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.

Tacoma, Washington’s Jake Holden has been an AMA pro racer for ten years.  He’s raced for Michael Jordan Motorsports and Corona Honda in the SuperStock and Superbike classes, and is an extremely capable Supermoto rider as well.  This past weekend, Jake added another impressive finish to his racing resume. As a privateer competitor, he raced at the Phillip Island round of the Woodstock Bourbon Australian Superbike Championship. Riding a privateer Honda CBR1000, Jake finished fourth overall and first in the Privateer Cup riding a track he had never visited until last week.  Motourage caught up with Jake after he returned from his trip, and asked him a few questions about racing and life in general.

Jake Holden talks racing at the Corona Honda meet & greet during the Big Kahuna Nationals weekend at Virginia International Raceway

M: Pretty impressive showing at Phillip Island.  What was it like trying to quickly adjust to a track you’ve never seen, much less raced on?
JH: Phillip Island is on one of my Video games, so I tried to do some laps on the video game before I went over, and it did help me a little bit.  But, when you’re actually going 180mph on the track everything changes.

M: How did the atmosphere at the track and in the paddock differ from what we see here in the States?
JH: In the pits over there it was run pretty close to what AMA does when they run here with MotoGP.  [The ASBK guys] get pushed to the back of the pits and run on a limited time frame due to MotoGP, but I thought everything ran really smooth.

M: Do the fans in Australia know as little about American road racing as most of the U.S. fans know about the ASBK, or did you find you had your fair share of followers over there?
JH: Yeah, I had never really followed the ASBK series until I was getting ready to fly over.  I did a little homework to find out who I was racing against – I had recognized some of the names, but only like two.  I got over there and not one person on the team knew who I was, so I didn’t feel a lot of pressure.

M: In the past year, we’ve seen an increase in the number of AMA riders who are expanding their racing horizons – everything from WSBK and MotoGP wild card rides to full-time WSBK and – now – Moto2 contracts. Do you think AMA competitors are getting more respect than you’ve had in the few years prior?
JH: Ben Spies has shown that the AMA racers can go overseas and ride, which is pretty cool. So yeah I think we are getting a little more respect.

M: It has been a few months since we last caught up with you during the Big Kahuna Nationals at VIR.  Overall, what are your thoughts on the 2009 season in general, and specifically, your performance and the effects of the changes in the AMA rules?
JH: My 2009 season performance was ok for me, but I was on my own personal bike that I paid for and I only had one bike – if I had crashed it I had to pay to fix it.  I funded my season by myself so it was a tough year, but I did have a couple of good finishes, and I do have the track record at the new track in Topeka.  The rule changes made for better racing; I don’t mind the changes for the Superbike class, but I hope that they don’t push the factory teams out of racing.

Jake finished 10th in the AMA Pro Superbike standings in 09 despite minimal financial backing from Honda and Corona Racing

M: Besides racing in Australia, what have you been up to since the end of the AMA season?
JH: Not much just getting ready to do a supermoto and shifter kart trip down to Louisiana and Arizona, so I’m looking forward to leaving Washington.  It’s too cold up here!

M: We know you’re an avid supermoto rider, but what else do you do to stay focused on racing and keep in shape when you’re not racing superbikes?
JH: I’ve been into bicycling, so I keep up with that, and I plan on training down in Arizona over the winter, so it should be good for next year.  I’m ready to come back stronger than ever.

M: Last month, Honda announced it was removing all support for AMA Pro Road Racing for 2010, but you’re no stranger to doing things on your own and getting some pretty good results from your efforts.  Can you give us the inside scoop on any details about what’s in the works for next year?
JH: Yeah, I saw that Honda pulled out, but there are still a lot of teams up in the air for next year.  I haven’t heard much for next year as far as rides or teams signing racers, so it will be a silly season for sure.

M: One of Motourage’s goals is to help bring more fans into the sport of American motorcycle racing.  In your opinion, what sets racing apart from other sports in the ways that it’s more accessible to fans?
JH: My dad is a huge sports fan – like basketball, baseball and football – and I could care less about those sports, so I told him that all those sports only use one ball and to do my sport you need two.  But really why is NASCAR bigger than motorcycle racing?  It’s because everybody has a car in the United States but not everybody has motorcycles.  I believe that is why Europe is different.  I’m sure outside-industry sponsorship would help too, so in order for that we would need better TV time for racing.  DMG – which is a part of NASCAR – owns our series now, so why can’t we get a race or do a demonstration for the NASCAR fans?  I think something like that would grab the attention of more racing fans.  That’s just an idea from a motorcycle racer; I’m sure there are a lot of smart people out there who could come up with a better idea.  I just hope I can race in 2010 without going broke.

Much thanks to Jake for taking the time to answer a few questions for us.  The team at Motourage and all his fans in the U.S. – and around the world – wish him the best of luck in 2010 and beyond.

Neil Hodgson and Jake Holden finished out the 2009 Superbike season right behind each other with fifth and sixth place finishes respectively at the New Jersey Motorsports Park venue finale.  In front of a terrific crowd for the first ever event at the new facility and with almost ideal weather, both riders overcame earlier problems to get on the pace and up in the front pack for an exciting finish to the season.  The race also marked the last ever for multi-time AMA Superbike champion Mat Mladin.  Mat’s skill and determination will be missed.  We wish him the best in his retirement endeavors.

The weekend did not start well for the team with problems for both riders, electrical gremlins for Jake and set-up issues for Neil.  Jake, who had never been to the facility before, struggled to get up to speed with minimal track time caused by a hard to trace misfire at high rpm.  The problem was to plague his practices all weekend and keep him from his usual fast qualifying.  Neil, who had tested at the track earlier in the season, was not able to capitalize on that experience and had a hard time quickly finding a bike set-up that worked for him.

Neil was able to get the bike sorted for final qualifying and posted third fastest time of the day, 1:21.710, and into Superpole.  Unfortunately his Superpole lap, 1:22.649, was not nearly as good as the time earlier and he lost grid positions ending in seventh.  Jake qualified in fifteenth having missed most of the qualifying session with the electrical problems.

Race one was a lesson in frustration for both riders.  Neil had crashed in qualifying practice wrecking his bike and requiring the crew to rebuild it from the frame up for the race.  Jake almost missed the start when an engine mapping problem appeared on the warm-up lap.  He was able to make it to the start just in time after frantic work by the crew.  Neither Neil nor Jake were able to get up to speed in the race and their finishes were not helped by poor starts.  Both struggled getting by slower riders and neither was able to match times posted in qualifying.  The final finishes were eleventh for Jake and thirteenth for Neil.

In the second race the story was much better.  After a red flag on the first lap and full race restart both riders were up in the lead pack and stayed within striking distance of the leaders for the entire race.  Hodgson crossed the strip for the first time in 5th and held that position until lap 17 when Larry Pegram managed to get by.  Neil held 6th position for three laps until gaining 5th again when Tommy Hayden crashed. Hodgson held that position until the end of the race. Neil’s best lap time was 1:21.879.

Jake Holden also had a much better second race, benefiting from the track time gained in race one!  Holden crossed the stripe in 9th for the first lap, having made up six positions from his start. He held that position until lap four when he passed Cory West for 8th. West managed to retake that position on lap 10. On lap 14 Holden passed Blake Young to take back 8th.  He moved up again on lap 21 when Hayden crashed. The next lap Holden passed West to take 6th a position he held until the end of the race. He posted his best lap time of 1:21.532, the fourth fastest lap of the race, ably showing what a quick learner Jake is.

Jake finished the season championship points standing in tenth place with Neil right behind in eleventh.

The event ended with the traditional end-of-season Corona party held in the Officers Club at the New Jersey Motorsports Park.  The event was supported by all the major teams, the venue and AMA.  The event finished in the wee hours and provided an enjoyable close to the season.

In its “Race to the Lime” Corona Extra Honda Racing is proud to be partnering with; Parts Unlimited, Cycle Gear, Pro Honda Oils, AGV, FMF, Autolite, Hotbodies Racing, K&N, Motion Pro, Vortex, Dainese, GPR, Ogio, CR&A, RK, Dunlop, JE Pistons, Powerstands, Bellco, Adran, K&L, HRC, Acme Garage, Vicci, Fluid Designs, Shock Doctor, EBSCO Media, MTS.

Motourage attended a Q&A session at the Corona Honda garage at the AMA Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals at Virginia International Raceway. Corona Honda Riders Jake Holden & Neil Hodgson talked about racing and took questions from the group. Part one of this three-part video features Jake Holden.

Corona Honda's Neil Hodgson & Jake Holden

Corona Extra Honda riders Jake Holden and Neil Hodgson put in solid performances at the hot and humid Virginia International Raceway this past weekend.  Both riders struggled with traction problems but still Jake came away with seventh and tenth place finishes; Neil eleventh and eighth.

As usual, both Neil and Jake got up to speed in the first on-track session posting fifth and 12th respectively. Hodgson turned a time of 1:26.129. Holden posted a time of 1:27.510 after having gearing problems throughout the session.  In qualifying, both went into Super Pole.  Hodgson improved upon his morning times with a 1:25.807 for 6th.  Holden posted a flyer on his last lap moving him from 12th to ninth to guarantee his spot.  He also improved on his morning time with a 1:26.139.

Superpole saw Hodgson improving for fifth on the grid after posting a 1:26.431 on Friday afternoon.  Holden had problems and had to settle for the 10th starting position after posting a time of 1:26.980.  Times for all riders were slower than the times posted in basic qualifying.

In race one of the double header, both Neil and Jake fought through from bad starts to move up the race order.  Holden followed Hodgson across the stripe to complete lap one in 12th place.  Both riders passed Jeff Wood during the next lap.  Holden then got around his teammate on lap three but gave up a position to Knapp while Geoff May crashed on lap four to move both riders up a position.  Larry Pegram ran off-track on lap five to move both riders up another position, and Holden managed to get around Laverty on lap eight to take the seventh spot.  Hodgson gave up 10th to Pegram on lap 10, but managed to take back that position during the next lap.  On lap 12, Holden battled with Knapp, taking the seventh spot and holding that position until the end of the race.  Jeff Wood passes on lap 19, moving him down to 10th place, where he finished the race.  Holden turned his best lap time of 1:26.612 in lap 13.  Hodgson turned his best lap time 1:27.231 in lap 7.

Both Corona Extra Honda Racing riders got good starts during the Sunday round.  Neil Hodgson finished lap one in eighth and battled with Ben Bostrom for the next two laps swapping positions each lap.  On lap four, both Hodgson and Bostrom passed Jeff Wood.  Hodgson then gave up positions to Taylor Knapp on lap six and Aaron Yates on lap seven.  He managed to catch and pass Matt Mladin bringing home an eighth place finish but not before taking a 150 MPH excursion through the grass for the entire length of the straight.  Holden crossed the line at the end of lap one in 10th and held that position until giving up a spot to Knapp on lap three.  Two laps later, Holden passed Wood for 10th and held that position until the end of the race.

For more information, please visit Corona Extra Honda Racing online at www.corona-racing.com.