ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI DISAPPOINTED WITH AMA RULING AT CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki's Chris Ulrich endured a frustrating race at California Speedway following a promising lead up to the third round of the 2007 AMA Superstock Championship. Ulrich's race was negatively impacted by a controversial decision to penalize the Californian that robbed him of a chance to claim a top-six finish in front of his home fans.

After getting away from the sixth slot on the grid with a strong start aboard his Pirelli-shod GSX-R1000, Ulrich was forced off course on lap 3. He immediately followed the procedures the AMA had previously instructed the racers to follow in case such a scenario played out. The result of his correctly following the instructions was a lap was more than two seconds off his pace at the time and Chris lost two positions in the running order.

Ulrich got back into a rhythm and worked his way up to eighth position. He was climbing up the ranks of a multi-rider fight for sixth when his afternoon took a disappointing turn.

Confident that he had done nothing wrong, Ulrich was shocked to see the 'meatball flag' shown to him a number of laps after the incident in question, forcing him into the pits for a penalty. The Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki rider came in on lap 11 of 17 and dropped to 12th place, ultimately where he finished in the race.

"I did exactly what the AMA's Morgan Broadhead told me to do in the riders' meeting. He said, 'You get off the track over there, you have to have to go through the cones pointing in. I did that exactly that, following the printed bulletin the AMA had given to the riders. I lost two positions and countless seconds, yet still I was penalized.

"That was a potential sixth place, a very good finish. And now it's 12th place and probably lost another position or two in points. I'm extremely disappointed in how it turned out. I do not think the ruling was fair or correct."

Meanwhile, teammate Robertino Pietri enjoyed his best outing of the young season, finishing with a top ten result after qualifying 11th fastest for the Superstock final. The reigning Latin American and Venezuelan Superbike champ improved upon his 13th place showing a week earlier at Barber Motorsports Park to claim tenth at California Speedway.

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will tackle the fourth round of the 2007 AMA championship at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA on May 18-20. "Infineon is a physical track and we should do well there," said Ulrich. "I think the Pirelli tires work great at the track and we are extremely motivated."

ANOTHER TOP TEN SUPERSTOCK RESULT FOR ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki's Chris Ulrich backed up his sixth-place run at the season opener with another top-ten result in the second round of the 2007 AMA Superstock Championship held at Barber Motorsports Park.

On Saturday Ulrich qualified on the second row for Sunday's 17-lap final, circulating the scenic Birmingham, AL track with a best lap of 1:27.383, seventh fastest in the session.

Unfortunately he was unable to fully capitalize on his fine starting position, completing the race's first lap in tenth. The 27-year-old Californian kept his head down, however, and ultimately piloted his Pirelli-shod GSX-R1000 racebike to eighth at the checkered flag.

Teammate Robertino Pietri, the reigning Latin American and Venezuelan Superbike champion, was back in action after being forced to miss the season opener due to difficulties obtaining his visa. Pietri made a solid return to AMA Superstock competition, qualifying 15th with a quick time of 1: 29.476, and then improving in the race to claim 13th.

Afterwards, Ulrich reflected on the weekend, commenting, "It was a tough weekend for us and we did the best we could. We were solidly in the top ten again and that's good. I think we were capable of running down Geoff May for seventh place but we lacked just a little grip, which is a common problem at Barber. 'Tino was 13th in his first AMA race of the year and our mechanics all did a good job this weekend. I'm seventh in the points and just four points behind fifth place, so we hope to make up ground next weekend in California."

"Our goal there is a top-five finish and that's what we expect," he added. "It's early in the season but our team is doing a good job of building on what we learned last year."

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will be back in action next weekend, April 27-29, at California Speedway in Fontana, CA.