ULRICH SIXTH, PIETRI NINTH AT INFINEON RACEWAY
Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki bounced back strong after the difficult, controversial round at California Speedway to score their best Superstock results of the season at Infineon Raceway. Despite some unusual circumstances, riders Chris Ulrich and Robertino Pietri registered excellent race day performances to claim a pair of top-ten finishes for the team.
After qualifying on the outside of the second row aboard his GSX-R1000 with a quick time of 1:39.039, Ulrich was forced to start the race on his 'B' bike after focusing all of his efforts throughout the weekend prepping his primary machine.
Despite the change, the Californian found himself in a spirited battle with Blake Young for a top-five finish and fell just short of claiming the spot at the checkered flag. Still, Chris' sixth-place finish equaled his best finish of the season, claimed at the Daytona International Speedway season opener.
"It was a difficult race for sure," Ulrich remarked. "I had to start on my backup bike which had never turned a wheel on the racetrack until the parade lap. I had a crash this morning and it was pretty close to the race. We were trying some new settings and I think I just clipped the paint line and threw the thing down the road.
"I came back down to talk to my guy about running a different compound front tire because I was a little worried that the front I chose wasn't going to be the better choice. We got sorted and I was looking at the machine and, 'Whoa! We're starting on the backup bike?' They said it was precautionary -- fair enough. I got on it and it didn't feel very good on the warm-up lap."
"My launch was okay," he continued. "I got into turn one and didn't lose any positions, which is good. I got myself in a tussle with Blake. At the end I made a small mistake coming down the hill into the chicane and that gave him the opportunity to pass me. I knew I had to be perfect on the last lap and I wasn't perfect. But sixth place after throwing the thing down the road wrecking a bike this morning and having chassis struggles all weekend, you can't complain."
Reigning Latin American and Venezuelan Superbike champion Robertino Pietri opened his race directly behind his teammate, qualifying 12th on the grid at 1:40.218. Pietri waged a couple of dogfights himself before bringing his GSX-R1000 home in ninth, his best finish of the season.
"He did a good job," Ulrich said of his teammate's performance. "He improved on his lap times. He's got some work to do but for sure he's coming along. It was the best combined finish that we've ever had. It equals our best performance of the year. We'll roll onto Road America and the big horsepower of the Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will come in handy there."
Ulrich is currently seventh in the Superstock title race with 92 points while Pietri sits in tenth with 61 despite missing the opening round.
The fifth round of the 2007 AMA season will take place on June 1-3 at the high-speed Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, WI.
After qualifying on the outside of the second row aboard his GSX-R1000 with a quick time of 1:39.039, Ulrich was forced to start the race on his 'B' bike after focusing all of his efforts throughout the weekend prepping his primary machine.
Despite the change, the Californian found himself in a spirited battle with Blake Young for a top-five finish and fell just short of claiming the spot at the checkered flag. Still, Chris' sixth-place finish equaled his best finish of the season, claimed at the Daytona International Speedway season opener.
"It was a difficult race for sure," Ulrich remarked. "I had to start on my backup bike which had never turned a wheel on the racetrack until the parade lap. I had a crash this morning and it was pretty close to the race. We were trying some new settings and I think I just clipped the paint line and threw the thing down the road.
"I came back down to talk to my guy about running a different compound front tire because I was a little worried that the front I chose wasn't going to be the better choice. We got sorted and I was looking at the machine and, 'Whoa! We're starting on the backup bike?' They said it was precautionary -- fair enough. I got on it and it didn't feel very good on the warm-up lap."
"My launch was okay," he continued. "I got into turn one and didn't lose any positions, which is good. I got myself in a tussle with Blake. At the end I made a small mistake coming down the hill into the chicane and that gave him the opportunity to pass me. I knew I had to be perfect on the last lap and I wasn't perfect. But sixth place after throwing the thing down the road wrecking a bike this morning and having chassis struggles all weekend, you can't complain."
Reigning Latin American and Venezuelan Superbike champion Robertino Pietri opened his race directly behind his teammate, qualifying 12th on the grid at 1:40.218. Pietri waged a couple of dogfights himself before bringing his GSX-R1000 home in ninth, his best finish of the season.
"He did a good job," Ulrich said of his teammate's performance. "He improved on his lap times. He's got some work to do but for sure he's coming along. It was the best combined finish that we've ever had. It equals our best performance of the year. We'll roll onto Road America and the big horsepower of the Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will come in handy there."
Ulrich is currently seventh in the Superstock title race with 92 points while Pietri sits in tenth with 61 despite missing the opening round.
The fifth round of the 2007 AMA season will take place on June 1-3 at the high-speed Road America circuit in Elkhart Lake, WI.
Labels: press release
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