Jason DiSalvo talks with one of the crew members from his #40 Latus Motors Racing/RSRaceCraft.com/FMF/Speedymoto-sponsored H-D XR1200 team before heading back out in the afternoon session to spoil everyone else's fun during the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's hosting of the AMA Pro Road Racing Vance & Hines XR1200 Series tests on Friday, August 19. DiSalvo, who is currently sitting in the 3rd spot in the 2011 AMA Pro Road Racing Daytona SportBike Series standings after winning three rounds on the season, was persuaded to run the IMS rounds of the XR1200 Series by his team owner, George Latus.
Team mate Chase McFarland can be seen in the background strapping on his helmet as he prepares to go out on his #19 Latus Motors Racing XR1200. McFarland has competed in the series for the full schedule and sits in the 8th spot in the point standings.
Not showing up until Friday's session, the diminutive New York State resident used the morning session's 25 laps to work his way into the 2nd spot on the charts behind then-leader Steve Rapp. It only took him 7 laps in yesterday's session to leave the test with the fastest times on the charts.
DiSalvo knows Indy after competing in the Moto2 class last year, and put on a clinic in working his way into the 9th spot in the 40-rider strong field. In the process, it re-opened people's eyes to the young man who had just earlier in the season parted ways with his World Supersport team. Over the course of the off-season, he signed with Latus, to ride the team's Ducati 848EVO in the Daytona SportBike Series, and promptly went out and won the controversial Daytona 200 (147 after the long red flag.) Winning a couple of more races after Daytona, DiSalvo has fallen off a couple of times to remind us he is still human, and has been putting on a great show in the ultra-competitive class in the AMA Pro Road Racing Series.
Next weekend should be a great show in the AMA Pro Road Racing Vance & Hines XR1200 Series races. With two seperate, points paying events scheduled for Saturday, August 27 and Sunday, August 28, the loud and proud American Iron will grace the legendary IMS facility, and hopefully also along the way help bring in more paying butts to the seats. In a series that has seen some very competitive racing in just it's second year of existence, being able to see these Hot-Rod Harleys at IMS will be a great experience added into the weekend's long list of great events.
And if he has his way like he did in testing, Jason DiSalvo and the #40 Latus Motors Racing XR will be up at the front. Or darn close to it!
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I am not worthy.
Getting to spend the day checking out the AMA Pro Road Racing Vance & Hines XR1200 Series test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, hanging out with my buddy and homeboy, Larry Lawrence from Cycle News.com and The Rider Files.com, and in the process being able to meet '93 500CC World Champion, #34 himself, Kevin Schwantz, in the process. At the end of the day, they probably should have had to put me in an oxygen tent...at the very least.
One of the all-time ground breakers in World Championship Road Racing in the late '80s/early '90s, Schwantz, along with other legends that followed Kenny 'The King' Roberts to Europe for the 500CC GP wars, helped to set the bar for road racing around the world when it came to European's eyes in terms of American's involvement in the world's road racing circuits. Finally winning the championship himself in the '93 season, his #34 competition number is the only number retired in road racing in the now MotoGP World Championship.
Kevin is in town for his Kevin Schwantz School going on at IMS today and tomorrow, along with his Mom and Dad, as well as former local racer Rueben Frankenfeld, who is teaching at Schwantz' school over the weekend.
As we were driving about the huge facility, we made a dash down what during the MotoGP weekend are the vendor areas-garages for the car teams, converted for the big 2-wheel weekend for display purposes. While checking out an ultra-sano '01 Suzuki GSX-R, that carried a personalized 'KEVIN' license plate, we happened to look over, and there was The Champ himself. Ever so congenial--most likely because he knew Larry-HA!-he was very gracious and friendly in extending a hand shake and a few minutes of 'shooting the bull' while his family was helping get the area set up for the school.
Talking generally about the drive up from Texas, the drought and crop losses in his home state, and his beautiful nine-month old dog, Schwantz appeared the everyman instead of the World Champion he is. It was truly a pleasure to be able to share the time with someone who I have watched in awe over the course of the last 25+ years thrill the he..out of me with his ability to wrestle a racing motorcycle around a road race course, and to think that even just for a moment, I was shooting the sh.t with one of my long-time racing idols. MasterCard doesn't have squat on me, because it was truly priceless!
Thanks #34!
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Long-time Indianapolis/Indy West Side resident Gene Burcham is exploring a different phase in his years-long association with racing motorcycles. The former AND current WERA standout, and AMA Pro Road Racing competitor, is now into at least his fourth decade of racing motorcycles by my account. Having won numerous races and championships in the WERA Series over the course of the last 30+ years, he is now getting his lifelong chance to ride on what is literally his home track.
Unless you've grown up around the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway as Gene has-or myself and at least half-a-dozen of my closest and former riders/racers/fans and fanatical adrenaline heads have-telling someone about being able to race around the over 100 year old track just doesn't seem to get them to understand. And especially so, since all of us grew up in the times when there was but one little race going on at the sprawling West 16th Street facility. And chances of anyone of even the BEST of the bunch getting to jump in an open wheel Indy car were all but pretty much slim, and virtually, NONE.
And then along came the MotoGP Circus to Indy in '08, and now the 2nd year AMA Pro Road Racing Vance & Hines XR1200 Series, which for the first time in history will be racing on the 2.5 mile road race course at The Brickyard during events over the course of next weekend's 4th Annual RedBull Indianapolis MotoGP round.
And that's when the lightbulb came on for Gene, where next weekend he will get his chance 'to live the dream' as he is going to be able to ride his #94 Burcham Racing/ERMCO Electric/Dreyer Motorsports-sponsored Harley-Davidson XR1200 in front of a Worldwide crowd and compete at the track that has loomed over his backyard for his entire life.
With the local and long-time Dreyer Motorsports, from Indy's West Side, jumping onboard to help out his efforts, Gene turned his first wheel at Indy this last Thursday while taking part in the two-day tests over both Thursday and Friday. After running the Mid Ohio XR event last month, Gene was able to help get the bike dialed in closer to his liking, and spent the test methodically working his way up the charts. Bettering his times along the way while running a total of 61 laps, at the end of yesterday afternoon's session he had worked his way into the 11th spot on the charts.
Gene can be seen in the shot above sitting on the far left and checking times out on his Touchpad while the rest of the Burcham/Dreyer crew go about getting the #94 machine ready for the afternoon session, and for the REAL test next weekend. Good luck Gene, and have a great time while you are doing it!
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Steve Rapp confers with one of his crewmen on the #5 Parts Unlimited/Vance & Hines-sponsored H-D XR1200 team in between some action on the track. Rapp ended up the 2nd fastest over the two-day test, beat out by .255 seconds by Latus Motors' Jason DiSalvo in the final Friday afternoon session. The Rapper was credited with running 70 laps over the course of the four test sessions, and showed his usual consistency on the machine-or any for that matter-in ending up with a 5-4-1-2 tally in overall times. Currently 2nd in the points to Chris Fillmore, Rapp could very well use the doubleheader at IMS and the season-ender as a springboard to catching Fimmore in the championship.
Michael Barnes #34 Drag Specialties/Vance & Hines XR1200 sits just behind Rapp's #5 machine, with Michael Beck's #60 Vance & Hines/Harley-Davidson/J&P Cycles-sponsored XR just behind, as other members of the crews discuss their results from Friday's AM practice and work on game plans for the PM session. Barnes sits in the 4th spot in the standings, with Beck laying 5th. Rapp's two wins on the year are just behind Fillmore's three with the two events at Indy next weekend and the season-ender at NJMP over Labor Day Weekend left on the 2011 schedule.
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DiSalvo Quickest as AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Class Completes Testing at Indy
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (August 19, 2011) - After two days of testing at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, AMA Pro's Vance & Hines XR1200 riders are ready to go at next weekend's Red Bull Indy GP, August 27-28. The AMA Pro test marked the first time Harley-Davidsons have run at the Brickyard since 1909, bringing two American classics together after more than 100 years.
AMA Pro Daytona SportBike rider Jason DiSalvo, who made his XR1200 debut today with Team Latus Motors Harley-Davidson, declared himself one serious class rookie by notching the quickest time ahead of series regular and championship contender Steve Rapp (Parts Unlimited). DiSalvo ran a 1:58.342 to Rapp's 1:58.597, the duo comprising the only two riders able to crack the 58-second range today. Tyler O'Hara, running under his own banner, was third quickest.
"The track seemed to come in really well there toward the end of the day," said DiSalvo. "For the race, this track is just going to get better and better. We've been working on some stuff with the tires, but the spec Dunlop tires we run are lasting pretty good and it's only going to get better. I love riding the XR1200. I'm actually riding my teammate, Chase McFarland's, backup bike and I haven't changed one thing -- spring rates, anything -- from the time I got on it. All in all it's been really good. It's a blast to ride, and fun. It's going to be a great show for the fans out here and I can't wait to see thirty-plus Harley-Davidson XR1200s line up in front of a packed house here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway."
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Jason DiSalvo on the #40 Latus Motors Racing XR1200 comes down the long front straight at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as he sets up for turn one, during Friday's test at The Brickyard. DiSalvo only took seven laps in the Friday PM session to top the leaderboards. AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Championship points-leader Chris Fillmore ran a limited number of laps today but declared himself fit to protect his overall lead. "We're ready to go," said Fillmore, "and I wanted to rest my shoulder a little. It's been a good couple of days and we feel pretty good about this race. After that, we'll look forward to the final race at New Jersey, where I'll also be riding my KTM AMA Pro SuperBike."
Michael Beck, who ran well all weekend, added, "This is a great facility. It's my first time [riding] here; I came here to see MotoGP a couple of years ago as a spectator, but I always wanted to ride across those bricks, and to actually get to do it is a great experience. The surface is super-flat and super-smooth -- it's a great place to ride. It is a little slick, but with it being so fresh and so new we just haven't done enough laps around here yet. We're getting prepared for next weekend with our XR1200, and I'm looking forward to it."
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Steve Rapp #5 on the Parts Unlimited XR1200 ended up 2nd overall on the timing sheets after the two-day IMS test for the AMA Pro Road Racing Vance & Hines XR1200 Series upcoming doubleheader weekend during the RedBull Indianapolis MotoGP on August 26-28. AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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A total of twenty-two Harley-Davidson XR1200s tested at the Speedway, and a number of additional riders are slated to be join them for the inaugural AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 double-header during the MotoGP weekend, pushing the number of expected entries to more than thirty.
Vance & Hines' Terry Vance reflected on the significance of the upcoming races, saying, "It's a great thing to see the class out here and the number of bikes we're going to have on the grid for the MotoGP weekend. I'm just really happy everybody has come together with Harley-Davidson, Vance & Hines, and AMA Pro to make all this happen, culminating in the upcoming event. We only started this class a year and a half ago, and we have thirty-three guys entered for this race, so we're doing really good. There aren't too many young racing series in the United States that are actually growing, and to look at the Harley-Davidson class and say it's made leaps and bounds is an understatement.
"I never really thought about racing here at Indy," Vance continued, "but the opportunity became available this year when Mel Harder from IMS said it was a possibility. David Atlas from AMA Pro got it put together, and we started talking to Harley-Davidson and Vance & Hines and made it a reality. It's a nice moment for us, and I'm really excited to see the XR1200s on the track."
AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.
For additional information contact:
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Multi-time AMA Pro Road Racing 250GP Champion Rich Oliver was on hand over the course of the two-day IMS test to help out rider Gerry Signorelli with set-up and riding tips on his #88 Kuryakyn/Bob Fier Racing/Racing For a Wish-sponsored XR1200. Oliver, who today spends time teaching with his Rich Oliver Mystery School teaching riders the PROPER way to ride a racing motorcycle, looked as lean and mean as he did back in the day walloping the 250GP classes he reigned over in AMA Pro Road Racing. This is another of the super nice guys around the paddock who always brings a level of enthusiasm just being there, outgoing and friendly, and willing to lend a hand-or a voice, as it were.
For a man who used to TOTALLY dominate on the track, it was great to see this side, again, off the track. To put things into perspective, my friends and I when attending AMA Road Races back in those days, ALWAYS had a running bet as to who would place 2nd-because we knew if Oliver showed up (and he very seldom was injured or would ever miss a race), that that would be where the race was, as the man would just annihilate the competition.
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Historic First Day of AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Wraps Up
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (August 18, 2011) - The AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 class took to the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway circuit for the first time today in preparation for the upcoming Red Bull Indy GP, August 27-28. Using the 2.621-mile, 16-turn "MotoGP" track layout, AMA Pro Road Racing hosted two open practice sessions for the series' newest division.
Local rider Gene Burcham (pictured at bottom) was the first man out at 9:21 a.m., living out one of his longtime dreams in turning the first laps of the Harley-Davidson class' debut at the famed "Brickyard."
"It's very important for me from the standpoint that I grew up here in Indianapolis," said a beaming Burcham after the morning session. "Being around Indianapolis where you have auto racing all the time ... my whole life I've always raced motorcycles, and not being able to participate in any events here made it tough. I wanted to go out first; I kept asking the officials, 'How much longer?' The history here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway -- you walk into this place and you're just in awe."
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The participants in the two-day test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the AMA Pro Road Racing Vance & Hines XR1200 Series line-up at the start/finish line at The Brickyard on Thursday, August 18. AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Eighteen specially prepared Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson XR1200 motorcycles circulated in the afternoon session, and it was championship-points-leader Chris Fillmore (Bruce Rossmeyer Daytona Racing GEICO) who ended up fastest overall with a time of 1:59.577. Fillmore -- who also topped the morning session -- was the only rider to break into the 59s.
"It was kind of limited this afternoon," said Fillmore. "We went out to try to diagnose a problem with the bike -- just a funky noise I'm hearing that I don't want to hear. I don't think I did more then ten laps in the second session, but I'm nursing a sore shoulder so it was kind of good that we didn't do so many laps. I really want to tie up this championship, and if we can get a win or two here, we'll be solid for New Jersey."
Other notables included 2010 AMA Pro SuperSport Top Gun Champion Tyler O'Hara, second-fastest in the morning session, followed by Northern Ireland's Jeremy McWilliams, the 2010 British XR1200 champion. McWilliams, who's back for his second appearance in the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 class following his triumphant win at last year's season finale in Alabama, said, "It's been a steep learning curve again, trying to work out all the intricacies of the XR1200, but I think we're somewhere in the ballpark. It's not ideal -- we can see that Fillmore has got the hammer down and we've got a big gap to bridge -- but we're using the same tire and motorcycle and we shouldn't be that far away. At the end of the day we kind of lost our way a little; not a disastrous day, but you know what [we racers] are like -- we can always be better!"
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Current AMA Pro Road Racing Vance & Hines XR1200 Series point leader Chris Fillmore is shown in action at IMS during test day one at The Brickyard on his #55 Bruce Rossmeyers Daytona Racing-sponsored XR1200. AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Teammates Steve Rapp and Michael Barnes also posted top-five times in both sessions and were enthusiastic about the new venue. "It's cool," said Rapp. "I've never been here before, but the track is really cool. We had a good day. We're working on getting more traction like everybody else ... it's going to change when we come back for the race, but we're doing the best we can for now."
In the only incident of the day, Kyle Wyman experienced a mechanical problem during the second session that necessitated a stoppage to recover his RMR Bruce Rossmeyer Daytona Racing XR1200. "The day was going pretty good," said Kyle. "We were trying a whole bunch of different stuff ... but in one of the sessions I had an issue with the bike going into some sort of neutral between gears, and the motor quit. We'll put in a fresh motor for tomorrow, and hopefully it will be better. The track is a nice little challenge and I think the layout caters to an American style of racing."
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Indianapolis resident Gene Burcham is shown on his #94 Burcham Racing/ERMCO Electric-sponsored H-D XR1200 on the yard of bricks at the legendary IMS Brickyard. AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Testing will continue tomorrow with another pair of sessions, during which 2011 Daytona 200 winner and XR1200 rookie Jason DiSalvo will get his first look at Indianapolis Motor Speedway since he contended the Moto2 event at last year's Red Bull Indy GP, finishing ninth in the international field.
AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.
For additional information contact:
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Steve Rapp #5 on his Parts Unlimited/Vance & Hines H-D XR1200 is shown going through the turn 13-14 area at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during day two testing for the AMA Pro Road Racing Vance & Hines XR1200 Series. Rapp attended both days of the test, always sitting in the top 5 of the time sheets, and progressively moving up into the fastest time of the AM test session on Friday.
In the end, only DiSalvo spoiled his party for the two-day tests after Friday's PM session was complete, and Rapp leaves the sessions with a good base level to work with for next weekend's doubleheader at the World Capital of Racing at IMS. The Rapper currently sits in the 2nd spot of the overall championship standings in the XR1200 class, 30 points behind current leader Chris Fillmore (167-137) with just three events left on the season (2 at IMS and the season ender at NJMP over Labor Day Weekend.)
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Here are the links to all-things pertinent to the tests at IMS for the XR1200 Series, as well as next weekend's event info and schedules.
AMA Pro Road Racing Vance & Hines XR1200 Series IMS test times:
http://amaproracing.com/rr/events/results.cfm?year=2011&eid=2011011141
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RedBull Indianapolis MotoGP Weekend event schedule (includes ALL classes racing for the weekend-updated version as of 8/20/11):
http://amaproracing.com/assets/2011_INDY_AMAP_schedule_REVISED.pdf
AMA Pro Road Racing Vance & Hines XR1200 Series IMS event info:
http://amaproracing.com/rr/events/event.cfm?year=2011&eid=2011011142
AMA Pro Road Racing Vance & Hines XR1200 Series IMS event entry list:
http://amaproracing.com/rr/events/entrylist.cfm?year=2011&eid=2011011142&class=XR
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Thanks to AMA Pro Road Racing and official photographer Brian J. Nelson for this series of shots from the IMS test:
http://amaproracing.com/rr/multimedia/gallery.cfm?gid=6706
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