Saturday, May 29, 2010

AMA Flat Track at Springfield Is Here and Stu's Shots Has All The Info-Updated for Mile on Sunday


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bryan Smith on the #42 Screamin' Eagle XR750 leads eventual winner and 7-Time Grand National Champion Chris Carr on the #4 and 2000 Grand National Champion Joe Kopp on the #3 Screamin' Eagle machine during final action at the Labor Day running of the Springfield Mile in 2007. Smith will be on the Werner Springsteen Racing Kawasakis this weekend, Kopp will again be on one of the Lloyd Brothers Ducati's as team mate at this event to Larry Pegram on the mile, and Carr will be tough on his own team equipment as he always has been.
Springfield hosts the TT at the Arena today and tomorrow the best sport on wheels hits the infamous Springfield Mile for 100 mph+ action on the world's fastest dirt track. You can follow all the action via the links below.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the beautiful Illinois State Fairgrounds Arena that hosts the AMA Flat Track TT race tonight and also hosts the short track over Labor Day weekend. The 'rodeo' track started hosting the AMA races in 2001 and some of the best TT and short track action in the country has taken place at this glorious little venue. Permanent seats in the stands only number roughly 3-4 thousand, but the entire area is a natural amphitheater that doesn't have a bad seat in the place. Bring your lawn chairs and kick back to a beautiful view of beautiful racing. As with all events hosted by the IMDA, the facilities overall are first class, and the Illinois State Fairgrounds is a wonderful host as well.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not able to get away this weekend to Springfield? Me neither, but I'm still going to follow the action from here in Indy thanks to the wonders of the information highway. And even if you are lucky enough to be there, you can follow all the Springfield action via the links below as well.

Practice is happening as of this writing at the arena for the TT tonight.

Enjoy and I will have some race highlights and links after the weekend is over.

Everyone have a Happy and SAFE Memorial Day weekend and remember the people who have given their lives for our country protecting the citizens and the soil of the United States.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Springfield TT event info and entry lists:
http://amaproracing.com/ft/events/event.cfm?eid=2010021015
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Springfield TT AMA Live Timing and Scoring (this should work for the mile on Sunday as it doesn't look like they have been changing the string.....):
http://laptraxtg.racersites-cluster.com/LapTraxTG/AMA/livescoring.html?LAPTRAXID=2010021015
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATED Sunday 5/30/2010 10:05 A.M. EDT

Springfield Mile AMA Live Timing and Scoring feed:
http://laptraxtg.racersites-cluster.com/LapTraxTG/AMA/livescoring.html?LAPTRAXID=2010021016
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nicalee's Grand National Flat Track Twitter feed (DUDE, YOU ROCK!):
https://twitter.com/GNC_Flattrack
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cory Texter's Twitter feed (thanks Cory!):
https://twitter.com/CoryTexter
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Illinois State Fairgrounds Arena Cam:
http://www.agr.state.il.us/isf/webcam/mpa1.php?cam=12
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Illinois State Fairgrounds Map:
http://www.agr.state.il.us/isf/maps/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Springfield Mile event info and entry lists:
http://amaproracing.com/ft/events/event.cfm?year=2010&eid=2010021016
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Springfield weather thanks to the great folks at Weather Underground.com:
http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=62701
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IMDA (Illinois Motorcycle Dealers Association):
http://www.illinoismda.com/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where is the Illinois State Fairgrounds?
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=801+Sangamon+Avenue,+Springfield,+IL&sll=39.823104,-86.331297&sspn=0.008108,0.013754&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=801+Sangamon+Ave,+Springfield,+Sangamon,+Illinois+62702&ll=39.835745,-89.644661&spn=0.008107,0.013754&t=h&z=16
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Happy Birthday to Miguel Duhamel From Stu's Shots!


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Miguel Duhamel on the #17 Team Honda RC51 rolls it out of turn 8 while qualifying for the AMA Superbike round at Road America in June of 2000. The new big-twin 1000cc RC came out with a bang and Honda looked to capitalize on the extra 250cc that twins were allowed over the four cylinder inline crowd. Nicky Hayden won Daytona on one with his championship in 2002 and Miguel took the bike to victory at Daytona in '03 as well in a Honda RC-sweep with Ben Bostrom in 2nd and Kurtis Roberts in 3rd. Miguel also won at Elkhart Lake in '00 when this was shot.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The all-time winningest rider in AMA Road Racing, and AMA 600 Supersport competition as well, Miguel is seen on the #1 Smokin' Joe's Honda CBR600F while qualifying for the weekend's event at Mid Ohio in the summer of '97. Miguel won five class championships in the AMA 600 Supersport class and is the series all-time winner in the class as well. Miguel won the series championship in '91, '93, '95-'97. At one point in his career he had won 10-600 races in a row.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've been going to AMA road races since the '82 season, and first started going to WERA events when the big TZ's and the Harley Davidson two-stroke Italian twins were dominant in the mid-late '70's. But in all my years of following and going to races, I have never heard a roar from a crowd like what came forth all the way around the 2.5 mile Mid Ohio track during the AMA Superbike final in 1994 during the first few laps. EVER.
Harley Davidson had just gotten into the AMA Superbike series with their VR1000 and had hired Miguel Duhamel, fresh off his '93 run with Muzzy Kawasaki and winning his 2nd AMA 600 Supersport Championship. Harley was hot to win and prove they could get off the porch and run with the big dogs, and Miguel was hired to help prove it. And for that brief showing that afternoon in the summer of '94 he had damn near everyone in hearing and roaring distance believing it, too. After having put the almost-then-already-outdated VR on the front row during qualifying, The Master got the jump at the green flag of the final and led the first few trips around the circuit to the delight and glory of just about everyone present that day. Not to mention gaining a few new fans in the process. He did it again later in the year at Brainerd, and although I wasn't there for that one, I always swore I felt the vibration here in Indy from the roar up north. Even though the VR-thing never panned out-for Miguel or for H-D for that matter-about the only other accolade the bike had was Chris Carr putting it on the pole at Pomona in '95. But for those few shining minutes that hot summer day 16 years ago, the Harley VR reigned supreme in Lexington, OH., at the hands of The Grand Master Miguel.
Following Miguel into and through the carousel on the first lap of the final are (in no particular order) team mates Pascal Picotte #21 and Troy Corser #19 on the Fast By Ferracci Ducatis, Tom Kipp on the #16 and team mate Thomas Stevens on the #11 Team Yoshimura Suzukis, Jamie James on the #2 Vance and Hines Yamaha, Dale Quarterley on the #32 Team Mutant Ninja Turtles Muzzy-leased Kawasaki (and the winner of the '93 Mid Ohip Superbike final), and Tiger Sohwa on the Team Muzzy Kawasaki #41. Eventual winner Colin Edwards was right behind Sohwa and James and Tiger would round out the podium at the end of the day.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After returning from Europe and his foray into the World 500cc Championship with Team Yamaha France-and winning the FIM World Endurance Championship for Team Kawasaki France while across the pond-Miguel was teamed with Dale Quarterley on the Team Muzzi Kawasakis, with Miguel contesting the AMA 600 Supersport Championship for the '93 season as well. Here's Miguel at Mid Ohio during the summer of '93 en route to winning the weekend's final and the championship at the end of the year. 1993 would be the second of Miguel's five championships in the class-his first in '91 riding for Martin Adams' Team Commonwealth Camel Honda. Miguel's other championships also came on Honda's, marking '93 his lone year on the Green Machines.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Probably the bike he is best known for riding, if nothing else for the iconic purple/maroon and bright yellow paint job, Miguel took the Smokin' Joe's Team Honda RC45 to the top of the rung in it's second year of AMA Superbike competition by winning six straight races during the season to bag his only premier-class championship. The roaring RC V-4 was a screamer and Miguel tamed the beast as the '95 AMA Superbike Champion. Here he is in action at Gateway/St. Louis Raceway in August of '95 in what was the hottest weekend EVER attended by humans and machines alike. The bike dominated in it's six years of U.S. based competition, and Miguel won the Daytona 200 in '96 and it's last year of competition in '99. No one tamed the beast quite as well as Miguel did. He also finished second in the championship on this bike to Doug Chandler in '96 and '97.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One of the all-time greats of AMA Road Racing is celebrating a birthday on Wednesday May 26th, and Stu's Shots wants to be one to wish him a big happy birthday!

Miguel Duhamel, the all-time winningest rider in AMA Road Racing history, with a total of eight-series championships, will be toasting his 42nd birthday tomorrow.
Since 1990, when he won his first AMA Superbike final at Heartland Park Topeka, Miguel has been not only the winningest rider in AMA history, but also one of the most approachable of riders and champions over the years. The fact that he still isn't racing actively/regularly now, in spite of his 42 years, is more of a testament to the series' and economic maladies of the last two+ years. If the man was out there on a top-notch ride, he would still be going at it strong, believe me!
With five Daytona 200 wins to his credit ('91, '96, '99, '03 in AMA Superbike and '04 in AMA Formula Xtreme), Miguel's winning record and championship record read like a who's who:
'95 AMA Superbike Champion
'04-'05 AMA Formula Xtreme Champion
5-Time AMA 600 Supersport Champion ('91, '93 (his only on a Kawasaki), '95-'97
'92 FIM World Endurance Team Champion
And those are just the MAJOR highlights. He also placed runner-up in the AMA Superbike Series in '96 and '97 to eventual champion Doug Chandler, and in '04 to eventual champion Mat Mladin. And he still stands second to Mladin in overall superbike wins, though by half of Mat's 82 premier-class wins.
Duhamel raced a very wide variety of machines since his first win at Topeka almost 20 years ago. Suzuki inlines ('90), Honda V-4's ('91 for Commonwealth Camel Honda and '95-'99, Honda's big-twin RC51 ('00-'03), Kawasaki inlines ('93 for Muzzy) and Honda inline fours ('04-'08). And that was just in the AMA Superbike Series. He also ran Honda inlines in the 600 Supersport Series as well as the AMA Formula Xtreme Series ('91, '95-'06), and Kawasaki inlines in '93 for Muzzy as well. And there could be more I missed, but you get the idea. The man has seen and embraced changes in the sport and has lead through those changes as well.
And he has suffered. Several near, career-ending injuries suffered at New Hampshire and at Road Atlanta that would have quelled mere mortals. But not Miguel. The Grand Master came through it all, even when he was being helped ONTO the bike and OFF of the bike (when winning the Daytona 200 on the RC45 in '99 he had to have help as his leg injury from the previous year was still healing.)
I could go on and on, but I have thrown in some bio and interviews at the bottom to help fill the stats in.
Needless to say, I have been and always will be a fan of Number 17, The Mighty Miguel, for not only his prowess on a bike and on the track, but as a great leader and representative of the sport, as well as a person. Very few in the paddock were as personable, friendly and outgoing as Miguel. And I've got a lot of signed pictures to back it up......
So on this fine day, Stu's Shots again says thanks to Miguel for all the memories, the wins, and all the agony you put yourself through to show the U.S. fans how ironclad you are and what a true champion and person you are.

And have a VERY Happy Birthday!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Miguel's career highlights from Wikipedia.com:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Duhamel
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dave Despain from Wind Tunnel chats with Miguel before the 2009 edition of the Daytona 200. This clip has some short, but terrific racing highlights of Miguel's racing career. Worth the 4 1/2 minutes to check it out and listen to the all-time winningest rider in AMA Road Racing speak about his past, present and future:
http://multimedia.foxsports.com/m/video/21921362/wind-tunnel-miguel-duhamel.htm?q=%22honda%22
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Miguel's bio as of 2007 from Motorcycle-USA.com:
http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/474/1147/Motorcycle-Article/Miguel-Duhamel-Bio.aspx
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's an August 2009 interview with Miguel that shines a light on more of his thoughts and career from the great folks at RoadRacerX.com:
http://www.roadracerx.com/features/tuesday-conversation/tuesday-conversation-miguel-duhamel/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One thing I would like to mention before I close. You would think after all Miguel has done for the sport and for the AMA and all of his championships that they would have an official bio on him. Nothing. Now he WILL be in the AMA Hall of Fame eventually, but to not have a bio on the winningest rider in AMA Road Racing with 8 championships to his credit is a disservice to this great man and rider.
Just sayin'. Whether Pickerington or Daytona is listening is another......

Again we'd like to congratulate Miguel and wish him a very happy birthday, and thank him for all of his years of riding hard and racing harder. And for being a champion's champion in life and on the race track as well. And thanks for putting up with me and signing the probably close to a dozen and a half or so pictures over the years! It has always been a pleasure to talk to and with you! Not to mention a good laugh or two.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday, May 24, 2010

Larry Pegram to Run Springfield Mile for Lloyd Bros This Weekend


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Larry Pegram on the #72F XR750 gets ready for action as #1 Chris Carr and #80 Rich King (both also XR750-mounted) roll up to the line in the May 2000 running of the Memorial Day Weekend Springfield Mile. As per AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship rules, Pegram carried the letter 'F' behind his usual #72 during events he ran in 2000, indicating that he hadn't run or gained any points-paying efforts in the previous year to be able to wear a 'solid' number plate.
Larry will be aboard the Lloyd Brothers Ducati this upcoming weekend at the Springfield Mile and hopes to duplicate the success that Joe Kopp had aboard the machine at the beginning of the month at Prescott Valley. Kopp has mentioned in several interviews since his ground-breaking win that the testing they had done so far with the big Duc, that the track surface in Arizona suited the bike perfectly, but wasn't sure how it would be suited at Springfield or even Indy. Stay tuned and we hope it suits it well for Larry to get on the top podium spot this weekend at the historic Springfield track!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Larry Pegram is seen chatting it up with former World Champion Fast Freddie Spencer in the paddock at Mid Ohio in July of 2005. Pegram ran his HotBodies Racing/Trianglecycles Honda CBR1000RR during the 2005 AMA Superbike season and ended up 11th overall in the championship, struggling against the might of the Team Honda CBR's, not to mention the onslaught of the Yoshimura Suzuki team. With Freddie's long-standing ties to Honda, I'm sure this conversation was VERY interesting. They are talking outside of Larry's spot in the paddock and you can see one of his CBR1000RR's sitting under the tent behind them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great news for flat track fans as Larry Pegram will be stepping aboard the Lloyd Brothers Motorsports Ducati this weekend for the spring running of the classic Springfield Mile.
Having scored their first AMA Flat Track win with Joe Kopp at the controls in Arizona at the first of the month, the Lloyd Brothers will be looking to duplicate their success with Larry this weekend at the Illinois capitol. With his background on the bike and the amount of time put into the machine by Joe and Larry, expectations will be high to duplicate their winning ways now that they have their first win under their belts.
We wish the team and Larry the very best of luck this weekend and we will be watching this one to see how it goes for all parties involved. With the parity in the flat track series in terms of different makes of bike involved, this could and should be an even MORE exciting weekend then what Springfield usually is anyway. And who knows, maybe another contender in the ranks will step up to challenge the ever-conquering XR and the Ducati as well?!
This should be a great race event, and looks to add to the excitement that is a guarantee at Springfield-or any mile for that matter. WFO baby!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to RoadRacingWorld.com for the Foremost Insurance press release link concerning the news of Larry's ride on the big Lloyd Brothers Duc this weekend at Springfield:
http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=40568
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday, May 21, 2010

Scott Russell to Run WERA Endurance Race at Miller Utah



Scott 'The Screaming Chief/Mr. Daytona' Russell is scheduled to run the WERA Endurance race tomorrow at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah for Team Zyvax Yamaha. The team is a Graves Motorsports-sponsored team that consists of Dane Westby and Clinton Sellers, both of whom currently compete in the AMA Daytona Sportbike series. The Chief will be assisting them in their assault against the standard field of highly competitive WERA regulars, as well as Eric Bostrom, who will be racing for the first time since the end of the 2008 AMA season, in a tune-up ride for Graves along with big brother Ben and Chris Clark, who are currently team mates in the AMA Superbike Series for Clark Motorsports out of Las Vegas. It was announced a couple of weeks ago that E-Boz would be returning to the AMA Superbike Series at the end of July on a Yosh/Cycle World/Attack Performance Suzuki. Both teams will be on Graves-prepped and/or sponsored R6's for this race.
You can read the official release from Graves courtesy of RoadRacingWorld.com below, but if you are in the area this is a must-see event. To see this level of competition added to the already strong WERA racing standards will be an event to cherish! Let alone seeing The Chief and Eric back on the track again. Where's my magic carpet when I need it?!
The shot above is of Mr. Daytona in '92-the year he won the AMA Superbike Championship and the year before he went to Europe and won the World Superbike Championship for Team Muzzy Kawasaki. This was during practice for the weekend's events and Scott is making the ZX-7 based machine sing for the crowd.

Stu's Shots wishes The Chief the very best and I can only say I wish I could be there to see him on the track again. After his horrifying accident on the Ducati on the Daytona start line in '01 I didn't ever think we'd see him in active competition again-or at least not on a road racer. It will be like old times, and I hope a camera crew is on hand to film some of it. Monumental! And again, if you are in the area, check it out! It should be well worth your while.......

Thanks again to RoadRacingWorld.com for the Graves Motorsports release on this super event:
http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?lnk=rss&article=40541
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Eric Bostrom Talks Mangos, South America and Returning to AMA Superbike Racing


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aaron Yates on the Jordan Motorsports #20 Suzuki GSX-R1000 leads Eric Bostrom on the #32 Graves Yamaha YZF-R1 and Miguel Duhamel on the #17 Team Honda CBR1000RR coming out of turn 11 while racing for the fifth spot on the day during race one AMA Superbike action at Road America in June of 2008. Yates has been out the last 2 1/2 rounds due to a broken leg suffered in the Sunday morning warm up at Fontana, Miguel's only appearance racing a motorcycle was a 16th place result in the '09 Daytona 200, and E-Boz has been down on the farm in South America tending to property and labor issues since the end of the '08 season. He will be returning to race action in July at Laguna Seca as part of a joint effort with Cycle World, Yoshimura Suzuki and Attack Performance on an AMA Superbike for the first of three scheduled races this year.
All three riders have been missed dearly at the track and as good as things have been this year compared to last, to get Aaron mended and back on his Jordan Suzuki, and to have Eric return to the series on a competitive mount will surely help the series even more. And the racing, which has been quite good considering the changes the series has seen in management, let alone the rules differences on the bikes compared to a couple of seasons ago. The superbike class may not have the fire-breathing dragons of several years ago, but the racing has been closer and more evenly spread throughout the field.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With the announcement of several weeks ago that Eric Bostrom would be returning to AMA Superbike for a few races, starting with the Laguna Seca round in July, the anticipation is growing of seeing one of the past stars of the series return to the track.
Over the weekend during coverage of the Infineon race two round on SpeedTV, Scott Russell and Ralph Sheheen got a chance to talk with Eric about his upcoming return. And Laurel Allen from the always cool RoadRacerX.com has this piece that hit the internet today with Eric and what his expectations are, the testing schedule for the team (which sounds amped-up and means that this is a full-blown effort to come out, size up the class, and maybe make a run for the 2011 season as well) and what his thoughts are about racing now and before his move south.
It will be great to see Eric return to the track, as he has been missed for his prowess, attitude and all-around ability to wrestle a modern-day race bike around the track.

Read on and Right on:

http://www.roadracerx.com/features/between-the-races/between-the-races-though-not-for-much-longer-eric-bostrom/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

DePuniet and LCR Honda Looking Forward to LeMans MotoGP



The #14 LCR Honda RC212V of Randy DePuniet sits on display in the paddock area at Indy during the MotoGP weekend of August of 2009. Being the top satellite Honda at this point, the team is looking forward to their home GP this weekend and hopes to capitalize on the team's strong start to the 2010 MotoGP season.
Thanks to the great blokes over at Crash.net for this article about the upcoming weekend, and I have also added the link to LCR's team site with news and info on the upcoming weekend as well as the team's sponsors, make up and upcoming team-sponsored events.

Take a look:
http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/159856/1/top_satellite_de_puniet_heads_home.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LCR Honda:
http://www.lcr.mc/EN/NEWS-ARCHIVE/Default.aspx
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stu's Shots wishes the best of luck to LCR and rider Randy DePuniet this weekend in France as well as through out the remainder of the 2010 MotoGP season!
You can also follow the action from the third round of the season by checking out www.motogp.com.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday, May 17, 2010

Chaz Davies Scores 2nd World Supersport Podium at Kyalami


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On a drying track, Chaz Davies looks for the dry line with a fresh slick mounted on his #57 Attack Performance Kawasaki ZX-6R during the first practice session of the weekend at Road America for the AMA Formula Xtreme class in June of 2008. Chaz switched to the Attack team for the '08 season and ran both the AMA FX and AMA 600 Supersport classes for the team, winning the Daytona 200 and finishing 5th in the FX class and finishing 6th in the 600 SS class for the year. The Brit rider moved to the Aprilia RSV1000R factory team for the Daytona Sportbike class in '09 and placed 9th in the final standings for the year.
Chaz got the opportunity to run several World Supersport races for the ParkinGO Triumph BE-1 team after the '09 AMA season was wrapped up, and signed with them in the off-season to return to the class aboard the team's Triumph Daytona 675 triple. Through yesterday's event in South Africa, Chaz has maintained 4th place in the season's standings to go along with his first podium back at Valencia.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chaz' first foray into the American AMA series was with the Celtic Racing team during the '07 season. He ran both the AMA 600 Supersport series as well as the AMA Formula Xtreme series for the team. The team ran Yamaha YZF-R6's and Chaz finished 13th in the 600SS and 6th in FX class for the season. The #157 bike above is the DOT tire-equipped 600-class machine sitting in Celtic's pit area at Mid Ohio in July of '07. The bike in rear left of photo is the team's FX class-based machine.
Chaz also raced a 250GP bike in MotoGP in several events during the '06 season, with a best of 13th at Jerez while running for an under-funded team. He has also raced the 125 class in the British Championship back in the early part of the '00's.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great news for fans of Brit Chaz Davies as he took his second podium of the year yesterday at Kyalami during the South African round of the World Supersport series. Placing 3rd to retain and strengthen his 4th place series standings, Davies took the Italian-based ParkInGO Triumph BE-1 team's triple Daytona 675 to within 10 seconds of the top spot after the 23 lap race that runs along with the World Superbike Series calendar.
The 23 year old Brit, who gained a strong fan base in the States while running for Celtic Racing in 2007, Attack Performance in '08 and Aprilia Racing in '09, signed with the ParkInGO team during the off season after running the last three events for the team in '09. Teamed with former U.S. teamster Jason DiSalvo on the Triumph Daytona 675 triple machines, Davies has had the better of results between the two team mates thus far after six rounds down in the series schedule.
They can next be seen at Miller Motorsports Park over Memorial Day weekend on May 28-31 and the weekend schedule can be found at http://www.sbkusa.com/ to keep up with the action.
The team's press release and the official results of the Kyalami race can be found below.

Stu's Shots tips the hat and helmet to Chaz for a great run yesterday and a solid season so far. Keep up the great work and go get 'em! We miss you in the States but are glad to see you going for it on the World scene!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are some of the World Supersport race highlights from yesterday. Chaz gets a little bit of air-time about :50 in as he makes a smooth pass for the fourth spot in the race. Thanks to YouTube.com for the link to the short version of the race:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVk31IfdGd4&feature=player_embedded
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's the story from the ParkInGo Triumph team's press release on Chaz' great finish in South Africa from yesterday, compliments of the Official World Superbike website:
http://www.worldsbk.com/en/news/latest-news/3041-davies-notches-up-first-podium-for-triumph.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And here are the official results thanks to the Official World Superbike/World Supersport Championship website:
http://www.worldsbk.com/en/news/latest-results/3417-kyalami-supersport-race.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Hayes and Cardenas Bag Race 1 Wins at AMA Infineon Raceway


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Martin Cardenas on the #36 M4 Emgo Suzuki GSX-R600 leads eventual winner Ben Bostrom on the #155 Graves Yamaha YZF-R6 in AMA Supersport action at Mid Ohio in July of 2008. Bostrom got around Cardenas and romped to the Supersport final win that day and went on to clinch the 2008 AMA Supersport Championship later in the year. Following close on their heels are Erion Parts Unlimited Racing team mates Josh Hayes on the #4 and Jake Zemke on the #98 Honda CBR600RR's. Zemke went on to win the AMA Formula Xtreme Championship in '08 over team mate Hayes and between them won 8 races and garnered 16 podiums in nine rounds.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Josh Hayes on the #4 Graves Yamaha YZF-R1 won his first race of the year today in the AMA Superbike West Coast Jam at Infineon Raceway, while Martin Cardenas on the #36 Monster Energy Suzuki GSX-R600 took top honors in the Daytona Sportbike class in race one action today. Hayes amassed over a 5.5 second lead in the AMA Superbike race before cruising to an eventual 3.6 second win over Ben Bostrom on the #155 Clark Motorsports Yamaha R1, with Larry Pegram on the #72 Foremost Insurance Ducati 1198R another 3.5 seconds back. The Daytona Sportbike race went back and forth between Cardenas and '09 AMA Daytona Sportbike Champion Danny Eslick on the #1 Geico RMR Racing GSX-R600 until Martin pulled away to win by just over .8 seconds. Tommy Aquino on the Graves Yamaha YZF-R6 #6 was another tick behind to finish third with the top three covered by less then a second.
Results of both races are below, and you can catch the action on SpeedTV tonight 10 P.M.-Midnight EDT and more to be shown Sunday at 2 P.M. EDT and then again Sunday Midnight-2 A.M. EDT. I've also included AMA links to their results and live timing to follow tomorrow's action as well if you get the chance.
In other news, Kurtis Roberts return to the track didn't go quite as planned as the Ace Racing Yamaha R1 suffered what sounded to be semi-terminal electrical gremlins that kept him and the team off the track all day on Friday. We hope the team can get these problems ironed out before the next round at Road America in early June. Hang in there, Kurtis!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AMA Superbike race one results from the once-known-as Sears Point Raceway courtesy of the great people at RoadRacingWorld.com:
http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=40464
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AMA Daytona Sportbike race one results are here again thanks to RRW.com:
http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=40465
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AMA Event Info for Infineon Raceway:
http://amaproracing.com/rr/events/event.cfm?eid=2010011020
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AMA Live Timing and Scoring for Infineon:
http://laptraxtg.racersites-cluster.com/LapTraxTG/AMA/livescoring.html?LAPTRAXID=2010011020
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Kurtis Roberts Coming Home to AMA Superbike This Weekend at Infineon Raceway


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kurtis Roberts on the #80 American Honda RC51 whips it out of turn 8 at Road America while practicing for the AMA Superbike round in June of 2000. Kurtis, the youngest son of King Kenny Roberts and the younger brother of 2000 World 500cc Champion Kenny, Jr., will be returning to U.S. soil to race this upcoming weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA. This will be his first appearance racing in the U.S. since last seen at Barber in the AMA Superbike series in April of '07 when racing for the ill-fated No Factory Support Racing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Erion Racing Honda RC51 of #80 Kurtis Roberts gets some attention in the paddock area at Road America in June of 2000. Kurtis rode the RC's for both American Honda and Erion Racing in 2000-2003, and finally broke his premier-class cherry at VIR in September of '03 as well as placing 3rd in the championship that year behind Mat Mladin and Aaron Yates. Roberts won the '99 and '00 AMA Formula Xtreme Championship as well as the '00 AMA 600 Supersport Championship while riding for the juggernaut Honda-satellite team of Erion Racing. In those two years he won 12 races in both classes, including a win at Daytona.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Miguel Duhamel on the #17 American Honda RC51 leads Erion Racing's Kurtis Roberts on the #80 Honda RC51 and Jamie Hacking on the Team Yoshimura GSX-R750 while battling for third place in the race 2 running of the AMA Superbike series weekend at Mid Ohio in July of 2001. Duhamel and Roberts fought tooth and nail for the majority of the race for the final podium spot that weekend with the old master out-dueling the younger pro that day.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kurtis Roberts on the #80 Erion Racing Honda RC51 appears to have lost his balance on this shot as he chases the old master, Miguel Duhamel, on the American Honda #17 RC51. Their battle during race 2 of the AMA Superbike weekend at Mid Ohio in '01 was a great match-up of track, rider ability, and the massive grunt that the bullet-proof RC51 put to the ground.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unless you've been living in a cave the last four or so decades, then chances are you have heard the name Roberts at least once or twice while following motorcycle racing of some sort or another. And if that's the case, one of 'those' Roberts just happens to be The King's youngest son, Kurtis, who is coming back to race in the AMA Superbike series this weekend at Infineon Raceway on an Ace Racing Yamaha R1.
This is super news for not only fans of the Roberts lineage, but for fans of Kurtis himself, who while racing in the States garnered the AMA Formula Xtreme Championships in '99 and '00, as well as an AMA 600 Supersport Championship in 2000 while riding for the Erion Honda Racing team. Kurtis last appearance in the U.S. racing scene was, to the best of my knowledge and memory, an appearance at Barber Motorsports Park in April of 2007 riding for the ill-fated NFS (No Factory Support) Honda Racing team that he tried to help establish with former 3-Time AMA Superbike Champion Doug Chandler. Unfortunately both showed up at Barber with less-than-adequate Honda CBR1000RR's at their disposal, but both bikes were more then 4 seconds/lap off of the top times for the weekend and quickly fell by the wayside once the racing action kicked in. I never really heard the official reason for the team's demise, but I could easily surmise it was the lack of results (and confidence in the machinery) that led to the effort's fall-out.
It's going to be great to see Kurtis 'The Red One' back on the track. Always one of my favorites over the years, Kurtis put on a great show in all classes, but once graduating to the premier superbike class, took a few years to come into his own, and also being over shadowed-as everyone was in those years for the most part-by multi-time champ Mat Mladin. Roberts finally got his first AMA Superbike win at VIR in the fall of '03, and managed a 3rd place result in the final year's standings as well. His battle with Mat Mladin at Mid Ohio in both races in '03 were classic examples of learning and learning again. Crashing out of one race, to finish second to the master in the other. And superb on-the-edge riding every lap to boot!
Congrats and welcome back to Kurtis and we look forward to seeing more of you back here on U.S. soil racing again. It's gonna be a good time and we wish you and Ace Racing the VERY best of luck. Go get 'em and have some fun, man!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can read the official press release here on Kurtis' return to the track from the Ace Racing Yamaha team as supplied to the always bitchin' Larry Lawrence over at TheRiderFiles.com:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday, May 10, 2010

Roger Lee Hayden Scores First Points in WSBK R2 at Monza


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tommy Hayden on the #1 leads younger brother and team mate Roger Lee Hayden on the #95 Team Kawasaki ZX-6R-based entries during the running of the AMA 600 Supersport final at Road America in June of 2005. Tommy won the '05 AMA 600 Supersport Championship to repeat his '04 feat as well for Team Green. He beat little brother Roger in the championship by 19 points for the title, and the brothers finished 1-2 as shown at Elkhart Lake , and between them won 7 races for the '05 season and garnered 16 podiums between them. Roger delivered for Team Green by winning the '07 AMA 600 Supersport Championship after Tommy had moved over to the Team Yoshimura Suzuki team.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good news from the World Superbike scene this weekend as Roger Lee Hayden, the youngest of Earl's Racing Team out of OWB, scored his first career WSBK points at Monza in race 2 by scoring a 14th place finish for Team Pedercini Kawasaki on the #95 ZX-10R-based privateer superbike. Maybe having older brother Nicky in his camp for race day was like a lucky rabbit's foot for him, but whatever the case, Roger earned a well deserved points-scoring finish.
Having a pretty rough go of things in the European scene this year with a privateer team, Roger fought through the first lap melee that collected James Toseland, Rueben Xaus and Brit Johnny Rea, to garner his first points-paying position in WSBK this year, and finished less then 48 seconds from the front in the process.
Facing a very steep learning curve this year, this is great news for Roger Lee fans as well as Team Pedercini. Bravo to a great weekend for the team and especially to Roger from the U.S. fans as well as fan Stu's Shots for a great job. Hats off to Roger and we hope to see the curve get a little bit easier for him and the team as the year goes on.
Take a bow, man, you deserve it! Now go get 'em for the rest of the season!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's the official stats of race 2 in Monza thanks to the Official World Superbike website:
http://www.worldsbk.com/en/news/latest-results/3340-monza-superbike-race-2.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Friday, May 7, 2010

Joe Kopp's Ducati AMA Flat Track Win Is The Shot Heard Round The World


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Larry Pegram's Lloyd Brothers Racing Ducati sits in the pits at the Indy Mile during MotoGP weekend in August of 2009. Pegram rode the bike in several events last year and had been working with a version of the bike since the '04-'05 season.
The 2010 version took '00 Grand National Champion Joe Kopp and The Lloyd Brothers to victory in Prescott Valley last Saturday. It was not only Ducati's first win in AMA Flat Track competition at any level, but it was the first Grand National win for the talented Lloyd Brothers team as well. Very well deserved with some intense and long time veterans on the team like former GNC competitors Kevin Atherton and Davey Durelle working in different capacities to bring this project to fruition.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And a shot for AMA Flat Track that was much needed, at that.
Perusing the internet the last few days since Joe Kopp, Lloyd Brothers Racing and Ducati made history in the desert last weekend by winning the Arizona Mile, the amount of press for everyone is astounding. From the AMA to Kopp to Ducati, the amount of information out there by doing a Google search is unparalled in AMA Flat Track racing. From the States to the UK to Australia, people are picking up on this great win and series history making event. And all the while giving AMA Flat Track the shot of adrenaline that the series has needed for years, and maybe decades.
I've put together a VERY small, but very interesting smattering of the articles that I thought did the best job of showing the sport overall, as well as highlighting the monumental achievement itself that this is and should be for AMA Flat Track as a whole.
See what you think and congrats again to AMA Flat Track, Joe Kopp, Lloyd Brothers and Ducati for this festive and fun win and event.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's the links to some of the action and noise emanating from around the globe on this great accomplishment for AMA Flat Track, Joe Kopp, Lloyd Brothers Racing and Ducati. Read and right on!

MCNews Australia has a Ducati press release on the race:
http://www.mcnews.com.au/NewsArchives/2010/May/Duc_Flat.htm
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Noise is a bike mag from down under in Australia and has the Ducati press release here:
http://www.fullnoise.com.au/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_full&news_id=7543&Ntitle=Flat+Track:+Ducati+makes+history+with+its+first+ever+US+Grand+National+Flat+Track+victory&cfid=11250710&cftoken=27828703&dts=85201010555
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's Sideburn Mag's stories and pics from the folks in The UK:
http://sideburnmag.blogspot.com/2010/05/ducati-win-gnc-mile.html

http://sideburnmag.blogspot.com/2010/05/yavapai-action.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Poppa Wheelie has some real nice pics and stories to go with his coverage from the event:
http://pwheelie.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html#3719282652444695138

http://pwheelie.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html#6331072867778896714

http://pwheelie.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html#4253883936348600990

http://pwheelie.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html#5974034346337646736
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The KneeSlider.com has a nice article with a couple of pics of the event:
http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2010/05/05/ducati-flat-tracker-beats-a-field-of-harley-davidsons-nice-base-for-a-street-tracker/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2WheelTuesday.com has another look at the race with some great pics as well:
http://2wheeltuesday.com/2010/05/ama-flat-track-joe-kopp-puts-ducati-on-the-podium-first-time-ever-in-grand-slam-flat-track/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DucatiNewsToday.com from New Zealand by way of Atlanta has an article and pics, too:
http://www.ducatinewstoday.com/2010/05/ducati-humbles-harley-on-the-dirt/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Get Up Close With AMA Road Racing's Graves Yamaha R1


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One of Jason DiSalvo's Graves Motorsports Yamaha R1 AMA Superstock mounts gets some attention in the paddock at Road America in June of '06. Chuck Graves and company have handled the semi and full-on Yamaha factory teams efforts for some time now, with a very steep winning curve as a result of their years of dedication to the make and to the sport itself. 2006 had Jason DiSalvo running the #40, Eric Bostrom running the #32, and Jamie Hacking running the #2 machines for the team in AMA Superstock, AMA Formula Xtreme and the 600 Supersport classes. Hacking rewarded the team with 7 wins in Supersport and 6 in the Superstock, not to mention a championship in both classes. DiSalvo added several wins and 2-3rd place finishes in the points in Superstock and Formula Xtreme, while Bostrom added more wins and a 6th place in Superstock and a 2nd in Formula Xtreme. Can you say solid?!
By the time Yamaha gave Graves the go ahead to jump back to the premier Superbike class for the '08 season, the ground work had been very tidily laid on the R1 race model. Their second year back, and new team member Josh Hayes wins seven races and is runner up to 7-time champ Mat Mladin in the series points standings. Needless to say, the evolution of the R1 has been a piece of art along the way. This picture helps to illustrate the beauty of a full-on race-spec motorcycle.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How about a quick spin on Josh Hayes' Graves Motorsports Yamaha R1 AMA-spec Superbike? Well, I can help with that thanks to Steve Atlas and crew over at Motorcycle-USA.com that took this '09 model for a spin some months back. I have to warn you though. It's just a short spin................
Check it out:
http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/709/Motorcycle-Video/Hayes-Yamaha-YZF-R1-Superbike-Review.aspx
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Eric Bostrom's Coming Off the Farm to Race Some AMA Superbike Events


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eric Bostrom on the #32 Austin Ducati/Parts Unlimited Ducati 999R leads Mat Mladin on the #1 Team Yoshimura GSX-R1000 and Miguel Duhamel on the #17 American Honda CBR1000RR early in superbike race two action at Road America in June of 2004. Ben Bostrom on the #155 American Honda CBR1000RR and Jake Zemke on the #98 Erion Racing Honda CBR1000RR follow closely into turn 14. E-Boz ran for Team Austin Ducati in the '04-'05 seasons and won two races with them in the '05 season. His return to the track will be watched closely by many since he retired to the mango farm at the end of the '08 season, and will be great for more parity in the AMA Superbike Series for the three race events he is planning to run.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-Boz gets a knee down while qualifying for the Mid Ohio AMA Superbike round in July of 2000. This was his first of his four years with Team Kawasaki riding the ZX7-R-based superbike. Bostrom finished in the runner-up spot in '01 and '02 in the premier class for Team Green while winning several races and won the '01 AMA 600 Supersport Championship for them as well on a ZX6-R-based machine. The youngest of the Boz Bros. also won the '96 and '97 AMA 883/SuperTwins Championship as well as the '98 AMA Formula Extreme Championship.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 1999, E-Boz was asked to 'fill-in' for Miguel Duhamel (as if anyone could do so-nothing against EB!) on the American Honda RC45 while Duhamel was out injured as a result of his devastating Road Atlanta crash. In this shot Eric is on the outside (on the screaming RC45 #32) of Vance and Hines Ducati's #95 Anthony 'The Go Show' Gobert going through the carousel turn at Mid Ohio in superbike final action in the summer of '99. Close behind are Pascal Picotte on the #21 H-D VR1000 (partially hidden), Jamie Hacking on the Team Yamaha YZF-750 #92 and Larry Pegram on the #72 Team Fast By Ferraci Ducati.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric Bostrom hammers the throttle WFO in qualifying for the Road America AMA Superstock round in June of 2006. Eric hooked up with the Graves Motorsports Yamaha team for the '06-'08 seasons putting in time the first two years on the YZF-R1 superstock machine and also in the Formula Extreme class. EB moved to the superbike class with Graves for the '08 season, which was Yamaha's first official year back in the class in several years, and placed 4th in the class behind his team mate Jason DiSalvo that year. After the '08 season he announced his 'retirement' to the mango farm in Brazil that he and his older brother Ben had purchased.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Miguel Duhamel on the #17 American Honda RC51 leads Eric Bostrom on the #32 Team Kawasaki ZX-7, Mat Mladin on the #1 Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R750 and his team mate, and eventual dual-weekend winner Aaron Yates on the #20 Yosh Suzuki GSX-R750. Bostrom would win several of his 15 superbike/premier class wins while running for Team Green, including a round at Road America and one at Mid Ohip in '02. This was going through the carousel at Mid Ohio during AMA Superbike race two action in the summer of 2000, Eric's first year with Kaw. Other then Mad Mat, Eric was the most dominant of superbike racers in this span, garnering two runner-up spots in the championship behind Mat in '01 and behind Nicky Hayden in '02.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great news was rumored over the weekend, and then confirmed the first of this week that Eric Bostrom, the youngest of the Boz Brothers racing duo, would be returning to AMA Superbike Series action for several events later this year. Partnering with Cycle World, Yoshimura Suzuki and Attack Performance, E-Boz will be returning to the track in late July at Laguna Seca, and also competing in rounds at VIR in August and the season-ender at Barber in late September.
After 'retiring' at the end of the 2008 season to work the property in Brazil that he and his brother had purchased, E-Boz all but dissappeared off the racing radar while working in South America.
The timing must have been right, and maybe the former two-time premier class runner-up and the '01 AMA 600 Supersport Champion felt that way as well. With the new rules in the class that were established for the '09 season, and coupled with the loss of 7-time champ Mat Mladin to retirement and 3-time champ Ben Spies now off to MotoGP, the racing has gotten much closer throughout the class and parity is certainly the norm now. Other then the fact the class is still filled with Suzuki's, there are a number of stout teams and racers that could win on any given day. With E-Boz back in the mix, and if he is up to par after having been away for the better part of two years from active competition, you should be able to throw his name in the mix as well.
Highly missed by the fans, it will be good to see E-Boz back in action again and thrilling us all with his riding prowess. We will be watching and rooting for Eric and looking forward to seeing him back in the AMA series where he belongs!
We wish Eric the best of luck and can't wait to see him put it on the box with this new effort. Hopefully it works out good enough to put him on a full time ride for the 2011 season. Fingers crossed! And go get 'em man!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's the official press release as posted over at RoadRacingWorld.com that comes from the Attack Performance folks who will be involved with Eric's homecoming party along with Yoshimura Suzuki, Cycle World, Leo Vince and others. Read and right on:
http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=40290

And here is the original article thanks to David Swarts over at RoadRacingWorld.com that speaks about Eric's return to the three AMA Superbike rounds later in the year:
http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=40273
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Joe Kopp Takes Ducati to Victory at AMA Flat Track AZ Mile


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Kopp on the #3 chases J.R. Schnabel on the #33 during the main event at the Springfield Short Track over Labor Day weekend in 2005. Kopp won the AMA Flat Track Grand National Championship in 2000 and wore the #1 plate during the '01 season.
After having worn the #43 up until he won the championship, Joe elected to carry the #3, that had been worn most recently by the late Ricky Graham, from the 2002 season forward. He has more then made the #3 plate proud, and won last night's Prescott Valley Mile over Sammy Halbert on the #7 H-D XR-750.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Lloyd Brothers Ducati GT1000-based flat tracker of #72f Larry Pegram sits in the pits at the Indy Mile in August of 2009. Past champion Joe Kopp came on board with Lloyd Brothers Racing for the 2010 season and promptly won his first outing with the team in Arizona last night. Kopp was to have had his choice of the Ducati or his regular Latus Motors XR for the miles or half-miles for the season, but I would say after last night's outing there won't be much problem working out a choice at least on the mile tracks this year. Kopp led the national at Prescott until the 8th lap when Sammy Halbert on the #7 machine took over. Kopp was able to catch Slammin' Sammy on the last lap at the line and won by a mere .024 seconds-less then half a wheel. It's going to be good to see some parity on the big tracks and this win is just what the flat track community needed, and couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Go Joe and a big Congrats for your hard earned win! Let's hope team mate Larry Pegram wasn't too awfully upset. He had been working with the team since the '04 or '05 season and was hoping to score the team's first win. Pegram will race both Springfield events and at Indy in August over MotoGP weekend. Maybe we'll see two Ducks on the podium at those events. Bravo to Lloyd Brothers as well for their tireless development on this trick machine!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One of Joe Kopp's Team Latus H-D XR-750's sits in the pits at the Indy Mile in August of 2009. George Latus is a Harley dealer from the Northwest Territory who has been involved in flat track racing for some years now. Latus Motorsports also owns the Ducati 848 that Steve Rapp has been campaigning in the AMA Road Racing Daytona Sportbike class and took his maiden voyage on the team's bike to the podium at the Daytona 200 for a fine and hard-fought 3rd place finish. Kopp and Latus H-D have kept immaculate equipment for as long as I can remember and are to be commended for their hard work and efforts.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Kopp on the #3 Lloyd Brothers/Latus Racing Ducati GT1000-based machine took the victory last night over #7 Slammin' Sammy Halbert at the Prescott Valley Mile in Arizona. In what was Kopp's maiden ride with the team, Kopp led off the line and held it until lap 8 when Halbert took over. Kopp was able to hang in and eventually nip Halbert at the line for his first victory of the 2010 season and his 11th Grand National win overall. Kopp is also the 2000 AMA Grand National Championship.
Kopp's win last night was a 'history in the making' moment for Ducati in mile racing as well. At least in the 'modern' era since the late '60's/early '70's. Lloyd Brothers Racing has been working with the Ducati for several years now, and Larry Pegram put a variation of the machine in it's first mile national at Duquoin back in the fall of 2004. To see it get it's maiden win after all their hard work is excellent, let alone a great way to start off the season. The win ended a streak of 134 races since anything other then a H-D XR-750 won an AMA Flat Track Grand National event. The last time anything other then an XR won on the mile was when Ricky Graham won the Labor Day event at Springfield in September of 1993 when he sealed his 3rd GNC. The last time anything other then an XR won on a half-mile was when Corbin Racing's Rich King won the Joliet event in August of '98.
When it was announced that Smokin' Joe would be coming on with the team earlier in the year, it was said he would have his choice of the Ducati or his usual Latus Motors XR to use on the big-bike tracks. I guess there won't be too much more guessing about which mount he will most likely use from here on out. At least on the mile tracks.
Great job by all--Joe Kopp, Lloyd Brothers and Latus Motors for this epic win in AMA Flat Track racing. To see another solid brand come around and for a new team member to come on board and win his initial outing with them is superb, and should be great for the sport in terms of parity and good racing. Of note, Kopp beat six other makes last night in the final for his 11th win. The other manufacturers represented in the final at Prescott Valley were H-D, Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Aprilia, and a Wood-Rotax BMW. With parity such as this the Grand National half-miles and miles should be pretty exciting this year.
Congrats to all last night for a great race and for ringing in the big-bikes with a bang for the 2010 AMA Flat Track season! You can read on below for the results and official story of the final.
Hats and helmets off to Joe Kopp and company for a great and hard-earned win last night. Take a bow guys, you deserve it!
Also a big pat on the back to the AMA Flat Track team of Mike Kidd, Steve Morehead and company for putting on a winning show. All reports have been very favorable, the promoter did their job in selling tickets and the AMA put on a great show for everyone. Bravo!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's the story of the race thanks to the bible of motorcycle racing, CycleNews.com:
http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/flat-track/2010/05/02/kopp-wins-prescott-mile
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full results thanks to AMA Pro Racing:
http://amaproracing.com/ft/events/results.cfm?eid=2010021010
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tim Thomas from FlatTrack.com has a pic and a rundown of last night's racing right here as well:
http://www.flattrack.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=746&Itemid=1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The great blokes at Sideburn Mag have some excellent pictures of the event you can check out here:
http://sideburnmag.blogspot.com/2010/05/yavapai-action.html
And here:
http://sideburnmag.blogspot.com/2010/05/ducati-win-gnc-mile.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michael Jordan Motorsports Daytona Segment to Air on ESPN E:60 on Tuesday May 4th


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aaron Yates can be seen sitting in the back of the paddock area of Michael Jordan Motorsports at Elkhart Lake in June of 2008. Yates' AMA Superbike and AMA Superstock bikes are being worked on by the team techs between practice sessions.
Hannah Storm from ESPN interviewed team owner Michael Jordan while in Daytona back in March and was on hand for the team's first two AMA Superbike victories by Jake Zemke over the course of the segment being filmed. It will be shown on Tuesday, May 4th at 7:00 P.M. EDT on ESPN.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The segment on Michael Jordan's AMA team that was filmed by ESPN at Daytona back in March will air on the original ESPN channel on their 'E:60' program this Tuesday. Jordan Motorsports' own Jake Zemke won MJ's first premier class races at Daytona and the ESPN crew was on hand to film some of the action and to talk with MJ about his venture into AMA Road Racing which started in 2004.
Team mate Aaron Yates took fourth place in both of those races, and is currently on the sidelines with a broken leg suffered at the next round at Fontana. Yates was originally expected to miss 8-12 weeks which would put him in line to return on/around round 5 at Road America June 4-6. Canadian hot shoe Brett McCormick filled in for Yates on the team's #23 mount and is expected to do so again at the next round at Infineon Raceway May 14-16.
Thanks to the crew at RoadRacerX.com for the link to the story link below that details what to expect from the show. You can catch it on ESPN on Tuesday, May 4th at 7:00 P.M. EDT.
Here's the official story:

http://www.roadracerx.com/uncategorized/jordan-racing-to-appear-on-espns-e60/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday, May 1, 2010

AMA Flat Track Live Event Timing Up and Running at Prescott Valley Mile for May Day


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Hacker #67 shoots around the outside of 7-Time Grand National Champion Chris Carr #4 diving into turn 1 at The Springfield Mile Hall of Fame Weekend final event over Labor Day Weekend in 2001. Right on their heels are 3-Time Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen on the #9 and crowd and personal favorite #23 Kevin Atherton. All but Carr have pretty much retired from active regular competition. Springsteen is working with Bill Werner on the newly established Werner Springsteen Kawasaki Racing team that features #42 Bryan Smith. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great news for AMA Flat Track fans is the news that the 'live timing and scoring' is back up and currently running for the Arizona Mile event currently running practice sessions as of this writing.
Hats and helmets off to the AMA Flat Track team of Mike Kidd and Steve Morehead for getting the glitches worked out and the application going for us fans who are unable to attend the event this weekend. You guys rule!

I've updated the links on the left side column to include the new updated app. Or you can just click here:
http://laptraxtg.racersites-cluster.com/LapTraxTG/AMA/livescoring.html?LAPTRAXID=2010021010

You can get all of the event's info by clicking the link here:
http://www.amaproracing.com/ft/events/event.cfm?eid=2010021010

Keep in mind that Prescott Valley is -7 GMT, or three hours behind EDT!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Grand National Twitter highlights and updates can also be found here:

http://twitter.com/gnc_flattrack

Prescott Valley weather info:

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=86312
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------