Camier on race win and looking ahead to Mallory Park

Airwaves Ducati's Leon Camier is relieved to have got his first Bennetts British Superbike Championship race win and is now continuing to train hard ahead of the next round at Mallory Park in just under two weeks time (27/28/29 June).

Camier has been consistent throughout the season, scoring points at every round including four podiums and a win which elevated him to second in the championship standings after Round Five at Snetterton last weekend.

Camier said: "I am obviously mega happy to get the win and get it over and done with! I was strong at the start of last season before my crash and it is nice to back to where I could have been earlier on this year had it not been for injury. I didn't really celebrate afterwards; we just went out for dinner with Shakey on Sunday evening. I am now going to continue with the training between now and Mallory Park with the cycling and just general strength building."

"We will see how it goes at Mallory Park, I think it might be a difficult weekend as the circuit is very stop then go, whereas the Ducatis favour flowing circuits. But in saying that we thought it was going to be difficult at Snetterton and then it turned out to be a really good weekend for Airwaves Ducati. We just need to stay consistent; if we can push for the win then I will go for it otherwise it best to just get the results."

Neukirchner takes it to the Max

Max Neukirchner has become the first German to win a Superbike World Championship race as he and Noriyuki Haga took the honours in Monza.

Alstare Suzuki's Neukirchner won Race 1 at the Italian circuit, beating the Yamaha Motor Italia of Haga by just 0.058 seconds.

Race 2 saw Haga edge out Neukirchner by just 0.009secs after a three-man sprint for the line.

Australian championship leader Troy Bayliss was third in Race 1 on his Ducati Xerox, with nearest rival Carlos Checa (Hannspree Ten Kate Honda) down in eighth after he was relegated to the back of the field after a clash with fellow Spaniard Fonsi Nieto.

In Race 2, Haga and Neukirchner both were behind Ryuichi Kiyonari as they braked for the final entry into the Parabolica but they got through to complete the fifth closest finish in Superbike history.

An engine problem ended Bayliss' afternoon but Checa also retired to ensure the Australian extended his already-daunting championship lead.

Neukirchner was delighted with his afternoon's work, saying: "It's the first win by a German rider in World Superbike and I'm really happy about that."

"My team did a great job this weekend. Our engine for sure is very fast, Suzuki have done a lot of development work on it."

Haga could not believe how close Race 2 finished.

"On that last lap, I was thinking about what I had to do to win, my head was totally blank but I arrived at the line and couldn't believe the gap, 0.009 seconds," he said.

"Monza is special for me, here is our home track and I have been thinking for all last week that I must win."

Safety First Suzuki's Fong, Rizmayer To Focus On AMA Supersport Class In 2008

Safety First Suzuki is proud to announce our 2008 AMA racing program. Team Owner, Kevin Hanson, explained what’s in store for 2008. “It’s been a busy last couple of months. Our Suzuki program has been set in place for some time with 17 year old young gun, Bobby Fong, returning. However, I really wanted to take my time and see who was available for the second rider slot.

My rider coach, Owen Weichel, approached me about a Hungarian rider, Gabor Rizmayer, through a longstanding contact with a friend in Europe. The holdup was Gabor is a Suzuki supported rider in Europe and there were some AMA rounds that conflicted with his European race schedule. Thankfully, we were able to secure Gabor for (7) AMA rounds this season starting with Daytona. The great thing is he brings a ton of race experience as well as 125 & 250 GP experience so I’m really excited about the opportunity of having him on the team,” commented Hanson. Both riders will be focusing solely on Supersport except for the Daytona 200. This will allow us to focus all of our efforts on producing great results in the ultra-competitive Supersport class,” advised Hanson.

Safety First Suzuki has also added some new sponsors and key personnel to the team for 2008. Dave Moss, owner of Catalyst Suspension Tuning will serve as crewchief for the team and suspension tuner for Bobby Fong. Dave is a well respected tuner via his trackday tuning business and his two suspension DVD’s, “Introduction to Sportbike Suspension” and “Twiddling Knobs.” “I’m excited about bringing 10 years of tuning, communication and organizational skills to the team for this great opportunity Kevin has presented me with,” commented Moss.

Additionally, Traxxion Dynamics has come on board as a sponsor, along with Traxxion tuner Don Finnelli to serve as lead mechanic and suspension tuner for Gabor Rizmayer. “I’m really excited about using the Traxxion Gas Cartridges this year. I feel this will give us a competitive advantage by allowing the riders to take advantage of using a full-blown superbike style fork product that is legal in Supersport,” exclaimed Hanson. Richard Cherney who has been a long time supporter of Bobby Fong since he started dirttrack racing as a child will serve as Bobby’s lead mechanic.

Penske is also stepping up their support for 2008. Shane Schweighart from Penske will be operating out of the team transporter during the year servicing Penske products for riders as well as supporting the team with Penske 8770 shocks that provide another level of performance over the standard Penske triple clicker shock.

Michelin will also be returning as a big supporter of Safety First Suzuki this year. “We recently returned from testing the new suspension components and Michelin tires at Jennings in January with really good results. We tested new Michelin fronts and rears that are a big leap forward from last year. I think the Michelin riders in the U.S. this year are really going to impressed with the product for 2008, commented Hanson.

See you at Daytona…..

Safety First Suzuki was formed in 2004 by police officer/racer, Kevin Hanson, based out of Chicago, IL. For 2008, Safety First Suzuki will be competing in the AMA Superbike series in the Supersport class. For further information, please checkout www.SAFETYFIRSTRACING.com to see the Safety First Suzuki line of apparel, casual wear and performance products. Kevin Hanson continues to educate elementary school aged children nationwide about the importance of helmet usage.