Amor opens road race season wih victory Keith Amor made a winning start to the 2009 Irish road race season on Saturday, when he took a record breaking victory in the Supersport 600cc race at the Cookstown 100. The Wilson Craig Honda also set a new outright lap record in the feature Superbike race although the win escaped him as he fell on the penultimate lap, fortunately without injury. With Friday’s practice held in difficult, damp conditions, Keith found himself down in 9th place on the grid for the Supersport race and had start from the second wave of riders. However, it proved to be no handicap for the Falkirk ace and he was soon leading the race on corrected time. With a new lap record of 88.791mph, he extended his lead and he was able to take a comfortable win by 2.819 seconds. In the two Open races, Keith endured a mixed day with gear lever problems affecting him on both occasions. Leading the field in the first race, Keith was unable to change down the gears on the approach to one of the road ends and he was forced to take a trip down the slip road. He soon rejoined and whilst he again broke the circuit lap record, he had to settle for third behind Ryan Farquhar and Conor Cummins, with just 1.031 seconds separating the trio at the chequered flag. In the feature Cookstown 100 Open race, Keith again grabbed the holeshot but Farquhar was on his tail with little to choose between the two. The outright lap record was smashed by both riders but on the penultimate lap it all went wrong for Keith when the gear lever worked loose and he crashed out of the lead. He escaped injury and did have the consolation of claiming the outright circuit lap record with a speed of 90.671mph. Speaking afterwards, Keith commented: “It’s been a mixed day, results wise, but I’m feeling extremely positive and am happy enough with how the day went, how the bikes were performing and how I rode. With a lot of traffic in qualifying I was down in the second wave for the 600cc race but I got my head down and had caught the first wave by the end of the first lap. I pushed hard, took the lap record and once I could see the leaders, I knew I’d got the win. It was a bit more tricky on the Superstock bike in the Open races and, for some reason, the gear lever was catching on the frame and I was struggling to change down the gears hence overshooting in the first race.” “We spaced it out for the second big bike race but it was grounding out on the corners and towards the end of the race, I went in to one corner and had no gears. I braked as much as I could but ended up going down and it turned out the gear lever had worked its way loose. We’d created a problem by fixing a problem but, aside from that, the bikes worked perfectly and the grip I was getting from the Dunlop tyres was awesome. The team worked really hard all weekend and did a great job so big thanks to them as well. We’re picking up the Superbike and the new 600 on Tuesday and hope to have them all ready to race at Tandragee so that should put us in even better shape.” Keith’s next race will be at the Tandragee 100 road races, which take place on Saturday May 2nd. More, from a press release issued by Ryan Farquhar’s publicist: Farquhar’s the hat-trick hero at Cookstown Ryan Farquhar’s successful start to the 2009 season continued on Saturday when he took a superb hat-trick at the Cookstown 100, the opening race of the Irish National Road Race Championship. Fresh from his victories at Oliver’s Mount a week ago, the Dungannon ace took both of the Superbike races as well as the Super Twins event whilst he also backed this up with runner-up spot in the Supersport 600cc race. The day got off to the perfect start for Ryan when he took the Open race on the ZX-10R Ninja Kawasaki, capitalizing fully on a mistake by Keith Amor who overshot one of the corners with two laps to go. There was little between Ryan, Conor Cummins and Keith with just one second separating the trio at the end of the race. It was then on to the Supersport 600cc race and although Ryan led on the road and took the chequered flag, Amor got the verdict having come through from the second group. On to the feature Cookstown 100 race and in a repeat of their 2008 battles, Ryan and Amor again went head to head, exchanging the lead, and the lap record, on a number of occasions. The pressure being applied by Ryan saw his arch rival crash out on the 9th of 10 laps and he was able to comfortably take his second win of the day. He then completed his hat-trick with a dominant 10-second victory in the Super Twins race aboard the ER6 650cc Kawasaki. The wins also moved Ryan on to a total of 13 at the Cookstown 100, the second highest in the history of the event and second only to the legendary Ray McCullough. After receiving his winner’s trophies, a delighted Ryan said: “Three wins and a second – it doesn’t get much better than this! With practice conditions being quite poor the set up of the Superstock bike wasn’t quite right for the first race and the front suspension was too soft so we made a few changes for the feature race. I felt really comfortable with the pace and just sat behind Keith, putting as much pressure on him as I could. The tactic worked as he went down, thankfully without injury, and I was able to bring the bike home.” “I’m still using a standard engine for the Supersport bike so we were a wee bit down on top speed but the chassis and acceleration are excellent and it’s a great overall package so it bodes really well for when we get hold of the tuned engine. It should be with us for Tandragee and I’m very confident that we’ll be challenging for the race wins, particularly at the International races. I’ve had 5 wins and 3 seconds from my two road races so far this year and the season has got off to a great start so long may it continue.” There’s little respite for Ryan and his team with his next meeting coming at the Tandragee 100 next week, the races taking place on Saturday May 2nd. More, from a press release issued by Indianapolis Motor Speedway: MotoGP RACE REPORT: GRAND PRIX OF JAPAN Lorenzo takes points lead with victory; Tough rides for Edwards, Hayden INDIANAPOLIS, Sunday, April 26, 2009 Make room for a new man atop MotoGP. Just when it appeared after the season-opening Grand Prix of Qatar that World Champions Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi would be the riders to beat in 2009, Jorge Lorenzo charged to victory April 26 in the Grand Prix of Japan on his Fiat Yamaha Team machine, capturing the series lead. Lorenzo edged teammate Rossi by 1.304 seconds in the 24-lap race at Twin Ring Motegi for the second victory of his MotoGP career, which started last season. Dani Pedrosa finished third on a Repsol Honda Team machine, 3.763 seconds behind Lorenzo. “It was a difficult race because I didn’t really get a very good start,” Lorenzo said. “I think I even finished the first lap in third or fourth. After that, I began to catch up the pace. I passed Valentino and opened up a little gap, about a second and a half, and he was following me very hard. I had to ride the best I can to get the victory.” Lorenzo started third after qualifying was rained out and the starting grid was based on practice times. He dropped to fourth during the first lap but climbed to third by the end of the opening circuit. Lorenzo then passed archrival Pedrosa for second on Lap 3 and began to bite into Rossi’s two-second lead. On Lap 9, Lorenzo passed 2008 Red Bull Indianapolis GP winner Rossi for the lead, never trailing thereafter. Rossi and Lorenzo then engaged in a fierce fight for second, with Rossi prevailing. It was a rough race for American riders Colin Edwards and Nicky Hayden, as Edwards finished 12th and Hayden 17th. Edwards, who was quickest overall in the wet practice session Saturday, suffered a mysterious mechanical problem early in the race, dropping quickly from the No. 5 starting spot on his Yamaha Tech 3 machine. He rallied with the sixth-quickest overall lap later in the race, missing a top-10 finish by three seconds. Hayden hit the deck for the second consecutive race, as Japanese rookie Yuki Takahashi made a clumsy move in the fourth corner on the first lap, colliding with Hayden’s Ducati Team machine and eliminating both from the race. Neither was hurt, which was fortunate for 2006 MotoGP World Champion Hayden, still nursing back and chest injuries from a high-speed, high-side crash during qualifying April 11 for the season-opening Grand Prix of Qatar. “I don’t want to look like a cry-baby, but, you know, it was the first lap,” Hayden said. “Luckily, I feel OK.” The next race is the Grand Prix of Spain on Sunday, May 3 at Jerez. The second annual Red Bull Indianapolis GP is Sunday, Aug. 30 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. *** RESULTS MOTEGI, Japan Results of the 24-lap Grand Prix of Japan MotoGP race, with position, rider, country, motorcycle, time behind winner. All riders on Bridgestone tires: 1. Jorge Lorenzo Spain Yamaha + 2. Valentino Rossi Italy Yamaha +1.304 seconds 3. Dani Pedrosa Spain Honda +3.763 4. Casey Stoner Australia Ducati +5.691 5. Andrea Dovizioso Italy Honda +9.207 6. Marco Melandri Italy Kawasaki +30.555 7. Loris Capirossi Italy Suzuki +32.756 8. Mika Kallio Finland Ducati +39.416 9. James Toseland Great Britain Yamaha +43.106 10. Chris Vermeulen Australia Suzuki +43.245 11. Randy de Puniet France Honda +44.834 12. Colin Edwards United States Yamaha +46.540 13. Alex de Angelis San Marino Honda +53.525 14. Niccolo Canepa Italy Ducati +1:21.804 15. Toni Elias Spain Honda +1 lap 16. Sete Gibernau Spain Ducati +7 laps 17. Nicky Hayden United States Ducati +24 laps 18. Yuki Takahashi Japan Honda +24 laps Fastest lap: Lorenzo, 1:48.477, Lap 15 Pole lap: Rossi, 1:48.545 *** POINTS Riders: Lorenzo 41, Rossi 40, Stoner 38, Dovizioso 22, Pedrosa 21, Edwards 17, Kallio 16, Vermeulen 15, de Angelis 13, Melandri 12, de Puniet 11, Capirossi 9, Elias 8, Toseland 7, Hayden 4, Gibernau 3, Canepa 2, Takahashi 1. Manufacturers: Yamaha 45, Ducati 38, Honda 27, Suzuki 18, Kawasaki 12. *** PODIUM QUOTES JORGE LORENZO (Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone, winner): “First of all, I just want to thank my team, my Mum, Dad and whole family, my friends and all the team workers. Also Yamaha, as it is their home race. It was a difficult race because I didn’t really get a very good start. I think I even finished the first lap in third or fourth. After that, I began to catch up the pace. I passed Valentino and opened up a little gap, about a second and a half, and he was following me very hard. I had to ride the best I can to get the victory.” VALENTINO ROSSI (Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone, second): “It was a great race, long, very difficult and also physical. I got a really good start from the front row, but there was a part of the race that I wasn’t quite able to ride like I wanted. There was some kind of problem, and I wasn’t fast enough to pull away. I lost time from Jorge and then was involved in a battle with Dani, and then in the last part of the race I was able to step up my pace and pick my lines, setting some good lap times. I tried to come back, but unfortunately Lorenzo was too far away. It’s a good race, second place is not a victory, but it’s still 20 points for the championship. I think the championship will become very interesting now because we have four riders ready to battle for wins at the end.” DANI PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team Honda/Bridgestone, third): “I’m very happy with this result. I’ve had injury problems for a long time since last October and so to be on the podium in the second race of the season is fantastic for me, and really we didn’t expect this so soon. I got a good start the start was really the key part of my race and I was able to get away with the front group. I couldn’t really believe it when I stayed with them because I was expecting to drop back after maybe one or two laps. But then it was lap five or six, and I was still there and I was thinking, ‘This is unbelievable.’ In the end, I was near the front for the whole race, had a good battle for second, and finished on the podium, so this is great. We still have to sort out some issues on the machine, but it’s a very positive result going in to the Jerez, and I’d like to say big thanks to the team and the fans.” *** AMERICAN RIDER QUOTES COLIN EDWARDS (Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha/Bridgestone, 12th): “That was not at all what I expected, but I can’t turn the clock back. I wish I could because I believe I could have fought for the podium. We had a small issue at the start of the race, and I simply couldn’t ride how I wanted to. I kept my head down and persevered throughout and perhaps a few more laps I could have chased down the guys in front for a top 10. I couldn’t have ridden any harder today, and I did my absolute best for Yamaha. I was really confident going into the race because I was one of the few guys who had done a lot of laps on the harder compound tire in the dry on Friday. So with the track temperature coming up a lot compared to how cool it was on Friday, I felt that experience we gained would really help. When I got going in the race, my lap times were as quick as the top five, so it’s a case of wondering what might have been today. We’ll look to bounce back in Jerez next weekend because I feel like I’m riding really well.” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Team Ducati/Bridgestone, 17th): “That was exactly what we didn’t need. I got a decent start and I think I was up a couple of positions, but just going down into the hairpin, which is a slow hard-braking corner, I was on my line and Takahashi just took me down. There was no warning; I didn’t even hear anything! I don’t want to say much about that. I don’t want to look like a cry-baby, but, you know, it was the first lap. Luckily, I feel OK. I actually landed in the same place on my back as the crash in Qatar, and my leathers and helmet have got exactly the same marks. It’s a shame because this weekend I honestly felt we were making some progress. I felt we had better communication going on, and we worked more comfortably from the first day. I know we were never looking at a great result, but I felt I could have been competitive today. Anyway, we have to move forward and to look to the next race.” *** MotoGP SUPPORT CLASS WINNERS 250cc: Alvaro Bautista, Spain, Mapfre Aspar Team Aprilia 125cc: Andrea Iannone, Italy, Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. Aprilia. American Cameron Beaubier placed 16th. *** NEXT RACE Grand Prix of Spain, Jerez, May 3. Round 3 of 17. *** 2009 IMS tickets: Established in 1909, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has long prevailed as an icon of motorsports excellence. Beginning in 2009, the Speedway celebrates its Centennial Era, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the facility in 2009 and the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race in 2011. Tickets for the three events in 2009 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the Indianapolis 500, Allstate 400 at the Brickyard and Red Bull Indianapolis GP can be purchased online at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com at any time. Tickets for groups of 20 or more also are on sale. Contact the IMS Group Sales Department at (866) 221-8775 for more information. More, from a press release issued by Cartersport Motor Sport Media: ASSEN DISAPPOINTMENT FOR BRIDEWELL British rider Tommy Bridewell’s hopes of adding to the points he scored in the opening round of the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup at Valencia earlier in the month were dashed when he finished in a disappointing 20th place at round two held at Assen yesterday. Aboard the Lorenzini by Leoni Yamaha R1, the 20 year old from Devizes in Wiltshire struggled throughout qualifying with handling problems and despite some marginal improvements, he could only manage 26th place on the grid. But showing typical Bridewell tenacity, Tom soldiered on gamely to bring the bike home to a top twenty position after a race long battle which saw a dozen riders battling it out for the lower leaderboard places. “We’ve really struggled with the handling of the bike over the past couple of meetings for some reason so we have a lot of work to do to get it right. Obviously, I’m disappointed to finish in 20th as that’s not what I’m here for but I couldn’t have ridden the bike any harder without crashing it. We’ll sit down and discuss what changes we need to make before the next round at Monza as the plan is to be battling at the front from now on” said Tom. Bridewell will be ideally placed going into the next European Superstock round on May 10th as the second race in the Italian Superstock Championship takes place at the same track near Milan this forthcoming weekend where he’ll be looking to make some major strides forward. More, from a press release issued by Conor Cummins’ publicist: Podium joy for Cummins at Cookstown Conor Cummins enjoyed a solid day out on Saturday when he took two podiums at the Cookstown 100, the opening meeting in the 2009 Irish Road Race season. In his first appearance at the 2.1-mile circuit since 2007, and only his second in total, the Manxman was having his first outing of the year in the colours of McAdoo Kawasaki Racing and took the purple and turquoise ZX-10R Superbike machine to a brace of second places in the Open and feature Cookstown 100 races. Using the meeting as a shakedown for the International North West 200, which takes place in less than three weeks time, the 22-year old gained valuable track time on both the Superbike and Supersport machines and although practice conditions were far from perfect, Cummins soon got into his stride on race day and ended the meeting in confident mood. Conor opened his account with an excellent second place in the 8-lap Open event and, having been part of a terrific three-way dice at the head of the field with Ryan Farquhar and Keith Amor, he only just lost out to Farquhar on the final lap, the margin of victory only 0.875 seconds. The Supersport 600cc race was equally as tough, albeit for different reasons as the poor practice conditions saw Conor line up on the very back row of the grid. Undeterred, he put in a superb ride and had fought his way all the way back up to seventh at the chequered flag. The 10-lap main event saw Conor again battle with Farquhar and Amor in the early stages and although he lost a bit of ground in the final laps, a spill by Amor allowed him to take another second place behind Farquhar whilst a lap of 89.353mph saw him become the third fastest man around the Orritor venue. Speaking afterwards, a contented Conor said: “I’m chuffed to bits with how today has gone and it’s great to have had a run out on the McAdoo bikes before the North West 200. Everything seems to be working well and we’re definitely going to be in the hunt up at Portrush and Portstewart. Qualifying for the Supersport class was hampered by the rain and it’s very difficult with a new bike in the wet so I had to start from the back row of the grid but to get up to 7th was very pleasing and I’d have taken that if it had been offered at the beginning of the race. Overall, it was quite a tough day but I’m happy with the results and am extremely pleased with the team and the bikes as we head in to the International road races.” It’s back to the Team Blackhorse Yamaha livery for Conor’s next outing though, with round 2 of the Metzeler National Superstock 1000cc Championship taking place at Oulton Park, Cheshire on Monday May 4th.