CHALLENGING WEEKEND FOR PIETRI AND ULRICH AT MID-OHIO
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, 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.
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