Pegram Readies For Laguna Seca, Nabs Two Cover Shots

Pegram The Defender

As the global racing community descends on California’s Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Ducati’s AMA star prepares to defend his recent Superbike victory.

This coming weekend marks the seventh round of the AMA Pro Racing American Superbike Championship; held in conjunction with the United States Grand Prix. Ducati Corse’s MotoGP squad has flown over to participate in the World Championship event, enabling the AMSOIL sponsored Larry Pegram to shine in front of the 1098 R’s Bolognese fabricators.

The last race, held in Elkhart Lake, Wis., was an epic duel. When the dust settled, Pegram and the Ducati 1098 R beat Suzuki’s Mat Mladin, only the second time anyone has done so this year. The Foremost/Ducati/AMSOIL squad has had a few weeks off to refresh their 1098 R’s, and Pegram is looking forward to a good performance at Ducati North America’s second “home” track.

“The win at Road America has really boosted my own and the team’s confidence. We are hungry to win more races and I hope the streak continues at Laguna Seca,” commented Pegram. “Massimo Capanna and his crew have been busy preparing for weeks now, and I’m ready to race.”

The AMA Superbike race will take place Sunday at 4:15, following Saturday qualifying at 1:00. The Daytona SuperBike class presented by AMSOIL will also race at Laguna Seca this weekend. AMSOIL is the Official Oil of AMA Pro Road Racing.

Cover Boy

With Pegram's recent win at Road America, he and his Foremost Insurance/AMSOIL/Ducati have been gaining a lot of media coverage, including the front cover on the industries top magazines, Cycle News and Road Racer X. Here are those cover shots:

Television Coverage

This weekend's AMA Pro Road Racing at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca will be the first races to air on SPEED in a new, same-weekend programming format that was announced last month. SPEED's decision to return to same-day or same-weekend coverage of AMA Pro Road Racing has been welcome news for series competitors, promoters and, most importantly, motorcycle road racing fans.

After a brief experiment in the first half of the year with the Saturday evening studio program AMA Pro Prime Time, SPEED is returning to same-weekend coverage of AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike presented by Parts Unlimited and AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL racing beginning with the action from Laguna Seca this weekend. The AMA Pro Road Racing action can be seen Sunday, July 5 at 9 p.m. PT (late Sunday/early Monday, July 6 at Midnight ET). T

"Plain and simple, this move was a reaction to the fans," said Rick Miner, SPEED Senior Vice President of Production & Network Operations. "Naturally, they wanted to see the races as close to real time as possible. As the longtime television destination for motorcycle racing in North America, we will continue to work very hard with AMA Pro Road Racing and other sanctioning bodies at all levels to move through the current economic challenges in a collective effort to deliver great racing to the fans."

Enjoy your Fourth of July holiday and we'll see you at the track.

Barcia Second, Golden Fourth in AMSOIL Debut

The GEICO Powersports/AMSOIL/Honda team rolled into the Mile High City with a new rider under the tent in WMA front-runner Vicki Golden. As a "replacement rider" for Trey Canard, Golden will be competing in the final part of the WMA series as well as the X Games for the AMSOIL sponsored team.

Series rookie Golden was blown away by the support offered to her by the team.

“It was really good,” Golden said. “Everyone was nice and welcoming to me, and they helped me out with everything that I needed. They were all very welcoming, and it was a new experience having a full-time mechanic looking after every detail. It was definitely awesome. He’s a great mechanic, and I couldn’t complain about the day.”

The 16-year-old was second fastest in practice despite having no time on her new race bike prior to race day. In the races, Golden was fourth in the first moto, then led for a period of time in moto two before finishing third.

“Knowing that I did just as well, if not better, in this race than I had before, and it was my first time ever leading a WMA race, given my lack of time on the bike, it really helps my confidence and I can’t wait for my next race,” Golden said. “It’s a great start, and I know I have more time to get comfortable, and I’ll get better from here.”

Golden returns to action with the WMA series in Washougal on July 25.

In the 250 class, another rookie in Justin Barcia had a good day at altitude, despite a bad start in moto one, finishing ninth. But in the second moto, Barcia started closer to the front, only to inherit the lead when Jake Weimer went down.

“Yeah, when I got out front, I tried to pull out a lead as best I could, and Weimer was riding really well, so he caught up to me and passed me,” Barcia said. “I tried to stay with him, but I made a few mistakes, but second was pretty good.”

Barcia hung on for second, giving him fourth overall.

Brett Metcalfe started up front in both motos, but had a problem seeing after all of his tear-offs came off on the second turn in moto one, eventually finishing seventh. But in the second moto, Metcalfe ended up in a seven-rider battle for third.

“The second moto, I got another good start, and then I worked my way up into fourth,” Metcalfe said. “Searle and I were having a good battle, and then I finally made a move on him, and I tried to put a little time on him, and then I spun out in a turn and made a mistake. That allowed him to get back by me, and I had to find another way around him again. I finally got past him again, and that same lap he put a pretty good move on me and pushed me out wide, and Dungey got underneath me, so I lost two spots, and a couple turns later Pourcel was on me and he went by me too. I got swallowed up pretty good and was in sixth, and on the last lap, I made a move on Pourcel and I was just a bit angry from going backward, so I got back into fifth, and that was it.”

Blake Wharton ran up front the entire first moto, ending up fourth. He started near the front again in moto two, but got caught up in an on track incident and was taken out by another rider. He would finish 11th in moto two and eighth overall.

From here, the GEICO Powersports/AMSOIL/Honda team heads to Buchanan, Mich. for round six of the championship at infamous Red Bud.

Until then, we'll see you at the races.

KTM 990 Approved Competition in AMA Daytona SportBike Presented by AMSOIL

Press release from AMA Pro Racing

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 30, 2009) - The AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL class is already one of the most diverse divisions in major league motorcycle road racing, but the competition is going to get even more interesting beginning with this weekend's Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The KTM 990 Super Duke is the 11th different motorcycle approved and homologated for AMA Pro Daytona SportBike competition, and one of the unique twin cylinder bikes will be debuted this weekend at Mazda Raceway. The California-based Tri-Valley Moto team and rider Eric Gulbransen will field the No. 394 KTM 990 Super Duke in Sunday's AMA Pro Daytona SportBike final. "We have seen outstanding racing this year in AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL and that is due to the incredible talent of the teams and riders and the performance of a diverse line-up of motorcycles," said AMA Pro Racing President Roger Edmondson. "AMA Pro Daytona SportBike is now home to 11 different motorcycles from nine different manufacturers and the parity we have seen in the on-track performance has been unmatched at this level. We welcome KTM and Tri-Valley Moto to the series and know they will be a competitive addition to an already outstanding class." The Austrian-made KTM brand has been ridden to more than 90 motorcycle championships around the world but the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike debut will be the manufacturer's first experience in North America at this level. Tri-Valley Moto is based in Livermore, California and Gulbransen is a veteran California rider from Menlo Park, who also has extensive experience racing Ducatis. Dual 23-lap/50-mile sprints for AMA Pro Daytona SportBike and AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike presented by Parts Unlimited will bring the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix weekend to a close on Sunday, July 5. The Daytona SportBike race begins at 3:30 p.m. local time and will be followed directly by the American Superbike race at 4:15 p.m.

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. From its Daytona Beach headquarters, the organization operates and manages AMA Pro Road Racing, which includes AMA Pro American Superbike, AMA Pro Daytona SportBike, AMA Pro SuperSport and AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT. AMA Pro Racing also manages and works closely with the day-to-day operational organizations of the AMA Pro Flat Track Championship and the AMA Pro Supermoto Championship Series in addition to other two-wheel and ATV series. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at http://www.amaproracing.com/.

Rinker Closes Championship Gap in Bay City

Photos courtesy of Mike Randolph and http://www.mlive.com/

Tim Seebold took the win in Bay City, but it was AMSOIL driver Terry Rinker closed the gap on Shaun Torrente in the standings for the 2009 F1 ChampBoat Series presented by AMSOIL.

Rinker started the weekend gaining valuable points towards what could become his fifth career ChampBoat championship by becoming the number two qualifier behind Seebold, but ahead of series points leader Shaun Torrente.

During Sunday's final, Seebold dictated the action at the front of the race, but the real battle was behind him between Torrente and Rinker. Torrente would win Sunday's battle, but only because of a broken fuel pump suffered by Rinker's boat on the lap 31 of the 50-lap affair. After the red flag came out to stop the race, Rinker was able to repair the fuel pump and, after starting dead last, moved the Team AMSOIL boat back into fourth over the final 19 laps. Despite finishing one spot behind Torrente (third) in Bay City, Rinker was able to close the gap by 14 points thanks to his strong qualifying on Saturday. Rinker is no just 24 points behind Torrente.

"We had a great set-up this weekend, from qualifying to the final," said Rinker. "It's too bad we had the fuel pump issue, because we could have been back on the podium for the third time this year. The guys did a great job getting us back out there after the red flag. Without their hard work, we wouldn't have been able to close the gap on Shaun and defend our 2009 championship."

The F1-ChampBoat Series now is off until mid-August when it heads to Nashville, Tenn. on the August 15-16. for the first time in its 25-year history.

Until then, we'll see you at the races.