Team Simone Racing moves into 2nd place in the ASRA Factory Pro Sportbike Class after this weekend at Heartland Park Topeka.
Team Simone Racing has returned from an excellent weekend of racing in the 2nd round of the ASRA National Series, held at Heartland Park Topeka this weekend. Friday greeted the CCS & ASRA riders with a nice display of Mother Nature’s fury as racers raced in torrential downpours, and even hail. TSR rider Michael Simone finished 2nd in the rain soaked Akropovic GTU race behind race winner Brian Hall. TSR also placed 3rd in Sunday’s Middleweight GP Race behind Race Winner Brian Hall, and 2nd place Tom Girad.
Rider Michael Simone qualified 10th in the ASRA Sportbike race, and was able to progress through the field, and finish 7th out of 15 Riders who started.
TSR would like to thank all it sponsors, and friends and family that came out to support and help the Team push forward to some excellent results.
TSR had all top 10 finishes during the weekend with finishes in:
MiddleWeight SuperSport: 6th and 9th MiddleWeight SuperBike: 4th and 6th MiddleWeight GP: 7th and 3rd Akropovic GTU: 2nd ASRA Factory Pro Sportbike: 7th
Look for the TSR Blue & White Yamaha’s in two weeks at Blackhawk Farms for the next round of CCS Racing Action.
More, from a press release issued by Buell Motorcycle Co.: BILANSKY RIDES BUELL TO ASRA THUNDERBIKE WIN AT TOPEKA
Buell Riders Sweep Podium with Darren James Second, Joe Rozynski Third
TOPEKA, Kan. Hal’s H-D/Buell Hal’s Speed Shop rider Dan Bilansky rode a Buell XB12R Firebolt to win the second round of the American Sportbike Racing Association (ASRA) Pro Thunderbike series at Heartland Park Topeka.
“Our Buell ran really well today and this was a nice win after finishing off the podium at Daytona,” said Bilansky. “We’ve got the Hal’s team back in position to defend the Thunderbike title.”
Deeley H-D/Buell Canada/Ruthless Racing rider David Estok earned the pole on a Buell XB12R Firebolt in Saturday qualifying for the 12-lap Pro Thunderbike national on the 2.5-mile Heartland Park road course.
Estok jumped into the lead at the start, with his Deeley H-D/Buell Canada/Ruthless Racing teammate Darren James in hot pursuit. Bilansky, the 2006 ASRA Pro Thunderbike champion, got a poor start but worked his way up to the leaders by the third lap. A crash on lap five ended the day for Estok. James assumed the lead but soon fell off the pace with a mechanical problem. Bilansky made a pass for the lead and opened a gap of about 15 seconds that he maintained to the finish to score his first win of the season. James held on for second place, followed by Buell riders Joe Rozynski (Waves/Hal’s Speed Shop), Sam Rozynski (Waves/Hal’s Speed Shop), and Greg Avello (Hal’s Speed Shop/Badger Motorsports).
After two of eight ASRA Thunderbike rounds, Bilansky has 58 points to lead the series, followed by James with 56 points and Estok with 47 points.
In Championship Cup Series (CCS) racing on Saturday, Estok rode his Deeley H-D/Buell Canada/Ruthless Racing Buell to victory in the Thunderbike Expert class, a five-lap sprint race. On Sunday, James rode a Deeley H-D/Buell Canada/Ruthless Racing Buell to win the CCS Thunderbike Expert class, while Steve Crevier won the SuperTwins Expert class on a Deeley H-D/Buell Canada/Ruthless Racing Buell XBRR.
The next event on the eight-race 2007 ASRA Pro Thunderbike series schedule is the Summit Point Festival of Speed, May 27-28 at Summit Point Motorsports Park, Summit Point, W.V.
Buell Motorcycle Company, a subsidiary of Harley-Davidson, produces sport motorcycles, motorcycle parts, accessories and apparel. To learn more about Buell motorcycles, visit your local Buell dealer today and experience the pure streetfighter attitude, style and performance only found on board a Buell. For the Buell dealer nearest you, pull into www.buell.com.
More, from another press release issued by Buell Motorcycle Co.:
RICHIE MORRIS RACING BUELL TAKES MOTO-ST CLASS WIN Higbee and Brotz Roll to Victory in GST at the VIR 500K
ALTON, Va. (April 29, 2007) The Richie Morris Racing/Daytona Harley-Davidson/Buell team used steady racing and a reliable Buell XB12R Firebolt to win the Grand Sport Touring (GST) class by five laps at the VIR 500K, the third round of the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series, held at Virginia International Raceway.
While other GST competitors succumbed to mechanical problems or crashes, Richie Morris Racing riders Shawn Higbee and Clint Brotz kept up a fast and steady pace and rolled to a five-lap advantage by the end of the three-hour endurance race, covering 82 laps to finish in 11th place overall. Second place in GST went to the Touring Sport Ducati team of Peter Friedland, Brad Phillips and Frank Shockley, who covered 77 laps and finished 22nd overall. Third place in GST went to the RightsForBikers.com Ducati of John Linder, Chris Boy and Jason Edmonds, with 57 laps for 25th overall.
The Touring Sport Ducati was fighting for the lead before a split oil cooler put it behind, while the RightsForBikers.com Ducati came back from a crash by Edmonds at half distance. Fourth place in GST went to the James Gang Racing/Hoban Brothers Buell XB12R sponsored by Hal’s Speed Shop and Buell of Appleton and ridden by Paul James and Jeff Johnson, who quit the race after 42 laps with an engine problem. The fifth place Drummer Racing Buell XB-9R ridden by Tracy Church, Marty Beshears and Casey Church retired after 39 laps with an electrical problem.
“The other guys had some bad luck but we kept our head down and kept a steady pace,” Higbee said. “Our pit stops were a lot better this weekend and that helped us on the track.”
With the victory Richie Morris Racing Buell extended its lead in the GST team standings to four points over Touring Sport Ducati, 100-96, after three of six MOTO-ST events.
The overall win and first place in the Buell Motorcycle Company SuperSport Twins (SST) class went to the San Jose BMW team of Brian Parriott and Nate Kern, who covered 86 laps to score its first SunTrust MOTO-ST Series victory of the season. With a second-place finish at VIR the Aprilia USA team moved into first place in the Buell Motorcycle Company SST team point standings with 99 points.
Speed Werks.com riders Brian Kcraget and Melissa Berkoff captured the Sport Twins (ST) class win on a Suzuki SV650.
The next race on the 2007 SunTrust MOTO-ST schedule is the Road America 500K, July 7-8 at Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis.
Buell Motorcycle Company, a subsidiary of Harley-Davidson, produces sport motorcycles, motorcycle parts, accessories and apparel. To learn more about Buell motorcycles, visit your local Buell dealer today and experience the pure streetfighter attitude, style and performance only found on board a Buell. For the Buell dealer nearest you, pull into www.buell.com.
More, from a press release issued by Go Big Racing:
THIRD STRAIGHT PODIUM FOR GO BIG RACING
Alton, Virginia – April 30, 2007 The No. 79, Go BIG Racing Suzuki SV650 of Ross Millson, Hamilton, ON and Paul Glenn, Keene, ON earned their third straight podium with a hard fought third place finish at this past Sunday’s SunTrust MOTO-ST, VIR 500k at Virginia International Raceway.
The team took to the track for Friday’ practice session expecting to learn the track layout and where to improve their lines. Millson completed 10 laps then headed to the pits to make a quick gearing change. Millson put in some very respectable lap times before team-mate Glenn took over the controls.
During Glenn’s stint, a rider taking a much wider line on a very fast part of the track, came across the front wheel of the No. 79 Suzuki SV650, taking Glenn and the bike to the ground. Glenn landed heavily on his right ankle and would spend the rest of the weekend in considerable pain. The bike wasn’t too badly damaged.
“We found ourselves in a pretty poor position; we were unable to complete any additional laps on a track we needed to learn.” said Millson.
The team spent the rest of Friday and part of Saturday morning try to get the bruised Suzuki SV650 ready for Saturday’s practice.
Saturday’s practice started off with Millson running a full stint (approx. 25 – 26 laps) and handed the bike off to Glenn, who despite riding in a lot of pain managed to run quite a few laps and continued to improve. Millson remounted and managed to set the second fastest time on his last lap, completing a total of 40 laps. “This is a great track, lots of fun and very fast!” exclaimed Millson
Sunday’s SunTrust MOTO-ST, VIR 500k began just after 9:15AM with the Go BIG Racing Suzuki starting on the outside of the front row of the ST Class, based on point standings.
Millson got off to a good start but unfortunately hit a curb a little too hard losing his knee slider on the 3rd or 4th lap. Finding it difficult to attack the corners without his knee protection, Millson fell back to fourth behind the two Kawi-mounted riders of Springsteen and Walters.
As the stint stretched on Millson adjusted his technique and managed to re-pass both of them to regain the second position. Millson completed the first stop without incident and remained in the second spot.
On lap 38, a hard crash in Turn 1 brought out the yellow and the safety car, throwing a wrench into the team’s pit strategy. Millson pitted and handed over the No. 79 Suzuki off to Glenn, who managed to ride quite well for the duration of his shift.
Glenn came in for another well executed pit stop by the Go BIG Racing crew, and sent Millson out to finish the three hour event in third place.
“Ross really pulled this race together for us” said Glenn “He ran two and half hours of this race he’s a machine!” Glenn added
“We couldn’t make it to the end on one fuel stop, so I rode hard but in the end was unable to close the gap to second, we finished third”¦I guess we’ll have to get em’ next time!” said an exhausted, but satisfied Millson.