Team RoadracingWorld.com

SUCCESS AT LAGUNA SECA FOR TEAM ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI

2009-07-06T19:12:00.000-07:00

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki enjoyed an encouraging weekend of racing in front of over 105,000 fans at Laguna Seca, scoring yet another AMA Pro SuperSport podium finish while also making vital progress with their developing American Superbike program.

New parts for Chris Ulrich's #18 GSX-R1000 aided the Californian's adaptation to his 2009-spec machine this weekend. He qualified on the inside of the fourth row, posting the 13^th fastest time at 1:26.751 and then went one better in the race, coming home twelfth following a hectic affair that included a pair of opening-lap red flags and Safety Car and grid-related confusion.

After suffering from some set-up woes at the most recent two rounds, Ulrich felt the weekend marked a turning point in the season even if the race didn't go exactly to plan.

"There are some things I don't understand about that race that went on, mainly how some of those guys who crashed were able to restart in good grid positions, but I guess we'll leave that up for others to figure out," said Ulrich, who is ranked twelfth in the championship with 92 points.

"We made a lot of progress over the weekend. We had some problems adapting to the K9 but we got some new parts and the bike was working good. We were a lot better off in practice.

"It came down to a decision on Sunday morning because it wasn't quite steering as well as we wanted and we thought about a ride height change. Instead, we decided to do it with some rebound to the front and it didn't work. We took the rebound out and it was a little bit better but for the most part, we missed it today. There were a lot of encouraging things that came out of the weekend, especially in qualifying. We are a lot closer. This should be the turnaround for the rest of the season."

Russell Wikle put in another terrific effort in SuperSport action in what was a non-points paying West Division race weekend for him. The Alabaman qualified second on the grid at 1:30.745 and backed that up with a runner-up result in the race, his fifth podium ride of the '09 season.

"You can't be disappointed with a podium finish but I'd like to be on top," Russ said. "I got a mediocre start, second into Turn 2 and I really wanted to put my head down and fight for the win but I made a couple mistakes early on. After that I concentrated on bringing it home in second place."

Wikle was joined on the team by the up-and-coming James Rispoli for the weekend. Rispoli, 17 years old and from Attica, New York, finished a terrific fourth in the one-off ride, crossing the stripe less than a second away from giving the squad another podium result.

"It was a great weekend, overall. It was awesome. I had never ridden this bike before or raced here at Laguna Seca, so we knew we had some work in front of us. We got faster with every lap the entire weekend. It was phenomenal and I had a lot of fun and learned a lot,” said James.

Ulrich said, "We had two kids that did great for us this weekend. First off, Russell was solid as usual and did a fantastic job once again. We're going to kick up the support for him for the remainder of the season and hopefully he can get some wins.

"James did a great job riding for us this weekend as well. He was a bit of an unknown but he ended up fighting for the podium and we see a lot of talent in James. We'll be keeping an eye on him."

Santiago Villa put in yet another gritty AMA Pro Daytona SportBike performance riding at less than 100%. The Colombian put in his third top-20 result in his last four attempts, finishing 18^th position, right behind Wikle who took 17^th.

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will next head to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 17-19. Mid-Ohio. The circuit has traditionally been a strong venue for Ulrich, who claimed a victory at the track in 2002.

"I love Mid-Ohio," Chris said. "We've been getting some fantastic support out of Öhlins and we're making great progress and everyone is behind us, so we excited for the remainder of the season."

SUCCESSFUL MID-OHIO TEST FOR TEAM ROARDRACING WORLD.COM SUZUKI

2009-06-11T15:56:00.001-07:00

Just days following an eventful weekend of AMA Pro Road Racing at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI, Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki trekked to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for a midseason testing session on Wednesday.

Chris Ulrich continued to learn the nuances of his new '09 GSX-R1000 American Superbike while Santiago Villa came into the test motivated following his best career finish in Saturday's Daytona SportBike final.

SuperSport ace Russell Wikle sat out in order to heal up following his painful Saturday SportBike crash and inspiring fifth-place SuperSport ride on Sunday.

Ulrich summed up the test session, commenting, "We made some progress. We figured out some things and tried out some different links on the new bike and determined that we need some more chassis parts. We kind of already knew that but they weren't available yet. We're going to get that stuff and be ready to go with it at Laguna Seca.

"This bike seems to be a little more finicky than the bikes in the past. We're learning, just working on getting the balance right and moving forward and making progress. We did make some gains during the test at Mid-Ohio but it wasn't a huge breakthrough -- just steady progress."

Colombian Villa continued to improve as well. Ulrich said, "Santiago tested a bunch of tires with the Dunlop guys and made some good progress with his lap times. He did a good job. He had a little low side in the middle of the day but got right back up and everything was okay so no big deal. He found some improvements so we're looking forward to seeing his results at Laguna."

The team now has a few weeks to rest before sharing the spotlight with the MotoGP World Championship at Laguna Seca in Monterey, CA on July 3-5.

"It's been a long couple weeks and I've been a little banged up," Ulrich admitted. "I'm happy to go home and get some downtime before Laguna and we expect to come out strong for the second half of the season."

WEEKEND OF DRAMA FOR TEAM ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI

2009-06-08T18:50:00.000-07:00

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki had numerous obstacles thrown their direction during Round 6 of the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing championships at Road America, but the team showed their collective grit and determination to repeatedly make the best of the difficult circumstances.

Chris Ulrich twice charged up through the field in the American Superbike class, Russell Wikle came back from a painful crash and machinery drama to claim a SuperSport top five, and Santiago Villa made a stirring run up through the field after dropping to last place while avoiding an opening corner crash to score the best AMA Pro finish of his career in Saturday's Daytona SportBike contest.

Ulrich battled the conditions, bike set-up, and tire issues during the weekend, as Saturday's wet weather further complicated the difficulties the Californian was already encountering in his attempts to dial in his new 2009 GSX-R1000 racebike.

After showing strong form in the ten-minute wet weather warm-up, Ulrich suffered a tire issue during the race's opening three laps before it came around. He dropped down to 22^nd but recovered to make his way all the way up to eleventh, missing out on a top ten result by just 0.107 seconds.

Ulrich's misfortune continued on Sunday as he was cited for jumping the start. Chris dropped down to 20^th after coming in for his ride through penalty but made his way back up to 14^th by the time he crossed the checkered flag.

Chris said, "We'll start out a positive note: last year I left Road America with two pins in my hand on my way home to have another surgery. At least this year we're leaving in one piece.

"We were just behind the whole weekend. We had some set-up issues and we're just trying to get the hang of the K9. We thought we left Infineon with a pretty good setting but we struggled with the bike this weekend. The bike was unstable from the get-go and we made some drastic changes. We never found a cure but we have a test coming up at Mid-Ohio which should help a lot.

"In Saturday's race, we looked pretty good in the warm-up and the tire worked really well. We put a new tire on for the race and that thing almost crashed me several times on the first three laps. I lost so many positions over the first three laps I could not believe it after showing such good pace in the warm-up. But then it stopped sliding and snapping and once the tire built pressure it got better and I dropped into some decent times -- times that would have put me about sixth, but by then it was too late. I almost caught up to the guy in tenth but just ran out of laps in the end.

"Apparently I moved at the start today. I never moved out of the box but I moved in the box and the rule says that any movement is a jumpstart and they called me for it. We came from 20^th back to 14^th. I don't agree with the rule. I don't believe I gained any advantage. I think the rule needs some review. The interpretation is very harsh and I don't think there should be any penalty if there is no advantage gained."

17-year-old Wikle was a victim of the treacherous Saturday conditions, crashing hard in the opening turn of a chaotic Daytona SportBike race. After returning to competition on Sunday when x-rays showed no broken bones from the painful spill, the Alabaman had an eventful Sunday as well. After choosing to sit out the SportBike final in order to concentrate on his SuperSport duties, Wikle ran into the back of a competitor whose machine stalled in front of him but managed to avoid crashing and carried on even with the resultant problems with his GSX-R600.

Despite the extreme circumstances, Wikle still came through to pick up a superb fifth-place result.

"Russell had a very difficult race on Saturday, crashing and then having to go get some x-rays," Ulrich explained. "And then his bad luck continued today. He ran into the back of a rival whose bike stalled and he bent the brake rotor. The pads were knocked back so every time he put on the brakes he had to pump them like crazy and the bike was shaking going into the corners.

"It was a character building weekend for Russell but he came through it with a top-five result in the end. It would have been real easy for him to wreck in that deal but he showed his maturity once again."

Colombian Santiago Villa had to fight to overcome a great deal of drama as well. Villa was forced to the very back of the field in Saturday's SportBike contest when he took evasive action to avoid Wikle's fall. Santiago kept his wits about him and fought all the way back up to eleventh, beating a number of the class' top-ranked riders to the checkered flag in the process.

On Sunday he picked up 22^nd despite suffering technical problems that came about due to his broken hand. Villa moved his brake lever out to try to get leverage with his broken hand but he moved it far enough that after a couple laps it was hitting the throttle housing.

Santiago said, "The first race was full of crazy things. I got a great start, but in turn one, my teammate highsided so to avoid hitting him I ran out of the track. At that point I was last and start passing people until the first pace car. I saw my pit board and I was in 29^th so I just put my head down and started passing people. The second pace car came out and at that point I was 14^th. On that race start I made a pass on a couple of riders and someone crashed, so I ended 11^th, my best result of the year. I just want to thanks to my crew, James and Peter for giving me a great bike, my Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki, my sponsors Addict By Bosi, P3 Racing, Bodytech, Moto Xtreme, and to my wife Diana for her support."

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will next head to Mid-Ohio to test before picking back up on July 3-5 at Laguna Seca for Round 7 of the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing championship.

Russell Wikle Rides Laguna Seca

2009-05-26T12:19:00.000-07:00

And shows those Californians some Alabama Engineering!

WIKLE ON THE PODIUM AT SONOMA FOR TEAM ROADRACINGWORLD.COM

2009-05-18T10:59:00.000-07:00

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki enjoyed a positive weekend of racing in extremely grueling conditions at the hot and physical Infineon Raceway for the fifth stop on the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing tour.

Chris Ulrich showed major progress in his second weekend aboard the team's all-new 2009 GSX-R1000 and registered a season's best result of eighth on Saturday, backing up a strong qualifying effort (1:38.015). Sunday's race didn't quite go to plan, however, will a crash costing him a shot at a second top-ten result on the weekend.

"We made a lot of progress this weekend," said Ulrich. "The conditions were tough with the heat but it was a good weekend for Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki.

"I had a good race on Saturday and was able to finish eighth. The gap to the front was a lot closer and we were pleased with that.

"On Sunday I was mixing it up some guys for eighth place in the early laps and I touched a paint line and I went down. I broke some stuff on the bike so I couldn't continue and that was that.

"Obviously, we're still learning with the new bike and developing our stuff. We're happy with how it's going. For Road America, we'll have some new chassis parts that will help us run even stronger."

Rising star Russ Wikle again showed great promise and maturity, putting his Suzuki GSX-R600 racer on the podium after starting from the front row (3^rd, 1:42.606) during Sunday's SupeSport contest.

Making the feat all the more impressive, Wikle registered 15^th and 17^th-place results in the hotly-contested Daytona SportBike class and put in his third-place SuperSport ride immediately following Sunday's SportBike final, both contested in 100-degree weather on a racetrack that offers racers very little opportunity to catch their breath.

"Getting off the Daytona SportBike, I was just hoping to be able to finish the SuperSport race," Wikle admitted. "I'm really excited I was able to stick in there and finish third. That was a hot race but it was fun. It was kind of low pressure because it was a non-points paying race for me because I'm in the East division. It was more a 'bragging rights' kind of race."

Ulrich added, "Russell did great in SuperSport and got on the box again, plus he did well in Daytona SportBike on a track he'd never seen before. This was a good experience for him and we think it will pay off when we get to a track that he knows."

Santiago Villa picked up a pair of solid results in Daytona SportBike as well. The gritty Colombian once again put his courage on full display, riding to two of his best rides of the season despite being far from 100%.

Villa finished a season's best 17^th on Sunday to improve on Saturday's 20^th.

"Villa got two top 20 results with a broken right hand and a broken left wrist," Ulrich said. "That guy gets the Iron Man award again."

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will next head to Road America on June 5-7 for the sixth round of the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing series.

RUSS WIKLE EARNS THE PODIUM FOR ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI IN ALABAMA

2009-05-04T15:19:00.000-07:00

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki came away from the Barber Motorsports Park round of the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing championship with a pole position, a podium finish, and having earned a great deal of vital experience.

Chris Ulrich worked to learn the nuances of the all-new and radically revised 2009 GSX-R1000 in American Superbike, Russ Wikle starred in SuperSport and impressed in Daytona SportBike, and Santiago Villa once again proved his grit and courage.

Putting in his very first laps on the new GSX-R1000 on Friday, Ulrich qualified 13th for the twin American Superbike finals with a fast lap of 1:27.494. The Californian's inexperience with the machine cost him mightily in Saturday's race when a gamble on the bike's set-up didn't pay off and he finished 14th. Improvements were made for Sunday's race, allowing Ulrich to claim 11th and feel confident that he knows what direction he needs to take the new bike in order to tap its vast potential.

He explained, "We had some setting problems in qualifying with the new bike and wanted to go one direction but per one of our experts we were told to go in another direction but that turned out to be completely wrong. We went back to the stuff we needed and this morning it was quite good.

"The bike is a lot different compared to the '08. Everything you know about it you've got to chuck out the window. We got out of here with an okay finish -- I don't want to say great because I think we should have been in the top ten as always.

"We've learned tons and we've got a good direction. We know what it likes now. We'll be ahead of the curve when we show up at Infineon. All the other guys racing '09s had at least one test before we showed up. We came in here 'cold turkey' and kind of paid the price for it, but that happens sometimes."

Wikle put in another tremendous performance, claiming the pole position for Sunday's SuperSport by posting the quickest lap in practice on Friday at 1:31.659 as Saturday's scheduled qualifying session was canceled due to track conditions.

The teenager charged into the lead at the start of Sunday's race, which was held under extremely challenging wet conditions, and posted the fastest lap of the race. Racing in front of his home fans, the Huntsville, Alabama resident pushed his GSX-R600 to a runner-up finish, his second podium result of the season.

Immediately following the SuperSport race, Wikle took on the Daytona SportBike final and improved from his 22nd-place run on Saturday to earn a fantastic top-ten result in Sunday's contest, picking up ninth place despite a very deep and talented field of competitors.

"I knew starting from pole I would have an advantage and I got a real good start," Wikle remarked about the SuperSport race. "I just made myself wide and I led a couple laps. It was a good race. I just tried to keep my head smart and ended up second.

"Finishing in the top ten in the SportBike race was awesome. I was comfortable coming right off the SuperSport bike and jumping on the SportBike. I put my head down right at the beginning and tried to pick up as many positions as I could."

Ulrich said, "Russ is holding up team honors. He's doing a great job and showed maturity beyond his years. He just keeps impressing me. He was thrown into a difficult situation but kept it up and turned the fastest lap of the race. In SportBike, he just kept his head down and did a great job."

Villa finished 24th in Saturday's Daytona SportBike race and was hoping to show further improvement on Sunday. Unfortunately, the he crashed on the damp circuit on the opening lap of Sunday's race, but he managed to pick up his GSX-R600 and soldier on despite breaking two bones in his left wrist.

The Colombian put in a courageous ride to finish 33rd. After taking the checkered flag, Villa had to park his bike on the side of the track because he was in so much pain. The valiant effort to finish did not go unnoticed by his team and fellow competitors.

Ulrich commented, "Santiago broke his wrist and he's kind of iffy for Infineon. I hope he gets better soon, because he is continuing to progress. He spent a couple days with his Crew Chief, James Lickwar, at Utah and learned a lot and it showed in his lap times. It's unfortunate he has to deal with another injury, but we'll get him some milk and get him back on that horse. He showed us a lot today."

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will be back in action at Infineon Raceway as the championship heads to Sonoma, CA on May 15-17.

The Golden Years of Grand Prix Racing

2009-04-16T16:33:00.001-07:00

The box set of every GP from 1984 to 1991 showed up at RRW HQ today. I'm ready to teach four-month-old VU about the Golden Years of 500cc Grand Prix racing. At least every year except 1985; I didn't care for that one. It has something to do with Freddie Spencer winning and Eddie Lawson losing. I watched 1986 last night. It was everything I though it would be and more. I'm going to check out 1988 tonight. Lawson's win at the USGP was epic.

STRONG FINISHES FOR ULRICH AT ROAD ATLANTA

2009-04-06T16:10:00.000-07:00

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki's Chris Ulrich came away from the Road Atlanta round of the AMA Pro Road Racing series with a pair of finishes just outside the top ten to add to his 2009 American Superbike campaign.

The Californian qualified his GSX-R1000 in 12th on Friday with a best lap of 1:28.616, a performance that effectively established the standard for the weekend to come.

Ulrich put in an 11th place ride despite battling with an imperfect set-up in Saturday's 50-mile contest. The team made significant improvements overnight and he upped the pace in Sunday's 20-lapper, but he got caught up in traffic on the opening lap as the leading group made an early escape. The end result was a 12th-place finish.

Ulrich explained, "We just didn't have the pace on Saturday that we hoped to have. I was bottoming the forks quite hard and that was it. I missed on the set-up a little bit. We improved on the set-up overnight and improved on the lap times, but we didn't improve enough.

"We just needed a little bit more. The pace in the second race was faster but it wasn't fast enough. Off the start in the second race I got stuck behind (Aaron) Gobert on the first lap and lost the gap to the group. If I could have stayed with them it would have been a lot better.

"We've just been around 12th all weekend and stuck in no man's land. We've got to make some improvements with everything. Now that we've got some time, we're going to go home and get our '09 bike and try to step up our game."

Russ Wikle looked capable of scoring another podium finish for Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki at Road Atlanta, building upon his third-place run in the Daytona AMA Pro SuperSport season opener.

Wikle qualified second on the grid with a time of 1:32.426 aboard his Suzuki GSX-R600 and ran in contention for podium position during the race's opening stages. However, a rain shower caught out several of the front-runners, including Wikle, bringing out a red flag. Unfortunately, his machine was too badly damaged in the fall to make the restart.

The 17-year-old managed to impress in the weekend's twin Daytona SportBike contests, picking up a pair of 18th-place results in the deep category after qualifying 24th (1:33.369).

Colombian Santiago Villa improved upon his 32nd-ranked SportBike qualifying position (1:35.434) to finish 27th on Saturday and 20th on Sunday.

Ulrich said, "It was just super bad luck for Russ. In the SportBike class he put in two solid top twenties in, which is good for a developmental rider. He was really competitive in SuperSport but just had bad luck.

"Santiago is hovering around twentieth and that's good. As long as he keeps doing top twenty we'll be happy."

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will be back in action on May 1-3 for Round 4 of the AMA Pro Road Racing series on May 1-3.

ULRICH FIGHTS TO 11TH PLACE AT FONTANA FOR TEAM ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI

2009-03-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki's Chris Ulrich picked up a hard-earned 11th-place finish during this weekend's AMA Pro Road Racing round at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA.

Ulrich overcame a lingering illness to fight his way up from 14th to ninth in Saturday's AMA Pro American Superbike race, but a spectacular save of a violent tank-slapper and resultant loss of brakes cost him several positions late in the race. The Californian carried on aboard his Suzuki GSX-R1000 to cross the line in 11th at the checkered flag.

On Sunday, his race came to an early end after he was forced out with a mechanical issue while working lap six.

Ulrich talked about the weekend, saying, "Flat out, coming into this weekend I knew I wasn't very prepared physically. Right after Daytona I went to Portugal and I think I caught bronchitis at Daytona and carried that until the day I got home. I thought I just had a little chest congestion, but I woke up in the middle of the night seven days ago and I was coughing up blood. My wife made me go to the hospital and the doctors put me on steroids to calm the inflammation in my lungs and some antibiotics. I talked to my trainer and he told me I couldn't do anything physical, so I haven't been able to train since Daytona.

"Physically, I was a little questionable but in Saturday's race I actually felt pretty good. But as the laps came on I started to feel it a little bit. I was thinking too much about the lap count and coming into the chicane I got a pretty big tank-slapper with three to go. When it did, that it knocked the pads back in the calipers. The tank-slapper was big enough that I thought I was going to bin it right then. I went in off the back straightaway and had no brakes and lost three positions. Despite that, I felt I rode very well. I think in the race we showed we're at the front of the pack of the non-factory guys. We've just got to refine a few things. On Sunday, I had good pace but we had some bad luck mechanically.

"100% the goal for me is top eighths and that's an achievable goal considering the amount of factory equipment on the grid. We're aiming to be the top non-factory guy out there."

Santiago Villa backed up his 19th-place run in the Daytona 200 by scoring 25th and 21st-place results in the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike contests aboard his Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R600 at Auto Club Speedway.

Ulrich said, "Santiago made some good improvements throughout the weekend. He's still getting used to the 600 but it's coming around. Look for more good things from him as he gets more seat time."

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will be back in action in two weeks as the AMA Pro Road Racing series heads to Road Atlanta on April 3-5.

WIKLE THIRD IN DAYTONA OPENER FOR TEAM ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI

2009-03-09T09:07:00.000-07:00

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki kicked off the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing season at Daytona international Speedway with a strong opening round, claiming a podium result and putting in several gritty rides during a sometimes-trying week.

Chris Ulrich found himself fighting an uphill battle early in the opening round of the new AMA Pro American Superbike era, battling limited track time and struggling to find grip as he set up his GSX-R1000.

The Californian qualified on the fourth row, posting the 14th fastest time at 1:41.147. He got a terrific launch off the line from there, quickly working his way past a number of premier-class competitors. However, his race got a whole lot tougher when he ran wide while still working the opening lap, dropping all the way to the back of the field.

Ulrich spent the remainder of the 15-lap race dicing up through the pack, ultimately reclaiming his starting position, finishing 14th at the checkered flag.

"I'd say the whole weekend was hectic," Ulrich said. "Not too much track time and this is the big class now so it's a big adjustment. We searched for grip all week. The first practice started perfect -- we were in the top ten but in the second practice we tried some stuff to find some more grip and it didn't work and we got caught out. In qualifying we had issues with the radiator when we came in for the tire, so that was bad luck. I wasn't that confident going into the race.

"I got a good start and went by (Ben) Bostrom and the other guys right off the bat. I went into Turn 3 looking for my hole and I was maybe just a little bit wide and the back came around and it swapped a couple times. Once I got it collected back together, there was no way I was going to make the turn without crashing. I went straight and came back on and was dead last. I worked up from 33rd to 14th, which isn't a bad day, but going from 14th to tenth would have been better. We stayed the same from qualifying to race, but we're a little bit disappointed.

"It's Daytona and Daytona is weird. Some guys left here without any points and we got some. We'll roll on to Fontana. We've got two races there and plenty of time to make up ground."

17-year-old Russell Wikle proved to be one of the stars in the debut of the new AMA Pro SuperSport class, a new category designed to groom the stars of the future. The Alabama native took full advantage of his front row qualifying position (3rd, 1:44.738) and fought for the win throughout the race on his Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R600. After leading nine of the race's 12 laps, Wikle ended up third at the flag, just 0.002 off of second.

"I was sitting pretty fat and happy in third," Wikle explained of his final-lap strategy. "I thought I was going to be able to draft by both of them with ease. But coming out of the chicane I kind of timed it a bit wrong I think. I was right alongside Joey and we went side-by-side around the whole banking and I couldn't quite get in his draft. Just about got second -- 0.002 of second is pretty close!"

Ulrich said, "Russell did a fantastic job. He led all the good laps except the last one. He never ceases to amaze me. He's very mature considering the time he's spent in this paddock. First round he's already got a podium and we're looking for big things from him."

Wikle and Santiago Villa rounded out the week by handing the team a pair of top-20 results in the 72-rider deep Daytona 200, contested Friday night under the lights.

Wilke edged the vastly more experienced Miguel DuHamel in the run to the checkered flag by a mere 0.094 seconds to claim 14th position in his first-ever attempt at the 200-miler. Meanwhile, Villa raced up from his 41st-place starting position to cross the stripe in 19th in the end.

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will next head to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA for the second round of the AMA Pro Road Racing Championships on March 20-22.

RUSSELL WIKLE JOINS TEAM ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI FOR 2009

2009-01-27T14:16:00.000-08:00

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will support promising racer Russell Wikle during the 2009 season. Wikle, a second-generation racer from Huntsville, Alabama, will contest the AMA SuperSport East Division and will also enter selected West Division races. Additionally, Wikle will race in the Daytona 200 and other AMA Sport Bike events this year.

Wikle, 17, has raced in WERA endurance and sprint competition the last several seasons, winning six championships while ranked as a Novice. He earned an Expert ranking for the 2008 season, and he responded to the challenge with numerous top-10 finishes while racing a Suzuki GSX-R1000 and a GSX-R600. Russell also impressed with the M4 Avteq endurance squad, competing in MOTO-ST.

Russell closed the 2008 season in strong fashion, adding to his impressive resume at Road Atlanta and the Daytona International Speedway. At the Suzuki Cup Finals at Road Atlanta, Wikle earned third place in the GSX-R600 Cup Final. A week later, Russell also won pole position and a top-five result in the ASRA Superbike event at Daytona in October, then followed that result with second place in the Factory Pro Sportbike race.

"I'm excited that Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki is giving me this opportunity to race in the AMA SuperSport class this year," said Russell. "I'm really glad there's now a class to help us young guys get to the 'big leagues.' I'm expecting to run in the front in SuperSport and to get in the top 10 when I get a chance to race in Daytona Sport Bike. I have been waiting for an opportunity like this for a good while and I know I am ready for the challenge. I can't wait to get started."

Russell's father, Luther Wikle, was also a racer of note, competing in AMA Superbike, WERA endurance and at the Suzuka 8-Hour race. Russell, who is named after the late racer Russ Paulk, began riding at four years old.

"We've had our eye on Russell for a long time," said Team Roadracingworld.com's Chris Ulrich. "He's the son of a racer and his family has a connection to our team, so we've been watching Russell's progress for a good while. We think he's ready to take the next step and we're happy to welcome him to the team. He's impressed us along the way, including at Daytona last fall when he ran in a fast pack and held his own against some good pro racers. He's also quick in the rain and I watched him duke it out with an AMA pro rider for a full hour stint in an endurance race last year. We think he will blossom into a front-line racer. "

DETERMINED VILLA RETURNS TO TEAM ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI FOR 2009

2009-01-23T11:56:00.000-08:00

Former Colombian Superbike champion and CCS regional champion Santiago Villa of Colombia will return to race for Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki in 2009. Villa will enter the AMA Daytona Sport Bike class on board Suzuki GSX-R600 machinery. Crew chief James Lickwar and mechanic Peter Hively will serve as Santiago's crew.

"I'm very exited to race again with the team. With all the changes in the AMA, it's going to be an great season," said Villa, a multi-time champion in his native country who joined Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki in 2008. "I'm going to have a new crew this year and I think that James and Peter are going to help me achive my goals. I have seen their work and I admire them a lot. I can only expect great things from them."

In addition to his talent, Santiago has shown remarkable toughness in his time with the team. After suffering serious burns in a fall 2007 pit lane refueling incident at the Daytona International Speedway while racing for a different team, Santiago worked hard in his recovery to be ready for the 2008 season. Villa showed speed and promise in the early rounds despite still struggling with his injuries, but had another setback when he broke his femur and hip in a mid-season crash.

"The team is really excited to have Santiago back," said Team Roadracingworld.com's Chris Ulrich. "He really made some great progress on the Superstock bike last year before he got hurt again. We were really bummed because he had worked so hard and was really shown something. A lesser man might have thrown in the towel after some of the things that happened to him along the way but he's a true racer with more determination and desire than ever. He's one of those guys willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals."

Santiago said he finds the new era in AMA racing exciting and the change to a Dunlop control tire is favorable to him, given his previous experience. "The spec tire is one of the big things for me. I have always considered myself a Dunlop rider as I won the 2007 CCS Florida Regional Championship with them and I love those tires, so everything is working my way now. I just have to step up and give my best for my country, my team, my crew and for myself," said the 33-year-old from Bogota.

Ulrich said he like the personnel changes with Santiago's crew. "Villa will race Daytona Sport Bike in 2009 and we have James Lickwar and Peter Hively working with him," added Ulrich. "James did a great job helping his previous rider get on the podium and the team has a lot of confidence he'll be able to help Santiago as well. Both James and Peter have the experience to help Santiago continue improving."

"I just want to say thanks to the team for having me on board again, and for all their support in 2008," said Villa. "It's good to be home again with the team and we're all excited for 2009."

SEVENTH FOR ULRICH AT ROAD ATLANTA

2008-09-02T12:29:00.000-07:00

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki battled through another trying AMA Superstock Championship round this weekend at Road Atlanta, but a determined ride from Chris Ulrich allowed him to climb three championship positions heading into the upcoming season finale.

Still recovering from the hand injury he suffered at Road America, which subsequently ruled him out of two races, Ulrich clawed up from his third row, 11th-place qualifying position (1:28.099) to solidly contend in the race's top ten.

After running 11th prior to an early red flag, Ulrich got a strong restart, running as high as sixth. After mixing it up with Kurtis Roberts and Ben Thompson during the contest, the Californian came away with a hard-earned seventh-place result in the end.

Unfortunately, teammate Robertino Pietri suffered another bout of bad luck, crashing on the opening lap after qualifying on the second row (8th, 1:27.306) while trying to pass some slower riders and getting off into the dirty part of the racing circuit.

The Venezuelan suffered a possible separated shoulder in the fall.

"This weekend was kind of typical of what's been going on lately," Ulrich said. "As my fitness improves, I'm able to pick up speed, but I'm still not all the way back yet, which is frustrating. I can only ride to my fitness level at the moment.

"I got a good restart and passed a bunch of guys in the first turn. I was towing a few guys around, but I was missing some downshifts because my hand wasn't able to keep up on the clutch. I just tried to hang in there and we ended up seventh.

"As for 'Tino, he fried his clutch on the warm-up lap. He switched to his second bike but got caught out when some slower riders in front of him broke early and he was forced onto the inside part of the track and crashed."

Looking ahead to the season finale, Ulrich said, "I'm looking forward to it. I've got a whole month to get fully and completely healthy and I've got an endurance race between now and then. I'm only one point out of fifth so I'm planning on showing up there and dropping the hammer."

Heading into the September 27-28 2008 AMA Superstock Championship season finale at Laguna Seca, Ulrich is ranked sixth with 183 points -- just one point off of his stated goal of a top-five championship finish. Pietri is ninth with 164 points.

ULRICH EARNS AMA SUPERSTOCK TOP TEN IN VIRGINIA

2008-08-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki endured a difficult weekend at Virginia International Raceway as the recovering Chris Ulrich fought hard for a top-ten AMA Superstock result and Robertino Pietri crashed out of the final after showing impressive speed in the lead-up to the race.

Venezuelan Pietri qualified his Pirelli-shod GSX-R1000 on the second row in the sixth overall position, qualifying with a best lap of 1:26.170. Meanwhile, Ulrich opened his race from the outside of the third row, qualifying twelfth with a fastest time of 1:28.014.

Pietri raced in sixth position early in the contest, but he crashed out of the race hard while working lap 6, bringing out the red flag. Fortunately Robertino escaped without injury, but his day was over.

Ulrich clawed his way up from 15th at the start to move inside the top ten, finishing ninth in the once red-flagged contest.

With two races remaining for Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki in the 2008 AMA Superstock Championship season, Pietri is currently ranked seventh with 164 points while Ulrich, despite missing the Laguna Seca and Road America rounds due to a hand injury and riding at less than 100% since returning at Mid-Ohio, is ninth at 159.

At the end of the weekend, Ulrich explained, "We messed around with some settings in practice and qualifying but we ended up going back to what we knew for the race. And in the race I just got tired -- that's all I had. This place is super physical and my fitness just isn't where it needs to be after missing a lot of training following my injury.

"My execution and lines weren't perfect, either. That's still coming back but we're getting better. My hand is getting better too but I haven't built my strength in it back up just yet. I need to go home and get in some training because I have to make up eight weeks on these guys. But we got ninth and beat one guy we're chasing in the championship -- which is good.

"As for 'Tino, fortunately he's fine. He came off the top and hit the deck hard but bounced right back up. It's a shame because he was quick. I know he is disappointed but he'll come back strong in Atlanta. 'Tino has a lot of fight in him and he's always trying to do his best.

"We've got two more rounds at tracks we both go very well at. Pietri's form has been great and I was riding really well before I got hurt. We've had a bout of bad luck but we're going to come back strong. We look forward to a few more top fives for the team before the end of the season, which would be a dream way to end the year."

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will be back in action at Road Atlanta on August 29-31.

CHALLENGING WEEKEND FOR PIETRI AND ULRICH AT MID-OHIO

2008-08-04T05:47:00.000-07:00

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki encountered a difficult weekend at Mid-Ohio with both Chris Ulrich and Robertino Pietri dealing with bad luck and injury while hoping to just escape from the weekend with as many points as possible.

Pietri, already fighting hard to find a good set-up aboard his Pirelli-shod GSX-R1000, was one of the riders caught out in Saturday's chaotic AMA Superbike race crashing in an oil spill.

The Venezuelan quickly recognized the severity of the situation and acted quickly, running to a corner worker station and waving the red flag himself hoping to prevent any further incidents.

Suffering from pain in his lower back following his fall and racing aboard his backup machine, Pietri managed to finish in the Superstock race's top ten, equaling his qualifying position of ninth in the 16-lap race.

The result allowed 'Tino to maintain fifth in the AMA Superstock Championship standings with 164 points following seven of ten races.

"It just wasn't quite there this weekend so at some point we just decided to limit the damage and I think we did that," Pietri admitted. "We're still fifth in the championship.

"The worst thing about the weekend was the crash in the Superbike race. We didn't need that, but it was nobody's fault. Overall, we were already struggling to find speed and then had to switch to the backup bike. My guys worked so hard this weekend. My crew just did a great job. Some weekends are good and some are bad and this was a tough one, but I think we did good just to manage what we did."

Ulrich is still recovering from his Road America practice crash, becoming physically able to squeeze his palm in just the past week. Despite being very limited due to his injured hand, he gutted out the weekend, qualifying 16th fastest overall.

The Californian also suffered from misfortune during the race when an issue with his rear brake forced him into the pits before he returned to the fray to ultimately finish 22nd in the 16-lap contest.

Ulrich said, "I can't even squeeze a five-pound exercise grip at the moment and it definitely makes it tough to throw the bike around here. I know in my head I can get the bike into the corners better but I physically could not do it. I'm pretty sore but we just needed to get some points.

"Unfortunately in the race I came off the back straightaway and I thought there was something wrong with the engine. But it turns out there was some debris in the rear brake caliper and it pulled me all the way to a stop in turn seven. I got it free and came in to check with my guys to make sure there was nothing wrong. It's bumming me out because otherwise we probably could have scored ten more points than we did.

"But I'm happy to be on a motorcycle and happy to be racing again. I got myself in a little battle with some of the guys which was kind of fun. From here we'll go to the Atlanta test and we've got some time to heal up before VIR. But it's difficult when you know you can beat these guys and run in the top five but your hand is screwed up. We're ninth in the championship, five out of eighth and 12 out of seventh and I think I can get those guys. Top seven wouldn't be too bad considering."

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will travel to Road Atlanta for a testing session before heading to the next round of the AMA championships, which will take place on August 15-17 at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, VA.

PIETRI RACES SUPERBIKE CLASS AT LAGUNA SECA

2008-07-22T10:16:00.000-07:00

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki's Robertino Pietri put in a productive weekend at Laguna Seca racing in front of a three-day crowd of more than 130,000 spectators as the MotoGP World Championship joined the AMA Superbike Championship for the high-profile race meeting.

With the Superstock classes taking the weekend off, the former Venezuelan and Latin American Superbike champion focused his efforts on the Superbike class, knowing that the set-up and tire data gleaned this weekend could prove vital when the Superstock season finale takes place at Laguna Seca in late September.

Facing a deep field consisting of the AMA Superbike Championship regulars as well as many of the top Superstock stars, Pietri qualified on the inside of row five aboard his Superstock-spec GSX-R1000, posting the 17th fastest time of the abbreviated qualifying session with a best lap of 1:27.256.

In the race, Pietri jumped up to 14th early aboard his Pirelli-shod racer and picked up one addition spot during the 28-lap final to conclude his Superbike outing in 13th position.

Teammate Chris Ulrich sat the weekend out as he continues to recuperate from his Road America practice crash in preparation for a return to action when the Superstock series picks back up in a couple of weeks.

Ulrich explained, "I sat on the bike and thought about racing this weekend, but my hand is still quite painful and the bone is still healing. I only have about 60 degree of motion so we decided it was best to continue to rest up and come back strong at the next one. I was looking forward to riding, but there was no Superstock race at Laguna Seca and that championship is our primary focus."

Pietri, fresh off his first AMA podium scored in the Superstock race at Road America, and Ulrich, who earned a podium earlier in the season at Barber Motorsports Park, are eager to add to their 2008 trophy haul over the second half of the season.

The next race weekend will take place on August 1-3 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course where Ulrich was victorious in the Superstock class in 2002.

CU Ready to Rock at Laguna

2008-07-08T20:53:00.000-07:00

Note To Rider:

2008-07-08T20:50:00.000-07:00

CU vs T6

2008-07-01T10:32:00.000-07:00

PIETRI ON THE PODIUM AT ROAD AMERICA, BARNES FIFTH

2008-06-09T15:03:00.001-07:00

Team Roadracingworld.com overcame adversity to claim a tremendous double top-five result in this weekend's AMA Superstock race at Road America.

The weekend started on a down note when Chris Ulrich, who entered the weekend ranked fourth in the Superstock points chase, was injured in a Thursday practice crash and was forced to join teammate Santiago Villa on the shelf. However, reigning Latin American and Venezuelan Superbike champ Robertino Pietri and super-sub Michael Barnes came through and stepped up in his absence.

On Saturday Pietri earned another front row grid position by posting the fourth fastest time of qualifying at 2:16.431 aboard his Pirelli-shod GSX-R1000. Barnes lined up a row behind after clocking the seventh quickest time of the session at 2:17.398.

After the two settled into the fight for the podium, Pietri made a late push past Alastair Seeley for third on the penultimate lap and held on for his first-career AMA podium finish. He crossed the stripe just over three seconds behind race winner Blake Young on the Team M4 EMGO Suzuki.

'Barney' scored a fifth-place finish, making good on Ulrich's pre-race goal for the team to place both riders in the top five in the 10-lap race.

Pietri said, "It was fully wet at the beginning and my visor was fogging up a little bit. Towards the end starts drying a little bit, but since the fog was there I couldn't really see, so it took me a little bit to get into a rhythm. The first four laps were a disaster, I think I was back in seventh or something. Barney passed me and I knew I could roll with him because in the morning I was faster than him and he passed me and he looked very smooth while I was like fighting with the bike. I said, 'Okay, you need to relax, breathe in, start hitting your marks and ride like you did in the morning'. You know I started doing it and I started to feel I was catching the guys at the front a little bit and it was great.

"I'm super excited. This is my first podium and this is my dad's birthday today too, so happy birthday!"

Ulrich explained what happened in his fall. "I've been healthy for a few years now and it seems like we've had pretty good luck crashing lately. It was one of those deals where we looked at what we did last year here in the wet and it was because we went out on Thursday and fine-tuned the bike and tried some settings. With that in mind, we did the same thing this year; I tried some different suspension stuff and we were going okay -- we were already faster than we qualified last year with minimal effort -- and I didn't feel I was pushing that hard. I don't think I was taking any risks because I knew in the back of my head it was only Thursday and we didn't have to. I was just exploring and seeing how everything goes.

"The lap before I went pretty quick and I just went through Turn 6, up shifted into second, went into 7 and just cracked the throttle and it spun. I knew I was in trouble when I was holding onto the bars, looking down at the gas tank. It spat me off, I hit my head a little bit. I landed on my left side, hand-first. I bent my hand back to the point where it blew a 3mm hole in my hand. But that finger was fine. I ended up breaking my second metacarpal and my thumb.

"It's unfortunate. We're out for this weekend for sure but we've got six weeks until Laguna for Superbike and we're going to do that and I should be 100% by Mid-Ohio."

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will be back in action at Laguna Seca as the AMA series plays host to the MotoGP World Championship on July 18-20.

INJURED VILLA OUT FOR 2008 SEASON

2008-06-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki's Santiago Villa will miss the rest of the 2008 AMA road racing season due to injuries suffered in a crash Sunday at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah.

Villa, a promising racer from Bogota, Colombia with several Colombian National Championships to his name, joined Team Roadracingworld.com for 2008 and has been competing in the AMA Superstock Championship. Villa broke his femur and his hip at Miller Motorsports Park and doctors have told him he will be unable to race for three to four months while he recovers.

Santiago hopes to return to racing at Daytona in October.

"Santiago was making steady progress despite injuries from his crash in April at Fontana and the serious burns he suffered--while riding for another team--in a refueling accident at Daytona in October, 2007," said Team Roadracingworld.com's Chris Ulrich. "He was soldiering on like the true motorcycle racer that he is and was making progress at the difficult tracks. It's a bummer for us and for Santiago. We know he wants to be out there competing and learning. It's a big disappointment for us because he is a pleasure to work with and we were pleased with his efforts. We hope his recovery goes to plan so he can get back to racing, which is something he loves doing and certainly has a talent for."

TOP FIVE IN SUPERSTOCK POINTS FOR PIETRI AND ULRICH OF TEAM ROADRACINGWORLD.COM

2008-06-03T04:44:00.000-07:00

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki rung up two more top-ten finishes in AMA Superstock competition on Saturday at Miller Motorsports Park, near Salt Lake City, UT. Despite a rocky weekend, Robertino Pietri and Chris Ulrich came through in the 9-lap race to finish sixth and seventh, respectively.

The two leave Utah ranked in the top five in the championship hunt, with Ulrich fourth with 128 points and Pietri fifth at 113.

Venezuelan Pietri qualified on the second row with a quick time of 2:51.421 aboard his Pirelli-shod GSX-R1000, while Ulrich was a row further back, qualifying ninth at 2:51.697. Teammate Santiago Villa qualified on the fourth row, posting the 15th best time of the session at 2:55.070.

Pietri, reigning Latin American and Venezuelan Superbike champ, held down his qualifying position most of the race and ultimately finished in sixth position. Ulrich fought his way up from 10th early and chased Pietri to the checkered flag, finishing just over a second back in seventh.

Villa climbed up to as high as 13th before registering a DNF and being awarded 25th after completing 7 laps.

Afterwards, both Pietri and Ulrich expressed disappointment, expecting even more this weekend.

"It was a very tough weekend," Pietri remarked. "We didn't expect it to be to be this tough. We came in here after a couple good runs and we went great here last year, and last year Fontana and Infineon were my weakest tracks. The expectation for this race was pretty high even though it was a new track with the longer configuration. We knew were behind because we didn't test here and we ran intoa lot of problems. My guys worked so hard and I really appreciated their
effort.

"We qualified sixth and finished sixth. That's not too bad and we leave here in fifth place in the championship. It was a great team effort but we're ready to move onto Road America."

Ulrich said, "I'm upset. For me, we had some technical problems at the start of this four-day marathon and it put us behind the eight ball. We were catching up and catching up but it was a little too little, too late. For sure I'm disappointed, I don't feel I should be racing for seventh or eighth, I should be up in the top five. The gap to the frontrunners that tested here was a little disturbing.

"We're going to go the next round and put the hammer down. We're going to charge at Road America pretty hard. I'm not finishing seventh there."

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will be back in action next weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI on June 6-8.

PIETRI ON FRONT ROW, ULRICH THIRD IN SUPERSTOCK POINTS AFTER INFINEON

2008-05-19T15:01:00.000-07:00

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki scored a pair of top-ten finishes in the AMA Superstock race on Sunday at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA. Robertino Pietri and Chris Ulrich were awarded sixth and seventh place, respectively, after the race was red flagged and called complete following 14 of the event's scheduled 17 laps due to a two-rider incident.

Venezuelan Pietri continued to show his speed with Pirelli's sticky qualifying tires on his GSX-R1000 racebike, circulating with a fast time of 1:37.315 on Saturday to qualify fourth and log a second consecutive front-row qualifying performance.

Meanwhile, Ulrich struggled with mechanical woes during the session and could do no better than tenth with a best time of 1:38.659. The team's third rider, Colombian Santiago Villa, qualified in 17th with a best time of 1:41.866.

Pietri got away in fifth in the race with Ulrich ninth, but the two came together as the South American fell to eighth and the Californian closed in on his teammate.

A collision involving Jason Pridmore and Lee Acree stopped the race late and ultimately promoted the Pietri to sixth and Ulrich to seventh in the final results. Villa matched his qualifying effort by finishing 17th in the race -- a fine result in a difficult race for the Colombian racer who spent his time off the bike at Infineon getting around on crutches because of his injuries from a crash earlier this season.

Following four rounds of the 2008 AMA Superstock Championship, Ulrich is tied for third in the points with 104. Pietri is sixth at 88 while Villa is 17th with 38.

Afterwards, Ulrich said, "For sure for me it was frustrating. It was difficult from the get-go. We had some problems we tried to work out and we tried some different forks. We went back to the standard stuff this morning and that's what we raced on.

"Qualifying was definitely really hard on me. I ended up tenth on the grid due to a mechanical problem we had with the shocks. A little part failed on it and ruined our qualifying.

"But on the bright side, 'Tino did a good job this weekend and sixth and seventh isn't too bad. We got a little bit of help, but we'll move on from here to Miller. This was a hard, hard weekend for me and I'm glad to get out of here with good points. VIlla had a tough challenge this weekend but he put in a fine effort."

Ulrich admitted that his expectations have been raised as the team has continued to improve. "Last year this would have been a fantastic result for us. But this year we're leaving frustrated about the finish. We need to keep digging and I'm excited about what's to come. 'Tino goes really well at Miller and I go really well at Road America. I'm looking forward our team leading more races and getting some more podiums this year. Hopefully, Santiago will continue to recover and we're trying to get him up to speed as well."

Next up for Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki is the combined AMA/World Superbike race weekend at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, UT on May 29-June 1.

Ride with Chris on G4 TV!

2008-05-09T09:08:00.000-07:00

PIETRI LEADS AT FONTANA, FINISHES FOURTH IN SUPERSTOCK

2008-04-30T11:04:00.001-07:00

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki backed up their first-ever AMA Superstock podium finish a week earlier at Barber Motorsports Park with another tremendous showing this weekend at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA.

Robertino Pietri scored his best finish of the season and equaled the best of his AMA career by finishing fourth in the AMA Superstock race aboard his Pirelli-shod GSX-R1000. Meanwhile, teammate Chris Ulrich fought up from outside the top ten to take seventh in the race and hold down third in the 2008 points race.

Venezuelan Pietri demonstrated his speed in qualifying, securing his first-career AMA front row grid position by clocking the fourth best time of the session at 1:25.744. He elevated his game another notch in the 16-lap, red-flagged race, taking control of the contest on lap 2 and leading until lap 14, earning the bonus point paid for most laps led.

Pietri was ultimately shuffled back to fourth in the late stages of the race but made his mark with a breakthrough, confidence-building ride.

After the race he explained that this result was even sweeter than his fourth place taken last year at Miller Motorsports Park. "This time I earned the fourth because I really had to fight for it. Before this weekend, I never earned a front row start and I never led a lap in the AMA and today I led the most laps, which was great. And nobody crashed ahead of me or anything so I was the fourth fastest guy in the race, which I'm very proud of.

"I want to thank my dad for believing in me, John Ulrich for giving me a chance, and my mechanics for working so hard. The first couple races this year have been pretty tough for me. I've always been fast but for some reason something always happened but this time everything went great.

"I asked my guys to believe in me and they did. This is a real confidence booster; now we know we can run up front with these guys."

Following a restart due to a red flag brought out by teammate Santiago Villa's early race crash, Ulrich didn't get the opening lap his was looking for coming off his Alabama podium result, running off course momentarily and falling well down the order.

However, the Californian battled his way up through the field, ultimately climbing to seventh position and holding off Scott Jensen for the position at the flag by less than two tenths of a second.

"We had a pretty good run back up from as low as 14th place," Ulrich said. "I had a great launch but I ran off the track. From there, I was just working my way back up. We'll take the points and that will go towards our season's goal.

"It was a great day for the team with 'Tino leading most of the race. I could see what was happening in the lead pack ahead of me and as you might imagine it was fantastic to see our bike out front. We're always working hard to improve as a team and today was a great day for us."

Unfortunately, after qualifying on the fourth row with the 16th best time of qualifying at 1:30.143, Villa's early-race crash brought out a red flag, and the Colombian was transported to a local hospital for further treatment.

Thanks to another consistent run, Ulrich now sits third in the points at 80 while Pietri is ranked sixth at 63.

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will head to Infineon Raceway on May 16-18 for the fourth round of the 2008 AMA Superstock Championship.