Bel-Ray Racing-Weekend Racing Wrap-Up – April 23, 2012

The
professional racing teams that rely on the performance advantages that
Bel-Ray powersports lubricant provide experienced success
in various forms of competition this past weekend. Motocross,
Supercross, World Superbike, and ATV racing action all took place around
the world, each with Bel-Ray racers competing. 

The
Netherlands hosted round 3 of the championship series at the legendary
Assen TT circuit. Bel-Ray’s entry in World Superbike racing,
the Althea Ducati team of Carlos Checa and teammate Davide Giugliano,
came into the event in first and seventeenth, respectively, in the
points' standings. Initially, beginning under dry conditions, the race
was red flagged after 12 of the scheduled 22 laps
as a result of several crashes that occurred in the field. On the
restart, Checa and Giugliano both got underway in excellent position.
Despite the increasing rain and cold winds, both riders pushed through
the field on their way to the checkered flag, with
Giugliano scoring a second and Checa a third place finish for their
efforts. Checa commented on the poor weather conditions, calling it one
of the worst SBK races he’s ever ridden and commended his teammate on a
great race. Under threatening skies, Race 2
began. Checa chose to employ a rain tire, expecting the oncoming
deluge, while Giugliano chose the dry tire with the intention of pitting
if the rains came. Unfortunately for Checa, he made the wrong decision
and after just 1 lap, he was forced into the pit
area to replace his tires, a choice that proved costly to his track
position. Despite setting the fastest lap of the race, Checa was only
able to come back to seventeenth place. He spoke about his choice
following the race and took full responsibility for
the decision. Giugliano meanwhile rose through the field after a
fourteenth place start to finish ninth at the checkered flag. His fine
results in Assen pushed him into the top 10 in the series points'
standings. Despite his second race results, Checa sits
just 1 point out of the series lead in second. The World Superbike
series continues in Monza, Italy on May 6th. 

The
Gorna Rositza track in Sevlievo, Bulgaria hosted round 2 of the FIM
World Motocross Series this weekend. The Bel-Ray sponsored
Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit features two of the
top MX2 racer in the world, Tommy Searle and Joel Roelants. The opening
moto began with both riders at the front of the field with Searle taking
the early advantage. Pulling away from the
field at a quick pace, he began to slow due to an issue with the front
brake that caused him to lose his lead. Teammate Roelants used this to
his advantage to pass Searle and go on for the moto win. Searle was able
to hold on for an excellent third place finish.
The second moto again saw Searle out front at the start. He mentioned
in a post race interview that his bike is even faster this year than
last year and he had no problem getting both holeshots. Riding a near
perfect race, Searle took the moto and overall
win. Roelants overcame a hectic first lap of action to settle for a
fourth place moto finish and third overall for the Grand Prix. Searle
and Roelants are second and third in the points' standings as the series
heads to Fermo, Italy this upcoming weekend.

Bel-Ray
also had success this weekend in Bulgaria in the MX1 class with Team
CP377 Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit. Christophe
Pourcel won the opening moto in a dominant fashion. He was into the
lead on the first lap and proceeded to show the entire field that he
recovered from his disappointing finish in Valkenswaard. Moto 2 again
saw Pourcel at the front of the field early, as he
took the holeshot and led the opening lap. After getting passed for the
lead, Pourcel settled into second place and kept pace with the leader
looking for an opportunity to make the pass. The opportunity did not
come and he would finish second place for the
moto and overall. This fine performance vaulted him into fifth place in
the series standings. Teammate Sebastien Pourcel struggled to a
fifteenth place finish in the opening moto, but rebounded with a strong
sixth in moto 2 to score a tenth place overall finish.
The MX1 series continues this weekend in Fermo, Italy.

The
Dodge/ Sycuan Casino/ Hart and Huntington/ Bel-Ray racing featured a
new rider in Seattle. Tyler Bowers joined the team just days
before the event and with only two days of testing aboard the bike, he
performed quite well. After a poor start, Bowers consistently moved
through the field and was up to twelfth place with an eye on the top 10.
A mistake just past the midway point of the
race caused him to go off course and drop back several positions. He
regrouped and was able to salvage a sixteenth place finish. Teammate
Kyle Regal got a top 10 start in the main event and was turning in
consistent lap times until he came in contact with
another rider, causing him to crash. He was back up and moving quickly,
but near the back of the field. He continued on the rest of the race
for an eventual seventeenth place finish.

The
West Coast Lites championship series resumed in Seattle with Team
Rockstar Energy Racing Suzuki’s Martin Davalos and Jason Anderson
returning to action. Both riders qualified directly into the main event
from their heat races and were poised for excellent finishes. Davalos
was in the top 5 for the first several laps, but began slipping back
near the midway point of the event. With only
a couple of laps to go, he stalled his bike in a tight turn after the
triple and had trouble restarting his Suzuki. It eventually re-fired,
but the damage was done and he rejoined the race out of the top 10. He
would recover enough to finish fourteenth at
the checkered flag. Teammate Anderson’s main event would operate in the
opposite direction, as he started outside the top 10. Charging through
the field, he was able to work his way into a sixth place finish. The
Supercross series continues Saturday night
in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Muddy
Creek Raceway in Blountville, Tennessee hosted round 2 of the 2012 ATV
MX National Championship this past Saturday. Bel-Ray
backed Josh Upperman of the Baldwin Motorsports/PEP Racing team is a
top contender in the ATV Pro Class and this weekend would prove to be no
exception. The first moto saw Upperman get an excellent start and lead
the race early, until getting overtaken on
the third lap, eventually slipping back to fourth place. For the third
time this season, Upperman grabbed the holeshot at the start of the
second moto, eventually slipping back to fourth in the moto and a fourth
overall finish.  The series takes a week off
before continuing at Budd’s Creek Raceway in Mechanicsville, Maryland
on May 5th and 6th.

Follow all of Bel-Ray’s racers in action each week on
www.belray.com  and
www.belrayracing.com.

Bel Ray Company Inc was
founded
in 1946 and is a privately held, woman owned business serving the
lubrication needs of powersports, industrial and mining customers
worldwide. Bel-Ray is

recognized as the leader in the specialty lubricants industry for
setting high standards of quality and performance with products
formulated for the motorcycle, automotive, aviation, energy, food,
marine, military, mining, OEM, Industrial steel, and textile
industries.



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