Brake like Cory West

How many brake manufacturers have their own AMA team?  That would be one. Since 1997, Vesrah Brakes has believed that the best way to prove their product was in competition.  After more than a decade of dominance in the WERA National Endurance Series that resulted in eight championships, Team Vesrah Suzuki has moved to the premier level of roadracing in America.  This year, the team is competing in the white-hot Daytona Sportbike category with riders Cory West and Chris Fillmore.  In what has to rank as the pass of the season, West threaded the needle and went from fifth to first at Road Atlanta.  If you missed that incredible piece of riding, here’s what counts.  He did it on the brakes!

Lance bets his life on the skills of Chris Ulrich

While most of us will never become good enough to ride as well as an AMA pro, we got the chance to experience the next best thing: riding behind one!  We’re not talking about following here, but riding as a passenger aboard a GSXR1000 superbike being piloted by seasoned pro racer and AMA star Chris Ulrich.

During a recent Team Pro-Motion event held at New Jersey Motorsports Park’s Thunderbolt course, TPM members had a rare treat.  A handful of AMA Pro teams had shown up to test in preparation for the upcoming AMA Superbike Weekend of Sept 3-5.  M4 Monster Suzuki riders in attendance included former MotoGP racer John Hopkins, Chris Ulrich, Martin Cardenas and Elena Myers.  Other AMA pro racers at the event were Larry Pegram, aboard the Foremost Insurance Ducati, Danny Eslick, with the GEICO Powersports RMR Suzuki squad, Santiago Villa, riding for the RoadracingWorld.com team and Jake Zemke with the Jordan Suzuki effort.

Worthy of Umbrella Girls!

The K/FX Pro Racer one-piece leather suit is the Alpha Dog of Komodo’s product line.  (Um, perhaps that should be Alpha Lizard?)  This suit’s mission statement is competition at the highest level.  Fortunately, you aren’t required to hold an AMA or FIM license to obtain one.

We’ve previously tested the company’s other one-piece race suit offerings, the K-LT and K/XP. In addition we tried their Sport R/T two-piece, which was specifically designed for the track day rider who wants maximum protection at an event, combined with a cut suitable for road trip comfort.  All were superb, featuring Komodo’s trademark full-grain leather and worst-case-scenario construction, which is used throughout their product line.

Getting it right beneath the St. Louis Arch.

The economy has wreaked havoc on our sport.  Participation is down, both at trackdays and in club racing.  Organizations are trying everything they can think of to make events profitable.  In St. Louis, the Midwest Café Racing Association has come up with a formula that could be the model for the future of racetrack riding.