Despite having a podium finish at the Le Mans 24 Hour race well within his grasp, Taree´s Damian Cudlin has finished 12th in the World Championship opener, after suffering serious set backs in the race on the weekend. Teamed with British riders James Haydon and James McBride, the young Aussie, who announced his return to Phase One Yamaha only weeks before the event, made a stunning start in France, wrestling his R1 to 5th in the opening hours tricky conditions. By the 4th hour the Team had stormed to 3rd place behind the two Factory Suzuki´s and fought off it´s attackers well into the night for the next 8 hours. The constant bursts of rain causing wet then drying conditions played into the hands of the Phase One Team and thoughts of a podium finish in arguably the toughest road race in the world soon filled the minds of riders and team members a like. But they were to be short lived when an engine noise forced the team to inspect the damage with a costly pit Stop, losing 5laps in the process. Still in the hunt, the team pressed on back to 5th before Haydon fell heavily after being colided by another rider. The crash would end all hopes of a rostrum finish as the team were forced to watch 20 painful minutes pass in the substantial repair. “žWe had all put in such a big effort until that point and we really still had the chance to be on the box at Le Mans” Cudlin explained. “žWhen I came back from the shower ready for my rotor and saw the bike I was just gutted. 13 hours of racing had just gone down the drain. It´s like getting to the halfway point of a marathon before someone tells you that you´ve been running the wrong way. It´s pretty hard to take.” Unhurt in his fall, Haydon alongside Cudlin continued to fight back through the night, until the rain fell heavier providing McBride with his favourite conditions to shine. Lapping faster than anyone on the circuit for up to an hour, McBride made huge time in his stint, but would eventually also suffer a minor fall causing another lengthy delay. Not giving up, Cudlin pressed on back to back with Haydon as the pair drove the team back in the points with a 12th place finish at the flag. “žIt´s easy to see it´s not the result we wanted here this weekend but it really showed the fighting spirit of the Phase One Yamaha Team.” Cudlin said. “žJust finishing one of these races is an achievement for any team and to know that we almost got on the podium this time round makes me proud of these guys. We never gave up, even right to the very end and considering the dramas we had 12th was a bloody good result.” Cudlin will team with Haydon again at the next round of the World Endurance Championship at Albacete in Spain next month. More, from a press release issued by Lloyds British Jentin Racing: The Lloyds British Jentin Racing team secured a confidence building eighth place at Thruxton this weekend (18th – 20th April), rider Simon Andrews gained a strong top ten finish in the Bennetts British Superbike Championship but was forced to retire from the second race with a clutch problem. Andrews started the season well at Brands Hatch a couple of weeks ago and was unable to turn his strong qualifying position into a race result after the race was cancelled due to snow. Andrews carried on his form this weekend at Thruxton and was consistently running within the top ten during free practice and qualifying. He dropped to 13th on the grid in the qualifying session after struggling slightly with grip in the wet conditions. He was eager to achieve two strong finishes in the two 20-lap races on his Yamaha R1. He secured a fantastic start in race one and was sitting in eighth place after the first lap and had managed to gain five places. Andrews defended the position well and held off the attacks from Michael Laverty and Stuart Easton and gained a sturdy eighth place as he crossed the finish line. Race two and Andrews did not manage to complete the first lap and was forced to pull into the pits and sit the race out. Andrews commented “I’m a bit gutted not to have been able to get two good results as I was pleased with my first race finish. I was really happy at Brands with the way everything was going and was feeling confident when I came to Thruxton. I really struggled with the Pirelli’s through the weekend at Thruxton with the changing weather conditions; I think they just take a bit of getting used to and knowing how to set the bike up accordingly to get the best out of them. I’d never ridden in the wet on them and I was really surprised at how much grip they gave me but I was a little wary on how much I could push them. Hopefully things will be better at Oulton in a couple of weeks time and we’ll get some more good results.” Team owner Bernie Toleman said “It’s been quite a difficult weekend for the team but we have definitely learnt a lot and we now have more information to take to Oulton Park. It was a shame about the clutch in the second race but it would be nice to be back near the top end at Oulton and get some good results under our belt. Thruxton is a very fast circuit and I believe the eighth in race one was a good result as the factory riders will always do well there, as they have that little bit of extra power. Simon likes Oulton so hopefully the team will be able to get two positive results there.” Race One Result 1, Shane Byrne, (Ducati) 2, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 3, Michael Rutter (Ducati) 4, Leon Haslam (Honda) 5, Leon Camier (Ducati) 6, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) 7, James Ellison (Honda) 8, Simon Andrews (Jentin Racing / Lloyds British Yamaha) 9, Stuart Easton 10, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) Championship Standings 1, Shane Byrne (Ducati) 45 pts 2, Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 45 pts 3, Michael Rutter (Ducati) 32 pt 4, Leon Camier (Ducati) 24 pts 5, Tom Sykes (Suzuki) 18 pts 6, James Ellison (Honda) 18 pts 7, Stuart Easton (Kawasaki) 17 pts 8, Michael Laverty (Suzuki) 17 pts 9, Leon Haslam (Honda) 13 pts 10, John Laverty (Ducati) 9 pts 11, Simon Andrews (Jentin Racing / Lloyds British Yamaha) More, from a press release written by James Joyce for CCS Southwest: Saturday April 19, 2008 Lightweight GP Ted Rich #62 on pole followed by 15 other lightweight riders has been one the most exciting classes to watch this year. As the flag dropped Matt Hartlieb #100 takes the hole shot leading into T1 followed by Rich and Jamie Bubeck #13 on his Honda 450 motard, by lap three #19 Dylan Olsen our last month race winner, past Bubeck for third and chasing down Rich for second. By half way Hartlieb on his Snapple sponsored SV Superbike had a 1/3 of a lap lead on the field and was going to be hard to catch. Olsen on a Yamaha 250 and Michael Rajotte #666 on a Honda 250 both participating in the USGPRU races later in the day motored by Rich on the straights and only had a few laps to try to catch the hard charging Hartlieb but by the white flag lap Hartlieb had almost a half a lap lead and took the checkered flag, Olsen held on to second and Rajotte finished third. 1st Matt Hartlieb Fastest Lap: 58.485 2nd Dylan Olsan Fastest Lap: 1:00.259 3rd Michael Rajotte Fastest Lap: 59.914 Middleweight GP The Middleweight GP race has been out premier class also producing the best lap time this year. Ray Thibedeau #1 on Pole after qualifying followed by Rick Bucher #31 and David Siminski #10. Off the start Thibedeau took the lead into T1, followed by Bucher and Will Harfert #181. Rick Bucher in second has definitely picked up his riding this year and wants to battle it out with our overall #1 but Thibedeau ran a flawless race running consistent mid 56s and low 57s, Bucher could only get with in a couple bike length and held on to second. The battle for third was between Siminski and Harfert both on Honda 600, it came down to the last lap with Harfert running off in T10 give Siminski third place. 1st Ray Thibedeau Fastest Lap: 56.550 2nd Rick Bucher Fastest Lap: 56.786 3rd David Siminski Fastest Lap: 56.858 Unlimited GP Race 14 last race of the day and one of the best. Jim Joyce on his Michelin shod GSXR 1000 took the hole shot from the first row and led into T1 followed by Rich Bucher on his Dunlop prepared Honda 600. Joyce and Bucher started to pull away from the rest of the field but Bucher was all over Joyce looking for the door to open up so he could take the lead, being teammates they know each other strength and weaknesses and it was going to be a race of strategy to take the win. Joyce knew he had to get into every corner hard because Bucher on the smaller machine was looking for the inside overtaking move. Bucher tried twice going into the last turn before the 5/8 of a mile straight but Joyce would motor Bucher’s 600 down before T1. Lap 8 of 10 Bucher passed Joyce for the lead in the lake turn noticing he was weak there all race, Joyce stayed on Bucher’s rear tire looking for that last lap last corner pass but Bucher best time was on the last lap and held on to the victory. Third place was its own race between Scott Bergen #319 and Pat Bertinelli #93 both on Dunlop Suzuki 1000. Bergen ran off in T1 on the third lap and Bertinelli was cathing the leaders but ran out of laps and held on to third. 1st Rick Bucher Fastest Lap: 56.646 2nd James Joyce Fastest Lap: 57.583 3rd Patrick Bertinelli Fastest Lap: 57.238 Sunday April 20, 2008 Lightweight GP As the flag dropped Ted Rich from pole on his Bridgestone SV 650 took he hole shot and lead the race, Rich has his head down and was looking for his first GP win of the year. Jamie Bubeck on his Michelin Honda 450, was in second but not for long Matt Hartlieb #10, Saturday’s winner passes Bubeck into T1 and was chasing down Rich. Hartlieb over took Rich out of T10 with a lapped rider but the whole time Michael Rajotte #666 was catching fast, Rajotte passed Rich in the back section and closed on the Hartlieb testing him in T1 for a few laps, and finally driving out of T2 Rajotte took the lead and the checkered flag. 1st. Michael Rajotte Fastest Lap: 58.604 2nd Matt Hartlieb Fastest Lap: 59.703 3rd Ted Rich Fastest Lap: 59.737 Middleweight GP The qualifying stayed the same as yesterdays race, Thibedeau #1 on pole followed by Bucher #31 and Siminski #10. Thibedeau and Siminski came together in T3 and crashed in a previous race, Thibedueau’s bike was just repaired before this race and the warm up lap he was shaking the bike down for any problems. The start of the race Siminski got the jump with his Pirelli Honda 600, followed by Harfert #181, Bucher then Thibedueau. By lap three Thibedeau was charging hard over taking Harfert and Bucher. As Thibedeau caught up to Siminski they have pulled a six-bike lead on the rest of the field and Thibedeau on the brakes hard into T1 passed Siminski. Thibedeau sayed after the race the first couple of laps he just wanted to make sure there was nothing wrong with the bike before he pushed hard. Bucher caught up to Siminski and through T5 and T6 went under Siminski for 2nd. 1st Ray Thibedeau Fastest Lap: 56.504 2nd Rick Bucher Fastest Lap: 56.981 3rd David Siminski Fastest Lap: 56.872 Unlimited GP Last race of a long weekend Joyce #320 got another jump on the field leading into T1 followed by Bergen #319 and Bucher #31. Joyce’s lead didn’t last long Bucher again saw his opening again and drove by Joyce in the lake turn. Tommy Aquino #124 on his Yamaha r6 started in he back of the pack passing Joyce into the lake turn and with 2 laps left caught Bucher into T1 and took the checked. Scott Bergen #319 was all over Joyce on the last two laps and took the inside line on the last corner of the last lap and leaning on each other dragging to the finish line and Bergen inched out Joyce for third. 1st Tommy Aquino Fastest Lap: 55.968 2nd Rick Bucher Fastest Lap: 56.807 3rd Scott Bergen Fastest Lap: 57.412 More, from a press release issued by West Coast GP Cycles: West Coast GP Cycles Dominates Lightweight Twins Races at Willow Springs West Coast GP Cycles riders dominated the lightweight twins classes at Willow Springs this weekend, scoring four wins and multiple podium positions. In Saturday’s 20-lap Solo GT-Light race, Andy “Crazy Hair” Palmer took the win, with brothers Pete and Alex Esquivel finishing second and fourth in blustery, difficult conditions aboard West Coast GP Cycles-developed and prepared Suzuki SV650s. And on Sunday, Palmer took his Track Daz-backed, Pirelli-shod SV to a win in the West Coast GP Cycles Formula Twins race, where teammate Drew Price finished third, and in the Little, Big Racing Services 550cc Superbike race. Michael Gougis, riding a West Coast GP Cycles-tuned, Twin Works Factory-built Suzuki SV500 on Dunlops, took the win in Lightweight Twins. West Coast GP Cycles is located at 11900 W. Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles, 90064, and offers performance tuning and accessories for street and race motorcycles. For more information, contact the shop at 310.477.0997. More, from a press release issued by Joe Rocket: 66TH WIN FOR #6! Graced with beautiful weather, the pristine Barber Motorsports Park played host to last weekend’s round 2 of the AMA Superbike series doubleheader weekend where Mat Mladin showed all challengers the fast line around the race track. Taking pole position and winning both Saturday and Sunday’s Superbike races after leading each from the green flag, Mladin was un-daunted in his quest to drop the hammer on the competition. Ironically, his Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 was dressed with a #6 plate as Mladin wheelied it across the finish line on Sunday to earn his 66th career Superbike win; his 7th at Barber Motorsports Park. Congratulations to Mladin and crew on a job well done. On a somber note, Monster Kawasaki’s Roger Lee Hayden was seriously injured Saturday, during a high speed, on-track collision that caused him to be punted from his ZX-10R. Roger Lee is currently under the care of the nation’s best surgical and nursing personnel. Along with race and motorcycle enthusiasts everywhere, we wish him a full and speedy recovery. AMA Superbike racing rolls into the California Speedway in Fontana, Ca. this coming April 26, 27 weekend. Recalling the epic battle between rivals Mladin and Spies during the 2007 race at the Speedway, fans hoping to witness a thrilling repeat performance can catch the action on SPEED, live from the California Speedway, Sunday, April 27. In racing news from across the pond, the Bennett’s British Superbike Series was also in action this past weekend at Thruxton Motorsport Center in Andover, United Kingdom. Thruxton was an airfield originally built in 1940. During WWII, the site was used by the United States Air Force and the Royal Air Force as a staging ground during the D-Day Landings. Presently, being one of the fastest circuits in the country it should be no wonder that Rocket Racer Steve Brogan felt right at home as he dominated both the Supersport and Superstock races over the weekend. Aboard his HM Plant Honda CBR machinery, Brogan earned pole position in each event and fought fierce competition to take victory in both races. A hearty congratulation goes out to Steve Brogan and the whole HM Plant Honda team! See you at the races. More, from a press release issued by Carly Rathmell: Win for Fitzpatrick in Supersport Cup Craig Fitzpatrick on the BLDS Couriers Yamaha secured a solid win in the Fuchs-Silkolene British Supersport Cup at Thruxton at the weekend. The 30-year-old had a ten second advantage on his nearest rival Andy Weymouth at the chequered flag. The 2007 Cup runner-up rider also gained a strong 13th place in the overall Championship. After some stunning riding at Brands Hatch a couple of weeks ago he was unable to put his strong front row position into a race results after the cancellation of the round due to snow. However, he was full of confidence as he went to Thruxton and was keen to get his race season off to a strong start. A crash during the second qualifying on Saturday saw the rider who is now living in Derbyshire feeling a little second hand and bruised for the 18-lap race on Sunday. After the crash Fitzpatrick was forced to miss 25-minutes of the second qualifying session as he only has one bike and he dropped down the field from third position on the grid to 13th as they were unable to fix the Yamaha in time. He gained a good start in the race and held his position of 13th at the end of the first lap. The safety car was despatched on lap seven after a crash involving Dennis Hobbs and James Webb, which had to be cleared from the circuit. On the re-start on lap 11 Fitzpatrick struggled badly with rear tyre grip and dropped back from 9th place to 13th. Riding a confident race he managed to beat the 2007 Supersport Cup Champion James Westmoreland and also TT star John McGuinness. A content Fitzpatrick commented “I’m pretty pleased to get the result I got today. It’s a good start to the season and I’m sure I can get better as the year progresses. I think if I had managed to qualify a little higher on the grid then I might have had more of a chance to run nearer the front. Qualifying was a little bit of a nightmare as I managed to put in some fast laps at one point but I crashed early on which dropped me back down the grid. I’m eager to get to Oulton and try and get a good result there for me and also for my sponsors.” The next race it at Oulton Park on the 3rd 5th May. Race Result 1 Brogan Honda 2 Richards Triumph 3 Martin Kawasaki 13 Fitzpatrick BLDS Couriers Yamaha Cup Race Result 1 Fitzpatrick BLDS Couriers Yamaha 2 Weymouth Yamaha 3 Fagan Triumph Cup Championship Standings Fitzpatrick 25 Weymouth 20 Fagan 16 More, from a press release issued by Can-Am Mini Motorcycle Roadracing Championship: Can-Am Mini Motorcycle Roadracing Championship North American’s Only Cross-Border Mini Roadracing Championship The Can-Am Mini Motorcycle Roadracing Championship kicked off with a bang in Stockton, California as the event ran in conjunction with the normal SMRRC event. The event drew the biggest crowd the SMRRC had seen in quite some time. SMRRC local series director Matt Myers summed up the weekend, “Just wanted to say thanks all, for making this last race weekend such a fun one! The racing was fantastic and the grids looked great, especially the NSRCup with all those 9 to 12 years olds dicing it up. You all know how I feel about our youth riders, it was exciting to say the least! I also want to say thanks again to the Can-Am for choosing our club to kick off their series and SCMiniGP folks as well as those who traveled great distances to see what the SMRRC is all about. You guys deserve a big congrats for putting in the time and effort.” The racing was fierce everywhere on the track with the Vortex Racing NSR Cup and Motion Pro Super 50 being a duel between Washington State resident Peter Lenz and local fast kid Anthony Alonso. Even though the bikes were the same spec Lenz had to work at keeping Alonso from passing him under power as Alonso’s bike was perfectly dialed-in to his home track. The duo put on some of the best racing of the day with their relentless pursuit of the lead position. Lenz ended up with his rear wheel in the grass several times as the intensity of the races increased. The end result was Alonso taking the early win in the Vortex Racing NSR Cup and Lenz taking the win in the Motion Pro Super 50 race. The duo was followed by SCMiniGP rider Tyler Linders in the Vortex Racing NSR Cup while Parkhurst Racing’s Joshua Serne rounded out the podium in Motion Pro Super 50. In the Sudco and RK Excel America (co-sponsored) Formula Extreme class Peter Lenz grabbed the holeshot and checked out on his FNB Racing EDR Performance Engines machine. Local up and coming fast dude Jordan Edginton, son of AMA Superbike racer Brian Edginton, held off the Can-AM Mini Motorcycle Roadracing Championship’s Series Director Brian Naylor on his Speedmotoco.com KX65. The last race of the day was the Pro Honda Oils & Chemicals Formula GP where SCminiGP’s Justin Ducut carried the SoCal flag high with him taking the win by a good margin on his CRF150R over RSF150R mounted Peter Lenz. While 85 mounted Bryan Edginton held off 65 mounted Brian Naylor for the final spot on the podium, and earn the case of Pro Honda Oils & Chemicals HP4S that was awarded to everyone that finished on the podium. A huge thank you to series these series sponsors for enabling the series to provide some really cool prizes: Big B Electric, MiniGPX News, Motion Pro, Pro Honda Oils & Lubricants, RK Excel America, SpeedMotoCo.com, Sudco and Vortex Racing. The Can-Am Mini Motorcycle Roadracing Championship is next in action on June 28-31, Calgary, AB, Hosted by AMRA as part of the CNMRA series in conjunction with the Canadian Superbike Series. More info on the series can be found at http://www.canamroadracing.com Round 1 Results (Stockton) Vortex Racing NSR Cup: 1. Anthony Alonso; 2. Peter Lenz; 3. Tyler Linders; 4. Ryan Kearns; 5. Anthony Dehaven; 6. Emalee Costa; 7. Daniel Torres; 8. Joshua Sern. Motion Pro Super 50: 1. Peter Lenz; 2. Anthony Alonso; 3. Joshua Serne; 4. Tyler Linders; 5. Daren Rimando; 6. Jo Rhett; 7. Gary Yokota 8. Ernest Castro; 9. David Westergard; 10. Gabriel de la Torre; 11. Chris Bishop. Sudco and RK Excel America (co-sponsored) Formula Extreme: 1. Peter Lenz; 2. Jordan Edginton; 3. Brian Naylor; 4. Brittany Young; 5. Kinzer Naylor; 6. Anthony Alonso; 7. Tyler Linders; 8. Brandon Kyee; 9. Jo Rhett; 10. Koy Platt; 11. Steven Zabzydr. Pro Honda Oils & Chemicals Formula GP: 1. Justin Ducut; 2. Peter Lenz; 3. Bryan Edginton; 4. Brian Naylor; 5. Jordan Edginton; 6. Kinzer Naylor; 7. Joshua Serne; 8. Brandon Kyee; 9. Dan Caldwell. More, from a press release issued by Nadine Lajoie: Willow Springs, CA & Las Vegas, NV Willow Springs, April 20th, 2008 The windy week-end at Willow Springs, CA took place last week-end and Nadine Lajoie, the Canadian female racer, was there to participate to this 4th round. This year, Action Motosports, from Vaudreuil in West of Montreal, is a new major sponsor for her racing season, in addition to Importations Thibault, Elka and Hipertech. In 600 Superbike class, starting on the 11th spot on the grid, she finished in 7th position. “My lap times were not as good as last December, I think I still have a little fear after my accident and my broken collarbone in January, but it’s coming along great. I gave all I had in this race and I’m pretty happy about the result.” She also finished 10th in 600 Modified Production and 11th in Solo GTU Middleweight. At Las Vegas Motor Speedway with the WERA West organization on April 12th-13th, the field was bigger, reaching 29 racers in one race. In B Superbike, she finished 13th while she got the 17th and the 19th place in Solo GTU and C Superbike respectively. The next race will be held at Button Willow, CA on May 10th – 11th with WERA West.