Bel-Ray Weekend Racing Wrap-Up—May 7, 2012

For decades,
professional racers have experienced the performance advantages that
Bel-Ray powersports lubricants provide. This past weekend, Bel-Ray’s
professional racers raced around the world in various types
of competition.

MotoGP

The Bel-Ray sponsored
Power Electronics Aspar team of Aleix Espargaro and Randy DuPuniet were
the top CRT riders this weekend at the Estoril circuit in Portugal.
Espargaro was 12th and was the top CRT racer for
the second race in a row, while DePuniet finished 13th. DePuniet
overcame the pain from a crash that occurred during the weekend's
qualifying session to finish right on the heels of his teammate.

Espargaro was very pleased with his results and he spoke about it following the race. “I am very happy. I was
riding well on the ART and delighted to
be part of this Power Electronics Aspar team. We have improved so much
since Qatar and Jerez.” Teammate DePuniet spoke about overcoming his
pain to score a respectable finish. “This was
a very difficult race because of the pain that I have on my left side
from yesterday’s crash. I haven’t broken anything, but even breathing
hurts me at the moment.”

After this weekend’s
racing , Espargaro is ranked 12th and DePuniet 13th in the World
Championship point standings. The series continues in Le Mans, France on
May 20th.

Moto2

The 2012 Moto2
championship series continued this weekend in Portugal with good races
for Bel-Ray backed Mapfre Aspar team of Nico Terol and Toni Elias.
Starting from 9th on the grid, Elias was able to race with
the second pack of racers competing. This group of competitive racers
was just out of sight of the lead pack trying to gain track position.
When the checkered flag flew, Elias was in 7th place. Teammate Terol had
to overcome a first lap melee that saw him
move up to 26th place by the end of lap 4 and up to 16th by the end of
the race. 

Elias is in 8th and Terol is unranked in the 2012 series’ point standings. The series continues in Le Mans, France on May 20th.

 Moto3

The Estoril circuit in
eastern Portugal hosted the 3rd round of the 2012 Moto3 World
Championship Series. The Bel-Ray sponsored Bankia Aspar team of Hector
Faubel and Alberto Moncayo raced in this very competitive
class.  Faubel started the race well and attempted to latch on to the
lead pack. He came in contact with another rider, which forced him off
the racing line and allowed the lead pack to get away. Out of sight of
the leaders, he raced with those around him
to an eventual 12th place finish. He spoke about the race following the
checkered flag. "I did not have a good start, remaining in the same
position as I had taken on the grid. I was up with the frontrunners for
eight laps, but then Fenati made contact with
me and that pack escaped. I was then part of a second group, which had
many more battles for position and slower times as a result. If I were
to have broken free, I would have gone two seconds a lap faster. I am
angry, because I think that this result could
have been a lot better."

Teammate Moncayo
started from a 17th place grid position and struggled with the bike
setup during the race. He spoke about the difficulty he experienced
during the race and how he plans to regroup for the next
event in France in 2 weeks time. "That was a difficult race. My start
wasn't great and it was hard for me to pick up the pace. This is
becoming difficult because we are not developing the potential that we
had in preseason. We are going to try a few things
and will arrive at Le Mans with more hunger, ready to fight for better
positions."

After the first 3
rounds, Faubel is 10th and Moncayo 11th in the series' points
standings. The series continues in Le Mans, France on May 20th.

World Superbike

The 4th round of the
2012 World Superbike Championship series took place in Monza, Italy this
weekend. Mother nature played a big part in the weekend's results as
rains caused dangerous track conditions and the
cancellation of the first race of the event. Round 2 began under better
conditions, but was red-flagged and cancelled half way through the
scheduled distance. Bel-Ray’s racers, Carlos Checa and David Giugliano,
were both within the top 10 in competition when
the race ended. Checa was 7th and Giugliano was 8th. Since only half
the race was completed, only half points were awarded by the sanctioning
body.

With the points
tallied, Checa is in 2nd while Giugliano is 10th in the series'
standings. The series continues at Donington Park in England this
upcoming weekend.

AMA Supercross

The 2012 AMA
Supercross series concluded on Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada and
Sam Boyd Stadium was the sight of all of the action. As the series
finale, Las Vegas would host 3 separate Lites class races as
well as the finale in the supercross class.

Bel-Ray sponsored Team
Rockstar Energy Racing Suzuki ended their Supercross season on a high
note in the evening’s competition. The East Coast region final saw Blake
Wharton score another top 5 finish with a 5th
place, while teammate Hunter Hewitt had one of his best rides this
season with a 7th place finish. The West Coast Region final saw both
riders in the top 5 at the checkered flag. Martin Davalos was 4th and
teammate Jason Anderson was 5th. Davalos backed up
this result with his second podium in as many races and was 3rd place
in the Dave Coombs Sr. East West Shootout.  When the final points are
added up, Wharton was 3rd and Hewitt 15th on the East Coast and Anderson
was 5th and Davalos 8th on the West Coast.
The team will enjoy a one week break before racing resumes in
Sacramento, California for the AMA National Motocross series.

The Dodge/ Sycuan
Casino/ Hart & Huntington/ Bel-Ray Racing team comes to their home
race in Las Vegas this past weekend looking to put their troubled season
behind them, which was marred with injuries that took
out all 4 of the teams original riders. Kyle Regal and more recently
Tyler Bowers have filled in, performing well and putting the team into
the main event. After a 10th place finish last week in Salt Lake City,
Tyler Bowers had hoped to improve on that result
on Saturday night. It was not to be as Bowers clipped another rider
early in the main event and went down. He remounted and charged through
the field to an eventual 15th place finish. Teammate Kyle Regal was also
looking to improve on his previous results,
but a crash that saw him clip a tuff block and end up off the track
sealed his fate. He was unable to recover and finished 20th place. The
team will regroup this off-season and come back strong for the 2013
Supercross series.

World Enduro Championship

The second round of
the 2012 FIM World Enduro Championship series took place this past
weekend in the Euskadi region of Spain. The Bel-Ray supported TM Factory
racing team took part in the competition. In E1 class
racing, Antti Hellsten scored a 12th on day 1, but retired from
competition on early on day 2. In E2 class racing, Aigar Leok put in top
finishes on both days with a 5th and 6th place result for his efforts.
The team’s entry in Junior class competition is
Italian racer Nicolo Mori. He had a  17rh place finish on day 1 that he
improved upon during day 2 with a strong 12th place finish.  After 3
rounds in the series, Hellsten is 13th, Mori 14th and Leok 4th in the
series' standings in their respective classes.
The series continues this upcoming weekend in Portugal for the GP
Polisport Portugal.

British Motocross Championship

The
third round of the 2012 ACU Maxxis British Motocross Championship took
place this past weekend at the Cadders Hill track in Lyng, Norfolk,
England. The Bel-Ray backed Route 77
Energy MVR-D Honda race team had mixed results during the competition.
MX1 competitor Gert Krestinov scored 3 excellent results during the
event to earn a 5th overall for the event. MX1 teammate Jason Dougan
scored 2 top 10 results in the
first 2 motos
and scored 12th overall for his efforts. Krestinov is currently in 5th 
and Dougan 12th in the overall series' standings after 3 of 8 rounds.
The series continues
on May 27th at Milton MX Park in Northampton.

ATV Motocross Championship

The third round of the
2012 ATV Motocross Championship series came to Budd’s Creek Motocross
in Mechanicsville, Maryland this past weekend. Bel-Ray backed Josh
Upperman again put the Baldwin Motorsports Honda in
the front of the first moto. He earned the SSi Decal Holeshot award 
and put in consistent laps on his way to a 3rd place finish in moto 1.
The second moto again saw Upperman near the front, where he held on for a
5th place finish. His 3-5 moto finishes were
good enough for 5th place overall. He is still 3rd in the season’s
points standing. The series continues on May 19th and 20th at Sunset
Ridge MX in Walnut, Illinois.

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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