YOSHIMURA-Backed Teams Dominate This Past Weekend’s AMA PRO Superbike Finale And AMA Pro Motocross Events

CHINO, CA (September 7, 2011)
– Yoshimura-backed teams showed their dominance on the asphalt
and in the dirt at the season-ending AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike
races at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ and the 2011
AMA Pro Motocross Championship in Delmont, PA this past weekend. The
Rockstar Makita Suzuki, Rockstar Energy Suzuki, and American Honda
Racing teams put their Yoshimura products to the test in their quest
for the top of the podium.

Yoshimura-backed
team Rockstar Makita Suzuki gave 110 percent at New Jersey
Motorsports Park. Sunday’s superbike race was one of the most
exciting in recent history, and Blake Young took the spectacular win
on his Yoshimura-prepared Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000. Teammate
Tommy Hayden represented well on Saturday, bringing home an
impressive third-place finish. When all was said and done, Young
finished out the season in second-place overall, while Hayden
finished up in third-place overall.

In Saturday’s 23-lap race, Young
battled with Hayden for the final podium spot but wound up
relinquishing that position to his teammate and ended up in fifth. On
Sunday, however, Young pulled out all the stops. He got off the line
in second place on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000, and was
dicing with up to eight other riders all separated by mere tenths of
a second. Young swapped out the lead multiple times before capturing
the breathtaking victory.

“My Yoshimura-supported Rockstar
Makita Suzuki team has worked hard all year long,” said Young.
“Although I’m happy to get the win, finishing second in the
championship was tough. But in the race, I just wanted to show what
my team was capable of. I wanted to bring home the win for them
because they deserve it. They know how to win championships, and I’m
still learning. They’ve stuck by me and I want to say my guys –
thank you for everything. Overall, I’m happy that I’ve had the
season that I’ve had, and I’ll come back next year and try harder
to put forth a better effort, because that’s what my team
deserves.”

Meanwhile, Rockstar Makita Suzuki
teammate Hayden came into the weekend with the attitude that he was
going to “win or die trying”. On Saturday, the Kentucky native
overcame a lackluster start, moved quickly through the field on his
Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 and finished on the podium. On
Sunday, he got the holeshot and led the multi-bike freight train for
much of the race before suffering a get-off while in second place.
Fortunately, Hayden wasn’t harmed but neither was he able to rejoin
the race.

“Overall the weekend was pretty
good,” said Hayden. “Yesterday, we were on the podium and today
my Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 was fast in the race and I was
competing for a win. Unfortunately, I made a mistake and tipped over.
It’s definitely disappointing to end the season like that, but I
went out trying and I feel good about that.”

On the dirt
side, team Rockstar Makita Suzuki captured one more impressive
double-podium finish, this time at round 11 of the 2011 AMA Pro
Motocross Championship in Delmont, PA. Saturday afternoon’s Steel
City National saw reigning AMA Pro Motocross Champion Ryan Dungey and
his teammate Brett Metcalfe finish second- and third-place overall,
respectively, on their Yoshimura-equipped Rockstar Makita Suzuki
RM-Z450s.

In Saturday’s first moto, Dungey got
a great start on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 and took over the
lead within the first few turns. Dungey pushed hard and led the
entire 30-minute race before being overtaken right before the finish
line. Although Dungey finished in second place, it was by a mere
0.558 of a second. In the second moto, Dungey got the holeshot and
made a valiant charge, but wound up finishing in second place. The
final result was second-place overall for the day.

“It was a tough, technical track but
I think I rode pretty good this weekend,” said Dungey. “Overall,
I felt good and I had a strong pace on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki
RM-Z450. Then, I went out on a limb and we made some changes before
the second moto, and it just wasn’t doing it for me. I lost a bit
of ground, but no excuses. We just need to keep our head up and move
forward because there’s plenty of racing left. We’re going to
Pala next, and to go 1-1 would be great, but all I can ask for is the
most from myself. I like that track and I was able to win both motos
there last year so it’d be great to do it again. I just want to
focus on finishing the season strong for Team Rockstar Makita
Suzuki.”

Teammate Metcalfe also put on an
impressive performance this past weekend at Steel City. In the first
moto, he was with the front-runners off the gate, and was battling
for third for most of the moto. His patience and consistency
eventually paid off, as Metcalfe took over the final podium spot on
his Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 before the race’s end. In the
second moto, he got another good start and moved up a few positions
before finishing fourth. The combined results gave Metcalfe his third
podium finish of the season.

“Steel City was a great day for me,”
said Metcalfe. “I was able to pull a third and I was happy to be on
the podium. I was feeling really comfortable on the Rockstar Makita
Suzuki RM-Z450 and, coming off the win last weekend, I was carrying
some momentum. I felt really comfortable on the track and the bike
was working great, so I knew I was in for a good day. My starts were
better in both motos and that helped, and I was also able to make
some moves. Now I’m looking forward to Pala, it’s kind of my
hometown race. I’m just excited about that, I think it’s going to
be a good event and I look forward to putting the Rockstar Makita
Suzuki back up on the podium and having a strong finish in the
championship.”

Team Rockstar Energy Suzuki continued
its string of solid top-10 finishes at Steel City. Martin Davalos
picked up ninth-place overall, while Rockstar Energy Suzuki teammates
Jason Anderson finished 13th, Ryan Morais came in 16th and Nick
Paluzzi wound up 21st.

In the first moto, Davalos struggled a
bit but still charged hard and brought home an 11th-place finish on
the challenging and slippery Steel City track. In the second moto,
Davalos still struggled at the start but fared a bit better on his
Yoshimura-equipped Rockstar Energy Suzuki RM-Z250. He worked his way
into ninth place for the moto and ninth-place overall for the day.

“I had a decent weekend at Steel
City,” said Davalos. “I struggled a bit with my starts in both
motos. And in the first moto, I rode kind of tight and I had a hard
time finding the right line and finding my rhythm. In the second
moto, it was basically the same. I was happy with the performance of
the Rockstar Energy Suzuki RM-Z250, but I still couldn’t find my
rhythm and my line choices just weren’t any good. I’m going to
work on some things this week and try to finish up the season on a
positive note. We’re going back to California next week and Pala is
a good track for me and I’m definitely looking forward to that.”

After capturing his first-ever 450
class win last weekend, American Honda Racing’s Justin Barcia got
his third round of racing the Yoshimura-equipped factory Honda
CRF450R away to a great start with a fourth place in moto one at
Steel City. However, the heat and humidity took its toll, and he
succumbed to the extreme Pennsylvania temperatures near the end of
the second moto. Forced to retire from that race, Barcia finished the
weekend 13th overall.

“I’m really disappointed about not
finishing moto two,” said Barcia. “I feel like I let the team
down. The track just wasn’t my sort of track, and I struggled to
find my groove. I used a lot of energy up in moto one – I pushed
really hard and think I overdid it. Come the second moto I was
feeling fatigued, and nearing the end of the race I was overcome by
the heat. I thought the safest thing for me to do was pull off rather
than risk hurting myself. I really want to finish the season off on a
high note so I’ll be bringing my “A” game to the final round at
Pala next weekend.”

In the Women’s class at Steel City,
Ashley Fiolek is only one race away from securing her third WMX title
after turning in 3-2 moto results on her Yoshimura-equipped factory
Honda CRF250R and finishing second overall for the round. Fiolek has
a solid 22-point lead in the championship with one round to go.

The Yoshimura-backed teams’ next
events are the 12th and final round of the 2011 AMA Pro Motocross
Championship on Saturday, September 10, at the Pala National in Pala,
CA. You can meet the Rockstar Energy and Rockstar Makita Suzuki
riders on Friday, September 9th, from 6 to 7 PM, at Temecula
Motorsports, 26860 Jefferson Ave. in Murrieta, CA.

About Yoshimura R&D of America:
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more than 55 years. With unmatched skills, knowledge, and passion for
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industry. Yoshimura pipes are race bred and feature the same
legendary performance, fit and quality that has been their trademark
for more than five decades. To learn more about Yoshimura and view
their wide variety of performance products, visit
www.yoshimura-rd.com.

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