RIDERS DISCOUNT VESRAH SUZUKI’S JAKE LEWIS GETS HIS FIRST AMA PRO ROAD RACING VICTORY AT THE BIG KAHUNA ATLANTA
April 22, 2012
Jake Lewis, riding his Dunlop equipped 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 2nd 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 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 9th place. Cory is now 10th in the GoPro Daytona SportBike season championship and Benny is in 18th place. The Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki team is in 6th 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 over all 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 have to thank my sponsors Shoei, Cortech, Held, and Sidi for keeping me safe in today's miscue. 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 3rd place. Kyle is now in 2nd 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 6th to complete the weekend for the team.
Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki would like to thank their sponsors for the 2012 season: Vesrah, Riders Discount, MCJ Motorsports, American Suzuki, Nielsen Enterprises Suzuki, Parts Unlimited, Penske Racing Shocks, Traxxion Dynamics Fork Components, Yoshimura, Catalyst Racing Composites, Shoei, Cortech, Sidi, Held, Motion Pro, Sudco Int., Bazzaz, Factory Pro, Maxima Racing Oils, Adjustable-levers, Vicci, Vortex, DID Chain, Zero Gravity, GPR Stabilizers, Trek Bicycles, Suzuka Tire Warmers, K&N Filters, Full Spectrum Batteries, Redbull (Benny), Oakley (Benny & Jake), Roclun (Jake), Progressive Trail Design (Cory), 509 sunglasses (Cory and team), Andrew Swenson Designs and Drippinwet.
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