RIDERS DISCOUNT VESRAH SUZUKI’S JAKE LEWIS GETS HIS FIRST AMA PRO ROAD RACING VICTORY AT THE BIG KAHUNA ATLANTA

San Diego, CA – The Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki team returned to action this weekend on the team’s Dunlop equipped Suzuki GSX-R 600s at the Big Kahuna Atlanta at Road Atlanta in Braselton, GA with the first practice sessions and Provisional Qualifying being held Friday and Final Qualifying and the first of the doubleheader races being held on Saturday.

In the SuperSport class Jake Lewis ran at the front during their first practice session staying within the top 6 and ending up 3^rd. During Provisional Qualifying later at the end of Friday afternoon Jake was again up front in the top 3 and pulled out a last lap effort using a new Dunlop D211GPA rear tire of 1:30.681 which was good for 2^nd place. With nobody able to go faster during Final Qualifying on Saturday morning Jake has a starting position on the front row in P2 for the SuperSport races.

In SuperSport race 1 Jake got away at the start and ran at the front for the entire race dicing for the lead and crossing the stripe in front for the majority of the 16-lap event. On the last lap Jake was held up just slightly by a lapped rider, losing touch and the draft, bringing home a podium finish with a strong 2^nd place finish over 20 seconds clear from 3^rd place. Jake now sits tied for 2nd place in the SuperSport East standings with the help of the bonus point for leading the most laps today and is only 2 points out of the championship lead.

Jake Lewis – Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki #85

“Today’s race was really good for me and the whole Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki team! Finishing second is not where I would have liked, but I’ll take a podium anyway. I felt like I ran a strong race and didn’t make any mistakes, which was good. The crew and I will make changes tonight and try for the win tomorrow.”

Jake Lewis, riding his Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R 600, captured his first AMA Pro Road Racing victory of his career by winning the second race of the SuperSport class doubleheader during the Big Kahuna Atlanta at Road Atlanta in Braselton, GA. Today’s race started out the same as yesterdays with Jake breaking away at the front in a 2 man battle for the lead and leading across the stripe the majority of the time. A red flag on lap 13 ended the race early and Jake was leading on the last lap that all riders completed awarding him the victory. With the victory and leading the most laps Jake collected 31 points on the day which now gives him 82 points in the SuperSport East season championship point standings and a 15 point lead over 2^nd place.

Jake Lewis – Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki #85

“It feels awesome to get my first AMA Pro win at what I consider my home track! The whole race I was up front and felt really comfortable. The changes the crew made last night on the Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki worked really well in the race. The trophy and especially the surfboard for being the overall Big Kahuna of the weekend were sweet! All of my hard work and the help of a ton of people paid off today! I cannot thank everyone who has helped me get my first win, it feels great!”

Breeann Poland – Team Manager Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki

“It is great that the Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki team was able to get a win in only the second round of the 2012 AMA Pro Road Racing season. I am so proud of Jake and his performance this weekend while being sick and under pressure. The Daytona SportBike class was not as kind to the team this weekend but Cory and Benny will rebound at the Great Clips West Coast Moto Jam at Infineon Raceway in 2 weeks. Overall the Big Kahuna Atlanta was successful for the team including Kyle Wyman’s podium finish and Taylor Knapp in National Guard Superbike.”

In the Daytona SportBike class during the first practice session Cory West ran up front and stayed in the top 5 for the entire session while teammate Benny Solis was just outside of the top 10. In Provisional Qualifying later in the afternoon Cory was 6^th with Benny 12^th. In Saturday mornings Final Qualifying both Benny and Cory were able to improve upon their times using fresh Dunlop D211GPA tires with Benny jumping to 6^th place while Cory slid one spot to 7^th despite his quicker lap time. The teammates will line up alongside each other in the middle of the second row for both GoPro Daytona SportBike races this weekend.

In the first Daytona SportBike race of the weekend both Benny and Cory started in the top 5 with Benny running second for the first half of the race. Both riders were able to stay near the front until the next to last lap when Benny suffered misfortune with a crash. Cory finished the race with a top 5 result in 5^th place. Cory is now 7th in the Daytona SportBike season point standings.

Cory West – Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki #57

“I got a good start and found myself in fourth early in the race. The pace wasn’t too bad at the beginning but I could feel that I was bottoming the forks out under hard braking. I fell back some positions but was gifted them back after a few riders crashed and brought it home in 5th. I’m happy about scoring a top five but I know we can run the pace if we get the bike working a little better tomorrow. Big thanks to my crew chief Tony, mechanic Sean, and an awesome engine built by Mark Junge”

Benny Solis – Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki #35

“After having a tough 1st qualifying, we found a new and better setting for 2nd qualifying which put us in P6. Second row was great for me, I started out doing well in the race but unfortunately when we dropped the pace to some faster laps, and the front suspension wasn’t working like I needed it to. So I was struggling with the bike and I felt a little out of control trying to run a fast pace with so much chatter. I was trying everything I could to make it work but it was quite difficult for me. I ended up crashing out of 3rd but we now know we can run up front. Now we need to get the front end handling like we need it and we should do much better tomorrow.”

In the AMA Pro Road Racing GoPro Daytona SportBike class the team did not have the same find of fortunes with Cory West crashing out of the race in the early laps and Benny Solis running just inside the top 10 finishing in 9^th place. Cory is now 10^th in the GoPro Daytona SportBike season championship and Benny is in 18^th place. The Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki team is in 6^th place 2012 GoPro Daytona SportBike team point standings with 39 points

Benny Solis – Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki #35

“We didn’t finish the race like we wanted to but overall it was better than yesterday. I got some points and we know what sections we need to work on with the set up. I ended up 9th, I’m not stoked on that finish but I’m excited for our next race because I’m confident it will go much better, Infineon is a great track too so that makes it more exciting. Other than that I just have to say thanks to the Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki team. They ran a great program and my crew worked hard on getting me what I needed on the track.”

Cory West – Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki #57

“That’s definitely not how I wanted to end the weekend! I had a good morning warm-up and felt very confident in the changes that we made to the bike last night. My start wasn’t as good as yesterday and I ended up being stuck in the back of the front pack. I was riding pretty aggressive to make passes on the brakes so I could get away with the leaders and then ended up high siding coming out of turn 12. It was a weird crash because it happened so late in the drive but luckily it wasn’t very fast. I also want to thank my crew for giving me such a good bike this weekend and I’ll be ready for Infineon in two weeks’ time.”

Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki supported Kyle Wyman, in the AMA Pro Racing Vance & Hines XR1200 race, came back from a crash on the warm up lap, which necessitated starting at the rear of the field on his back-up bike at the restart, to finish on the podium in 3^rd place. Kyle is now in 2^nd place in the XR1200 Season championship 5 points out of the lead. Taylor Knapp, riding his Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R 1000, in the AMA Pro Road Racing National Guard Superbike class was almost able to pull out a top 5 finish ending up 6^th to complete the weekend for the team.