American Suzuki Motor Corp. (ASMC) congratulates the Suzuki motorcycle and ATV race teams for racking up a championship, numerous victories and podium finishes in their most recent events. To date, a Suzuki motorcycle or ATV leads the overall championship points standings in six different classes in U.S. Road Racing, Supercross, Motocross and the GNCC.
In road racing, the Suzuki GSX-R leads both American Superbike and Daytona SportBike classes. With six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin at the helm, the incredibly powerful Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 has won eight out of nine rounds and has taken every Superbike pole position this season. And thanks to its precise handling, the GSX-R600 with M4 Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas piloting, has won the last four Daytona SportBike races in a row, as well as an earlier round in the series. Capping off that feat is that the M4 Suzuki GSX-R600 has also captured three out of five Daytona SportBike pole positions with Jason DiSalvo.
Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Ryan Dungey and the Suzuki RM-Z250 clinched the 2009 AMA Supercross Lites West Coast Championship at the series’ final round. En route to winning this title, Dungey piloted the nimble-handling RM-Z250 to four victories plus three additional podium finishes. The RM-Z250 also finished third overall in AMA Supercross Lites East Coast with Nico Izzi.
In the premier Supercross class, the Rockstar Makita Suzuki fuel-injected RM-Z450 brought twotime AMA Supercross Champion Chad Reed three victories and second place overall, with the Australian finishing on the podium at all but one of 17 rounds. After just one round of AMA Motocross, the RM-Z250 and Dungey already have a victory and lead the 250-class points chase, while teammate Mike Alessi and the EFI RM-Z450 have a second-place result and are runner-up in the 450-class overall points standings.
In the GNCC Championship for both motorcycles and ATVs, Suzuki’s RM-Z450 and the QuadRacer R450 lead the way. Joshua Strang, Charles Mullins and their FMF Makita Suzuki RM-Z450s are in first and second place respectively in the former, while Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Chris Borich and his powerful QuadRacer R450 lead the latter. After seven GNCC rounds, the trio boasts a total of nine combined GNCC motorcycle and ATV wins.
Finally, in the AMA ATV Motocross Championship, the smooth-running QuadRacer R450 is second overall in the points chase, thanks to Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Dustin Wimmer’s return from injury. Wimmer and his Suzuki captured enough points with three early-season wins to hold onto second place overall in spite of missing out on a round. Additionally, teammate Doug Gust and his QuadRacer R450 recently picked up their first podium of the 2009 season.
Suzuki’s race team action continues this weekend as the Rockstar Makita Suzuki Motocross squad races at the Hangtown National in Sacramento, California, on May 30. Following that, the Suzuki road race teams head to Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, the weekend of June 5 – 7. That same weekend, the Can-Am GNCC moves to Millfield, Ohio, while the AMA ATV MX Series heads to New Berlin, New York, the weekend of June 13 14.
Motorcycle Racing Championship Points Standings
AMA American Superbike
• First Place — Mat Mladin, Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000
• Second Place – Tommy Hayden, Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000
AMA Daytona SportBike
• First Place — Martin Cardenas, M4 Suzuki GSX-R600
AMA Supercross
• Supercross Lites West Coast Champion – Ryan Dungey, Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z250
• Second Place, Supercross Class – Chad Reed, Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450
• Third Place, Supercross LItes East Coast – Nico Izzi, Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z250
AMA Motocross
• First Place, 250 Class – Ryan Dungey, Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z250
• Second Place, 450 Class – Mike Alessi, Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450
GNCC Motorcycle
• First Place, XC1 Pro Class – Joshua Strang, FMF Makita Suzuki RM-Z450
• Second Place, XC1 Pro Class – Charles Mullins, FMF Makita Suzuki RM-Z450
ATV Racing Championship Points Standings
GNCC ATV
• First Place, XC1 Pro Class – Chris Borich, Rockstar Makita Suzuki QuadRacer R450
AMA ATV Motocross Championship Series
• Second Place – Dustin Wimmer, Rockstar Makita Suzuki QuadRacer R450
