TEAM ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI SECOND IN 8 HOURS AT DAYTONA

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki extended a perfect record of top-two results in the 8-Hours At Daytona on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway, claiming a runner-up finish in the grueling contest.

The team's record in American endurance racing since the formation of Team Hammer in 1980 is remarkable and the organization has won 132 endurance races and 13 National Endurance Championships since then.

Attacking the Moto-GT season finale with a trio of proven AMA Pro race winners in Chris Ulrich, Martin Cardenas, and Jason DiSalvo, the Roadracingworld.com Suzuki squad came into the weekend viewed as race favorites every bit capable of building upon their two-race 8-Hours A Daytona win streak.

This time, however, a combination of misfortune and difficulties in finding an ideal set-up compromise for three riders of contrasting physical dimensions -- along with an extremely solid performance by the No. 13 Westby Racing team -- prevented the team from claiming a third consecutive victory in an exciting two-team battle for the overall win.

Cardenas, who took seven Daytona SportBike victories this season, rode brilliantly early on in his return to action following his late-season injury that curtailed his Daytona SportBike championship challenge. The Colombian turned the fastest lap in the race by over a half-second, clocking a 1:50.863 aboard the #18 Suzuki GSX-R600. But the team was hit with a ride-through penalty for clipping an adjacent pit stall while coming in for a refueling stop. A late-race problem with a loose footpeg cost the team additional time, and they ultimately finished in second place two laps off the victory with 245 laps completed.

"We felt we put together a really strong team and Martin was very strong for us," Chris Ulrich said. "The settings are never perfect in a race like this, and we knew from last year that Martin's setting would be difficult for me to ride. But my plan was to limit our losses and take advantage of his speed with his preferred settings. The big question was DiSalvo, and we felt he'd be able to ride pretty well on Martin's settings but it just proved a lot more difficult for him than we anticipated. We ended up with a pretty lopsided lineup and the results showed that.

"I'm probably 6-8 inches taller and 45 pounds heavier than Jason and 30 pounds heavier than Martin. In the first stint I was in the 1:53s even though I was on the bottom of the front fork, and that was OK considering I was just looking to limit the loss. I knew that was going to be the case, and I was just going to do what I could and then hand it off to Jason and Martin and let them turn some fast times and extend the lead. But unfortunately at the end of my stint I made a mistake that cost us a ride-through, which put us a minute-and-a-half behind and we never recovered. Then we had a small problem with a loose footpeg in the last 90 minutes and that was all she wrote.

"I'm happy the Roadracingworld.com Suzuki team has been on the podium for the last four seasons at this race, including two wins and two second places. That's a great track record for us, but I wanted to be fighting closer for the win to be honest.

"The No. 13 team ran very well the whole race and their rider lineup was very strong. They ran a mistake-free race while we had a few mistakes. There's no shame in second, but the history of this team is not one to be second," added Ulrich. "What the No. 13 bike did to us is what we usually do to everybody else. Usually we're perfect in execution; don't incur any penalties, don't make any stupid mistakes, don't have any problems with the machinery. Unfortunately, this year's race didn't play out that way for us and we had a bad day but we still were able to take second place. It wasn't for lack of trying, however, and we'll be back next year stronger than ever."

TEAM ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI WRAPS UP 2009 IN NEW JERSEY

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki's Chris Ulrich ended his 2009 AMA Pro American Superbike campaign on an encouraging note in the New Jersey Motorsports Park season finale.

Over the course of the weekend Ulrich unlocked some crucial secrets to his '09 Suzuki GSX-R1000 and showed competitive speed despite being prevented from displaying his true potential in either race.

The Californian opened the weekend's twin 23-lap Superbike main events from the inside of the fourth row after qualifying 13^th with a best time of 1:22.615.

In Saturday's final Chris battled with some well-proven Superbike contenders for a top-ten finishing position before ultimately accepting twelfth. He was anxious to capitalize on the positive outing and improve even further on Sunday but was controversially judged to have jumped the start. Even after serving his ride through penalty, Ulrich raced his way to a 13^th-place result but felt he was good for much more on the day if not for the call.

Ulrich closed out the season ranked 12^th in the 2009 AMA Pro American Superbike standings with 156 points and a pair of top-ten finishes.

"It was a positive weekend for us actually," Ulrich said. "We made some drastic changes during the Thursday test day here, some stuff that I would have never thought of. Mike Fitzgerald from Öhlins brought over some information and we made the change and it was worth 1.2 seconds. It was a significant for my confidence with the K9. That was big.

"We also had a new engine package with our in-house program that was very, very good. I'm very pleased with the hard work our guys have been putting in.

"On Saturday I was in the fight for ninth with Geoff May and Jake Holden. I made a couple mistakes but the pace was good. I was very happy with that. Today we felt like we could build on that and improve and we had good pace but we got robbed. The officials said I jumped the start, but I saw the video and I did not move at all. It's unfortunate because I feel a strong earned top-ten finish was stolen from me today."

Russ Wikle impressed in Saturday's AMA Pro Daytona SportBike final, claiming 18^th in the extremely competitive class. Unfortunately, the youngster suffered a Sunday morning crash and sat out the day's SportBike and SuperSport finales as a result.

He joined Santiago Villa on the sidelines after the Colombian wisely decided to rest his healing leg after making a courageous effort early in the weekend.

Wikle finished the season ranked fifth in the SuperSport East Division with 90 points and 26^th in SportBike at 41 points. Villa ended the year 31^st in SportBike with 23 points.

"Santiago tried to give it a go, but it was too dangerous," Ulrich explained. "Two-and-a-half weeks post-op on a broken leg isn't exactly a great idea, but hopefully the toughest man in racing will be back with us next year.

"We diverted Santiago's crew to Russell. He learned a lot of stuff this weekend and did a good job on Saturday. But he had a big crash in practice this morning and was pretty beat up. We opted to sit it out. I know how it is -- it's no fun after you crack your head that hard. It's tough luck, but he showed some great progress this year."

Ulrich summed up the season by saying, "100% I wish this was the first race rather than the last. We finally got everything together. I just needed to get a bike under me that allowed me to prove what we can do. I'm happy with that and confident for next season. I think we can be competitive for top tens in AMA Superbike next year."

WIKLE SECOND IN AMA PRO SUPERSPORT EAST POINTS

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki continued to make progress during the penultimate round of the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing season at Virginia International Raceway.

Chris Ulrich found some more positives with his '09 GSX-R1000 and left the weekend optimistic that the team is headed in the right direction while Russ Wikle picked up a top-ten result in SuperSport to enter the final race of the East Division season ranked second in the points.

Ulrich helped initiate a new program by legendary tuners Yoshimura by running a customer engine at VIR as Yosh prepares to offer those services in the paddock next season.

The Californian qualified 14^th fastest at 1:26.856 for the weekend's twin 50-mile AMA Pro American Superbike races.

Saturday's final was a grueling affair with the bike's set-up proving uncooperative, further exasperating the difficulties created by the hot and humid conditions along with a less than ideal start. Chris battled up from 18^th after the opening lap to finish 13^th.

Sunday's setting was much improved but another imperfect start and an early incident that tore off his knee puck prevented him from finishing higher than 12^th.

"I think there are a lot of positives from the weekend," Ulrich said. "Right off the bat we got a new engine from Yoshimura and that helped quite a bit. It's a new deal for them; they're going to offer customer engines next year and they wanted us to try it out. I was happy to be a part of that and my guys were on board and positive about it.

"We looked pretty good in qualifying on Friday but we went with a different combination and different rear tire on Saturday. It turned out over race distance it was really difficult to ride the bike that way. We faded and it was physically draining; my right shoulder was very sore after that.

"This morning we changed the gear back and did some other stuff. We went to the shorter gear and it made life easier so we went back to Friday's setting but it turned out in the race we needed a little bit taller gearing. It cost us some speed down the front straight but everywhere else it was pretty good.

"Yesterday's race was so hard but we got a 13^th. Today's was a lot easier but we shot ourselves in the foot both days with bad starts. Today I got in on the first lap in the chicane and stuck my knee into the curb and my knee puck went flying off and ripped my suit open. I was pretty lucky Dainese has pretty good protection there and I didn't damage my knee. It just meant I had to ride the race without a knee puck but I still went faster than yesterday's race and the gap was closer."

Ulrich heads into the season finale ranked 12^th with 139 points.

Russ Wikle continued to show competitive form in the AMA Pro SuperSport class, qualifying on the second row aboard his Suzuki GSX-R600 at 1:31.404 in eighth position and then picking up a tenth-place race result in Sunday's race.

While he was unable to challenge for a podium finish at VIR like he has on multiple occasions this season, Wikle sits second in the SuperSport championship standings on 90 points with just one East Division round remaining.

Chris said, "Russ struggled a little bit. I think the time off will do him some good because he can go back to being a teenager for a little bit, go home and hang out with his friends, and then come out fresh in New Jersey. Sometimes in racing when you spend so much time on the road and if you're not really used to it, it can burn you out. That said, Russell is still doing well. We all worked with him at the WERA weekend and tried to help educate him about what different changes do to his motorcycle and we got some positive things out of that."

Unfortunately, Colombian Santiago Villa suffered a setback this weekend, injuring himself in a practice crash while riding for a Moto-GT team not associated with Team Roadracingworld.com and being forced to sit out the two AMA Pro Daytona SportBike races.

"Santiago broke his leg," Ulrich said. "That's tough luck for the toughest man in racing. He did the right thing this time instead of gutting it because there could be some serious damage."

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will head to the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing season finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park on September 4-6.

"I think New Jersey is going to be good for us," Ulrich said. "We've got Thursday practice and we've got the bikes to a decent baseline. We'll work on our game a little bit. We've got a couple weeks off so I'll get some training in and have some fun and them come out swinging at New Jersey.

"I'd like to close the season out strong for the whole team. I worked hard to develop that K9 by myself and now we've got some good help. This year has gone really fast and it's been a weird year but we've got positives things going."

WIKLE SECOND IN AMA PRO SUPERSPORT EAST POINTS

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki continued to make progress during the penultimate round of the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing season at Virginia International Raceway.

Chris Ulrich found some more positives with his '09 GSX-R1000 and left the weekend optimistic that the team is headed in the right direction while Russ Wikle picked up a top-ten result in SuperSport to enter the final race of the East Division season ranked second in the points.

Ulrich helped initiate a new program by legendary tuners Yoshimura by running a customer engine at VIR as Yosh prepares to offer those services in the paddock next season.

The Californian qualified 14^th fastest at 1:26.856 for the weekend's twin 50-mile AMA Pro American Superbike races.

Saturday's final was a grueling affair with the bike's set-up proving uncooperative, further exasperating the difficulties created by the hot and humid conditions along with a less than ideal start. Chris battled up from 18^th after the opening lap to finish 13^th.

Sunday's setting was much improved but another imperfect start and an early incident that tore off his knee puck prevented him from finishing higher than 12^th.

"I think there are a lot of positives from the weekend," Ulrich said. "Right off the bat we got a new engine from Yoshimura and that helped quite a bit. It's a new deal for them; they're going to offer customer engines next year and they wanted us to try it out. I was happy to be a part of that and my guys were on board and positive about it.

"We looked pretty good in qualifying on Friday but we went with a different combination and different rear tire on Saturday. It turned out over race distance it was really difficult to ride the bike that way. We faded and it was physically draining; my right shoulder was very sore after that.

"This morning we changed the gear back and did some other stuff. We went to the shorter gear and it made life easier so we went back to Friday's setting but it turned out in the race we needed a little bit taller gearing. It cost us some speed down the front straight but everywhere else it was pretty good.

"Yesterday's race was so hard but we got a 13^th. Today's was a lot easier but we shot ourselves in the foot both days with bad starts. Today I got in on the first lap in the chicane and stuck my knee into the curb and my knee puck went flying off and ripped my suit open. I was pretty lucky Dainese has pretty good protection there and I didn't damage my knee. It just meant I had to ride the race without a knee puck but I still went faster than yesterday's race and the gap was closer."

Ulrich heads into the season finale ranked 12^th with 139 points.

Russ Wikle continued to show competitive form in the AMA Pro SuperSport class, qualifying on the second row aboard his Suzuki GSX-R600 at 1:31.404 in eighth position and then picking up a tenth-place race result in Sunday's race.

While he was unable to challenge for a podium finish at VIR like he has on multiple occasions this season, Wikle sits second in the SuperSport championship standings on 90 points with just one East Division round remaining.

Chris said, "Russ struggled a little bit. I think the time off will do him some good because he can go back to being a teenager for a little bit, go home and hang out with his friends, and then come out fresh in New Jersey. Sometimes in racing when you spend so much time on the road and if you're not really used to it, it can burn you out. That said, Russell is still doing well. We all worked with him at the WERA weekend and tried to help educate him about what different changes do to his motorcycle and we got some positive things out of that."

Unfortunately, Colombian Santiago Villa suffered a setback this weekend, injuring himself in a crash and being forced to sit out the two AMA Pro Daytona SportBike races.

"Santiago broke his leg," Ulrich said. "That's tough luck for the toughest man in racing. He did the right thing this time instead of gutting it because there could be some serious damage."

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will head to the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing season finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park on September 4-6.

"I think New Jersey is going to be good for us," Ulrich said. "We've got Thursday practice and we've got the bikes to a decent baseline. We'll work on our game a little bit. We've got a couple weeks off so I'll get some training in and have some fun and them come out swinging at New Jersey.

"I'd like to close the season out strong for the whole team. I worked hard to develop that K9 by myself and now we've got some good help. This year has gone really fast and it's been a weird year but we've got positives things going."

TOP TEN FOR ULRICH AND TEAM ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki came away from the AMA Pro Road Racing series' return to Heartland Park Topeka in Topeka, KS in a positive mood, as Chris Ulrich broke back into the American Superbike top ten and Russell Wikle continued to run up front in the AMA SuperSport class.

Ulrich qualified on the outside of the third row aboard his developing GSX-R1000 K9, posting the twelfth best lap time during Basic Qualifying at 1:38.835. He picked up a position in Saturday's 50-lap final by finishing eleventh.

The Californian continued his improvement over night, scoring a ninth-place ride on Sunday, his second best result of the 2009 season.

Ulrich is currently eleventh in the AMA American Superbike championship race with 122 points.

"It's good to get back in the top ten," Chris declared. "It's a decent finish. We need to work on the gap a little bit and close down the distance to the top guys, but we moved forward and the bike was continuing to feel more comfortable for me this weekend. We got some new parts and we're pretty happy with that.

"It's encouraging that we're moving farther forward but there are some guys we know we should be racing with that we've still got to track down. We've got to work on that for VIR. We've got the chassis to where we're pretty happy with it, so now we've got to start dicing with those guys. I got away with them but they were just about to pull a tenth here and a tenth there and the next thing you know, they've got a few seconds on me.

"Our goal for the rest of the year is to stay in the top ten and close the gap. It's going to be difficult but I think it's doable."

Russ qualified sixth fastest for the SuperSport contest despite some tricky wet-dry conditions. Facing a deep field comprised of the top riders from both the East and West divisions, Wikle fought an entertaining battle with newly crowned West champ Ricky Parker and just missed out on fourth place by 0.239 seconds.

His fifth-place result has him ranked third in the AMA Pro SuperSport East standings with 79 points.

"Russell did a great job again," Ulrich said. "They changed his bike a lot before that race and he did a good job to ride that bike well. He got himself into a really good battle with Ricky Parker. He's fighting and he's pretty gritty. We're really pleased with his performance once again."

Santiago Villa was an innocent victim of another rider's mistake on Saturday, being collected in a crash in the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike race through no fault of his own.

The gritty Colombian came back to finish 20^th aboard his GSX-R600 on Sunday, however, his eighth top 20 of the 2009. Villa also earned the podium in a Moto-GT ride with another team this weekend.

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will head to Virginia International Raceway for the penultimate round of the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing season on August 14-16.

TEAM ROADRACINGWORLD.COM ANSWERS THE CHALLENGE AT MID-OHIO

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki battled through a difficult weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for Round 8 of the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing season.

Chris Ulrich gained valuable experience with his developing '09 GSX-R1000 American Superbike during the stop at a venue where he boasts a past AMA Superstock victory, but misfortune in qualifying and the races prevented him from showing his full potential.

Ulrich wasn't able to get in his planned fast lap when Superbike qualifying was red flagged and concluded a few minutes short of the scheduled time. As a result, he started from 14^th on the grid with a fast time of 1:28.183.

The Californian picked up a position in the opening race, finishing a lonely 13^th and hoped to improve on Sunday after further dialing in his racebike with the knowledge gained in Saturday's 50-mile final. However, an electrical problem dashed those hopes and ended his race early.

"In qualifying we put the soft tire on too late and that was pretty much the deal," Ulrich explained. "The red flag came out for the incident when David Anthony crashed, so that kind of caught us out. We went out with three minutes to go and were trying to push hard. The balance of the bike has been improved but we're still lacking in some areas with the machine and we're trying to sort those out before Topeka.

"We learned some stuff in Saturday's race and applied that to the Sunday race but the bike had s small technical issue that put us out of the race, unfortuantely."

Ulrich is currently ranked 12^th in the American Superbike title race with 100 points.

AMA Pro SuperSport East Division title hopeful Russ Wikle had a similarly tough outing. After qualifying ninth at 1:32.935, Wikle was running seventh in the race aboard his GSX-R600 but crashed out while exiting Turn 1 on lap 6. Despite the spill, he holds down third in the championship battle with 63 points.

Ulrich remarked, "Tough luck for Russ and that hurts in the championship but what can you do? Sometimes you have bad weekends and this happened to be a bad one for us."

Colombian Santiago Villa rung up 20^th and 27^th place finishes in the weekend's AMA Pro Daytona SportBike finals while Wikle came home in 26^th and 29^th. Wikle is 23^rd in the points at 38 while Villa is 28^th with 22.

On July 31-August 2 Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will travel to Heartland Park Topeka, in Topeka, KS for Round 9 of the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing championship.

"We're going into the unknown," Ulrich said of the new addition to the calendar. "Russell did a track day there last week and I've been there doing two-seaters. We're going to go out there and see if we can make something happen. We'll strive to make some forward progress."

SUCCESS AT LAGUNA SECA FOR TEAM ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki enjoyed an encouraging weekend of racing in front of over 105,000 fans at Laguna Seca, scoring yet another AMA Pro SuperSport podium finish while also making vital progress with their developing American Superbike program.

New parts for Chris Ulrich's #18 GSX-R1000 aided the Californian's adaptation to his 2009-spec machine this weekend. He qualified on the inside of the fourth row, posting the 13^th fastest time at 1:26.751 and then went one better in the race, coming home twelfth following a hectic affair that included a pair of opening-lap red flags and Safety Car and grid-related confusion.

After suffering from some set-up woes at the most recent two rounds, Ulrich felt the weekend marked a turning point in the season even if the race didn't go exactly to plan.

"There are some things I don't understand about that race that went on, mainly how some of those guys who crashed were able to restart in good grid positions, but I guess we'll leave that up for others to figure out," said Ulrich, who is ranked twelfth in the championship with 92 points.

"We made a lot of progress over the weekend. We had some problems adapting to the K9 but we got some new parts and the bike was working good. We were a lot better off in practice.

"It came down to a decision on Sunday morning because it wasn't quite steering as well as we wanted and we thought about a ride height change. Instead, we decided to do it with some rebound to the front and it didn't work. We took the rebound out and it was a little bit better but for the most part, we missed it today. There were a lot of encouraging things that came out of the weekend, especially in qualifying. We are a lot closer. This should be the turnaround for the rest of the season."

Russell Wikle put in another terrific effort in SuperSport action in what was a non-points paying West Division race weekend for him. The Alabaman qualified second on the grid at 1:30.745 and backed that up with a runner-up result in the race, his fifth podium ride of the '09 season.

"You can't be disappointed with a podium finish but I'd like to be on top," Russ said. "I got a mediocre start, second into Turn 2 and I really wanted to put my head down and fight for the win but I made a couple mistakes early on. After that I concentrated on bringing it home in second place."

Wikle was joined on the team by the up-and-coming James Rispoli for the weekend. Rispoli, 17 years old and from Attica, New York, finished a terrific fourth in the one-off ride, crossing the stripe less than a second away from giving the squad another podium result.

"It was a great weekend, overall. It was awesome. I had never ridden this bike before or raced here at Laguna Seca, so we knew we had some work in front of us. We got faster with every lap the entire weekend. It was phenomenal and I had a lot of fun and learned a lot,” said James.

Ulrich said, "We had two kids that did great for us this weekend. First off, Russell was solid as usual and did a fantastic job once again. We're going to kick up the support for him for the remainder of the season and hopefully he can get some wins.

"James did a great job riding for us this weekend as well. He was a bit of an unknown but he ended up fighting for the podium and we see a lot of talent in James. We'll be keeping an eye on him."

Santiago Villa put in yet another gritty AMA Pro Daytona SportBike performance riding at less than 100%. The Colombian put in his third top-20 result in his last four attempts, finishing 18^th position, right behind Wikle who took 17^th.

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will next head to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 17-19. Mid-Ohio. The circuit has traditionally been a strong venue for Ulrich, who claimed a victory at the track in 2002.

"I love Mid-Ohio," Chris said. "We've been getting some fantastic support out of Öhlins and we're making great progress and everyone is behind us, so we excited for the remainder of the season."

SUCCESSFUL MID-OHIO TEST FOR TEAM ROARDRACING WORLD.COM SUZUKI

Just days following an eventful weekend of AMA Pro Road Racing at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI, Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki trekked to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for a midseason testing session on Wednesday.

Chris Ulrich continued to learn the nuances of his new '09 GSX-R1000 American Superbike while Santiago Villa came into the test motivated following his best career finish in Saturday's Daytona SportBike final.

SuperSport ace Russell Wikle sat out in order to heal up following his painful Saturday SportBike crash and inspiring fifth-place SuperSport ride on Sunday.

Ulrich summed up the test session, commenting, "We made some progress. We figured out some things and tried out some different links on the new bike and determined that we need some more chassis parts. We kind of already knew that but they weren't available yet. We're going to get that stuff and be ready to go with it at Laguna Seca.

"This bike seems to be a little more finicky than the bikes in the past. We're learning, just working on getting the balance right and moving forward and making progress. We did make some gains during the test at Mid-Ohio but it wasn't a huge breakthrough -- just steady progress."

Colombian Villa continued to improve as well. Ulrich said, "Santiago tested a bunch of tires with the Dunlop guys and made some good progress with his lap times. He did a good job. He had a little low side in the middle of the day but got right back up and everything was okay so no big deal. He found some improvements so we're looking forward to seeing his results at Laguna."

The team now has a few weeks to rest before sharing the spotlight with the MotoGP World Championship at Laguna Seca in Monterey, CA on July 3-5.

"It's been a long couple weeks and I've been a little banged up," Ulrich admitted. "I'm happy to go home and get some downtime before Laguna and we expect to come out strong for the second half of the season."

WIKLE ON THE PODIUM AT SONOMA FOR TEAM ROADRACINGWORLD.COM

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki enjoyed a positive weekend of racing in extremely grueling conditions at the hot and physical Infineon Raceway for the fifth stop on the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing tour.

Chris Ulrich showed major progress in his second weekend aboard the team's all-new 2009 GSX-R1000 and registered a season's best result of eighth on Saturday, backing up a strong qualifying effort (1:38.015). Sunday's race didn't quite go to plan, however, will a crash costing him a shot at a second top-ten result on the weekend.

"We made a lot of progress this weekend," said Ulrich. "The conditions were tough with the heat but it was a good weekend for Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki.

"I had a good race on Saturday and was able to finish eighth. The gap to the front was a lot closer and we were pleased with that.

"On Sunday I was mixing it up some guys for eighth place in the early laps and I touched a paint line and I went down. I broke some stuff on the bike so I couldn't continue and that was that.

"Obviously, we're still learning with the new bike and developing our stuff. We're happy with how it's going. For Road America, we'll have some new chassis parts that will help us run even stronger."

Rising star Russ Wikle again showed great promise and maturity, putting his Suzuki GSX-R600 racer on the podium after starting from the front row (3^rd, 1:42.606) during Sunday's SupeSport contest.

Making the feat all the more impressive, Wikle registered 15^th and 17^th-place results in the hotly-contested Daytona SportBike class and put in his third-place SuperSport ride immediately following Sunday's SportBike final, both contested in 100-degree weather on a racetrack that offers racers very little opportunity to catch their breath.

"Getting off the Daytona SportBike, I was just hoping to be able to finish the SuperSport race," Wikle admitted. "I'm really excited I was able to stick in there and finish third. That was a hot race but it was fun. It was kind of low pressure because it was a non-points paying race for me because I'm in the East division. It was more a 'bragging rights' kind of race."

Ulrich added, "Russell did great in SuperSport and got on the box again, plus he did well in Daytona SportBike on a track he'd never seen before. This was a good experience for him and we think it will pay off when we get to a track that he knows."

Santiago Villa picked up a pair of solid results in Daytona SportBike as well. The gritty Colombian once again put his courage on full display, riding to two of his best rides of the season despite being far from 100%.

Villa finished a season's best 17^th on Sunday to improve on Saturday's 20^th.

"Villa got two top 20 results with a broken right hand and a broken left wrist," Ulrich said. "That guy gets the Iron Man award again."

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will next head to Road America on June 5-7 for the sixth round of the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing series.

RUSS WIKLE EARNS THE PODIUM FOR ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI IN ALABAMA

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki came away from the Barber Motorsports Park round of the 2009 AMA Pro Road Racing championship with a pole position, a podium finish, and having earned a great deal of vital experience.

Chris Ulrich worked to learn the nuances of the all-new and radically revised 2009 GSX-R1000 in American Superbike, Russ Wikle starred in SuperSport and impressed in Daytona SportBike, and Santiago Villa once again proved his grit and courage.

Putting in his very first laps on the new GSX-R1000 on Friday, Ulrich qualified 13th for the twin American Superbike finals with a fast lap of 1:27.494. The Californian's inexperience with the machine cost him mightily in Saturday's race when a gamble on the bike's set-up didn't pay off and he finished 14th. Improvements were made for Sunday's race, allowing Ulrich to claim 11th and feel confident that he knows what direction he needs to take the new bike in order to tap its vast potential.

He explained, "We had some setting problems in qualifying with the new bike and wanted to go one direction but per one of our experts we were told to go in another direction but that turned out to be completely wrong. We went back to the stuff we needed and this morning it was quite good.

"The bike is a lot different compared to the '08. Everything you know about it you've got to chuck out the window. We got out of here with an okay finish -- I don't want to say great because I think we should have been in the top ten as always.

"We've learned tons and we've got a good direction. We know what it likes now. We'll be ahead of the curve when we show up at Infineon. All the other guys racing '09s had at least one test before we showed up. We came in here 'cold turkey' and kind of paid the price for it, but that happens sometimes."

Wikle put in another tremendous performance, claiming the pole position for Sunday's SuperSport by posting the quickest lap in practice on Friday at 1:31.659 as Saturday's scheduled qualifying session was canceled due to track conditions.

The teenager charged into the lead at the start of Sunday's race, which was held under extremely challenging wet conditions, and posted the fastest lap of the race. Racing in front of his home fans, the Huntsville, Alabama resident pushed his GSX-R600 to a runner-up finish, his second podium result of the season.

Immediately following the SuperSport race, Wikle took on the Daytona SportBike final and improved from his 22nd-place run on Saturday to earn a fantastic top-ten result in Sunday's contest, picking up ninth place despite a very deep and talented field of competitors.

"I knew starting from pole I would have an advantage and I got a real good start," Wikle remarked about the SuperSport race. "I just made myself wide and I led a couple laps. It was a good race. I just tried to keep my head smart and ended up second.

"Finishing in the top ten in the SportBike race was awesome. I was comfortable coming right off the SuperSport bike and jumping on the SportBike. I put my head down right at the beginning and tried to pick up as many positions as I could."

Ulrich said, "Russ is holding up team honors. He's doing a great job and showed maturity beyond his years. He just keeps impressing me. He was thrown into a difficult situation but kept it up and turned the fastest lap of the race. In SportBike, he just kept his head down and did a great job."

Villa finished 24th in Saturday's Daytona SportBike race and was hoping to show further improvement on Sunday. Unfortunately, the he crashed on the damp circuit on the opening lap of Sunday's race, but he managed to pick up his GSX-R600 and soldier on despite breaking two bones in his left wrist.

The Colombian put in a courageous ride to finish 33rd. After taking the checkered flag, Villa had to park his bike on the side of the track because he was in so much pain. The valiant effort to finish did not go unnoticed by his team and fellow competitors.

Ulrich commented, "Santiago broke his wrist and he's kind of iffy for Infineon. I hope he gets better soon, because he is continuing to progress. He spent a couple days with his Crew Chief, James Lickwar, at Utah and learned a lot and it showed in his lap times. It's unfortunate he has to deal with another injury, but we'll get him some milk and get him back on that horse. He showed us a lot today."

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will be back in action at Infineon Raceway as the championship heads to Sonoma, CA on May 15-17.

ULRICH FIGHTS TO 11TH PLACE AT FONTANA FOR TEAM ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki's Chris Ulrich picked up a hard-earned 11th-place finish during this weekend's AMA Pro Road Racing round at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA.

Ulrich overcame a lingering illness to fight his way up from 14th to ninth in Saturday's AMA Pro American Superbike race, but a spectacular save of a violent tank-slapper and resultant loss of brakes cost him several positions late in the race. The Californian carried on aboard his Suzuki GSX-R1000 to cross the line in 11th at the checkered flag.

On Sunday, his race came to an early end after he was forced out with a mechanical issue while working lap six.

Ulrich talked about the weekend, saying, "Flat out, coming into this weekend I knew I wasn't very prepared physically. Right after Daytona I went to Portugal and I think I caught bronchitis at Daytona and carried that until the day I got home. I thought I just had a little chest congestion, but I woke up in the middle of the night seven days ago and I was coughing up blood. My wife made me go to the hospital and the doctors put me on steroids to calm the inflammation in my lungs and some antibiotics. I talked to my trainer and he told me I couldn't do anything physical, so I haven't been able to train since Daytona.

"Physically, I was a little questionable but in Saturday's race I actually felt pretty good. But as the laps came on I started to feel it a little bit. I was thinking too much about the lap count and coming into the chicane I got a pretty big tank-slapper with three to go. When it did, that it knocked the pads back in the calipers. The tank-slapper was big enough that I thought I was going to bin it right then. I went in off the back straightaway and had no brakes and lost three positions. Despite that, I felt I rode very well. I think in the race we showed we're at the front of the pack of the non-factory guys. We've just got to refine a few things. On Sunday, I had good pace but we had some bad luck mechanically.

"100% the goal for me is top eighths and that's an achievable goal considering the amount of factory equipment on the grid. We're aiming to be the top non-factory guy out there."

Santiago Villa backed up his 19th-place run in the Daytona 200 by scoring 25th and 21st-place results in the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike contests aboard his Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R600 at Auto Club Speedway.

Ulrich said, "Santiago made some good improvements throughout the weekend. He's still getting used to the 600 but it's coming around. Look for more good things from him as he gets more seat time."

Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will be back in action in two weeks as the AMA Pro Road Racing series heads to Road Atlanta on April 3-5.

DETERMINED VILLA RETURNS TO TEAM ROADRACINGWORLD.COM SUZUKI FOR 2009

Former Colombian Superbike champion and CCS regional champion Santiago Villa of Colombia will return to race for Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki in 2009. Villa will enter the AMA Daytona Sport Bike class on board Suzuki GSX-R600 machinery. Crew chief James Lickwar and mechanic Peter Hively will serve as Santiago's crew.

"I'm very exited to race again with the team. With all the changes in the AMA, it's going to be an great season," said Villa, a multi-time champion in his native country who joined Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki in 2008. "I'm going to have a new crew this year and I think that James and Peter are going to help me achive my goals. I have seen their work and I admire them a lot. I can only expect great things from them."

In addition to his talent, Santiago has shown remarkable toughness in his time with the team. After suffering serious burns in a fall 2007 pit lane refueling incident at the Daytona International Speedway while racing for a different team, Santiago worked hard in his recovery to be ready for the 2008 season. Villa showed speed and promise in the early rounds despite still struggling with his injuries, but had another setback when he broke his femur and hip in a mid-season crash.

"The team is really excited to have Santiago back," said Team Roadracingworld.com's Chris Ulrich. "He really made some great progress on the Superstock bike last year before he got hurt again. We were really bummed because he had worked so hard and was really shown something. A lesser man might have thrown in the towel after some of the things that happened to him along the way but he's a true racer with more determination and desire than ever. He's one of those guys willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals."

Santiago said he finds the new era in AMA racing exciting and the change to a Dunlop control tire is favorable to him, given his previous experience. "The spec tire is one of the big things for me. I have always considered myself a Dunlop rider as I won the 2007 CCS Florida Regional Championship with them and I love those tires, so everything is working my way now. I just have to step up and give my best for my country, my team, my crew and for myself," said the 33-year-old from Bogota.

Ulrich said he like the personnel changes with Santiago's crew. "Villa will race Daytona Sport Bike in 2009 and we have James Lickwar and Peter Hively working with him," added Ulrich. "James did a great job helping his previous rider get on the podium and the team has a lot of confidence he'll be able to help Santiago as well. Both James and Peter have the experience to help Santiago continue improving."

"I just want to say thanks to the team for having me on board again, and for all their support in 2008," said Villa. "It's good to be home again with the team and we're all excited for 2009."