how fast it could go. He got up to speed on the technical track quickly, and was impressed with his new ride. Peter spent the last season on a RS Honda chassis with a CRF150R engine, not nearly as powerful as the 125cc two stroke GP engine. “The 125 is a lot of fun, it just corners so well, I am still learning how fast it can go. There are some really nice bikes out there, but I am still learning to get the most out of this one,” commented Peter. Saturday ended badly in the Solo 20 Expert Race, even though he had led most of the laps of the race on heavily used tires. While leading Peter lost the front and went down in Turn 7, luckily he was unharmed, and the bike only suffered minor damage. “Motion Pro’s tools helped repair the bike quickly in a stressful situation. Peter wouldn’t have made it back out in time without the Motion Pro T-handles,” commented Peter’s friend Brian Ens. Thirty minutes later Peter headed back out to the track for the make-up F2 race from the last round at Fontana. He started 8th on cold new tires, as the need to repair his bike caused him to miss the warm-up lap. The leaders gapped Peter in traffic while he had limited traction; he started to close the gap once his tires came in but was only able to manage a respectable third. Sunday dawned a new day, and became one of the best racing days in Peter’s young career. The WERA Mini race was first up; Peter was gridded in first spot. Riding his RS chassis CRF150R, Peter and his fellow racer were never more than three bike lengths apart the entire race. They traded the lead several times. Peter took the final lead change with a late braking pass in turn one, and held onto the position for the win. In the second Formula 2 race Peter started from the front row and took advantage of it as he quickly slotted into fifth place behind two 650s and two 125s (Bennie Taylor and Benny Solis). Peter made his way past Taylor, a 650 and Solis to make his way into second. He hounded the leading 650 looking for a way around the more powerful machine. Peter took advantage of his machines superior cornering ability, passing around the outside in the same corner he had crashed in on Saturday. Peter took his first WERA Expert win. His last race of the weekend was the premier 125cc GP race. This race pitted Peter’s 1996 nearly stock bike against some very serious, very expensive machines. Peter got off the line well and slotted into 3rd place. He made his way into second on lap one and proceeded to pursue the leader (Bennie Taylor) who had already pulled out a gap. Peter and Taylor pulled out a 3 second gap on the following Solis and Matter. Peter again used turn seven to his advantage as he passed Taylor for the lead with a couple to go. Peter pulled out a one second lead finishing 1.1 seconds ahead of Taylor for the win. Ryan Matter, running Peter’s spare engine, finished the race in 3rd. “I had a really fun weekend, just racing with guys like DeHaven and Solis really made it a challenge. Those guys are fast and have raced in Europe with the Rookies Cup. I haven’t raced in Europe since I was eight. I am looking forward to getting back over there to race again,” commented Lenz. After a long weekend’s racing, Peter headed home with three first place trophies and some great racing experience. Peter would like to thank everyone at WERA for believing in him, and allowing him to complete at his young age. Learn more about Peter and his racing adventures at: http://www.peterlenz.com/