Motourage

2008 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup champion and current Rockwall Yamaha road racer J.D. Beach is no stranger to the dirt.  He began his flat track career at the ripe old age of four and has his fair share of race wins on the oval to go with those on the tarmac. For 2010, Beach will add three more flat track events to his race calendar.

J.D. Beach on his way to winning Supersport race 1 at VIR. Photo courtesy of Dan Lo, Corner Speed Photo.

Beach has already competed in four AMA Pro K&N Filters Grand National Championship events this year with wins at the new Daytona flat track and the Springfield TT.  In addition to his successful Flat Track activities, Beach recently clinched the AMA Pro SuperSport Young Gun East Divisional Championship by winning for the seventh time in 2010.

Beach will compete in the Pro Singles class at the Peoria TT on Sunday, August 22 and the Indy Mile on Saturday, August 28.  Beach won both of these races in 2009 and is looking forward to his return.  The next big step will be the move from Pro Singles to Expert at the GNC event at the Springfield Short Track and Mile on Labor Day Weekend, September 4-5.

“I would like to win Peoria and especially Indy in the Pro Singles,” said Beach “My goal at the Mile in Springfield is to make the main event and try to finish in the top ten, although a podium would be great.”

Along with 2009 AMA Pro Twins National Champion Jared Mees, Beach will be riding the Rogers-Lake-prepared XR750 Harley-Davidson at Springfield.

After writing history at Atlantic Motorsports Park with an unprecedented perfect season and seven Canadian National Superbike titles, Waznie Racing’s Jordan Szoke repacked his championship CBR1000RR’s and pointed the rig south to once again challenge North America’s best in the ranks of AMA Pro Racing’s American Superbike class at VIRginia International Raceway.

With Thursday practice canceled, Szoke had his work cut out for him with a small 50-minute practice window before the first qualifying session began.  The heat and humidity hanging over the 1,200-acre site near Alton, Virginia had Szoke and his Waznie Racing crew sweating – not only due to the high temperatures, but also the pressure on Szoke to get his bike set up just right since his equipment is built around the Canadian National Series rules.  “Getting your bike set up perfectly is so important for us,” said Szoke. “We don’t have the luxury of electronics to help during the race, so if I don’t get it just right, fatigue can play a major role when the tire starts to go off.”

With two chances to get it done, Szoke nailed down his best performance on his ninth lap in the second qualifying session, landing him on the third row of the grid for Saturday and Sunday’s grueling 23-lap race around the 2.25 mile, 17 turn road course.

During race 1, Szoke rocketing to the front with a killer start on his Honda CBR1000RR. Szoke cranked out fast, consistent lap times during the first quarter of the race; however, tire wear and fatigue set in midway to the checkered, and Jordan finished in 10th place.  “I can get the fast laps out there,” said Szoke. “What we’re struggling with is consist lap times.  After 23 laps without any electronics, it’s tough to wrestle a superbike around for that long.  Nailing the set up is crucial for us to be successful, luckily we have a ton of help from the guys at K-Tech Suspension to get it just right.”

Sunday’s Superbike warm up session brought another series of major setup changes and propelled Szoke to seventh fastest of the session.  Jordan strategized with Sebastian from Dunlop for his tire compound choice for race 2.  “We chose a soft tire to try to take off with the pack at the beginning.  I’m not sure what’s going to happen at the end of the race,” laughed Szoke before the race began. “But we’re going to put the Honda up there for a bit anyways.”

As Szoke settled into the starting grid for Sunday’s race 2 under sunny skies and raging temperatures, his mind was focused on the first few laps.  It was paramount that he garnered a good start in order to get the first few perfect laps required with his soft tire choice.  Unfortunately, as the lights went out, Jordan found himself bunched up at the start, while the competitors ahead of him pulled away.  Szoke battled past the competition, leading one of the many battles that are fought within the race.  Jordan concluded his second AMA weekend with another accomplished 10th place finish.

“I feel like we are so (so) close.” says Szoke “.I am really starting to get used to the Dunlop tires and finding out how they work.  I want to continue to compete in the remainder of the 2010 AMA season, but we will have to see if financially we can make it happen.”

With some more support, Szoke is hoping to continue competing in AMA American Superbike during Round 9, taking place at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

Fresh from his victory in the opening race, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden and his GSX-R1000 made it to the podium again at Sunday’s second-leg AMA Superbike Championship race at VIRginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia with a third-place finish.

Hayden battled for traction throughout the race but held it together to the finish line. He remains in second place in the standings 11 points adrift of Yamaha’s Josh Hayes. But, with two more rounds of racing to go, he’s well within striking distance of victory.

Hayden started on the front row of the grid and shot out to the early lead in Sunday’s race. He then dropped to second where he held steady until he noticed some chatter in his bike, which is thought to have been due to the grip of the rear tire. With high humidity and thick cloud cover, the track wasn’t as hot and sticky as everyone would’ve liked, but he made the most of the race by riding smart and finishing third.

“I feel good about riding fast in the first five laps, but in the end I didn’t have the speed and the rear tyre couldn’t keep up,” Hayden said. “We’ll go back to work before New Jersey and find more speed.”

Round 9 of the AMA American Superbike series takes place September 3-5 at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, New Jersey.

Fiat Yamaha complete important day of testing in Brno

Fiat Yamaha riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi completed a one-day test at Brno yesterday alongside the rest of the MotoGP grid to set themselves up for the final eight races of the season. The test was cut short when it began to rain in the mid afternoon but not before both Fiat Yamaha men had the chance to do some important work on their M1s.

Lorenzo picked up from where he left off yesterday, the race winner once again topping the time sheets nearly half a second ahead of Casey Stoner. The championship leader tried a new engine upgrade and a new suspension setting for his M1 and also completed some laps on Yamaha’s 2011 prototype YZR-M1.

Valentino Rossi's test days with Yamaha are numbered

After struggling in yesterday’s race Rossi and his crew were keen to understand what had happened so they worked closely on their setting to do just that today, with the Italian completing more laps than nearly anyone else. Rossi also had the chance to try the new 2010 engine upgrade and finished the day fourth fastest.

The team now has a weekend off before flying to Indianapolis next week for the next round of the MotoGP World Championship.

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 1st Time: 1’56.269 Laps: 44
“This was an important and interesting test for us, both for the rest of the season and looking towards next year. We had a lot to do but unfortunately the rain forced us to stop early. As well as the ‘new’ prototype machine for next year we also tried an engine upgrade and a new Ohlins suspension, but it’s too early to know if they will be better for our M1, which is already very competitive. We got quite a lot of information though so hopefully it will help the engineers to improve things even more.”

Valentino Rossi – Position: 4th Time: 1’57.129 Laps: 50
“I’m happier today because we worked hard to understand what happened during yesterday’s race and at the end we have a clearer picture. We worked a lot on the setting and we found out some things, which we hope will be useful over the rest of the season and help us to have some more good races. I tried a new engine for the 2010 bike and it’s not so different but there are some small things about it which I think can help; I hope we can use it soon.”

Positive test for Spies and Edwards in Brno

Rossi isn't the only MotoGP rider trading in his Yamaha leathers for Ducati red. American Colin Edwards has signed on with the Xerox World Superbike squad for 2011

Less than 24 hours after a strong performance in the Czech Republic MotoGP race, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team was back hard at work for a one-day test session at the Brno circuit today.

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The Viking Group Australian Superbike Championship points leader, Honda’s Wayne Maxwell, has identified this weekend’s ASBK round at Queensland Raceway near Brisbane as the highest hurdle in the second half of his race for title honors.

The 27-year-old Victorian hopes to have overcome a gripe with tire grip which saw him slide backwards from pole position when the series last visited the 3.12km circuit in June.

Wayne Maxwell alongside Ducati's Jamie Stauffer

The Demolition Plus GAS Honda CBR1000RR pilot left the event noting there was plenty to be done to match the pace of the riders he was battling for the points lead and has worked hard to turn around the result.

“It wasn’t our weekend, that’s for sure,” said Maxwell. “With pole position I thought I’d gotten the momentum going but we struggled with tires during both races and ended up going backwards.”

Maxwell, winner of the opening round of 2010, also identified race fitness as a factor and felt he had made good progress from the point he was at in June.

“My training had been affected by injury and I wasn’t feeling as fit as I could have. I’ve added running back into my program which seems to have helped quite a bit. The opportunity to race in the heat and humidity at the Suzuka 8 Hour where endurance is vital was another good way to keep focused and allowed me some good time on the bike.”

Trailing championship leader Bryan Staring by 4.5 points, Maxwell was hopeful of overturning a run of lackluster results in the Sunshine State.

“This needs to be a good weekend, I need to perform at every round. I’m confident I can do well at both Phillip Island and Symmon’s Plains in the final two rounds but Queensland Raceway has been a sticking point in the past. I need to be scoring consistent points at every event we go to in order to keep the pressure on Bryan (Staring, fellow Honda rider and championship leader).”

The top three contenders in the Superbike class have shared an equal spread of race and round wins in 2010 – Maxwell went two for two at Phillip Island, Josh Waters went two for two at Hidden Valley and Staring went two for two at Queensland Raceway.

Separated by just 9.5 points in total, the top three have set the bar high but are not yet clear of a handful of experienced riders ready to pounce given the opportunity.

Three-time Superbike titleholder, Team Suzuki veteran Shawn Giles is steadily closing the gap to third place and is only 22.5 points shy of teammate and defending champion Waters.

“I’m looking forward to getting back on the Superbike this weekend and feel I can really challenge the leaders for race wins,” said Giles. “Our season has been solid – it’s all about being consistent and picking up every point that’s on offer. It’s been a long break between rounds but I’ve kept up the intensity in training. Riding works best for me so I try and get out on the mountain bike or dirt bike every day to maintain fitness and strength.”

2008 champion, Valvoline Superbike Team rider Glenn Allerton is in hot pursuit, 2.5 points back, and top privateer performer Racer’s Edge Suzuki rider Scott Charlton is just a point shy of Allerton.

Local crowds will be cheering for Brisbane-based rider, Team Mack Trucks Suzuki’s Robbie Bugden, who has lapped the circuit thousands of times in his competitive career and knows every bump and braking point like the back of his hand.

Bringing two new manufacturers into the mix for 2010, KTM Superbike Team’s Shannon Johnson and The Natural Aprilia Racing’s Daniel Stauffer also cannot be discounted as they continue to make significant progress with the development of their race machines.

Two-time champion, Ducati’s Jamie Stauffer will be hoping for a better run of results after the last round where he was quickest in Friday practice but plagued by mechanical problems on race day.

The action gets underway at 9am on Saturday August 21 for qualifying and Motul Superpole, and again on Sunday August 22 for all the day’s racing action including two 16-lap Superbike races.

A host of support classes will be on show, as well as all the action of the Aussie Racing Cars and Australian Supermoto Open plus exciting freestyle motocross demos from the Showtime FMX team.

Tickets start at just $20AU, with the Family Pass ($80 for 2 adults and 3 children for 2 days) offering best value.

Visit the ASBK website or Facebook page for more details.

Viking Group ASBK Top-10 Standings
1 Bryan Staring 115pts
2 Wayne Maxwell 110.5
3. Josh Waters 104.5
4 Shawn Giles 82.5
5 Glenn Allerton 80
6 Scott Charlton 79
7 Shannon Johnson 66
8 Jamie Stauffer 60
9 Robbie Bugden 58
10 Jordan Burgess 53.5.

FTR Moto recorded a fifth podium finish of the 2010 Moto2 World Championship as Andrea Iannone finished third on the FIMMCO Speed Up FTR M210 machine in round nine at Brno, Czech Republic on Sunday.

Iannone – starting from second place on the front row of the grid – made a poor start and was forced to battle back from seventh place on the opening lap, eventually taking the lead of the race on the sixth lap from fellow FTR M210 rider Alex Debon.

Yuki Takahashi and eventual race winner Toni Elias closed in and passed Iannone in the closing stages and Iannone was forced to settle for third place.

“Today was a difficult day,” said Iannone who moved into second place in the Championship standings. “I didn’t make a good start then eventually got to the front but the pace of Elias and Takahashi was too much for me in the end.”

Gabor Talmacsi – Iannone’s Speed Up teammate – fought his way through from 16th place on the grid to cross the finish line in a credible sixth place at the end of the 20-lap race, while Debon on the Aeroport de Castello-Ajo Team M210 finished in seventh.

Debon put in a spirited ride as he moved from 12th place on the opening lap to lead the race by lap five and eventually take his first podium finish since the British round at Silverstone two months ago. And the Spaniard’s progress was halted by a broken steering damper from the halfway stage of the race.

And there was no dream home race victory for promising Karel Abraham and his Cardion AB Motoracing Team FTR M210 as he was forced to miss the race following crashes in Friday’s practice and Saturday’s qualifying sessions. Abraham suffered minor injuries and mild concussion.

“Overall it’s great to see one of the M210s on the podium again although, at one point, I thought Iannone, Debon and Talmacsi were all heading for the victory.” said FTR’s Steve Bones. “With all three of our machines in the top seven, including Alex with a broken damper, and out of 39 starters I’m more than happy.”

Dave with Jordan Szoke

Jen with Amy Szoke

The Motourage crew were lucky enough to have a chance to meet reigning Canadian Superbike champion Jordan Szoke and his wife, Amy – an accomplished road racer in her own right -  at this past weekend’s AMA White Lightning Nationals at Virginia International Raceway. Jordan, fresh from a perfect seven-win season and his seventh Canadian Superbike title, made the trip from Atlantic Motorsport Park in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia to Alton, Virginia to show his stuff to the American audience.

Canadian motorsports program, The Auto 123 Show caught up with Jordan before the final race of the Canadian Superbike season. Jordan and Amy are a great couple, and you can tell by this video just how exciting their lives are.

Sunday’s AMA Pro Road Racing finals at the 2.25-mile Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va. to close out the the Suzuki White Lightning AMA Pro Nationals Presented by Foremost Insurance event weekend provided redemption for a couple of riders and also brought a divisional championship to another very deserving rider.

SuperBike points leader Josh Hayes reasserted himself at the top of the tables in every way. After what was for him a disappointing third-place result in Saturday’s race, where his main championship rival Tommy Hayden took a well-measured victory, Hayes came back to dominate the 23-lap Superbike race 2.

Josh Hayes celebrates after Sunday's Superbike race 2 win

“I just feel like I woke up, I didn’t like to get beat yesterday,” said Hayes.  “Somewhere along the way I feel like I kind of got lost a little bit, just in my riding.  I wasn’t riding my full potential and I was still capable of racing for the wins.  I think our motorcycle has a lot to do with that, we have a really good motorcycle.  I was just thinking about, what was my mindset last year?  I was racing myself a lot more last year.  These guys ride great, but I put an awful lot of pressure on myself to perform, so that’s what I tried to get back to this morning and today’s race was a race against myself.”

Hayes led every lap on his way to a series high fifth win in the SuperBike class.  Pole position winner Ben Bostrom duplicated his second place from yesterday to round out a solid weekend.

Tommy Hayden battled first with Hayes and then fought Bostrom for second before he finished third to stay close to Hayes in the points chase. Hayden is only 11 points adrift of Hayes with two double header race weekends to go.

“I felt pretty good about stepping up and going faster than I had all weekend there for the first five or six laps,” said Hayden.  “But in the end we didn’t have the pace to go that fast, or cooked the tire a little bit and couldn’t keep up.  That’s the biggest part of it really, we just weren’t fast enough.”

Riding to fourth place was Jordan Suzuki rookie Brett McCormick who easily had the best race of his season in relief of injured teammate Aaron Yates.  Yates did make an appearance at VIR this weekend and quickly showed his mettle with an excellent qualifying effort, but he decided not to race until he was fully confident that he was in race distance shape after his lengthy lay off.

Another rider having a good day was Taylor Knapp who rode to a fifth place-finish after dueling with Jake Zemke and Erik Buell Racing’s Geoff May. Chris Ulrich also ran well today and took seventh aboard his M4 Monster Energy Suzuki.  Zemke ran in fifth place in the early stages of the race but fell to eighth after battling hard to hold onto every position.

Larry Pegram fell from sixth at the start down to 15th on lap two but made his way back to ninth at the flag. Canadian Superbike Champion Jordan Szoke made his second AMA Pro SuperBike appearance of the year after racing at Mid-Ohio and impressed once again with a tenth place finish after a battle with Shane Narbone.

Daytona SportBike

In the Daytona SportBike class, Josh Herrin was able to bounce back from the disappointment of Saturday’s race that ended for him almost as soon as it started.

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Australia’s three-time Speedway World Champion Jason Crump has recovered well from an operation to repair damage to his upper arm, finishing second at the Scandinavian Speedway Grand Prix in Malilla yesterday.

Photo Credit: Jarek Pabijan

Despite undergoing the operation only three weeks ago, Crump returned to the track last Tuesday and spearheaded Swedish Elite League team Vetlanda to a 49-46 victory over Vargarna.

Crump, who has maintained impressive form following his surgery, took 15 championship points from today’s event and further reduced the point gap to world championship rival Jaroslaw Hampel in second.

“I had a pretty good day and most importantly I felt quite comfortable,” Crump stated. “Having only had the operation three weeks ago I was a little unsure of how strong I would be so it was very pleasing to come away scoring points in all but one race. In the final Rune checked out and I battled with Thomsz for second throughout the race before finally pulling away from him on the last lap.”

After yesterday’s event, he Australian headed straight to Poland for today’s Polish League quarter final where he will line up for Wroclaw when they take on Torun.

Top-Ten Speedway World Championship Standings
1. Tomasz Gollob, 107pts
2. Jaroslaw Hampel, 102pts
3. Jason Crump, 90pts
4. Rune Holta, 76pts
5. Kenneth Bjerre, 75pts
6. Chris Holder, 66pts
7. Hans Andersen, 61pts
8. Andreas Jonsson, 55pts
9. Fredrik Lindgren, 54pts
10.Greg Hancock, 53pts

Saturday saw three thrilling AMA Pro Road Racing races at the 2.25-mile Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va., in the opening day of competition for the Suzuki White Lightning AMA Pro Nationals presented by Foremost Insurance.  One was a runaway, one was a photo finish and the last was almost as close as the second one.

In the National Guard SuperBike race, it was Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider Tommy Hayden who took his fourth AMA Pro SuperBike win of the season by 0.005 of a second over pole position winner Ben Bostrom.  Bostrom led on his Pat Clark Motorsports Yamaha coming down to the line but in a mighty move, Hayden pulled out and crossed the line inches ahead of Bostrom.  The fun wasn’t over for Hayden who, in his successful attempt to win the race, was out of position at that very high speed part of the track, and he used all of his considerable skills to wrestle his Suzuki under control after he found himself running wide off the track onto the grass.  He brought it back under control and took a critical victory in his pursuit of Josh Hayes and his Team Graves Yamaha team.

John Hopkins walks back to the paddock after crashing out of Superbike race 1 on Saturday

“We started coming to the finish and I had huge momentum when I pulled out,” Hayden commented on his pass for the win.  “The way I was pointing too, when I pulled out, I never even got pointed towards turn one I don’t think.  I started leaning a little and I just had the biggest front slide I think you can have without crashing.  I pretty much thought I was down and somehow I just stayed in the throttle and steered it back up and pointed out in the grass and hoped there was nothing out there I couldn’t see, any ditches or nothing coming up and just tried to ride it out.  It feels good, I really feel like I needed this one today.”

Hayes, by virtue of leading the most laps in today’s race, has a one point lead over Hayden in their close battle for the National Guard SuperBike Championship.  Hayes had led early in the race after taking the lead from a fast starting Hayden. Hayes took the lead on lap four and led until lap 10 when Ben Bostrom asserted himself into the mix by grabbing the lead from Hayes in turn one.  Hayes responded and took the lead right back the next lap and he led for the next nine laps until Bostrom moved ahead on lap 21 which enabled Hayden to get by Hayes as well. Bostrom led as the last lap began but Hayden made a big late braking move into turn one and took the lead but Bostrom was able to fight right back and retook the lead two corners later and looked a likely winner until Hayden made his great move heading down to the flag to take the win.

Behind the riveting battle for the win, Larry Pegram finished fourth after dueling with Jake Zemke, Zemke’s Jordan Suzuki teammate Brett McCormick, Taylor Knapp and a front-row starting Eric Bostrom.  Knapp eventually finished fifth ahead of McCormick, Bostrom and Zemke.

John Hopkins made his return to the series today, and he rode his M4 Monster Energy Suzuki extremely well, running in a solid fourth place for most of the race until he went down in turn four near the end of the race.  Another rider making a comeback this weekend was Jordan Suzuki rider Aaron Yates, and he qualified on the outside of the second row; however, Yates elected not to start the race. His recovery is going well, but he wasn’t absolutely sure he would bring his best to the race, which was run in very hot and humid conditions.  Overall, it was another exciting race in a season that has seen five different winners in SuperBike.

Daytona SportBike Photo Finish

The AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL race was even more exciting and came down to an even closer finish.  After seeing Danny Eslick take the pole position, Eslick was joined on the front row by his championship rival Josh Herrin along with six-time 2010 Daytona SportBike winner Martin Cardenas and Tommy Aquino.

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