MUENCH e-bike clearly brands TTXGP-Opening Thomas Petsch: “Complete MUENCH domination really delights but also frightens me at the same time.” On May 20th all international e-racing sport teams participated in their first race in line with the European championship, the 2012 TTXGP. At the 1.873m long race track “Falkenberg Motorbana” one got to witness a big surprise: Matthias Himmelmann and his MUENCH TTE-2 e-bike once again proved what it means to be a technological leader. After 17 laps fans and competitors were flabbergasted when he finished the race with a one-lap ledge. Prior to the opening race MUENCH already set the course for the 2012 championship crown. “We will open the season at full throttle,” stated team spokesmen Ralf Ernst. As one could witness a short while later he was to be taken seriously. The first and main difficulty in all e-racing series is to manufacture a competitive e-bike. “It’s a fast moving business. The lap times get faster and faster every single time and the competition slowly falls apart. From our European competition there’s only the Chinese team with its second headquarters in Portugal left to be taken into serious account. All the other teams weren’t able to keep up with our developments and hence, didn’t make the cut,” says MUENCH Manager Petsch about the current racing happenings. In 2010 MUENCH used to be an early adapter to Mavizen and Co. “Once a serious competitor the British (Mavizen) are now way behind us. The others I can’t rate yet due to the fact that they’re not here Honda, which was proudly presented in Tokyo is one of them.” After the practice and qualification races the actual final race took place on Sunday morning: With a slight breeze from the north and about 16°C, so called great weather conditions, MUENCH driver Himmelmann set the course for victory. Starting from pole position he never let anyone doubt that he is the man of the hour. He constantly drove the ideal course and finished one 49er after another. Close to the end he also managed to lap the strong Chinese team Zongshen. “We proved that money is not everything,” says Petsch. “Due to Thomas Schuricht’s subtle battery and temperature management we were once again able to be victorious.” Head of Development Thomas Schuricht developed a special and suitable battery and temperature management for the race in Sweden. Working hours, that most definitely paid off. Even moments after the race the battery still had power and Matthias Himmelmann could have raced some more laps. “This clearly shows how much potential lies in our TTE2 and Matthias’ tactical and smart driving skills. The current MUENCH domination delights and frightens me at the same time,” states Thomas Petsch after the race. For more information please visit: www.muenchmotorbikes.com More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: French MotoGP™ debrief with Masao Azuma Round 4: French MotoGP™ – Post-race debrief Le Mans, Wednesday 23 May 2012 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium. Rear: Soft, Medium (Asymmetric) Bridgestone wet compounds available: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative) Rain lashed the Bugatti Circuit at Le Mans prior to last Sunday’s French MotoGP™ and an exciting wet race ensued with Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo streaking away to take his second win of the season ahead of Ducati’s Valentino Rossi and Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner. Weather conditions at Le Mans started dry but cool on Friday but gradually degraded over Saturday and Sunday, with cold and wet conditions greeting riders as they lined up on the grid for the race. Track temperatures struggled to get over 20°C throughout the whole race weekend meaning that the softer compound tyres were preferred by riders due to their greater warm-up performance and initial grip. Q&A with Masao Azuma Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department Race conditions were not only wet, but also very cool. How did this affect the performance of the wet tyres? “The conditions for Sunday’s race were quite challenging for riders as grip levels in the wet at Le Mans are poor to begin with, but the added factor of very cool temperatures made grip even harder to come by. Bridgestone anticipated these kinds of conditions and hence made the main wet tyre the soft compound, but also gave riders the option of selecting a limited number of the alternative hard compound wet tyre in case we had conditions which were damp but not completely wet. “Overall, the performance of our wet tyres at Le Mans was very positive and the soft compound wet tyre that was used extensively during the race gave riders the warm-up performance and initial grip required to race in the harsh conditions, but also provided enough durability to offer consistent grip levels throughout the race.” Some riders tried the hard compound wet tyres during the wet Sunday warm-up session but didn’t select it for the race. Was the hard wet tyre a viable option for the race? “Though we had rain on Sunday morning, it was difficult to understand if the rain would continue through the afternoon or would stop before the race. Therefore, riders took the opportunity in morning warm-up to assess the grip level of the hard compound on a track with standing water and we actually saw some good lap-times with the hard compound wet tyre and acquired valuable data on how these tyres behave in such conditions. As we saw, the rain continued steadily until the start of the MotoGP race and was not expected to stop, so in this situation where there was still plenty of standing water out on track and conditions were quite cool, all riders selected the soft compound wet tyre for the rear and all but one rider selected the soft compound wet tyre for the front.” Most riders set their personal best lap-time towards the end of the race. Can you explain why this happened? “As the standing water on the circuit was dispersed by the wet tyres the grip levels increased which is why lap times towards the end of the race began to improve. As grip levels increase, so does tyre abrasion but the durability of the soft compound wet tyres in these conditions was still good enough that the riders could take advantage of this increased grip to lower their lap times.” More, from a press release issued by KWS Motorsports: KWS Motorsports, Millennium Technologies, Riders Discount continue success at Miller Motorsports Park! Charleston, SC May, 2012 KWS Motorsports-sponsored riders Luie Zendejas and Sean Dwyer took a podium finish and gained valuable points at the WERA Nationals held at Miller Motorsports Park. The WERA National Series was finally back in action at the world class Miller Motorsports Park following the postponement of the Talladegaround last month. This was a combined WERA National and WERA Endurance Series weekend. With all the action coming down to the A Superstock and WERA Superbike races on Sunday. The racing was very tight and competitive with many west coast pros and extremely fast local guys filling the grids along with our own version of the usual suspects: Sean Dywer, Luie Zendajas, Tim Hunt, & Tim Bemisderfer were all looking for valuable points for the WERA National Championships. The Dunlop Tire shod Suzuki GSX-R1000 of Sean Dywer earned a solid 2nd place in the A Superstock race just beating out Tim Bemisderfer at the line while West Coast pro Jeremy Toye took the win. Luie Zendajas earned a hard fought 5th place running competitive laps against many of the fast locals with lots of MMP experience. Sean retains his points lead for the class with Luie only two spots back in 3rd place overall heading toward the next round at Road Atlanta. The best race of the day was the eight-lap WERA Superbike race with a heavily stacked grid. The race started with a frenzy going into turn one and barely made lap 2 when it was red flagged for an incident on the track. After a complete restart, Dywer took his VP Fuels and Vesrah Brakes equipped GSX-R to the front to lead the first few laps until Shane Turpin, a wild-card ride for next week’s WSB round, fought his way through the field and passed Dwyer to take the lead. The Riders Discount backed GSX-R of Zendejas battled the whole race with series regulars and Tim Hunt and Tim Bemisderfer swapping positions throughout the race. Toye eventually passed Dywer and took the lead from Turpin a few laps from the end for the win. Dywer again retains his points lead finishing 5th being the first of the usual suspects to cross the line. Zendejas continued to better his times throughout the race posting a personal best on the white flag lap, 3 seconds faster than last year and only a wheel from beating out Hunt and Bemisderfer at the line. Luie Zendejas “This weekend was a compete success! My KWS, Millennium technologies, Riders Discount, Dunlop shod Suzuki GSX-R1000 was working better than ever. Mike Godin of KWS Motorsport really did a great job tuning the bike for the slight Miller altitude change. Thermosman (Mike Fitzgerald) made some dramatic changes to my suspension and my new “Harry Potter” shock that he built for me worked wonders this past weekend. I went faster in every session and every race with room for improvement to my lap times. Great weather, incredible track, with great racing. It made the long trip from the east coast worthwhile. Special thanks goes out to all the guys at “STORM ENDURANCE SPORTS” of SanfordNC, for building and maintaining my mountain bike and road bike. They have been instrumental in producing some incredible training programs. Oakley for keeping me looking fresh!!! As always I cannot thank the guys at Millennium Technologies enough for keeping me on the track, Riders Discount for keeping me geared up with all my race needs, Dunlop Tires for providing me with the best possible rubber, and Vesrah brake pads to bring me to a stop!! Kevin Hunt (KWS Shop owner) for making this all happen! I look forward to racing the next round at Road Atlanta (a little closer to home) and applying the newfound speed at a track a bit more familiar.” Sean Dwyer “I expected this round at MMP to be a tough one for me, as I haven’t raced there, but it went very well. There were plenty of fast locals with track knowledge on us, so it was a balance between running with those guys and making sure we scored points on our rivals in the WERA National series. We led some races and finished with one podium and one top five. It was a good points day, but mostly just a blast to ride at this facility. I really enjoyed the track and it has become one of my favorites. Big thanks to the KWS team, Millenium Technologies, Riders Discount, Ballistic, Thermosman Suspension, Dunlop, and Vesrah for making this weekend possible!” KWS Motorsports (www.kwsmotorsports.com) is proudly sponsored by: Millennium Technologies, Ballistic Performance Components, Pit Bull, LeoVince Exhaust, Motion Pro, VP Race Fuels, Bazzaz Performance, Yoyodyne, Worldwide Bearing, K&N Filters, Zero Gravity Windscreens, Spider Grips, Cp-Carillo, Web Cams and Motul lubricants. Luie Zendejas (www.luiezendejasracing.com) is proudly sponsored by: KWS Motorsports, Riders Discount, Millennium Technologies, Ballistic Performance Components, Thermosman Suspension, Dark Horse Foundation, Infinite Labs, Storm Endurance Sports Bicycle Shop, Andrew Swenson Designs, Drippin Wet, PitBull, Dunlop Tires, VP Racing Fuels, LeoVince Exhaust, Bazzaz Performance, Arai Helmets, Alpinestars, Oakley, Web Cams, CP-Carillo, Motion Pro, K&N Filters, Zero Gravity Windscreens, Worldwide Bearings, Parts Unlimited, Vesrah Brake Pads, Speigler Brake Lines, Spider Grips and Motul Lubricants. Sean Dwyer is proudly sponsored by: KWS Motorsports, Riders Discount, Millennium Technologies, Ballistic Performance Components, Thermosman Suspension, Andrew Swenson Designs, Drippin Wet, PitBull, Dunlop Tires, VP Racing Fuels, LeoVince Exhaust, Bazzaz Performance, Arai Helmets, Alpinestars, Oakley, Web Cams, CP-Carrillo, Motion Pro, K&N Filters, Zero Gravity Windscreens, Worldwide Bearings, Parts Unlimited, Vesrah Brake Pads, Speigler Brake Lines, Spider Grips and Motul Lubricants. For Information: http://www.kwsmotorsports.com.