(NEWS RELEASE)

Yoshimura Suzuki Rider Puts GSX-R1000 On Pole In Debut

AUSTIN, TX (April 21, 2017) – Yoshimura Suzuki’s Roger Hayden earned the first Motul Superbike class pole position of the season today at the Circuit of The Americas, the Kentuckian leading the way with a blistering 2:08.184 to set himself up nicely for tomorrow’s opening round of the 2017 MotoAmerica Series. It was Hayden’s second successive pole position at COTA, the Suzuki rider earning pole here a year ago before finishing second in both races to his teammate Toni Elias.

Hayden’s lap of 2:08.184 was impressive and .121 of a second faster than his quick lap from the Dunlop Preseason Test held at COTA three weeks ago. Last year, Hayden earned pole position with a 2:09.151.

“It definitely feels good to be on pole,” said Hayden. “Overall I just feel pretty good on the bike. Yesterday I didn’t feel as good as the (preseason) test, but today we made some changes this morning and I felt pretty good. The lap time wasn’t there this morning as I had a lot of traffic on my last run, but I feel like the bike is working good. Like these guys said, it’s going to be a tough race. I think tire management is going to come into play a lot during the last couple of laps. This place can be pretty hard on tires. I’m happy to be on pole. The new Suzuki GSX-R1000, we definitely want to showcase its ability and putting it on pole is big for them. So hats off to the team and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Second fastest today was two-time defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier, the Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing team rider just .158 of a second off Hayden’s best. Both Hayden and Beaubier turned their fast laps on their sixth lap in the 15-minute Superpole session.

“I’m feeling a lot better,” said Beaubier, who has been suffering from a head cold. “After first practice yesterday, just sweating a little bit of the cold out helped a lot and I woke up this morning feeling quite a bit better. I’m ready to go racing. We had a good day today. We had a decent pace going on the race tires this morning. We still have a couple of things here and there to work on that we want to try tomorrow, but hopefully it’s dry. I know the forecast said it might rain overnight so hopefully the track is dry enough in the morning to try what we want to try but all-in-all I’m happy. I feel like I didn’t get completely everything out of the qualifier, but I think that’s kind of always the case. It’s almost impossible to put together a perfect lap. But I’m happy.”

Last year Elias swept the doubleheader victory at COTA on his Yoshimura Suzuki – in his debut in the series. Today he was third fastest and not overly pleased with his Superpole session. Elias was .245 of a second off his teammate Hayden’s best lap.

“Qualifying has been not well,” said Elias. “I did some mistakes. Normally it’s difficult for me to make the pole, but I think we did a good job for the race. We have a good pace. We’ll see about the race distance and how the tires will work during the race. I know these guys are really tough and it will be a difficult race. For sure (Josh) Hayes will also be there because on Sunday he always is. Let’s do a good start and a consistent race.”

Bobby Fong showed why he won both of the Bazzaz Superstock 1000 races here last year and today he showed why. The Quicksilver Latus Motors Kawasaki rider put his Superstock-spec Kawasaki ZX-10R fourth on the grid with his 2:09.588 and marginally ahead of Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Racing’s four-time AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes. Hayes’ best lap came on his second lap and was a 2:09.724.

Kyle Wyman was the fifth fastest Superbike and sixth overall, the Motovation USA/Lucas Oils/KWR rider/team owner turning in a 2:09.788.

Garrett Gerloff proved that you can’t keep a good man down as he crashed his Monster Energy/Yamalube/Y.E.S./Graves Yamaha in the final Supersport qualifying session, but got up and went on to earn pole position. The Texan and defending MotoAmerica Supersport Champion turned in a 2:12.676 to best M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Valentin Debise by .140 of a second. Gerloff’s best was almost a second slower than his best from the Dunlop Preseason test.

“Today was really good,” Gerloff said. “I felt comfortable and had a very similar setup to the pre-season test,” said Gerloff. “In the final stint of the qualifier I caught a pack of riders pretty quickly and tried to make an aggressive pass while my tires were still in good shape. Unfortunately, I tangled with one of the riders, but luckily the bike was alright. I was pretty fired up and dusted myself off to put in a hot lap and take the top spot.”

Debise has been at or near the top of the timesheets this week and said his focus in the final session was making sure his bike was race ready rather than just going for a fast lap.

“I felt good on the bike, despite the schedule giving us limited time on the track this weekend,” said Debise. “Today, I focused on working towards getting a good lap in during the qualifier and we [the team] put a new tire on that allowed me to drop my time. I’m happy heading into the race tomorrow.”

Gerloff’s teammate JD Beach ended up third, .301 of a second off his teammate’s best with the 2015 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion set to start tomorrow’s 12-lap race from the outside of the front row.

“I’ve made a lot of changes to the bike since the test a few weeks ago here at COTA,” said Beach. “I missed about 30 minutes of practice yesterday due to an issue with the bike, so today I was able to try some new parts for the first time. Some of the parts were an improvement and others were not. The team and I will find a happy medium with our setting heading into the race.”

Today’s Superpole session featured the debut of the new Dunlop evelopment “pre-qualifying” tire that fits between the race tire and the one-lap, yellow-banded Dunlop qualifying tire. The new tire was popular amongst the riders.

“I like that MotoAmerica introduced that pre-qualifier because I feel like it’s kind of a safety barrier,” said Beaubier. “You can go out and get a few laps in on that and still be relatively close to what you can do on a qualifying tire, lap-time wise. That way, if someone gets in the way or if you have a big mistake – run off the track on a qualifier – you’re not on the third row. So I think it’s good.”

RESULTS

Superbike Superpole
1.Roger Hayden (Suzuki) 2:08.184
2.Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha) 2:08.342
3.Toni Elias (Suzuki) 2:08.429
4.Bobby Fong (Kawasaki) 2:09.588
5.Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 2:0.9.724
6.Kyle Wyman (Yamaha) 2:09.788
7.Matthew Scholtz (Yamaha) 2:09.877
8.Cameron Petersen (Kawaski) 2:10.124
9.Jake Lewis (Suzuki) 2:11.077
10.Hayden Gillim (Suzuki) 2:11.129
11.Jake Gagne (Honda) 2:11.155
12.Sylvain Barrier (BMW) 2:11.728

Supersport Qualifying
1.Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha)2:12.676
2.Valentin Debise (Suzuki) 2:12.816
3.JD Beach (Yamaha) 2:12.977
4.Daytona Anderson (Yamaha) 2:15.060
5.Benny Solis (Honda) 2:15.399
6.Nick McFadden (Suzuki) 2:16.156
7.Brandon Paasch (Suzuki) 2:16.840
8.Lucas Silva (Yamaha) 2:17.312
9.JC Camacho (Suzuki) 2:17.802
10.Brandon Cleland (Suzuki) 2:17.858

(NEWS RELEASE)

JD Beach takes Supersport class victory at COTA

Toni Elias and Roger Hayden gave the new 2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000 a spectacular American racing debut. ( Brian J Nelson photo)

AUSTIN, TX (April 22, 2017) – Toni Elias did it again today, the Spaniard storming to his third straight win at the Circuit of The Americas as he beat his Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Roger Hayden by 1.7 seconds after Hayden’s last-lap attempt at victory came up short. Elias swept to both Motul Superbike wins last year at COTA in his MotoAmerica debut and this year gave the new GSXR-1000 its debut victory in Texas.

Elias led for the majority of the race with Hayden in his shadow. On the final lap, Hayden tried a late-braking move into turn 12, went under Elias, but drifted wide and allowed Elias to come back past. That was all the former Moto2 World Champion and MotoGP race winner needed to win his seventh career MotoAmerica race.

“COTA is one of my favorite tracks of the season and I’ve had a lot of success here the past couple of years,” said Elias. “Roger [Hayden] was riding really good, I tried to open a gap on him, but he kept me honest the entire race. I found some new lines the last few laps and was able to hold on for the win.”

Hayden gave it all he had, but came up short. It was his third straight second-place finish at COTA.

“The plan was to try and make a pass stick somewhere where he [Elias] would least expect it,” said Hayden. “It was close, but I came in to the turn a little too deep and was finished just short. Overall, it was a good race and I’m happy to start the season off with a podium on the new bike.”

Third place today went to the impressive Bobby Fong on the Quicksilver/Latus Motors Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R and it also gave him the Bazzaz Superstock 1000 victory as Fong was able to mix it up with the top Superbike men for most of the race. The Californian finally ran out of grip and dropped to 10-some seconds behind, but he was well clear of fourth-placed Mathew Scholtz on the Yamalube/Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R1. Scholtz was second in the Bazzaz Superstock 1000 class. Fong also had the fastest lap of the race on lap three and ended a Superbike podium drought for Kawasaki that dates back to 2008 and Jamie Hacking.

“I was riding 110 percent in order to keep pace with these two guys [Elias and Hayden],” said Fong. “Running with the Superbike guys puts a little bit of pressure on myself for the rest of the season, but I’m just going to take it race-by-race and do my best each time out. This track suits my style, braking is one of my strong points, I’m going to try and repeat my performance tomorrow.”

Fourth place went to Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz, the South African ending up second in the Bazzaz Superstock 1000 class.

Jake Gagne finished fifth in this Honda debut on the Genuine Broaster Chicken CBR1000RR SP2, besting M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis, who finished third in the Bazzaz Superstock 1000 class.

Josh Herrin finished seventh after a rough week on the RiderZ Law/Western Services/Meen Yamaha.

And what of the Monster Energy/Yamalube/Yamaha Factory Team? Two-time defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion Cameron Beaubier crashed out of the battle for the lead, remounted and finished eighth. And his teammate Josh Hayes was even worse off after getting taken out by the crashing Kyle Wyman early in the race. Hayes remounted to finish 14th, scoring just a single point in the opening round of the series. Wyman was lucky to escape injury, but didn’t remount.

TOBC Racing’s Danny Eslick and Cycle World/Suzuki’s Hayden Gillim rounded out the top 10 finishers and were fourth and fifth in the Bazzaz Superstock 1000 class.

JD Beach took the Supersport class victory at COTA. (Brian J Nelson photo)

JD Beach had a tough off season. The 2015 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion suffered a broken leg in an off-season motocross accident, struggled to get movement back, and was bested by his teammate Garrett Gerloff at every off-season test. But that changed on a cloudy day at COTA with Beach dominating the race to win by 4.930 over M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Valentin Debise, the Frenchman coming out on top of a race-long battle with defending Superstock Champion Gerloff. Debise beat Gerloff to the line by .478 of a second.

“The off-season was difficult this year coming off of a broken leg and it feels good to breakthrough with a win at the first race,” said Beach. “I spent a lot of time the past few months training with fast guys like Roger [Hayden] and I feel like it really helped me elevate my riding and come into the season a better rider.”

Debise was second and knew he didn’t have the pace to match Beach.

The restart was a huge benefit for me after I crashed in the opening laps of the race,” said Debise. “I lost confidence due to my crash and it kept me from pushing as hard as I would have liked. It was a good battle with Garrett [Gerloff] and I was able to make the pass back on him in the final corner.”

Gerloff thought the two would have been better fighting less with each other in order to try and stay with Beach.

“My riding felt good today, but I just lacked speed to run at the front,” said Gerloff. “The restart allowed for me to get off of the line a little bit better and regroup. Valentin [Debise] was riding awesome, we passed each other back and forth, but maybe next time we should try to push forward towards JD [Beach] instead of holding each other up.”

Fourth place in the Supersport race went to Team H35 Honda’s Benny Solis, the CBR600RR-mounted Californian some 15 seconds behind the Debise/Gerloff battle and 7.7 seconds ahead of fifth-placed Daytona Anderson.

M4 medAge Suzuki’s Nick McFadden was sixth with KTM RC Cup Champion Brandon Paasch seventh in his Supersport debut on the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R600. Lucas Silva, JC Camacho and Caroline Olsen rounded out the top 10 finishers in the opening round of the series.

The Motul Superbike class will be back on track at COTA for race two tomorrow afternoon. The Supersport Championship resumes next weekend at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia.

Results

Motul Superbike
1.Toni Elias (Suzuki)
2.Roger Hayden (Suzuki)
3.Bobby Fong (Kawasaki)
4.Mathew Scoltz (Yamaha)
5.Jake Gagne (Honda)
6.Jake Lewis (Suzuki)
7.Josh Herrin (Suzuki)
8.Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)
9.Danny Eslick (Yamaha)
10.Hayden Gillim (Suzuki)

Bazzaz Superstock 1000
1.Bobby Fong (Kawasaki)
2.Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)
3.Jake Lewis (Suzuki)
4.Danny Eslick (Yamaha)
5.Hayden Gillim (Suzuki)
6.Bryce Prince (Yamaha)
7.Tyler O’Hara (Kawasaki)
8.Max Flinders (Yamaha)
9.Anthony Kosinski (Yamaha)

Supersport
1.JD Beach (Yamaha)
2.Valentine Debise (Suzuki)
3.Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha)
4.Benny Solis (Honda)
5.Daytona Anderson (Yamaha)
6.Nick McFadden (Suzuki)
7.Brandon Paasch (Suzuki)
8.Lucas Silva (Yamaha)
9.JC Camacho (Yamaha)
10.Caroline Olsen (Yamaha)

We mourn Nicky Hayden, not just for being a great champion and human being, but for what we’d hoped he might still accomplish. (Larry Lawrence photo)

One of the most devastating days ever.

Nicky Hayden is dead.

It hurts so much, not only because of what Nicky accomplished as a racer, but for the future we had envisioned for our beloved world champion.

In our ideal world, Honda was going to get Nicky a motorcycle capable of winning in World Superbike and he was going to win races and the world championship.

Then Nicky was going to retire from world competition and come to MotoAmerica as a rider/team owner with a factory Honda squad. Nicky, along with Wayne Rainey, were finally going to bring road racing back in America.

And then on his off weekends from road racing, Nicky was going to unveil a secret flat track machine Honda had quietly developed and he was going to finally win a Mile, preferably Springfield, and join Dick Mann, Kenny Roberts, Bubba Shobert and Doug Chandler as the fifth AMA Grand Slam winner.

Then Nicky was going to retire from racing, run his racing team, get married, have kids and create the next generation of racing Haydens.

Then he was going to grow old, make appearances at special events, be inducted into Halls of Fame, and be a beloved figure in the sport of motorcycle racing for the rest of his livelong days.

Nicky was so incredibly talented, we felt all the hopes we had for him were within his grasp.

Life had other ideas.

That’s why Nicky’s loss hurts so much. It wasn’t just the final curtain for one of our all-time great American motorcycle racing heroes, it was the loss of what might have been.

What should have been in an ideal world. – Larry Lawrence

1981 title winner inducted into the FIM MotoGPâ„¢ World Championship Hall of Fame at Mugello

1981 title winner inducted into the FIM MotoGP™ World Championship Hall of Fame at Mugello

1981 500 World Champion Marco Lucchinelli has been inducted into the World Championship Hall of Fame at the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley, with Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports, leading the ceremony at the Autodromo del Mugello on Friday.

After beginning his career on the world stage in the 350 World Championship in 1975, Marco Lucchinelli burst into the premier class the following year with two podiums in his first two appearances. Fourth in the Championship as a rookie, Lucchinelli’s debut with Suzuki laid solid foundations for his ambitions of taking the World Championship.

A raft of more top ten finishes and podiums prefaced a real push for the title in 1980, when the partnership of man and machine took a podium finish five times, including a victory to conclude the season in Germany as he ended the year third in the title standings. In 1981 Lucchinelli took five stunning wins and seven podiums on his Suzuki, as well as setting five fastest laps and seven pole positions. He was then crowned 1981 World Champion by 11 points to take his place in MotoGP™ history.

Lucchinelli joins a long list of greats that have been made MotoGP™ Legends that includes Giacomo Agostini, Mick Doohan, Geoff Duke, Wayne Gardner, Mike Hailwood, Daijiro Kato, Eddie Lawson, Anton Mang, Angel Nieto, Wayne Rainey, Phil Read, Jim Redman, Kenny Roberts, Jarno Saarinen, Kevin Schwantz, Barry Sheene, Marco Simoncelli, Freddie Spencer, Casey Stoner, John Surtees, Carlo Ubbiali, Alex Crivillé, Franco Uncini and the late Nicky Hayden.

Marco Lucchinelli: “I just want to say a few words. First, how incredible it is to see so many people and friends here. It’s been so long since I’ve seen you all and it’s a pleasure to see you now. And to have the bike here is great, the original bike. I’m very happy, and I don’t really know what to say. It’s a pleasure to be named a Legend amongst all these greats.”

Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO Dorna Sports: “It’s a very special day for us and for me, maybe not many people know but Marco has been something very important in our commitment in MotoGP, instrumental in helping us. It’s a special thanks to Marco for what’s he’s done for motorcycling, he’s a real MotoGP Legend and I’m very proud to give him this award.

Doug Chandler was well on his way to becoming a star in road racing by the time he won the AMA Grand National on the Half-Mile at Ascot Park in May of 1989. At first Chandler only did select road races in order to score points in the AMA Grand National Championship. But in 1986 the AMA separated the two disciplines into distinct national championships and road racing was no longer part of the Grand National Series.

By that time Chandler had already established himself as an up-and-coming talent on pavement and in 1989 he was signed by Muzzy Kawasaki to contest the AMA Superbike Championship full time. So, on one of his off weekends from road racing in May of 1989 Chandler came back to win his final dirt track national. Ascot Park was a great venue for Chandler. He won the Ascot TT National there in 1984 and then took victory on the track’s infamous Half-Mile in 1986, ’87 and this race in 1989.

Standing on the podium in this shot is Ricky Graham, who finished runner-up to Chandler that night.

Doug Chandler was well on his way to becoming a star in road racing by the time he won the AMA Grand National on the Half-Mile at Ascot Park in May of 1989. (Mitch Friedman photo)

Aaron Slight had one of the longest and more illustrious careers in all of World Superbike during his time in the series, that in all, spanned 13 years. The New Zealander tallied 13 WSBK wins, a remarkable 87 podiums, 8 poles and was 26 times the fastest lap in the race. But the one thing Slight never managed was winning the championship.

Slight has to be considered one of the all-time best World Superbike racers never to have earned the No. 1. Consider this extraordinary stat: For six consecutive seasons in WSBK (1993-’98), Slight finished either second or third in the championship in an impressive display of consistency.

Slight was slated to race in AMA Superbike in 2001 with HMC Ducati. He raced in the Daytona 200, but then, citing safety concerns in the AMA series after Scott Russell’s horrific starting line crash, opted instead to race British Touring Cars.

Aaron Slight on the beautiful Castrol Honda RC45 at the Laguna Seca round of the World Superbike Championship in 1996. Slight earned a podium in race two that day and went on to finish second to Ducati’s Troy Corser in the championship. (Henny Ray Abrams photo)

Pro Thunder action at Laguna in 2000 with Mike Smith (No. 911) leading the way with Richie Morris (No. 9), Mark Ledesma (No. 17), Shawn Conrad (No. 1), Thomas Montano (No. 14), James Lickwar (No. 5), Wes Pogue (No. 128) and others giving chase. (Henny Ray Abrams photo)

Buell Pro Thunder action at Laguna in 2000 with Mike Smith (No. 911) leading the way with Richie Morris (No. 9), Mark Ledesma (No. 17), Shawn Conrad (No. 1), Thomas Montano (No. 14), James Lickwar (No. 5), Wes Pogue (No. 128) and others giving chase.

Conrad took the victory with Jeffrey Nash and Lickwar rounding out the podium finishers.

Nash went on to win the championship on his Advanced Motorsports Ducati 748 over Smith and Dale Corser. The series was supposed to bring together a variety of Twins and Triple-cylinder motorcycles, but the Ducati 748 became the dominant bike of the championship that season.

Scott Zampach leads the pack in the Mobil 1 Triumph Speed Triple Challenge round at Pocono International Raceway in September of 1996. (Henny Abrams photo)

Scott Zampach leads the pack in the Mobil 1 Triumph Speed Triple Challenge round at Pocono International Raceway in September of 1996. The Speed Triple Challenge was a support class of the NASB Formula USA Series. Chasing Zampach in this shot are Tripp Nobles (No. 1), Shawn Conrad (No. 43), David McGrath (No. 66, directly behind Nobles), Thomas Murray (No. 54), Michael Gage (No. 13), John Scheehser (No. 7) and Michael Fitzpatrick (No. 89). Zampach went on to win the race by 0.37 second ahead of Nobles. Conrad was third.

Results showing rider name, hometown, brand and model of motorcycle, bike number and laps completed (where the information is available).

Daytona International Speedway – Rd. 1
March 12, 1995
Daytona Beach, FL

3.56 Mile Road Course
Time of race: 1 hrs., 52 min., 53.747 sec.
Winner’s Avg. 107.851 mph
Margin of victory: 53.747 sec.
Pole winner: Scott Russell, Kawasaki (1:49.852/116.666 mph)
Attendance: 80,000
Standings: 1. Russell (36); 2. Fogarty (32); 3. Stevens (30); 4. Edwards (28); 5. Polen (26).

–

Pomona Fairplex – Rd. 2
April 2, 1995
Pomona, CA

2.1 Mile Road Course
Time of race: 42 min., 35.450 sec.
Winner’s Avg. 88.751 mph
Margin of victory: 12.005 sec.
Fastest Lap: Steve Crevier, 1:24.859, Lap 14
Pole winner: Pascal Picotte, Kawasaki (1:23.898/90.109 mph)
Attendance: 32,400
Standings (after 2 of 10 rounds): 1. Hale (54/1 win); 2. Kipp (49); 3. Merkel (48); 4. (tie) Stevens/Quarterley (43).

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Laguna Seca Raceway – Rd. 3
May 1, 1995 (Monday)
Monterey, CA

2.2 Mile Road Course
Time of race: No time due to restart
Winner’s Avg. — Margin of victory: 3.028 sec.
Fastest Lap: —
Pole winner: Mike Smith, Ducati (1:43.845/76.753 mph)
Attendance: 18,000
Standings (after 3 of 10 rounds): 1. Hale (82/1 win); 2. Quarterly (75); 3. Merkel (73); 4. (tie) Stevens/Jacks (66).

–

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – Rd. 4
June 4, 1995
Lexington, OH

2.4 Mile Road Course
Time of race: 39 min., 54.403 sec.
Winner’s Avg. 93.819 mph Margin of victory: 1.343 sec.
Fastest Lap: Miguel Duhamel, 1:30.624, Lap 26
Pole winner: Tom Kipp, Yamaha (1:31.095/94.846 mph)
Attendance: 58,000
Standings (after 4 of 10 rounds): 1. Hale (114/1 win); 2. Merkel (103); 3. Quarterley (97); 4. Stevens (90); 5. Duhamel (85/1 win).

–

Road America – Rd. 5
June 11, 1995
Elkhart Lake, WI

4.0 Mile Road Course
Time of race: 35 min., 45.204 sec.
Winner’s Avg. 107.402 mph
Margin of victory: 0.142 sec.
Fastest Lap: —
Pole winner: Mike Hale, Honda (2:12.318/108.829 mph)
Attendance: 38,000
Standings (after 5 of 10 rounds): 1. Hale (146/1 win); 2. Merkel (127); 3. Duhamel (120/2 wins); 4. Quarterley (119); 5. Stevens (116).

–

New Hampshire International Speedway – Rd. 6
June 18, 1995
Loudon, N.H.

1.6 Mile Road Course
Time of race: 49 min., 25.463 sec.
Winner’s Avg. 75.752 mph
Margin of victory: 3.373 sec.
Fastest Lap: Miguel Duhamel, 1:14.868, Lap 30
Pole winner: Freddie Spencer, Ducati (1:13.908/77.935 mph)
Attendance: 30,000
Standings (after 6 of 10 rounds): 1. Hale (174/1 win); 2. Duhamel (155/3 wins); 3. Merkel (153); 4. Kipp (136); 5. Quarterley (130).

–

Brainerd International Raceway – Rd. 7
July 16, 1995
Brainerd, MN

3.0 Mile Road Course
Time of race: 35 min., 27.048 sec.
Winner’s Avg. 106.627 mph
Margin of victory: 2.840 sec.
Fastest Lap: —
Pole winner: Miguel Duhamel, Honda, 1:39.162, 108.913 mph
Attendance: 36,120
Standings (after 7 of 10 rounds): 1. Hale (199/1 win); 2. Duhamel (191/4 wins); 3. Merkel (177); 4. Kipp (166); 5. Spencer (157/1 win).

–

Gateway International Raceway – Rd. 8
Aug. 13, 1995
Fairmont City, IL

2.2 Mile Road Course
Time of race: 33 min., 37.225 sec.
Winner’s Avg. 86.376 mph
Margin of victory: 1.308 sec.
Fastest Lap: Mike Hale, 1:30.536, Lap 4
Pole winner: Steve Crevier, Kawasaki, 1:29.919, 88.079 mph
Attendance: 6,500
Standings (after 8 of 10 rounds): 1. Hale (227/1 win); 2. Duhamel (226/5 wins); 3. Merkel (202); 4. Kipp (198); 5. Spencer (165/1 win).

–

Sears Point Raceway – Rd. 9
Aug. 27, 1995
Sonoma, CA

2.52 Mile Road Course
Time of race: 42 min., 49.745 sec.
Winner’s Avg. 88.258 mph
Margin of victory: 2.970 sec.
Fastest Lap: Miguel Duhamel, 1:41.428, Lap
Pole winner: Pascal Picotte, Kawasaki, 1:41.211, 89.635 mph
Attendance: 26,000
Standings (after 9 of 10 rounds): 1. Duhamel (261/6 wins); 2. Hale (234/1 win); 3. Merkel (228); 4. Kipp (223); 5. Quarterley (187).

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Firebird International Raceway – Rd. 10
Sept. 24, 1995
Chandler, AZ

1.6 Mile Road Course
Time of race: 33 min., 36.631 sec.
Winner’s Avg. 82.831 mph
Margin of victory: 10.137 sec.
Fastest Lap: –
Pole winner: Tom Kipp, Yamaha, 1:08.151, 84.518 mph
Attendance: 9,500
Standings (after 10 of 10 rounds): 1. Duhamel (293/6 wins); 2. Hale (268/2 wins); 3. Kipp (254); 4. Merkel (228) 5. Quarterley (210).

–

1995 AMA Superbike Champion: Miguel Duhamel, Canada (Honda)

Final 1995 AMA Superbike Point Standings:

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Stats

1995 Stats

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All-Time Statistics (1976-1995)

<<<1994 season

1996 season>>>

Frenchman Michel Amalric leads a group of riders during the Performance Machine AMA Superteams race at Loudon in June of 1997. (George Roberts photo)

Frenchman Michel Amalric leads a group of riders during the Performance Machine AMA Superteams race at Loudon in June of 1997. Amalric is riding the Keystone/Northstar Racing Yamaha FZR1000. His teammate this day was Hikaru Miyagi. The pair experienced some issue and finished in 13^th place, only completing 24 laps, while the winning squad, Moto Liberty Honda, finished 46 laps. That’s Moto Liberty’s Gerald Rothman running just behind Amalric on the team’s No. 15 Honda CBR900RR. Bike No. 32 at the tail end in this shot was Ohio Superbike II with riders Mark Miller and Mark Junge.

Interestingly, Amalric continues to race in his native France in the European Bikes class and is still one of the leading series riders in spite of being in his late 50s!

The start of the 1980 Daytona 200. (RiderFiles.com Photo Collection)

Check out the people lining pit wall for the start of the 1980 Daytona 200. It looks like pole winner Kenny Roberts (No. 2) and Freddie Spencer (No. 8) – who qualified second – are getting the jump on the rest of the 78-rider field. That year the race featured an interesting mix of 500cc & 750cc two-strokes and 1000cc four-strokes.

It was an incredibly talented grid of riders.

From left to right you can see Graeme Crosby (No. 316 Yoshimura Suzuki), John Long (No. 36 Longevity Racing Yamaha), Wes Cooley (No. 34 Yoshimura Suzuki), Rich Schlachter (No. 48 Castrol Yamaha), Dale Singleton (No. 30 White/Beaulieu Yamaha), Eddie Lawson (No. 21 Moriwaki Kawasaki), Boet Van Dulman (No. 327 Yamaha), Mark Jones (No. 39 Bob Jones Yamaha), Gene Romero (No. 3 Busch Beer Special Yamaha), Freddie Spencer (No. 8 Howard Racing Yamaha), Patrick Pons (No. 303 Sonauto-Gauloises Yamaha) and Kenny Roberts (No. 2 Yamaha USA Yamaha).

Pons went on to win the race over Singleton and Von Dulman.

Nicky Hayden on the Honda RC51, the bike on which he won his first AMA Superbike race. It came at Road America in June of 2000.

On June 10, 2000, Nicky Hayden, riding a factory Honda RC51, broke through to win his first Chevy Trucks U.S. Superbike National in Saturday’s race one at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin’s, four-mile Road America road course.

Hayden was 18 at the time, avoided a spectacular first turn pile-up. He came through to pass early leader John Kocinski and went on to win by 1.486 seconds over Yoshimura Suzuki GSXR750 rider Aaron Yates. Eric Bostrom took third on his works Kawasaki ZX7. Bostrom made a dramatic last-lap pass on Kocinski to secure the final podium position.

Hayden’s victory moved him within four points of series leader Mat Mladin after four rounds of the 12-race series.

Hayden was asked if he was surprised by earning his first AMA Superbike victory. He basically shrugged and then went on to give his description of the race. He sounded fairly unimpressed by his major accomplishment.

Tony Meiring (No. 56) races the Attack Performance Kawasaki ZX-6RR against Scott Greenwood on his No. 189 Argo Cycles Yamaha R6 and Lee Acree on the No. 45 Pirelli-backed Empire Racing Suzuki at the 2004 Daytona AMA 600 Supersport race. (Henny Abrams photo)

In a great battle of the brands, Tony Meiring (No. 56) races the Attack Performance Kawasaki ZX-6RR against Scott Greenwood on his No. 189 Argo Cycles Yamaha R6 and Lee Acree on the No. 45 Pirelli-backed Empire Racing Suzuki at the 2004 Daytona AMA 600 Supersport race. To give you an idea of just how talent-packed AMA 600 Supersport was in ’04, this very talented trio of riders were battling for a top-10 finish! It was Meiring who ended up nailing down 10^th at the end of the race. Acree took 12^th and Greenwood crossed the line in 13^th.

Geoff May (No. 99 M4 EMGO Suzuki) leads the AMA Superstock race at what was then called Infineon Raceway (now Sonoma Raceway) in May of 2007. May heads up an uber-talented group of riders that includes Aaron Yates (No. 20 Jordan Suzuki), Ben Spies (No. 11 Yoshimura Suzuki), Jake Holden (No. 59 Jordan Suzuki), Blake Young (No. 79 American Suzuki/MPT Racing) and Danny Eslick (No. 69 Matsushima Suzuki). Ben Spies got the front and pulled away to an 11-second win over May. Ben Bostrom also moved up to finish third.

Geoff May (No. 99 M4 EMGO Suzuki) leads the AMA Superstock race at what was then called Infineon Raceway (now Sonoma Raceway) in May of 2007. (Henny Ray Abrams photo)

Former AMA Supersport Champion Calling It a Career After 20 Years as a Pro

Roger Hayden, the Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing standout and former AMA Supersport Champion has announced his intention of retiring from professional racing at the end of this season. (Brian J. Nelson photo)

Chino, CA (July 31, 2018) — Roger Hayden, the Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing standout and former AMA Supersport Champion has announced his intention of retiring from professional racing at the end of this season. Hayden, the youngest of the world-famous Hayden brothers, has been a leading racer for nearly all of his 20 seasons as a professional. Suzuki and Hayden are exploring ways he might stay involved in the sport after this part of his career is completed.

“This is not something I’ve decided lightly,” Roger explained. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I’ve been going to races on the weekends since I was nine and I just thought it was the right time to move on to the next chapter in my life. I want to spend more time with my wife and maybe do some traveling and start a family at some point soon.

“Yoshimura and Suzuki have felt like a family to me. Don (Sakakura) and Pat (Alexander) are more like friends to me than a boss. We talk about life, sports, you name it and it’s just been a pleasure to be part of the team. I’ve had some of my greatest success with Yoshimura Suzuki and the entire team has always worked hard at giving me great motorcycles to race.

“I would like to stay involved in racing in some way. I enjoy working with the young riders coming up and we’ll see what the future holds.”

Hayden followed in the footsteps of his older brothers Tommy and Nicky into the professional racing ranks as both flat track and road racers. Like Roger, both Tommy and Nicky spent time racing for Suzuki.

The massive success enjoyed by all three Haydens made them perhaps the best-known brother trio in the history of motorcycle racing. An entire generation of fans grew up watching and rooting for the Hayden brothers. Perhaps the highlight of their career as a racing family, was when Nicky, Tommy and Roger swept the podium at the 2002 Springfield TT AMA Grand National. It marked the first and only time in the long history the AMA Grand National Championship that brothers completed a podium sweep.

Roger grew up in a racing family in Owensboro, Kentucky. Both his father and mother (Earl and Rose) raced as well as his two sisters Kathleen and Jenny. Roger entered his first race at the age of six and was already a nationally-known rider by the time he turned pro in 1999 due to the fact that he’d won a lot of races in the amateur ranks in both flat track and road racing.  Roger also earned the prestigious AMA Horizon Award in 1998 when he was just 15.

Roger launched his professional road racing career in 1999 at the age of 16. He showed amazing potential even as a rookie when he scored an impressive fifth-place result in the AMA 750cc Supersport race at Road Atlanta. From there his results continued to grow ever more impressive with each season. He scored his first AMA 750 Superstock podium finish at age 17. His first two seasons racing as a pro road racer were aboard Suzuki GSX-Rs.

In 2006 he was named AMA Superbike Rookie of the Year and then in 2007 he won the AMA Supersport Championship.

In 2011 Roger returned to the Suzuki camp, racing Superbike for National Guard Jordan Suzuki. In 2012 he scored his first AMA Pro Superbike victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the Jordan squad.

Roger has been part of Yoshimura Suzuki since 2014. To date his career MotoAmerica/AMA Superbike win total stands at seven. Roger is coming off his most successful season of MotoAmerica Superbike racing in a long and successful career. He was title contender much of the 2017 season. Along the way he stood on the rostrum 15 times in the 18-race series, scoring three victories. Hayden secured second in the championship, giving the new Suzuki GSX-R1000 a 1-2 result in the machine’s debut season. In addition, Roger earned seven Superpoles in 2017, a season best in the championship.

Roger Hayden has been part of Yoshimura Suzuki since 2014. To date his career MotoAmerica/AMA Superbike win total stands at seven. Roger is coming off his most successful season of MotoAmerica Superbike racing in a long and successful career. (Brian J. Nelson photo)

Besides his success in the American championships, Roger also enjoyed racing on the world championship level as wildcard rider in MotoGP and Moto2 and as a regular in World Superbike in 2010.

“We are honored to have Roger as part of the Suzuki racing family,” said Suzuki race support manager, Pat Alexander. “He set a standard of excellence and hard work throughout his career and he’s been a great asset for Suzuki. We hope to continue working with Roger into the future.”

Yoshimura Suzuki Racing’s president Don Sakakura is similarly happy with his team’s association with Roger.

“The Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing Team has been privileged the past four-and-a-half seasons to work along-side Roger,” Sakakura said. “Our team has evolved over the years as a result of Roger’s competitive dedication, and his racing spirt. 20 seasons of professional road racing is an impressive accomplishment. Equally, I respect Roger for his integrity and his core family values, we’ve all enjoyed the company of the Hayden family for countless years. We all wish Roger the very best as he transitions to his next phase in life. Thanks for the amazing memories Roger!”

Fans will have the opportunity to watch Roger race and to see him during fan walks in the remaining four rounds of the 2018 MotoAmerica Series. Next up is the Championship of Sonoma (California) at Sonoma Raceway on Aug. 10-12.

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For team media guide click here.

For additional information visit: www.motoamerica.com

You can keep up with the team’s progress by visiting yoshimura-racing.com and www.suzukicycles.com/Racing and via YouTube at www.youtube.com/SuzukiCycles

Ron Pierce is on the bike as his Team Kawasaki crew quickly preps the team’s KZ1000-based Superbike during a pit stop for the 1981 AFM Budweiser Six-Hour at Riverside International Raceway. Pierce and Eddie Lawson teamed up to win the race over Team Hammer’s Bruce Hammer and John Ulrich who rode a Suzuki. Third went to David Emde and Harry Klinzmann on a San Jose BMW. So there were three different makers on the podium filled with national-level riders, showing the importance of the AFM Six-Hour during that period on time. (Cycle News Photo Collection)

MotoAmerica is headed to Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2020, with all five classes set to compete at the Brickyard, August 21-23.

COSTA MESA, CA (September 10, 2019) – MotoAmerica has announced that it will return to what is inarguably the most famous racetrack in the world next year for a standalone round of the 2020 MotoAmerica Series at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, August 21-23.

MotoAmerica last raced at the Brickyard in August of 2015 as a support race of the MotoGP World Championship, with that event marking the last time that motorcycles have raced at the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400.

For 2020, MotoAmerica will bring motorcycle racing back to the “Racing Capital of the World” with all five of its classes being showcased in the Championship of Indy.

“The very first motor race at IMS was a motorcycle event in 1909, and we’re proud to welcome the return of two-wheeled racing at the Speedway with MotoAmerica in 2020,” IMS President J. Douglas Boles said. “Wayne Rainey and everyone at MotoAmerica have done a great job reinvigorating motorcycle road racing in the United States, and we can’t wait to see the best American and international riders produce some of the best competition anywhere next August at the Racing Capital of the World. This will be a great weekend of racing and entertainment for all of our loyal fans.”

Cameron Beaubier, who has since earned three MotoAmerica Superbike titles, won both of the Superbike races at the Speedway in 2015, besting Roger Hayden by .040 of a second in race one and just .015 of a second in race two. Beaubier’s current Yamaha Superbike teammate Garrett Gerloff won the Supersport class by just .036 of a second over Bobby Fong.

“We are thrilled to be headed back to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a MotoAmerica round next year,” said MotoAmerica President Wayne Rainey. “Being there along with MotoGP in 2015 was a great experience and our races were extremely close and exciting. Now we get the chance to go back with all of our classes in a standalone event and that’s a real privilege. It also shows just how far our series has come since our first year. Our riders who didn’t get the opportunity to race at Indy back in 2015 will be pumped to get the chance to race there. We also know that our fans will be just as excited to visit an iconic racetrack in a truly motorsports-driven city. Not too many know this, but our final deal to secure the rights to the series was finalized at the Brickyard – right there in the Pagoda, at the home of U.S. motorsports. So, it’s gratifying to be returning there to race again.”

The MotoAmerica event at IMS also will take place on the same weekend as the popular Motorcycles on Meridian festival Saturday evening, August 22, in downtown Indianapolis. The annual event is hosted and planned by Downtown Indy, Inc.

The 2019 MotoAmerica season wraps up its 10-round series at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, Sept. 20-22.

To purchase tickets for the season finale, click HERE

For How To Watch MotoAmerica races, click HERE

For the full 2019 MotoAmerica schedule, click HERE

Riders from the top teams celebrate after the WERA National Endurance race at Indianapolis Raceway Park in June of 1997. Arclight Racing’s Chris Hughes and Joe Prussiano (in the Metzeler leathers) scored the victory. Brian Lantz and Ty Howard (on the right) were runners up with Team Fury and Team Tapeworks III, with Lee Acree and Scott Carpenter (left) rounding out the podium finishers. (Courtesy Scott Carpenter)