Suzuki racks-up multiple wins and podium finishes at Barber Motorsports Park

ASBK-7-Bobby Fong

Team Suzuki Press Office – September 21.

Sean Dylan Kelly: GSX-R600 – 2-2 (Supersport)
Bobby Fong: GSX-R1000 – 6-3 (Superbike)
Toni Elias: GSX-R1000 – 4-4 (Superbike)
Cameron Petersen: GSX-R1000 – 1-1(Stock 1000)
Rocco Landers: SV650 – 1-1(Twins Cup)

Suzuki and Team Hammer racked-up multiple wins and podium finishes in another spectacular MotoAmerica AMA/ FIM North American Road Racing weekend at Barber Motorsports Park, USA, at the weekend.

M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sean Dylan Kelly put together another strong performance, racking up his 12th and 13th MotoAmerica Supersport podium result in succession while adding to his season’s highlights with more impressive out-braking action.

Twice, the young Floridan battled hard for the lead aboard his M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R600 en route to runner-up finishes.

Kelly said: “We did what we could today and I’m really happy with the progress we made all weekend long. We started off at a good spot and built from there. I’m satisfied with the work we did and we all gave our absolute best. This is the fastest I’ve ever been here and our pace was good the whole race. We need to keep on working and keep on fighting. The championship is still open. There are still points on the line and there are still four races to go. A huge thank you to my M4 ECSTAR Suzuki crew for all their hard work.”

M4 ECSTAR Suzuki Superbike teammates Bobby Fong and Toni Elias combined for another strong outing in premier-class action. Elias, the 2017 MotoAmerica Superbike Champion, successfully built upon his first podium of ‘20 at the prior round by pulling in a pair of fourth-place finishes in Alabama.

Fong, meanwhile, rebounded from a sixth-place run on Saturday with a podium performance on Sunday. The Californian made a late-race push to close to within one second a runner-up result on his way to third.

“It was a combination of everything,” Fong said of his overnight improvement. “My M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000 certainly runs strong at the end of a race. We’re going to go into Indianapolis with a little better of a game plan and hopefully be there to take advantage of our late speed in a race for the win. We’re going to give it our all next round.”

The round proved to be a historic one for Suzuki’s official team in MotoAmerica competition: When he crossed the line to claim the chequered flag in Sunday’s Stock 1000 race aboard his Team Hammer-built GSX-R1000, Altus Motorsports Suzuki’s Cam Petersen registered the 100th all-time AMA Pro/ MotoAmerica National race victory for race bikes fielded or built by Team Hammer.

South African Petersen did so in an appropriately dominant fashion, storming away with his sixth consecutive class victory.
Said Petersen: “Two laps in a row, I completely washed the front in Turn 5, but luckily I saved it on my elbow. It was another fun race and another great day. I can’t thank the Altus Motorsports team enough. They’ve given me such a machine and it seems like every weekend we keep getting better and better. My whole family is here other than my mom, who is back home watching. This one is pretty sweet.”

M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Lucas Silva kept his season’s long run of Supersport top 10s alive, despite fate attempting to intervene. Silva backed up his Saturday 10th with an eighth on Sunday – an eighth that only came after being run off track in a multi-rider incident that dropped him down to 15th position.

Silva spent the remainder of his race slashing his way up through the field, not making his final pass for position until the very final lap.

Finally, SportbikeTrackGear.com Suzuki’s Rocco Landers – who gave Team Hammer its 99th win on Saturday – rounded out the weekend by earning its 101st on Sunday.

Landers continued his crushing Twins Cup form all weekend long. He escaped to a pair of lopsided victories to up his victory streak aboard his Suzuki SV650 to six.

He said, “I just tried to get as good of a start as possible and open up a big gap on the first lap. I’m so stoked. I’ve got to give the biggest shout out to SportbikeTrackGear.com and to John Ulrich and Chris Ulrich with Roadracingworld.com. They’ve helped me out so much this year, and it’s an honour to work with them.”

The 2020 MotoAmerica season will resume for its penultimate round at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on October 9-11th.

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