Results Infineon Raceway Climate: Sunny, windy Temperature: 24 degrees Double Podium for Honda in Wine Country American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel and Jake Zemke both raced to victory lane in the AMA Superbike Championship round at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, the heart of America’s wine country. Duhamel enjoyed the champagne celebration on Saturday, when he finished on the podium for the fourth time this year. The most experienced racer in the field was running a steady third with an eye on Suzuki’s Ben Spies in second when time ran out. “I just kept trying to get a good pace and tried to keep (Spies) honest in case something was going wrong but it wasn’t,” Duhamel said. Zemke struggled with a fuel full load on Saturday. The final six laps were his best of the race, but by then he was too far back to make a podium charge. He finished fifth. On Sunday Zemke rebounded. Adjustments his team made to the Honda CBR1000RR paid off immediately and his pace was drastically quicker. The Californian moved into third on the second of 28 laps and stayed there to the finish. Teammate Duhamel finished just behind in fourth. “The boys put their heads together and came up with a solution this morning and things looked a lot better this morning and I knew we’d be in contention for the podium for sure,” Zemke said. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) beat teammate Ben Spies both days. Duhamel maintained his third place in the championship, after seven of 19 rounds, with Zemke moving into fourth with his second podium of the year. After a weekend’s break, the series resumes at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on June 3. Miguel Duhamel, 3rd Place, 4th Place Sunday Even though we tried to make some changes to make it a bit better, I just couldn’t get the feel that we wanted out of it. We made some minor changes before the race. We made some big changes this morning. We were trying to get more traction. We thought maybe if we got more traction out of the back, obviously we’d have faster lap times. So we just tried to accomplish that. But we lost a little bit of the handling of the bike. Some aspects were good-on the brakes; turning wasn’t so good. So I just tried to make the best of what I had. When the tire went away in the back, at least I tried to change riding style a little bit. Tried to rear steer the bike a lot. I still tried to put some pressure on Jake (Zemke), but he looked real comfortable up there, like he could step it up if he needed to. I really wanted another podium, but it wasn’t to be today. Saturday I got a decent start, and just followed Jason (DiSalvo). He was riding really well. I was a little stronger here and there, so finally when I got by him I put a gap on him. I got a little bit of a gap on Jason, so then I started focusing a little bit on Ben (Spies). I didn’t know like you mentioned before, I saw him go off the track. (The track) did a good job filling up that hole, because I saw (Geoff) May popped a tire earlier in qualifying when he went off into that hole. So the guys did a great job doing that, and that probably helped him quite a bit getting through there. So anyway, I just said, ‘Maybe he (Spies) has a problem with the bike.’ Jake Zemke, 5th Place, 3rd Place Sunday Yeah, it was pretty lonely out there. These two (Mladin and Spies) split straight away. When (Aaron) Yates crashed there in the last corner, it just balked me up for that second. But I didn’t have the pace for either one of these two guys today. They did an awesome job. But the guys did a real good job overnight. Yesterday, we were strong at the end of the race, but at the beginning, with a full fuel load, we hadn’t tested on that setting in the morning with a full fuel load and I just couldn’t get around the race track. Saturday We put a full fuel load in the thing and I was just bottoming the front out everywhere; on the brakes, going into the corners, and when the front end was bottoming going in like that, one, you can’t brake any harder, you can’t get the thing to slow down. And two, I couldn’t get the bike to turn. Once I got to the corner I’d be at full lean angle and the bike would basically go straight. At the end of the race I was doing low 37’s, which Mat (Mladin) was the only one going faster the last five laps than me. We knew we could get the bike around in the end. We had to make it work in the beginning. Ron Heben, Road Race Team Manager Actually a real positive weekend moving forward from Fontana. Both guys worked really hard over the whole three days. Again, two podiums and got Jake (Zemke) back running up front, so we’re real happy. Obviously, we’ve still got a lot of work to do, but again, looking forward to Road America where we’ve always had some great success. Saturday Superbike: 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 2. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 3. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 4. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha) 5. Jake Zemke (Honda) 6. Roger Lee Hayden (Kawasaki) 7. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) 8. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) 9. James Ellison (Honda) 10. Matt Lynn (MV Agusta) Sunday Superbike: 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 2. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 3. Jake Zemke (Honda) 4. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 5. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) 6. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha) 7. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 8. James Ellison (Honda) 9. Jake Holden (Suzuki) 10. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) Championship Standings: 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 238 2. Ben Spies (Suzuki) 238 3. Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 197 4. Jake Zemke (Honda) 181 5. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) 180 6. Jason DiSalvo (Yamaha) 166 7. Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 156 8. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 156 9. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) 134 10. James Ellison (Honda) 127 More, from a press release issued by Pirelli: Pirelli’s Geoff May Places Second in AMA Superstock at Infineon Rome, Georgia: Professional Podiums in American road racing are becoming a regular affair for Pirelli. This time it was racer Geoff May earning his best Superstock finish of the season by taking second in the AMA Superbike series in Sunday’s final at Infineon Raceway, in Sonoma, California. May was fast all weekend on his M4 EMGO Suzuki GSX-R1000, and was third fastest in the morning warm up for the race after also qualifying in third. In the race, May’s Pirelli Diablo Superbike Slicks kept all other riders at bay, just north of The Bay, with the lone exception of Suzuki’s Ben Spies. Second place is May’s second Superstock podium for the season, never finishing lower than seventh in the four rounds completed. This finish puts May into fourth place in the points for the championship, a mere seven points from second place and 30 points from first. Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki’s Chris Ulrich and Robertino Pietri each also had a great day, with Ulrich earning sixth and Pietri taking ninth. Scott Jensen finished between them in eighth, showing awesome progress with his small privateer program. Sunday’s Supersport final was shortened to a recorded 14 laps due to a red flag, with Attack Kawasaki’s Steve Rapp taking sixth, followed by M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Geoff May in seventh and Rapp’s teammate Ben Attard in ninth. Colombian racer, Martin Cardenas, was drafted by the M4 EMGO Suzuki team to ride a GSX-R600 for the injured Michael Barnes. Cardenas had been 20th fastest on his own bike but immediately moved up 16th on Barnes’ machine, ultimately finishing 12th in the race. David Anthony rounded out the top 15 of riders on Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa tires, coming home in 14th. Young competitors Cory West and Michael Beck did not finish the race, one breaking and one falling. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Attack Kawasaki’s Rapp Third in Formula Xtreme at Sonoma Hayden Rides Strongest Superbike Race of the Season SONOMA, Calif. Attack Kawasaki’s Steve Rapp rounded out the podium with a third-place finish in the Formula Xtreme race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Roger Hayden finished sixth in the first of two AMA Superbike races this weekend. Qualifying on the front row, Rapp remained consistent throughout the entire 17-lap race. Teammate Ben Attard showed his speed aboard the Kawasaki ZX™-6R, keeping up with Rapp the majority of the race, eventually finishing just behind him with a respectable fourth place. “I know I have the speed to be up front,” said Rapp. “I’m definitely happy to finish on the podium after last round and keep the points close between me and first place.” After four rounds, Rapp currently sits second in the point standings. In the AMA Superbike race, Hayden turned out his best result of the season, finishing in sixth. After starting the race in eleventh, teammate Jamie Hacking also made a great run, eventually finished in eighth position. “I made up some positions pretty quickly after the start,” said Hayden. “I spent much of the race chasing the fifth position. I actually had him for a split second. Lappers were an issue and I’m hoping Sunday I’ll be able to make up more ground.” The second of two AMA Superbike races, along with the AMA Supersport race, is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at Infineon Raceway. AMA Superbike Championship Infineon Raceway Sonoma, Calif. May 19, 2007 AMA Formula Xtreme Results 1. Joshua Hayes, Gulfport, Miss., Honda 2. Aaron Gobert, Murrieta, Calif., Honda 3. STEVE RAPP, MANHATTAN BEACH, CALIF., ATTACK KAWASAKI 4. BEN ATTARD, MURIETTA, CALIF., ATTACK KAWASAKI 5. Larry Pegram, Pataskala, Ohio, Ducati 6. Martin Craggill, Boulder, Colo., Ducati 7. Cory West, Eureka Springs, Ariz., Yamaha 8. Jason Perez, Brentwood, Calif., Yamaha 9. Bobby Fong, Stockton, Calif., Suzuki 10. Ryan Andrews, Robinson, Texas, Honda AMA Formula Xtreme Standings 1. Joshua Hayes, Gulfport, Miss., Honda, 139 2. STEVE RAPP, MANHATTAN BEACH, CALIF., ATTACK KAWASAKI, 120 3. Aaron Gobert, Murrieta, Calif., Honda, 96 4. Larry Pegram, Pataskala, Ohio, Ducati, 87 5. Bobby Fong, Stockton, Calif., Suzuki, 76 6. Michael Barnes, Boca Raton, Fla., Suzuki, 71 7. BEN ATTARD, MURIETTA, CALIF., ATTACK KAWASAKI, 67 8. David Anthony, Murrieta, Calif., Yamaha, 64 9. Chaz Davies, Nyack, N.Y., Yamaha, 57 10. Tony Meiring, Tracy, Calif., Yamaha, 56 AMA Superbike Results 1. Mathew Mladin, Henderson, Nev., Suzuki 2. Ben Spies, Longview, Texas, Suzuki 3. Miguel Duhamel, Las Vegas, Nev., Honda 4. Jason Disalvo, Stafford, N.Y., Yamaha 5. Jake Zemke, Paso Robles, Calif., Honda 6. ROGER HAYDEN, OWENSBORO, KY., MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI 7. Tommy Hayden, Owensboro, Ky., Suzuki 8. JAMIE HACKING, DENVER, N.C., MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI 9. James Ellison, Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Honda 10. Matt Lynn, Ball Ground, Ga., MV Agusta AMA Superbike Standings 1. Ben Spies, Longview, Texas, Suzuki, 206 2. Mathew Mladin, Henderson, Nev., Suzuki, 201 3. Miguel Duhamel, Las Vegas, Nev., Honda, 170 4. Tommy Hayden, Owensboro, Ky., Suzuki, 154 5. Jake Zemke, Paso Robles, Calif., Honda, 152 6. Jason Disalvo, Stafford, N.Y., Yamaha, 141 7. Aaron Yates, Milledgeville, Ga., Suzuki, 139 8. Eric Bostrom, Las Vegas, Nev., Yamaha, 132 9. ROGER HAYDEN, OWENSBORO, KY., MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI, 114 10. JAMIE HACKING, DENVER, N.C., MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI, 113 More, from a press release issued by Larry Pegram’s publicist: Pegram Racing Finishes Fifth at Infineon Raceway, Races 13 Laps with Broken Shock Linkage Bolt Sonoma, CA, May 21, 2007 – Larry Pegram of the Pegram Racing Leo Vince Ducati Team placed fifth in the Formula Xtreme class at Infineon Raceway. Larry’s fifth place finish at Infineon Raceway puts him in fourth overall in the Formula Xtreme points standing. Earlier in the weekend, Larry qualified seventh fastest in the 34 rider-rider field with a 1:38:564 lap time, landing him on the second row of the grid. In the race, Larry immediately rocketed to fourth place at the holeshot and then settled into fifth place for the 17-lap race. On the fourth lap the head of a titanium shock linkage bolt snapped and was kicked into his rear fender shattering part of the fender. “I thought I kicked up a rock, or something – but I knew the back fender was broken. The bike was making a noise immediately after the bolt broke, which I thought might have been the engine. Since it kept running, I kept racing. After the race we saw the head of the shock linkage bolt was missing, but the shaft of the bolt was still in place. Looks like I got lucky,” commented Larry. “We have been improving the handling and performance of the bikes with every race and our progress has been good. We have some more work to do to close the gap on the Erion Honda and Attack Kawasaki teams and I am confident that we will.” The team hosted employees from Ducati North America and Leo Vince in the paddock area on Sunday. About Pegram Racing Leo Vince Ducati Hebron, Ohio-based Pegram Racing Ducati is a professional superbike race team competing in the AMA Superbike Championship. The team is owned and managed by Larry Pegram, a third-generation motorcycle racer. The team competes in the Formula Xtreme class on a modified Ducati 749. Additional information about the team can be found on their web site at www.pegramracing.com. More, from a press release issued by Corona Extra Honda: ELLISON POSTS IMPRESSIVE NINTH AND EIGHTH FINISHES AT INFINEON SUPERBIKE DOUBLEHEADER James Ellison, riding his Corona Extra Honda Racing CBR1000RR SuperBike, put in two excellent rides this past weekend at the Infineon AMA SuperBike double header posting ninth in race one and eighth in race two! In James’ first race event at the very technical and challenging Infineon track he quickly started to get on the pace and up to speed in practice. He qualified fourteenth, not quite as good as he had hoped but still well within striking distance of all the top factory teams. After qualifying James said; “We are still chasing the best setup but are getting close. The bike is really good; I’ve just got to nail down some corners to make up time!” In race one, held under very sunny but blustery conditions, James made up several positions after his customary good start. But, as in prior races, his grid position meant getting past riders took time and James lost touch with the lead group and was not able to chase them down. The rest of his race was uneventful spending much of it on his own having broken away from both Factory MV Augusta’s and Aaron Yates on the Jordan Suzuki. James brought his Honda CBR 1000RR home in a lonely ninth position well ahead of tenth. In race two, this time held in very windy conditions, James got an excellent start and was in with the lead group for the first critical laps. He had a number of great dices as he moved up the field. By lap eighteen he had a 5 second deficit to seventh place Eric Bostrom on the factory Yamaha. He made up the time by lap 25 and set about working to get around Eric. Though he tried a number of passes, he was not able to get past and settled for eighth, his best finish so far, by a bike length at the line. James said after the race; “It was a great race. The bike was working well and was really fast. Eric was really good on the brakes and this track is a passing-under-brakes place. There aren’t a lot of chances to get by otherwise!” Ellison is currently tenth in the SuperBike Championship points order. In other news, Speed Channel installed a camera on James’ bike for the second SuperBike race. Viewers will see the field behind him with the rear-facing view. Speed also did a segment piece on James and his crew look for the Team on the race broadcast and reruns. More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office: Yoshimura Suzuki dominated the AMA Superbike double-header weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California at the weekend. Six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin won both races on Saturday and Sunday, with defending AMA Superbike Champion Ben Spies bringing home second place in each event. This result has Mladin and Spies tied for the lead in the overall championship points standings. Yoshimura Suzuki team mate Tommy Hayden also put in two impressive rides, finishing in seventh on Saturday and fifth in Sunday’s event. “I’ve got to thank my crew first and foremost,” said Mladin from the podium. “They’ve worked very hard to keep things tight. The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 ran beautifully again and I was able to get a really good start.” Earlier in the weekend, Spies picked up his 11th career pole position, posting a track record-breaking lap time of 1:34.991. Mladin was second-fastest in qualifying with a lap time of 1:35.128, while Hayden rounded out the second row of the grid with a 1:36.860 lap time. The double-header weekend’s second race was very similar to the first event: Mladin got the holeshot and led all 28 laps. “It was a good weekend for us,” said Mladin of his 56th career AMA Superbike win. “We’ve tried very hard to win as many races as possible. I came here ready to ride as hard as I had to. I just want to get as much out of me as I can and to get as much out of the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 as I can. I’ll worry about everything else later.” Again mimicking Saturday’s race, Spies got a good start and was in second place for almost the entire race. “We just didn’t have the pace today,” said Spies. “Mat was riding a defensive race. In the end, he was just a little faster. He stepped it up, for sure, and we just have to take it up another notch. But we know what we have to do so we’ll put our heads down and get ready for Road America. That’s one of my favourite tracks and I’m looking forward to it.” Hayden also stepped up his performance over the weekend. The two-time AMA Supersport Champion got a decent start but still had to work his way up to the front of the pack. But he did what he had to do to pick up a top-five finish. “Today went a lot better than yesterday,” said Hayden. “My race speed was faster, my times were better and I was a lot closer to the podium. We still have a lot of work to do. Hopefully between now and Road America we can make some improvements. I’d really like to get on the podium soon.” Results: 1 Mat Mladin (Yoshimura Suzuki) 2 Ben Spies (Yoshimura Suzuki) 3 Jake Zemke (Honda) 4 Miguel Duhamel (Honda) 5 Tommy Hayden (Yoshimura Suzuki) 6 Jason Disalvo (Yamaha) 7 Eric Bostrom (Yamaha) 8 James Ellison (Honda) 9 Jake Holden (Jordan Suzuki) 10 Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki) More, from a press release issued by HALOF Racing: HALOF Racing’s Scott Jensen finishes 8th in AMA Superstock race at Infineon In AMA Superbike Jensen has a rough run HALOF Racing’s Scott Jensen finished a strong 8th place finish in the AMA Superstock race at Infineon Raceway. Having his best qualifying result of the year thus far Jensen was looking for a solid finish to help solidify his bid for a top 5 championship this year. After getting held up at the start Jensen worked his way around Robertino Pietri and started making his way to the front runners. “I got a great launch from the line but got held up in turn 2,” said Jensen. “Once I got around Pietri I was watching my pit board and saw I was catching the group in front of me. I got a large slide and decided it was best to keep the bike upright and have a good finish. Then I saw I was catching Aaron Yates after his mishap and thought I might break the 8th place curse. I just ran out of time on the last lap, I knew where I was going to try for the pass but then a piece came off Aaron’s bike and hit my helmet and it just distracted me.” The curse being the three 8th place finishes that Jensen has achieved this year being his best ever finish. “The HALOF Racing Genuine Suzuki Accessories 2007 Suzuki GSX-R 1000 is really coming along. We had a few grip issues and Ohlins and Pirelli helped us out a bunch. This HALOF Racing team is really trying hard to give me the best equipment they can so I have a chance to prove that I can run with the factory riders. I plan on breaking that curse and hopefully it will happen at the next round.” In Saturday’s Superbike race 1 Jensen’s JQ Moto Suzuki GSX-R1000 stepped out over a section of curbing and bent the rear wheel resulting in a flat tire that kept Jensen from finishing the race, his first DNF of the year. In Sunday’s Superbike race 2 Jensen was off to a great start and making grounds in hopes to score another top 15 finish, when his bike started misfiring in the upper rpm’s causing him to lose a few spots and finish 18th. “I made a very dumb move during Saturday’s race and hurt our points a lot,” said Jensen. “I tried to make up for it during Sunday’s race and about half way it seemed as if the motor lost a spark plug, it’s just one of those race things. Rodney builds some of the fastest engines in the paddock and the fastest ones I have every raced on. We will bounce back at Road America. We are still 12th in championship points trying to work our way into the top 10.” Look for the HALOF Racing team at the next AMA Superbike round at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin June 1st 3rd. More, from a press release issued by Chris Ulrich Racing: ULRICH SIXTH, PIETRI NINTH AT INFINEON RACEWAY Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki bounced back strong after the difficult, controversial round at California Speedway to score their best Superstock results of the season at Infineon Raceway. Despite some unusual circumstances, riders Chris Ulrich and Robertino Pietri registered excellent race day performances to claim a pair of top-ten finishes for the team. After qualifying on the outside of the second row aboard his GSX-R1000 with a quick time of 1:39.039, Ulrich was forced to start the race on his ‘B’ bike after focusing all of his efforts throughout the weekend prepping his primary machine. Despite the change, the Californian found himself in a spirited battle with Blake Young for a top-five finish and fell just short of claiming the spot at the checkered flag. Still, Chris’ sixth-place finish equaled his best finish of the season, claimed at the Daytona International Speedway season opener. “It was a difficult race for sure,” Ulrich remarked. “I had to start on my backup bike which had never turned a wheel on the racetrack until the parade lap. I had a crash this morning and it was pretty close to the race. We were trying some new settings and I think I just clipped the paint line and threw the thing down the road. “I came back down to talk to my guy about running a different compound front tire because I was a little worried that the front I chose wasn’t going to be the better choice. We got sorted and I was looking at the machine and, ‘Whoa! We’re starting on the backup bike?’ They said it was precautionary — fair enough. I got on it and it didn’t feel very good on the warm-up lap.” “My launch was okay,” he continued. “I got into turn one and didn’t lose any positions, which is good. I got myself in a tussle with Blake. At the end I made a small mistake coming down the hill into the chicane and that gave him the opportunity to pass me. I knew I had to be perfect on the last lap and I wasn’t perfect. But sixth place after throwing the thing down the road wrecking a bike this morning and having chassis struggles all weekend, you can’t complain.” Reigning Latin American and Venezuelan Superbike champion Robertino Pietri opened his race directly behind his teammate, qualifying 12th on the grid at 1:40.218. Pietri waged a couple of dogfights himself before bringing his GSX-R1000 home in ninth, his best finish of the season. “He did a good job,” Ulrich said of his teammate’s performance. “He improved on his lap times. He’s got some work to do but for sure he’s coming along. It was the best combined finish that we’ve ever had. It equals our best performance of the year. We’ll roll onto Road America and the big horsepower of the Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will come in handy there.” Ulrich is currently seventh in the Superstock title race with 92 points while Pietri sits in tenth with 61 despite missing the opening round. The fifth round of the 2007 AMA season will take place on June 1-3 at the high-speed Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, WI.