Hard earned points for Walker at Cadwell Chris Walker fought hard at Cadwell Park on Monday to earn himself and the sorrymate.com/SMT Honda team six championship points at round 9 of the British Superbike Championship. The ‘Stalker’ battled against electrical and set-up problems in both of the two races around the undulating Lincolnshire circuit but picked up 11th and 15th place finishes for his determined efforts. As in previous rounds, Chris was encountering the circuit on the Honda for the first time and it meant that much of practice was again spent trying to find the optimum set-up. Once again, conditions were constantly changing from dry to wet whilst riders also had to contend with extremely strong winds around the 2.18-mile circuit. 13th and 14th in Saturday’s free practice sessions, Chris took 9th in the wet session held on Sunday morning but the sun was out for qualifying in the afternoon and the wind meant that it was a dry track all round. Indeed, Chris was able to set his fastest lap of the weekend, a 1m29.456s, and so lined up in a fine 12th place on the grid. With dry conditions on race day, Chris and the team were still looking for the perfect set-up and so went in to the first race with un-tried settings on the machine but, with a superb start, Chris was up to 10th at the completion of the first lap. However, no sooner had he done this, then he encountered some serious electrical problems and they dropped him all the way back to 18th a lap later, his lap time dropping by over 5 seconds. For the rest of the race, it was a battle to stay on-track but Chris’ determination has never been in doubt during his illustrious career and he slowly, but surely, overtook riders in front of him. He was duly rewarded with 12th place at the chequered flag but this later became 11th when 8th placed Tommy Bridewell was disqualified. The second race saw a similar story and the electrical problems returned, again in the early stages of the race. This time, Chris was back down in 20th place at the end of the third lap but he dug deep and, with his fastest lap of the weekend, a 1m29.147s, he had climbed up to 15th and into the points by half race distance. Any hopes of climbing higher though were extinguished when the race was stopped early and the result declared at 13 laps. Speaking later, team owner Robin Croft said: “Once again we’ve encountered rain during free practice and for the third meeting in a row we’ve ran out of dry set-up time. Chris is obviously an incredibly experienced rider but he’s new to the team and new to the Honda and it’s a learning process at each circuit albeit a quick learning process. The Suzuki he was on before and the Honda he’s on now are like night and day but we made good progress in FP1 and FP2 and were confident the changes we made for FP3 would have been a major step forward. That’s when the rain came though and, once again, we went into the first part of qualifying still having to make changes, which, in turn, meant we went in to the race still searching for the optimum set-up.” “A brilliant start in the first race saw Chris leap up to 10th but he immediately ran in to set-up and electrical problems that ruined his race, the latter again causing major issues in race 2. The problems were quite significant so I can’t speak highly enough again of Chris for getting the results that he did. We all want to be finishing further forward but he rode absolutely brilliantly given the problems he was experiencing and he showed his true battling qualities today. It’s testament to his experience, maturity and professionalism that he was able to put in the lap times that he did and score some points this weekend. We all know that when we get the dry time we need, the results will be different so let’s hope we get that at Croft and we can all show our true capabilities.” The series now heads to Croft, North Yorkshire with round 10 taking place on September 10-12. More, from a press release issued by Guy Martin’s publicist: Martin makes steady progress at Cadwell Guy Martin was back in short circuit action over the Bank Holiday weekend, for only the second time since his heavy crash at the Isle of Man TT Races in June, and the Kirmington rider was pleased with his progress at the British Championship meeting at Cadwell Park. The Wilson Craig Racing star put in a strong ride in Monday’s British Supersport 600cc Championship race on his Honda machine to pick up three points for finishing 13th whilst he also had a guest outing in the Harley-Davidson XR1200 Trophy series recording 6th, 7th and 8th in the three races. Although he’d ridden superbly at the Ulster Grand Prix in mid-August, Guy admitted he was still feeling his way back into the short circuit style of racing but he steadily improved during practice and qualifying, reducing his lap times in each session. Conditions were mixed throughout with a combination of sun, wind and rain making life difficult for everyone but second qualifying for the Supersport class was held in the dry and a time of 1m32.958s meant that Guy would line up in 23rd place in the grid. A good start in the 16-lap race saw Guy move up two places by the end of the first lap and, at quarter race distance, he was inside the top 20 in 19th. Lapping comfortably quicker than what he ahd done in qualifying, he quickly overhauled three more riders and as the riders headed into their 8th lap, Guy was knocking on the door of the top 15. Sure enough, a lap later he was up in to the points in 15th and this became 11th on lap 14 when he overtook Dan Kneen, who he’d enjoyed a number of battles with at the Ulster GP. Despite lapping 1.3s quicker than his qualifying time, it didn’t look as if Guy would be able to climb any higher but, on the 15th lap, Joe Dickinson crashed out causing the race to be stopped early and so he was awarded 13th place. Meanwhile, Guy had also been invited to be a ‘guest’ rider in the Harley-Davidson XR1200 Trophy races, the first time he’d ever been on one of the American machines. Despite his unfamiliarity with the bike, he again got quicker and quicker as the weekend progressed and, after qualifying in 8th place, he went on to finish all three of his races inside the top 8, the best finish being 6th in Monday’s opening encounter. Speaking later, Guy commented: “I’m still very much easing my way back into my racing and the last thing I want to do is throw the bike down the road so this weekend’s been all about building my confidence back up on the short circuits. It takes a while to get back to the mentality of pushing to the limit all the time but I’ve chipped away steadily and whilst I didn’t uproot any trees, I was getting quicker and quicker all the time and to get in the points in the Supersport race and jump up 10 places from my qualifying position was satisfying. As for the Harley-Davidson races, well, they were certainly an education. I’ve never ridden one of them before and they’re a fair old weapon to get around the track but I was learning more and more with each and every outing, lapping quicker all the time, and I really enjoyed myself out there. Mike Edwards was passing on tips to me all the time so a big thank you to him for all his advice and help whilst a big thank you to Danny and Alistair for doing a mega job with the 600 once more.” Guy now has a three-week break before his next road race outing, the International Gold Cup at Scarborough, with the meeting taking place on September 18-19. More, from a press release issued by Vesrah Suzuki: ONE PODIUM STEP HIGHER FOR VESRAH SUZUKI’S NICK MCFADDEN IN THE USGPRU MORIWAKI MD250H RACE TWO AT INDY WITH A SECOND PLACE FINISH. From the McFadden family: “Me, my family, and our team, would like to send our prayers to the families of Peter Lenz and Xavier Zayat,” said Nick. “Their families and all of the USGPRU riders and staff are having a hard time with dealing with their accident and Peter’s death. We are kids and we have had to understand very young about tragedies. As racers we rely on prayer and faith. Our racing family will try to give these families the best support we can. We want to celebrate Peter’s life and what great things he did in a short time on Earth and celebrate that he has already won the only race that matters – the race to get to heaven.” After qualifying on the front row and finishing in 3rd place in Race 1, Vesrah Suzuki development rider Nick McFadden made it one step higher on the podium with a 2nd place finish in the USGPRU Moriwaki MD250H race 2 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Nick again had a bad start but kept his head down and was able to get to the front of the pack he was racing with to take 2nd place. The news after the race about the passing of Peter Lenz made this a sad day as he was a great competitor and friend of Nick’s that will always be remembered. The Vesrah Suzuki team and the McFadden family wish to express their condolences to Peter’s family. Mark Junge Team Owner Vesrah Suzuki: “I’m proud of Nick for his finishes this weekend, the determination he showed in working back from poor starts and pleased that he is riding for the Vesrah team. My condolences to the Lenz family.” Nick McFadden #195 Vesrah Suzuki: “Race 2 had me more nervous than race 1 – I had such a great time on Saturday that I wanted to see if I could do that again. I usually don’t have as much trouble off the start as I did this weekend, but I had trouble and immediately knew I had to double my work but I didn’t want to push too hard on the first lap. With the pavement changes on this course, I wanted plenty of heat in my tires before I really got to work. I knew my Vesrah motor was great, so I was patient and let the tires get good. A few laps into the race, I really got going – both days the bike got better and the track came to me more as the race went on. I knew I was catching 2nd & 3rd place and I was felt really strong on the front straight-away, so I went for it and passed them going down through there and into turn 1 and I never looked back. I kept looking ahead to the back of 1st place and stayed focused on his fender to keep me pulling forward.” “Finishing 2nd is an honor at this track against an all-star group of riders that came to this race. You stand up on that podium and have to pinch yourself to think that you are at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I have to thank Tray Batey and Mark Junge and all the Vesrah team and the team sponsors. Thank you to USGPRU for making it possible for us to run this race, and thank you to my family and friends and the Owensboro crowd for your support.” Vesrah Suzuki and Nick McFadden want to thank all of their sponsors for their support for the 2010 season Vesrah, American Suzuki, Rockstar Energy Drink, Nielsen Enterprises Suzuki, West Side Heavy Hauling Inc, Dunlop Tires, Traxxion Dynamics Fork Components, Arai Helmets, Graves Motorsports, Hotbodies Racing Bodywork, Sudco Int., Bazzaz, Factory Pro, Maxima Racing Oils, Vortex, DID Chain, Penske Racing Shocks, GPR Stabilizers, Trek Bicycles, GP Tech, Active & Road Rage Designs More, from a press release issued by Tim Reeves’ publicist: Reeves and Cluze dominate at Brands with superb hat-trick Tim Reeves and passenger Gregory Cluze dominated the latest round of the Eastern Airways ‘Battle of Britain’ British F1 Sidecar Championship with the Anglo-French pairing comfortably winning all three races at Brands Hatch over the weekend. The duo were unstoppable around the Indy circuit also setting pole position and recording the fastest lap in each race to tighten their grip on the Championship with three rounds remaining. Despite only completing a handful of laps in the free practice session, Tim was immediately on the pace in the first qualifying session and, with a lap of 47.924s, he was able to comfortably slot into provisional pole position, some 0.741s clear of regular sparring partners Ben and Tom Birchall. The time was never seriously threatened in the second and final qualifying session so Tim didn’t feel the need to go out and push further, instead concentrating on running a few parts in for the first 16-lap race on Sunday. With conditions good for the first race, Tim and Gregory immediately hit the front on their LCR Honda outfit and they simply dominated proceedings, going on to record a start to finish victory. Aided by the fastest lap of the race, a 48.260s, they eventually crossed the line some 6.078s clear of the Birchalls. The second race, held on Monday, was a lot closer in the initial stages and having led for the opening two laps, Tim and Gregory were relegated to second by the Birchalls. However, they re-took the lead on lap 5 and, with the fastest lap of the race once more, they continued to edge clear and went on to take the chequered flag by 2.597s. The final race was run in two parts and it proved to be the most comfortable of wins for Tim and Gregory as they blitzed the field in both parts of the race, taking their third win of the weekend by a whopping 12.239s. The hat-trick saw them move on to a total of 268 points and so open up a 44-point lead in the title race. Talking later, a delighted Tim said: “It’s been an absolutely brilliant weekend and I really don’t think it could have gone any better. It was pretty much perfect to be honest and went exactly to plan – to come away with all three wins and an extended Championship lead was exactly what we wanted. The bike’s working really well so once I’d got pole position, I didn’t feel the need to keep going round and round so I just did a few laps to scrub in some tyres and bed in a new chain just to make sure everything was 100% for the races. I was able to save the engine for the races as well and with the pace I had I was able to control things from the front. Ben challenged me in the second race but I just sat behind him for a couple of laps and bided my time and once I’d got by again I was able to pull away. We’ve got a busy end to the season but, like I say, the bike’s working fantastically well and the whole team are doing a great job so let’s hope for more of the same at the final few meetings.” Tim now heads to Magny Cours, France for the final round of the World Sidecar Championship where he still has a chance of claiming his fourth title. The meeting takes place from September 10-12. More, from a press release issued by Warr’s Harley-Davidson: Faultless McWilliams takes title Warr’s rider Jeremy McWilliams put in a faultless performance at CadwellPark this Bank Holiday weekend to take victory in the final race of the season and the overall championship win. Jeremy’s second race win of the day, and fifth of the season, took his final points tally at the top of the table to 165 and confirmed his title as 2010 Champion of the inaugural Henderson Harley-Davidson® XR1200® Trophy. Season-long title rival Mike Edwards made up for a disappointing DNF earlier in the day to finish 2nd, with James Webb finishing 3rd. The start of the 10-lap race saw a four-way battle for the lead in the run up to the first corner, with Webb just edging in front. However, by the second lap, McWilliams made the move from 3rd up into the lead on the inside at Park. A race-long battle between Edwards, Webb and Alex Gault ensued, allowing McWilliams to build a gap at the front of the pack. Edwards managed to survive a close coming together with Webb on lap three, and a near high-side on the top of the Mountain a couple of laps later to finish in 2nd behind McWilliams. It was then left to Webb and Gault to fight it out for the final podium spot, with Webb taking the advantage past the chequered flag. Clearly delighted with his weekend’s performance, McWilliams said: “Another win is just brilliant; I really enjoyed the afternoon race. The pace was red hot throughout. If I ever made a tiny mistake, I could see on my pit board that the guys behind had caught me so I couldn’t lose focus for a moment.” he continued. “Warr’s Racing has been super all year and as dedicated as any team I have ever ridden for. The Warr’s technicians are absolutely the best and they have built me an extremely reliable and fast race bike. I want to say thank you to them and of course to crew chief Martin Szlagowski for all their hard work and support.” Jeremy’s team mate, Canadian Superbike rider Darren James, also had an excellent weekend and managed to build on his points tally to end the season in 4th position, despite a previous lack of UK track knowledge. Darren said: “I absolutely love this track (Cadwell) and I could see my times improving throughout the weekend. The Warr’s XR has been absolutely perfect all season and I can’t thank the team enough!” Team owner John Warr added: “It’s fantastic that we have managed to make history by becoming the 2010 Champions. The amount of effort and skill required to keep a team together and performing faultlessly all season long is incredible. Well done to Martin and his crew, and of course to Darren and the maestro himself Jeremy McWilliams. Watching Jeremy undoubtedly one of the best ever riders this country has produced riding and winning on Warr’s Harleys has been a privilege and an honour.” Warr’s Racing would like to thank it’s partners, Rossetts Mercedes-Benz, Mobil 1, Alpinestars, Muc-Off, Dunlop, SBS, DeeleyCanada, Capit Performance, CV Graphics, Foga Systems, Teng Tools, Harris Performance, Pipercross Air Filters More, from a press release issued by Moroney’s/1-800-FASTHOG: Jacobsen and Moroney’s Extend AMA GNC Saddlemen Rookie of the Year Points Lead Indianapolis, IN Round 13 of the AMA GNC Flat Track Series took place on Saturday August 28, 2010. PJ Jacobsen was once again aboard the XR750 backed by Moroney’s 1800-fasthog. Jacobsen and his team would spend the weekend together attending the Red Bull Moto GP in Indianapolis, IN while participating at the AMA GNC Infamous Indy Mile. Moroney’s Racing and Barry Gilsenan from Celtic Racing was on hand to support the young Jacobsen while he continues to work towards extending his Rookie of the Year points chase. Jacobsen and his team started the night qualifying fourth after the times were combined, putting them in a great position for the heat race. Starting in second position of his heat, Jacobsen would finish third, making the transfer to the final and putting him on row two for the start. Young Jacobsen was able to prove his skills as he came from row two to race with the leaders. As the laps wound down, Jacobsen would finish a strong seventh just behind GNC point leader Joe Kopp and in front of the reigning Grand National Champion, Jared Mees. This extended his points lead in the AMA Saddlemen Rookie of the Year points chase. Bob Weiss from Weiss Racing, Jacobsen’s tuner comments,”PJ amazes me by how calm he is, making jokes with me until I have to leave after firing up the bike. He will get on the podium. His time will come. The other guys are seasoned racers and have lots of experience.” Jacobsen and Moroney’s had made a deal to do four AMA GNC Dirt Track races that are non-conflicting with Jacobsen’s AMA Daytona Sportbike Championship Series and Celtic Racing. PJ was new to this Dirt Track Series, not racing on some of the tracks before and to the GNC 750 that he threw his leg over two days prior to his first GNC Dirt Track Race. Since the age of 3, Jacobsen was sponsored by Pat Moroney of Moroney’s Harley Davidson and Jim Moroney’s Cycle. Jacobsen would ride at Pat Moroney’s house with Mike Hacker, Tim Eades and others. Racing in the GNC Flat Track Series at a young age aboard a Harley Davidson 750 is a dream come true. The AMA GNC being held simultaneously with the Moto GP races gave the racers the opportunity to be involved with both races, meeting with and exchanging ideas and views. Randy Mamola came over to wish Jacobsen luck before his race on the Indy Mile and brought with him Carmelo Ezpeleta, and Mick Doohan to check out the Harley Davidson XR750 that Jacobsen would ride. Pat Moroney commented, “This Indy race is cool, so many famous racers. PJ took me around the Moto GP paddock. We went into the pit boxes to meet some of the teams he rode with. Bradley Smith was standing on my Freightliner cheering PJ on. What a fun time.” PJ Jacobsen adds, “I want to thank Pat, Bob, George and Rich Hansen who could not make the race do to a serious car accident. Get well Rich we have lots of racing to do in the future.” The next event for Jacobsen is Round 9, AMA Superbike Weekend at New JerseyMotorsportsPark in Mellville, NJ with Celtic Racing/Orient Express. 2010 Sponsors: Moroney’s 1800-FASTHOG, Celtic Racing, Orient Express Racing, Celtic Performance, Shoei, Alpine Stars, K-Tech, Motorex, Precision Detailing, Motion Pro, Pit Bull, Tagger Design, Ogio, Leo Vince, Rowley Rally Racing, Vortex, Galfer, Zero Gravity, Irish Bike Magazine, ABS Steel Buildings, Old Village Inn, Armour Bodies, Chiropractic Arts, ESJ Graphics, OVRP, Chicken Hawk Racing, Lounsbury Builders and Erectors, Cross Training. More, from a press release issued by Birchall Brothers Racing: BIRCHALL BROTHERS BRANDS HATCH Ben and Tom Birchall from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire rode to a brace of second places at Brands Hatch in round five of the Eastern Airways Battle of Britain UK F1Sidecar championship over the Bank Holiday weekend to retain their third place in the overall points table with three rounds (nine races) remaining. The Mitchells of Mansfield FIM World champions completed their qualifying in second place and started all three of their races from the front row of the grid alongside championship leaders Tim Reeves and Greg Cluze. It was always going to be an uphill battle for the Mansfield brothers as Reeves is extremely quick around the 1.199 Brands Hatch Indy circuit and this weekend was to be no exception. Qualifying went well for Ben and Tom who posted a fastest lap time of 48.665 seconds to earn a front row start to the three 16-lap affairs and as the first race got underway they were quick off the mark, leading the field around the first lap. But Reeves was not going to be beaten on his home track and he took the lead on lap two with the Birchall brothers in hot pursuit. Although they stuck with the leaders for much of the race, once they got mixed in with the back markers their progress faltered and they ended up crossing the finish line six seconds adrift in second place. “We knew Tim was a Brands Hatch specialist and it soon became apparent that this was the case. We did stick with them but once the back markers came into play they were able to pull a gap on us. But we have made a few changes to the set up and will come out fighting in the second race!” said Ben. Race two went much the same way but was more of a close battle at the front. Reeves got the hole shot but was overtaken by Birchall who held station for laps three and four before relinquishing the lead once again. The pair battled it out and pulled a 10 second gap on the following pack but although the gap between the two was down to 2.5 seconds Reeves once again took the victory ahead of Birchall. Race three was a disaster for the world champions as they were forced out with fractured oil fitting on lap seven. “We did some more tinkering about with the settings and this time we has the measure of Tim. I was confident we could win that race but it wasn’t to be. The fractured oil fitting was just one of those things and there was nothing more we could do.” The Birchalls retain their third place in the championship on 202 points. Reeves leads with 268 and Alan Schofield is in second place on 222. With three rounds (nine races) and a further 225 championship points on offer the title chase is far from over. The next round is at Anglesey on September 19 but prior to that the Birchalls travel to Magny Cours in France where they will contest the final round of the FIM World championship on September 11 which runs as a support race to the World Endurance 24 hour event The Bol D’Or. Practice and qualifying take place over Thursday and Friday with the 15-lap race scheduled for 11.50am CET on Saturday. Although the Birchalls cannot now retain their world title they have everything to race for as a good result at Magny Cours could see them clinch the runner up spot. More, from a press release issued by Jason DiSalvo’s publicist: 27th to 9th, DiSalvo Scores Top Ten in Debut Moto2 Outing! Stafford NY : Jason DiSalvo seemingly overcame all odds this weekend in claiming a top ten finish in the ultra competitive Moto2 class of World Championship Gran Prix racing. From the back of the grid the New Yorker charged through the field to claim the 9th position in an all out drafting war to the finish line. The weekend started off well for DiSalvo and the GP tech crew, posting good times in practice and finding the setup on their FTR M210 Moto2 chassis. Things didn’t quite work out as planned in Qualifying, a small mistake sent Jason out on the wrong front tire, producing severe front end chatter and hampering his efforts in putting down a fast lap. DiSalvo said after the session, “We’re pretty far back on the grid, it’s going to be tough, but it’ll definitely make for an exciting race tomorrow.” After qualifying 27th, Jason showed tremendous maturity and skill to survive the opening lap chaos of the 40 rider Moto2 class. Once things settled down after the first few laps, he began to pick apart the competition, steadily improving his standing as the race went on. In the final laps he became locked in a brief but fierce battle with two series regulars for 9th place honors. Falling back to 10th on the final lap, DiSalvo showed grit and determination off the final corner to make a well timed drafting pass to the finish line to overtake the other rider. After the race DiSalvo was elated saying, “What an awesome weekend, everyone from the GP Tech squad really pulled together on Sunday to give me a great race setup. It seemed like when other riders started fading back our bike just got stronger, and we were able to push through the pack.” Jason now returns to New York to continue his training and stay sharp, there are no definite plans as of yet for seeing Jason in further action this year, but the New Yorker hopes to find somewhere to let his talent shine again before the season is out.