Brea, CA (3/11/2010)
- American Suzuki Motor Corp. rolled out to
Bike Week in Daytona Beach, Fla., with a fleet
of amazing machines and top-notch talent to
do some racing. With epic battles and undeniable
performance, Suzuki definitely made its mark
on Bike Week.
The week started with the River Ranch GNCC
race, where Suzukis won the pro classes in
both bike and ATV racing. Chris Borich, 2009
GNCC ATV champion, took the win in his class
after using the power of the QuadRacer R450
to blast past the competition on the last
lap of the race. In the XC1 Pro Bike class,
Josh Strang took his race-ready RM-Z450 to
the top of the podium with a decisive victory
over the field of tough competitors.
The AMA American SuperBike series got underway
in Daytona, as well. The field had a lot of
GSX-R1000s, thanks to the performance and
the championship-winning ways of the bike.
After first race of the series, where every
racer was riding at full power to get across
the finish line first, two Suzukis were on
the podium: Jake Zemke’s National Guard
Jordan Motorsports race-winning GSX-R1000
and the Rockstar Makita Suzuki bike piloted
by Tommy Hayden in second place. Race #2 saw
the same two riders in the same two spots
on the podium, and overall 7 of the top 10
spots were held by GSX-R1000s.
Friday night, the legendary Daytona 200 hit
the track in cold temperatures and stiff competition.
Danny Eslick, aboard a Suzuki GSX-R600 qualified
at the top of the ranking and won the Rolex
award and the pole position for the race.
Eslick battled the conditions and other races
and finished fourth.
On Saturday, March 6th, focus shifted from
the road-racing GSX-R1000 to the dirt dominating
RM-Z450 and all-new, fuel-injected RM-Z250.
The AMA Supercross kicked off in front of
thousands of fans, and the track was long,
technical, and designed by the “Greatest
Of All Time” Ricky Carmichael. In the
Eastern Regional Lites Class, Austin Stroupe
rode his RM-Z250 to the holeshot and then
duked it out with the fastest guys on 250s.
Stroupe nabbed the second spot on the podium
and continues holding tight to the second
spot in the series points. Ryan Dungey and
his race-prepped RM-Z450 won Heat #1 in the
Supercross class, and after a long 20-lap
battle in the main event, Dungey came out
in second place. He still maintains a 20-point
lead in the series points.
And just as the long week of racing began,
the GNCC capped off the event with its Maxxis
General event in Georgia. In the ATV class,
Borich wrangled a second-place finish and
has a great start to his 2010 season. In the
XC1 bike class, Strang again put the strangle
hold on the first-place spot in the class
with his RM-Z450. Another Suzuki was on the
top of the podium thanks to Rodney Smith in
the Sportsman A class, who rode the all-new
RMX450Z to its first win.
Suzuki has the machines to dominate off-road
and road racing, whatever the discipline may
be. Look for Suzuki’s winning lineup
of bikes and ATVs to be at the top of every
list in the 2010 season.