Frustration; the best word to describe the Safety First Suzuki Weekend at Mid-Ohio Between missed opportunities and cancelled races due to the weather, frustration reigned over the Safety First Suzuki team. Noted team owner Kevin Hanson; “I am really bummed about not being able to do the Supersport race on Sunday. After the AMA ran the Superbike race and we were given a 15 minute practice session after that. Thing is, we were up against dusk and the race was called due to darkness. Not doing the race really disappointed me for several reasons; one is that Bobby Fong qualified great. Bobby qualified right in the middle of all the fast Suzuki guys like Blake Young, Martin Cardenas and Danny Eslick. Bobby was also over a second faster than Factory Suzuki rider Tommy Hayden after shaving over a second and a half off from practice to qualifying. We cleaned up Bobby’s lines a little bit and I think he really had a breakthrough this weekend in how important the little things are at the AMA level of racing. The best thing was that his time was on a Michelin race tire, not a qualifying tire, so that just shows how good the Michelin tires are. I am also impressed with how Scotty Ryan did. He went much faster here this year on our bikes than he did in the past. He looked good for the Supersport race, so it was really disappointing that he was not able to show off his talent here.” “Overall though, I think we came away with some great things to help us the rest of the year,” commented Hanson. Bobby Fong- Finished 13th-FX, Qualified 14th in Supersport “The importance of qualifying really hit home this weekend for the Formula Xtreme race. I was balked at the start and spent the first part of the race being blocked. By the time I got past the riders, I pretty much burnt up my tire and wasn’t able to make an impression on the group in front of me. I found out that it is much easier to control the race from the front as opposed to try to work your way through the field. Some guys can really make their bikes wide. I have never been so frustrated at the end of a race like I was after the Formula Xtreme race, knowing I was faster than the guys that were in front of me at the beginning of the race and losing contact with the lead group as a result. Not riding the Supersport race also really got me down. I really wicked it up in qualifying and was looking forward to mixing it up with the lead pack. Knowing that I can run with them now makes it easier mentally for me too. These last three races should be interesting.” Fong remains in 6th place for Formula Xtreme points and is sitting in 17th in Supersport. Scotty Ryan- Finished 20th- FX, Qualified 28th in Supersport “We tried new things this weekend to see how we did overall, but the weather kind of threw those plans out the window. We skipped promoter practice on Thursday, but Bobby and I did do several laps on our bicycles to check out the track. It did take us a bit of time to get up to speed, and as a result, we ended up in slow group for qualifying. That is never good, as you can’t hook up with someone to get a good flying lap in. For the Formula Xtreme race, I really wanted to be the first “local” racer, but I missed that by one spot. For Supersport, the fifteen minute practice they granted us took place almost at 8 PM, and they though we are to get the race in after that? Last time I checked, we don’t run headlights. It sounded like a comedy of errors with a long delay as a result of a diesel spill from the jet dryer, which I think also happened last year at the final race of the year here. I was really looking forward to race as I was 21st fastest in the short practice verses being down almost ten more spots during in qualifying. It is what it is, so I am just planning on putting my head down and get a lot of training in for VIR, Road Atlanta and the last Laguna Seca round so I can bring it on then for the end of the season and move up the points tables. Only racing now twice for AMA events over the last two months is hard too.” Ryan is 19th in Formula Xtreme and 31st place in Supersport. Safety First Racing was formed in 2004 by police officer/racer, Kevin Hanson, based out of Chicago, IL. For 2007, Safety First Suzuki will be competing in the AMA Superbike series in the Supersport and Formula Xtreme classes. More, from a press release issued by GoBigRacing: (Shannonville, ON) After a much needed weekend off, Go Big Racing got back to the track for Round 5 of the R.A.C.E. Super Series held at Shannonville Motorsport Park this past weekend. Both Paul Glenn (Keene, ON) and Ross Millson (Hamilton, ON) used the Super Series to prepare for Round 6 of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship coming up this weekend in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia. Glenn, currently sitting second in the AM 600 Sport Bike class, road Ross Millson’s Suzuki to an impressive second place finish in the AM 600 Sport Bike race, this coming after engine trouble knocked Glenn out of the AM Superbike race while he was racing in fourth place. Millson, racing for the first time since Round 5 of the Parts Canada Superbike Series on July 15 put up back to back eighth place finishes in the Pro 600 Sport Bike and Pro Superbike classes. More importantly though, Millson was able to race completely healthy for the first time since the opening round of the Parts Canada Superbike Series back in early June. “I am not happy with the results” commented Millson “but I spent the weekend getting comfortable at race pace again after my much needed time off and I am happy to be heading to Shubie healthy!” Steven Nickerson, a member of Go Big Racing’s Developmental Team, again hit the podium in the AM 125 GP Class with a strong third place finish. This marks the third straight podium finish for Nickerson in the Super Series. Nickerson again opted to ride in the AM 250 GP Class to continue his development and had a sixth place showing. Next on the schedule for Go Big Racing is Round 6 of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, August 9-12 where Paul Glenn will try to increase his points lead in the AM 600 Sport Bike Class and a healthy Ross Millson will look to continue his strong rookie campaign in both the Pro 600 Sport Bike and Pro Superbike classes. More, from a press release issued by Millennium KWS Suzuki: Millennium/KWS Suzuki Survive Crashes and Rain for Top 15 in Superbike Lexington, OH August 2007 Millennium/KWS Suzuki sponsored by Ron Ayers Motorsports was a victim of the so called “million dollar corner” this weekend at Mid-Ohio. The key-hole area of the famed Ohio sports car course proved unusually treacherous with nearly every major team suffering at least one crash in this relatively small area of the track. John Haner and David Weber only raced Superbike this weekend because the Superstock race was cancelled on Sunday due to inclement weather. In Superbike Qualifying the Millennium/KWS Suzuki duo of Haner and Weber ran nearly identical times to qualify back to back on the fourth row with their Dunlop shod Suzuki GSX-R1000’s. Haner qualified with a time of 1:27.826 for the fourteenth position while Weber qualified right behind Haner with a time of 1:27.856 for the fifteenth despite a huge crash at the exit of turn four. Weber suffered a concussion and a severely bruised foot and was transported to the hospital Friday afternoon. Weber returned to the track on Friday night after being cleared by the doctor to ride. By the start of Saturday’s Superbike Race One Weber could not walk without the assistance of crutches but he was determined to ride if he could turn competitive lap times. Haner and Weber both got good starts and were racing together in the fourteenth and fifteenth positions until lap thirteen when Weber crashed again in almost the exactly the same spot at the exit of turn four. This brought out the red flag stopping the race. While the team anxiously waited for the safety crew to bring Weber and his bike back to the pits, Haner’s crew changed Dunlop tires and fine tuned to his Penske suspension. The Mid-Ohio safety crew brought Weber’s Suzuki GSX-R1000 back to the pits and the team quickly assessed the damage to the bike and Weber. Weber fortunately suffered no additional injuries and the team went to work repairing his bike. The team did an amazing job with the help of several people along pit road to get the bike repaired in less than twelve minutes. Unfortunately the team was not able to get the bike fixed before the restart and Weber was black flagged by the AMA for not rejoining the race before the leaders completed one lap on the restart. Meanwhile the adjustments made by the teams Penske technicians worked wonders on Haner’s bike and on lap eighteen he turned his fastest lap of the weekend. On lap nineteen the “million dollar corner” bit the Millennium/KWS Suzuki team again when Haner crashed the same spot as his teammate at the exit of turn four. Luckily Haner was not injured. The Millennium Technologies team woke Sunday morning to a soaking rain. Due to the proximity of the wall in some critical parts of the track the AMA Superbike series does not compete in the rain at Mid-Ohio. This was a blessing in disguise as it gave David Weber’s foot a chance to heal. After waiting for almost ten hours the AMA Superbike race started at just after seven in the evening. Haner and Weber both got excellent starts. Haner raced with the Factory MV of Luca Scassa and ex-MotoGP rider James Ellison for the majority of the race to finish in the thirteenth position, the highest finishing true privateer. Weber showed a tremendous amount of heart and dedication by riding through injury sustained in two major crashes to finish in the sixteenth position and get valuable points. John Haner The weekend went pretty well all things considered. The team as a whole had a very difficult Saturday and then with the Superstock race canceled on Sunday, we really didn’t have a chance to redeem ourselves. The Superbike race on Sunday went pretty good, I can’t say enough about the Dunlop tires. They are sticky and consistent over the course of a race distance. I have to thank my crew Michael Godin, Chip Spalding, and Blake Kelley. Those guys worked really hard this weekend in some difficult conditions. I also want to thank Komodo and HJC for keeping me safe as well as Rockstar Energy Drink and Dragon for all their support. David Weber It was a crazy weekend with the weather and all the crashes. In the end I was glad we got to race and salvage points. We were running really good in the beginning of the weekend and would have been really competitive in Superstock, but with the weather and the crashes that didn’t happen. I really want to thank my mechanics Rick Matheny and Matt Hill. They had to work really hard this weekend to put my bike back together. I also want to thank Chuck and Kyle from Team Hunter for their help during the red flag, that was amazing. My Komodo gear worked great and kept me safe through two major crashes and I can’t thank them enough. I am feeling better already and can’t wait for VIR in two weeks. Kevin Hunt (Team Owner) Wow, what a weekend. This team seems to do best when everything is stacked against them. It was disappointing that we did not have a Superstock race to compete in. Superstock is the teams focus this year and I think that we would have done really well, but I respect the AMA’s decision to cancel it. We are definitely looking forward to VIR in two weeks.