Motourage

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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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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Aaron Yates, injured in March during a warm-up-lap crash at Auto Club Speedway, will make his return to the AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike Series at this weekend’s Suzuki White Lightning AMA Pro Nationals Presented by Foremost Insurance at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va.  Yates will practice his #23 Jordan Suzuki and make a further evaluation if he will race after that.  Brett McCormick, Aaron’s teammate who has been riding the second Jordan Suzuki in Yates’ absence will also compete along with National Guard Suzuki Jordan rider Jake Zemke.

“I’m excited about riding again,” said Yates. “And really looking forward to getting back out there.”

Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider Blake Young will not be riding this weekend at VIR. Young continues his recovery from injuries suffered in a testing accident at Barber Motorsports Park.  Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s team manager Peter Doyle is hopeful that Blake will be able to return to racing soon but isn’t putting a date on Young’s comeback.

“I think it’s one of those injuries that you just have to let heal in its own time,” Doyle said. “We want Blake back 100 percent healthy so we can go out there and try to win some races full force. We’ll just have to take it a day at a time.”

The AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series will also compete this weekend.  Danny Eslick and Jake Holden will again lead the field of Harley-Davidson XR1200s in the series’ third race of the season. Eslick, winner of the first two races, and his teammate Holden, will be back aboard their RMR Bruce Rossmeyer Daytona Racing XR1200s with support from GEICO Powersports and Lucas Oil.

Joining them on the grid will be the Wyman brothers, Travis and Kyle.  Kyle will be on another RMR Bruce Rossmeyer Daytona Racing XR1200 and Travis will be on the Harv’s Harley-Davidson Racing machine.  Eric Stump will be back on the AbsoluteCycle.com XR1200 and Paul James will be returning on the James Gang Hoban Brothers Racing XR1200 with support from Harley-Davidson of Appleton.  Matthew Heidel makes his series debut on the Shar-Tuff Uniforms Harley-Davidson and Mark Cernicky joins the series on the Hog Racing XR1200.  Practice and qualifying will be on Saturday, August 14th and the 18 lap race will be on Sunday, August 15th.

The close-fought AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike Championship battle will be rejoined at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, VA this weekend, August 13-15, 2010.  The 2.25 mile, 18-turn road course will be the site of the Suzuki White Lightning AMA Pro Nationals Presented by Foremost Insurance where championship contenders Josh Hayes, Tommy Hayden, Jake Zemke and Larry Pegram will take to the track for the doubleheader race weekend.

Leading the charge will be four-time 2010 race winner Josh Hayes on his Team Graves Yamaha.  Hayes won both ends of the doubleheader at VIR in 2009 and is coming off a close second-place finish at the recent Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca round.  Hayes has notched up wins at Infineon Raceway, Road America and Mid-Ohio, and he is excited about returning to the track where he ran so well last year.  “I like my chances at VIR, I won there last year and with the way my Yamaha is running this year, I feel pretty good about the upcoming weekend.”

Right on Hayes’ tail is Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider Tommy Hayden.  Hayden took his first-ever AMA Pro Superbike win earlier this year at Auto Club Speedway and he added two more wins to his growing career total, one at Road America and another at Mid-Ohio.  In the case of the last two wins, Hayden was able to match Hayes’ victories at Road America and Mid-Ohio, preventing Hayes from extending his slim points lead. Right now, the difference is only nine points, 311 for Hayes and 302 for Hayden.

After winning the first two races of the 2010 season, Jake Zemke has consistently added to his points total with a series of strong results.  Zemke took second place at Auto Club Speedway and added a pair of third-place finishes, three fourth-place finishes, a fifth and four sixth-place finishes to keep his National Guard Jordan Suzuki in the thick of the championship fight.  Zemke started on the front row and finished fourth at VIR last year when he ran in the Daytona Sportbike class.  Now he is a force to be reckoned with every time the Superbikes take to the track.

Another rider with a victory this year is Foremost Insurance Ducati rider Larry Pegram who took a popular win at Auto Club Speedway earlier this year.  And Pegram was leading in the second race when he suffered an unfortunate fall while headed for what could have been a weekend sweep of the Auto Club Speedway races.  After a couple of results that didn’t meet his expectations, Pegram got back on track when he returned to California with two strong third-place finishes at Infineon Raceway and then he took a couple of fourth place finishes at Road America followed by a fourth and a third place finish at his home track in Ohio. At the most recent race, Pegram rode another typically solid race to fourth place at Laguna Seca.  Pegram’s longtime sponsor Foremost Insurance is the Presenting Sponsor at this weekend’s VIR event and you can count on Pegram racing in his usual determined manner with his unique and popular Foremost Insurance Ducati.

Due to his steadily improving form, which culminated with a win at the most recent race at Laguna Seca, Ben Bostrom and the new Pat Clark Motorsports Yamaha team have put themselves into the championship frame.  Bostrom, the 2009 Daytona 200 race winner and the brother of Eric Bostrom, will be ready to resume his steady march to the front after strong showings at Infineon (two seconds), a second and a fourth at Mid-Ohio and his win at Laguna.  Bostrom had surgery on his left thumb after Laguna, but he doesn’t anticipate any problems this weekend.

Two riders making welcome returns to the AMA Pro National Guard Superbike series this weekend at VIR are M4 Monster Energy Suzuki rider John Hopkins and Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider Blake Young.  Hopkins underwent surgery earlier this year and is back for his first race since Road Atlanta in April.  Hopkins has been ably represented by Jake Holden who posted a number of good results while substituting on the GSX-R1000.  Young took his first two Superbike wins this year at Road Atlanta.  That was a special weekend for Young as he took pole position and won both races on the demanding Georgia track.  Young was at the recent race at Laguna and was raring to get back on his lightning fast Suzuki.

Seventh and eighth in the AMA Pro SuperBike points this year are two riders that are having nice solid years and are both quietly riding well and showing excellent form.  M4 Monster Energy Suzuki rider Chris Ulrich has put together a very solid year.  Ulrich has shown excellent consistency and has posted a solid run of results with only one finish outside the top ten until the last race at Laguna Seca where he uncharacteristically went out after two laps.  Ulrich is seventh in points with 150.  Right behind Ulrich in the points with 141 is Taylor Knapp on his RidersDiscount.com Suzuki.  Knapp and his close knit team have done a nice, steady job and Knapp has responded by taking seven finishes of tenth or better.

The action at the Suzuki White Lightning AMA Pro Nationals Presented by Foremost Insurance begins on Friday, August 13th with practice and first round qualifying. Round one of the doubleheader race weekend will be on Saturday, August 14th and more races including the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 race will be on Sunday, August 15th. Check all the weekend activities at the beautiful Virginia International Raceway including the popular Pit Lane Fan Walk and AMA Pro Autograph sessions as well as the Second Annual MRO VIR Food Drive to Benefit God’s Storehouse in Danville, VA.  For more info contact gracingfuelministry@yahoo.com. God’s Storehouse can be contacted via their website godsstorehouse.org or by calling 434-793-3663. Motor Racing Outreach’s website is go2mro.com.  Please visit www.virclub.com for ticket and event information and www.amaproracing.com for series information.

Suzuki White Lightning AMA Pro Nationals presented by Foremost Insurance
Virginia International Raceway, Alton, VA
August 13-15, 2010

Thursday, August 12
10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Move-In & Set-Up, Big Rig Transporters Only
Noon – 5 p.m. Move-In & Set-Up, All Transporters/Service Providers
3 p.m. Pit Lane Assignments

Friday, August 13
10 a.m. Mandatory Riders, Entrants & Crew Chiefs Meeting
10:30 – 10:50 a.m. Track Inspection
11 a.m. Top Gun Post Entry Closed
11 a.m. – Noon Lunch Break (National Guard Two-Up Rides)
Noon – 12:50 p.m. Practice 50 min Daytona SportBike
1 – 1:50 p.m. Practice 50 min American SuperBike
2 – 2:40 p.m. Practice 40 min SuperSport
2:50 – 3:30 p.m. Qualifying 1 40 min Daytona SportBike
3:40 – 4:20 p.m. Qualifying 1 40 min American SuperBike
4:30 – 5:10 p.m. Qualifying 1 40 min SuperSport
5:15 – 5:45 p.m. Practice 30 min TTXGP

Saturday, August 14
7:20 – 7:50 a.m. Track Inspection
8 – 8:30 a.m. Qualifying 2 30 min SuperSport 8:40 a.m. – 9:20 a.m. Qualifying 2 40 min Daytona SportBike
9:30 – 10:10 a.m. Qualifying 2 40 min American SuperBike
10:20 – 10:50 a.m. Practice 30 min XR1200
10:50 a.m. – Noon Lunch Break (Fan Lap/National Guard Two-Up’s/Stunt Show)
Noon – 12:45 p.m. Fan Walk – All Classes, Hot Pit Lane / Ceremonies
1 p.m. SuperSport Race 1 18 Laps – 40 Mi/65 Km
2 p.m. Daytona SportBike Race 1 23 Laps – 50 Mi/80 Km
3:15 p.m. American SuperBike Race 1 23 Laps – 50 Mi/80 Km
4:15 – 5 p.m. Qualifying 45 min XR1200
5:05 – 5:35 p.m. Qualifying 30 min TTXGP

Sunday, August 15
7:20 – 7:50 a.m. Track Inspection
8 – 8:20 a.m. Warm-Up 20 min TTXGP
8:30 – 8:50 a.m. Warm–Up 20 min SuperSport
9 – 9:20 a.m. Warm–Up 20 min Daytona SportBike
9:30 – 9:50 a.m. Warm–Up 20 min American SuperBike
10 – 10:20 a.m. Warm–Up 20 min XR1200
10:30 – 11:30 a.m. Lunch Break (National Guard Two-Up Rides/Fan Lap)
10:50 – 11:30 a.m. Autograph Session – ASB, DSB, SS Mandatory
11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Fan Walk – All Classes, Hot Pit Lane / Ceremonies
12:30 p.m. SuperSport Race 2 18 Laps – 40 Mi/65 Km
1:30 p.m. Daytona SportBike Race 2 23 Laps – 50 Mi/80 Km
2:45 p.m. American SuperBike Race 2 23 Laps – 50 Mi/80 Km
3:45 p.m. XR1200 Race 18 Laps – 40 Mi/65 Km
4:15 p.m. TTXGP Race 11 Laps – 25 Mi/40 Km

Course Length – 2.25 Mi (3.62 Km)

AMA Pro Road Racing Weekend Preview – Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Quick Links
Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix Event Page
SPEED Schedule

Series:
AMA Pro Road Racing

Event:
Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix Event Page

Track:
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – 2.238 Mile – 11 Turn Natural Road Course

Classes:

• AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike (Entry List)
• AMA Pro Daytona SportBike by AMSOIL (Entry List)
• AMA Pro SuperSport (Entry List)

Schedule (PDF Schedule):
Friday, July 23rd Practice:

• SuperSport 12:30 – 1:20 PM
• Daytona SportBike 3:10 – 4:00 PM
• National Guard SuperBike 4:10 – 5:00 PM

Saturday, July 24th Qualifying:

• Daytona SportBike by AMSOIL 8:00 – 8:40 AM Qualifying 1
• SuperSport 8:45 – 9:20 AM Final Qualifying
• National Guard SuperBike 11:05 – 11:50 AM Qualifying 1
• Daytona SportBik by AMSOIL 12:00 Noon – 12:45 PM Final Qualifying
• National Guard SuperBike 3:50 – 4:40 PM Final Qualifying

Saturday July 24th Race:

• SuperSport Race 18 Laps/40 Miles – 5:30 PM

Sunday, June 6th Races:

• Daytona SportBike by AMSOIL Race 23 Laps/50 Miles – 10:25 AM
• National Guard SuperBike race 23 Laps/50 Miles – 3:45 PM

TV Schedule (SPEEDTV.com):

• Late Sunday/Early Monday, July 26, 2010 at 12:00 a.m. midnight ET – Daytona SportBike Race
• Late Sunday/Early Monday, July 26, 2010 at 1:00 a.m. ET – American SuperBike Race and SuperSport Highlights
• Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 3:00AM ET – Daytona SportBike Race (RERUN)
• Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 4:00AM ET – American SuperBike Race and SuperSport Highlights (RERUN)

2009 Race Records & Results:

Fastest Qualifiers:

• National Guard SuperBike Pole Position – Mat Mladin – Rockstar Makita Suzuki -1:24.592/95.243 MPH
• Daytona SportBike by AMSOIL Pole Position – Martin Cardenas – M4 Suzuki – 1:27.585/91.988 MPH
• SuperSport Pole Position – Ricky Parker – Graves Yamaha – 1:30.213/89.308 MPH

Race Winners:

• National Guard SuperBike Race Winner – Mat Mladin – Rockstar Makita Suzuki
• Daytona SportBike by AMSOIL Race Winner – Ben Bostrom – Team Graves Yamaha
• SuperSport Race Winner – Ricky Parker – Team Graves Yamaha

Team M4 Monster Energy Suzuki had a mixed Sunday to round out the AMA Pro Road Racing weekend at Infineon Raceway, as the squad picked up two more strong Superbike results but suffered a stinging disappointment in the Daytona Sportbike final.

Martin Cardenas pulled off a win on Saturday, but a DNF in Sunday's Sportbike race leaves him third in points

Coming off Saturday’s thrilling victory, Martin Cardenas had aspirations of pulling off yet another doubleheader sweep aboard his GSX-R600 at Infineon Raceway, but those hopes were dashed early when the Colombian crashed out of the race on the second lap. Martin made contact with another rider and ended up in the dirt. Despite his difficult day, Cardenas leaves Infineon Raceway third in the Daytona SportBike title race with 133 points.

Jake Holden and Chris Ulrich put together similar outings compared with Saturday, the two once again claiming the checkered flag while running in seventh and eighth positions, respectively.

Holden, riding in place of the injured John Hopkins, stuck with the front pack during the contest’s early stages again before accepting a relatively lonely seventh. Ulrich, meanwhile, upped his pace aboard his GSX-R1000 and kept the lead group in sight for an extended period as well before securing his seventh top-ten result of the season.

Ulrich, who retains his seventh-place ranking in the American Superbike championship standings, said, “Today’s race was similar to yesterday’s but our split was better today. I held onto the lead group a lot longer today. We made some small changes to the front and I went faster today than I qualified. It was key to get in a strong first lap and cling onto the lead group and they pulled me into the ’37s and I stayed there as long as I could. I was at my limit and I feel good about my race. It was a big improvement from last year where we could ride at a good pace for half-distance or so where now I’m able to push at the limit for the entire race.
The bike is getting better every week and so am I. Let’s be honest, we struggled at Atlanta, but we got down to business here and went pretty good. We have Road America coming up and I’m looking forward to going there.”

Team M4 Monster Energy Crew Chief Keith Perry remarked, “It seems like in SportBike we’re either going to be on top of the podium or throwing it down, one or the other. Martin is such a competitor and such a hard runner there’s no doubt he’s going to bounce back and be running for the front again at Road America. We’ll just go into the next one and see how it shakes out.
We had very solid Superbike results today,” added Perry. “I know both of them would like to be a couple positions higher than that, but we worked some things out that will allow us to make some progress with the big bikes and we’re looking forward to Elkhart Lake for sure.”

Team M4 Monster Energy Suzuki will be back in action on June 4-6 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI.

With Team M4 Monster Energy Suzuki racer John Hopkins undergoing wrist surgery yesterday in California,  Jake Holden will replace Hopkins at the AMA Pro Road Racing events at Infineon Raceway, Road America, and Mid-Ohio.

Ducshop Racing Daytona Sportbike rider Jake Holden finds himself back on a Suzuki Superbike after three years.

Holden’s M4 Monster Energy Suzuki GSX-R1000 will wear the number 3 in those AMA Pro American Superbike races.

While Hopkins has shown quick pace in several AMA Superbike races, including charges in both Road Atlanta American Superbike events that saw him gain several positions late in those contests, his right wrist has been an issue for the former MotoGP polesitter. An earlier minor procedure did not provide relief for the two-time AMA Pro champion and a more extensive surgery was required.

“Apparently, the surgery went well,” said Hopkins. “It was a complete reconstruction. What was happening was there was a bone-on-bone situation. My radius bone had been pounding into my wrist and bruising a bone. I had been going to a bunch of doctors and seen all kinds of specialists and they told me it wasn’t just going to end my racing career. It would cost me the bone in my wrist, too. We found a specialist in San Diego that’s done a procedure with another patient before and that patient had a 90 percent recovery. They went in and shortened the radius bone slightly and did some work with tendons and ligaments as well. I have a lot of confidence I’ll have a good recovery and the doctor told me, ‘In no way is this the end of your racing career.’ I’m looking forward to rehab and getting it working right again.”

Holden has been a consistent performer in AMA racing for the past few seasons. Jake is a fast veteran and has competed on a variety of machines in his career.

“No one wants to see another rider have to miss races because of injury but I’m excited to get this opportunity. The team has a solid reputation and has had a lot of success over the years,” said Holden. “I’ve admired what they have been able to do. It’s a good program and I am looking forward to seeing what I can do on a full-on Superbike. Going into this season, I was looking to get some Superbike efforts going in AMA Pro and I love the big bikes. I’ve raced Suzukis for most of my career and I’m familiar with them. I also had a win at Infineon Raceway so hopefully we will be able to get up to speed quickly.”

Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki scored a podium and maintains the AMA Superbike Championship points lead after completing races five and six of the 2010 AMA Pro Road Racing series at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia this weekend.

Jordan Motorsports Suzuki's Jake Zemke scored 3rd and 4th-place finishes at Road Atlanta

National Guard Jordan Suzuki’s Jake Zemke scored a third place podium finish on Saturday and finished fourth in Sunday’s race as injured Aaron Yates’ replacement rider Brett McCormick had a tough first weekend; crashing-out of Saturday’s race and experiencing a mechanical issue on Sunday after just nine laps.

Zemke found himself involved in a four-man battle at the front for the entire 20-lap race on Saturday. He slipped into second in the final stages but was unable to hold off the pack as he crossed the line in fourth. He was later awarded a third-placed podium finish after the race winner, Graves Yamaha’s Josh Hayes, was assessed a 21.4 second penalty. On Sunday, Zemke was slightly off the pace, maintaining fourth place throughout most of the race and finishing fourth. But he heads to the next event at Infineon Raceway with a four-point lead in the championship.

“Saturday wasn’t horrible,” Zemke said. “We got out there in the race and the pace was quite a bit slower than what we’d been running in practice and with the guys in front of us, we just couldn’t seem to get off the corners. Today, it seemed like I was getting yanked off the slower corners, so we changed quite a bit on the bike – changed the gearing, changed everything to try and fix that problem and we just ended up shooting ourselves in the foot a little bit. Every time we’re going out, we’re learning and unfortunately we learned a hard one this weekend. We’ve definitely got to get our act together if we’re going to win this Championship, so we’ll put our heads together and see what we can come up with for Infineon. I’m still leading the points, but it’s not even worth saying I’m leading right now. Tommy’s running good right now and obviously Josh and Blake this weekend; they were definitely running real strong as well, so it’s going to be a fight to the end and that’s why we got to get on our game and make sure we’re there every week.”

This weekend’s event was particularly significant for Georgia Army National Guard’s 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. Jake Zemke’s National Guard Suzuki GSX-R1000 was sporting the state patch in honor of the historic combat brigade. The corresponding National Guard state patches will be placed on Zemke’s Suzuki for the remainder of the 2010 season.

The 2010 Michael Jordan Motorsports team’s next event will be at the West Coast Motto Jam at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California on May 14-16th.

Parts Canada Superbike Championship rider, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan based 18 year old Brett McCormick, will join the AMA Pro American Superbike series, riding for the Jordan Suzuki team in the AMA Pro American Superbike class. McCormick will make his debut at the upcoming third event of the season at Road Atlanta, near Braselton, Georgia, April 17-18.

Canadian Brett McCormick is no stranger to US circuits

McCormick tested for the team, owned by legendary basketball Superstar Michael Jordan, at Infineon Raceway at Sears Point, near San Francisco, CA, for the past two days.  With long time Jordan racer Aaron Yates injured during the previous round of the tour at Auto Club Speedway outside Los Angles, CA., last weekend, the opportunity opened up for McCormick to join the squad as a substitute for Yates.

Jordan team leader Yates was injured on Sunday morning, March 28, during the warm-up session for race four of the American Superbike series. Yates crashed in the infield of the road course, and was run over by a competitor who he had just passed.  The incident broke both bones in Yates’ lower leg, the tibia in two places.  Yates is expected to be out of action for around two months after surgery that lasted six hours.

For McCormick, the opportunity to ride for the Jordan team was a much needed positive career swing.  The Jordan squad fields two Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbikes, and the other team entry, ridden by Jake Zemke and sponsored by the National Guard, is currently leading the series points standings.

McCormick was runner up in both the Parts Canada Superbike Championship and Yoshimura Pro Sport Bike division in 2009, his third year as a Pro road race competitor on the Canadian National tour.  However the Blackfoot Suzuki squad folded during the past off season, leaving top prospect McCormick looking for work.  A potential job on the Superbike World Championship trail aboard a privateer Ducati looked promising, but a more experienced European racer got the job at the last minute.
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