Motourage

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.

AMA Pro American Superbike racer Chris Ulrich, working with significant support from track day provider Fastrack Riders, broke several records during the fifth annual Thanksgiving weekend fundraiser for the Roadracing World Action Fund November 28-29 at Auto Club Speedway, in Fontana, California.

For a minimum $50 donation to the Roadracing World Action Fund, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization which advocates and promotes the use of soft barriers to help prevent rider injuries at racetracks, Ulrich took donors for fast, multi-lap rides on his 185-horsepower Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R1000K8 racebike around the 2.3-mile, 21-turn infield road course. And by the end of the two-day fundraiser, Ulrich had set records for number of two-up rides given, 57; two-up laps completed, 180; and money raised, $3270.

Over the last five years Ulrich has raised a total of $9000 giving two-up rides. That’s in addition to raising the awareness of motorcycle road racing by giving general interest media representatives rides at AMA Nationals, the two-seat Superbike’s primary mission.

“We had a really good turn out,” said Ulrich. “We’ve been building this event over the years, and we promoted this one pretty well. In spite of some inclement weather and delays on Saturday we ended up taking 57 people for rides.

“We couldn’t have done that many if it hadn’t been for the durability of our AMA-spec Dunlop slicks. We used one front the whole weekend, and one Dunlop 6680 Medium compound rear lasted for well over 90 laps of two-up rides, which is really impressive.

“It’s really good that even in these trying economic times people are willing to come out and donate their hard-earned money to help keep racers and track day riders safe. I just want the thank all of them for coming out and supporting the Roadracing World Action Fund and to thank all the people who made it possible — everyone at Fastrack Riders, the staff at Roadracing World Publishing.”

In addition to his other records, Ulrich also set a new personal two-seater lap record. After mounting a new Dunlop rear tire on Sunday, Ulrich took 14-year-old USGPRU racer Ryan Matter around the track in just 1:34.606, undercutting his previous best, a 1:36.2 he did last year with racer Melissa Paris riding as a passenger. To put that in perspective, Ulrich’s best lap times during the AMA American Superbike National earlier this year at Auto Club Speedway were in the low-to-mid-1:26 range.

Fastrack Riders has partnered with Ulrich and the Roadracing World Action Fund to hold the Thanksgiving weekend fundraiser each year for the last five years, providing track time, riding gear and staff support.

Team Roadracingworld.com and professional racer Chris Ulrich, the 12th-place finisher in the 2009 AMA Pro American Superbike Championships, will be holding a fundraising event November 28-29 at Fontana, California’s Auto Club Speedway, in association with Fastrack Riders Association (FRA).

Ride two-up with Chris Ulrich for a good cause

In exchange for a cash donation, which will go to the Roadracing World Action Fund–a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization which advocates and promotes the use of soft barriers to help prevent rider injuries at racetracks–Ulrich will take donors for a couple of fast laps around Auto Club Speedway’s 2.3-mile, 21-turn infield road course on the back of his 185-horsepower, 195-mph Suzuki GSX-R1000 racebike, which has been fitted with a passenger seat, passenger foot rests and a grab handle on the fuel tank.

Ulrich normally uses the retired racebike as an outreach tool during the race season, giving rides on the racetrack to local mainstream media representatives prior to AMA Championship events to help them better understand the sport of motorcycle road racing.

Prior to past AMA events at Auto Club Speedway, Ulrich has given KTLA-TV Sports Anchor Damon Andrews, KNBC-TV’s Amanda Maynard and G4 Network “Attack Of The Show” correspondent Alison Haislip two-seater rides. And over the course of the last several years, Ulrich has given rides to people ranging from small town newspaper reporters to Indy Car drivers to TV/movie stars to 1993 500cc Grand Prix World Champion Kevin Schwantz.

This Thanksgiving Day weekend will be the fifth consecutive year Ulrich, Team Roadracingworld.com and FRA have held the ridealong fundraiser to benefit the Roadracing World Action Fund.

Full professional riding gear will be provided on loan free of charge courtesy of FRA and Team Roadracingworld.com, however, due to limited supplies, all sizes may not be available and not everyone will be able to ride. All rides will be on a first-come, first-served basis. No reservations are required.

The minimum donation amount will be $50. Larger donations will earn additional laps. Photos and videos of the rides may be available for an extra donation.

For additional information on the Roadracing World Action Fund, go to: http://actionfund.roadracingworld.com/

To see actual video footage from a two-seat ride with Ulrich at California Speedway, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9G1kVY0OPo

Or go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpeCEPSjRxI&feature=fvw

To see the “Attack of the Show” segment with Chris Ulrich, go to: http://www.g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/exclusives/64491/Road-Report-Suzuki-GSXR600-Motorcycle.html

For more information about Fastrack Riders track days, go to http://www.fastrackriders.com