CONTENTS FOR DUNLOP VIDEOS PLEASE VISIT YOUTUBE.COM/DUNLOPTIRESCHANNEL

Transcription

1 JUNE 2009

2 FOR DUNLOP VIDEOS PLEASE VISIT YOUTUBE.COM/DUNLOPTIRESCHANNEL CONTENTS ON THE COVER: Mat Mladin has a record in AMA racing unrivaled in the history of the sport 2 4 DUNLOP RACERS FINISH ONE/TWO AT HONEY LAKE WORCS RACE 6 ON TOUR AT AMERICADE 6 WINNING THE DUNLOP TIRE-CHANGING CHALLENGE 7 ATV HIGHLIGHTS 7 ATTENTION ALL RACERS 8 STRANG AND MULLINS SOLDIER ON IN GNCC RACING SERIES 10 INTRODUCING THE SPORTMAX Q2: THE SPORTBIKE TIRE THAT DOES IT ALL 12 THREE STRAIGHT FOR ASHLEY FIOLEK 14 DUNLOP RACERS COMBAT FOR MOTOCROSS TOP SPOTS 16 BIKE OF THE MONTH: MAT MLADIN S 2009 GSX-R BY THE NUMBERS MAT MLADIN S AMAZING CAREER HIGHLIGHTS 20 IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCES ABOUND IN AMA ROADRACING 26 JOSH FREDERICK ON TARGET FOR WORCS ATV TITLE TRIFECTA 28 THE BIKES OF SUPERMOTO 30 UPCOMING EVENTS Dunlop Download magazine is published for Dunlop Motorcycle Tires by Vreeke & Associates. 3

3 NATHAN WOODS BOBBY BONDS DUNLOP RACERS FINISH ONE/TWO AT HONEY LAKE WORCS RACE Round five of the 2009 WORCS competition held at Honey Lake Motocross Park in Milford, CA, over the May 8-10 weekend produced gripping action as Dunlop racers successfully rallied to finish first and second. Valli Motorsports Bobby Bonds dominated the event, winning aboard his CRF450R, and Team Suzuki s Nathan Woods steered his RM-Z450 to second. RICKY DIETRICH At the halfway point in the championship, Dunlop racers hold seven of the top 10 positions in the series point tally, with Monster Energy Kawasaki s Ricky Dietrich just one point shy of the championship lead. Bonds holds the number-three spot. 4 5

4 JOE BYRD HEATHER BYRD ON TOUR AT AMERICADE Each year Dunlop Tires enjoys taking part in Americade, the sive tire inspections and provided detailed tire analyses to motorcycle riders a professional, informative service. Every par- world s largest annual multi-brand motorcycle touring rally. More than 50,000 motorcycle enthusiasts from across the U.S. ticipant received a complimentary tire gauge and Dunlop make the annual journey to the Lake George region in New catalog for future checking and referencing. York, enjoying six days of motorcycle touring and riding adventures. This year s rally took place from June 1 to June 6. With Dunlop s headquarters based in Buffalo, NY, the Dunlop crew embraced the opportunity to work in familiar, relaxed, Operating on location from Dunlop s fully equipped mobile home-state surrounds and invited local Dunlop customers and workshop, Dunlop tire technicians carried out free comprehen- associates to join them at the rally. WINNING THE DUNLOP TIRE-CHANGING CHALLENGE At the final Supercross Championship race of the season held at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas each year, Dunlop throws out the challenge to Las Vegas Supercross fans to see who can prepare and install a race-ready tire the quickest just like Dunlop s professional tire fitters. ATV HIGHLIGHTS Honey Lake MX Park in Milford, CA, hosted round four of the 2009 WORCS ATV Series, and Team Motoworks pilots Dillon Zimmerman and Josh Frederick lead Dunlop s podium charge. Zimmerman has literally dominated the Pro Am ATV series aboard his Can-Am DS 450; he s won every race this season to accumulate a perfect series score of 120 points. Frederick finished second on the Pro ATV class podium and remains on top in the series points with 110. In the AMA ATV Motocross Nationals competition, champion Dunlop racer Joe Byrd leads the AMA Pro ATV point score on 231 points after six rounds. Byrd s wife and teammate Heather Byrd remains unbeaten in the Pro Am Women series after five rounds of racing, recording five straight wins. Heather has a perfect score of 150 points in the championship, and fellow Dunlop racer Adrienne Cooper is third in points with 105. Team Motoworks Jeremie Warnia continued his dominance at round three of the ITP QuadCross Championship at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, CA winning top honors in both the Pro Open and Pro 450 Production classes. Zimmerman continued his winning ways in the 450 Production Expert class. Returning for his second consecutive year and ready to race the stopwatch again, Supercross fan Eric made a gutsy effort and pulled off the quickest tire mount. Racing to complete the task in 85 seconds, the speedy Supercross fan walked away the winner, scoring a set of brand-new Dunlop MX51 tires for his efforts. Congratulations, Eric! Dunlop looks forward to having you return and invites anyone who thinks they re up to the tirechange challenge to race the clock at the Las Vegas Supercross next year. ATTENTION ALL RACERS No matter which off-road racing venue you ve chosen, Dunlop has the right tire and specific recommendations for your racing needs. From professional Supercross and Arenacross to Off-Road/Enduro and Amateur National MX, we have all the tire info you ll need to get ready to win! CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE TIRE USAGE GUIDE 6 7

5 CHARLIE MULLINS STRANG AND MULLINS SOLDIER ON IN GNCC RACING SERIES JOSH STRANG The 2009 Can-Am GNCC Racing Series charges on, and as the halfway point in the series comes and goes, Dunlop pilots Josh Strang and Charlie Mullins are positioned two and three in the championship standings. Mounted aboard his Team Suzuki RM-Z450, Strang bounced back from his fourth-place finish at round six in Tennessee to win round seven in Pennsylvania and finish third on Ohio s round-eight podium Strang is second in the series point score with 186 points. Mullins third-, second- and fourth-place finishes have the Suzuki pilot third overall with 179 points. 8 9

6 CLICK HERE FOR A SPORTMAX Q2 VIDEO At Dunlop, no sportbike tire is ready for the road until it s racetrack-proven. Case in point: the new Sportmax Q2 featuring Dunlop s Intuitive Response Profile (IRP) and MT Multi-Tread technology. This remarkable new tire incorporates many race-tested advancements that add up to a vastly superior street-going tire that s equally at home on the track. With its new IRP technology in the rear tire, the Sportmax Q2 possesses steering characteristics unlike those of any other sport tire made. It allows the rider greater latitude in line choice while cornering and provides amazingly consistent steering no matter what shape, speed or camber the corner or what lean angle the rider achieves. Because this radical new profile allows greater lean angles and higher corner speeds, the Sportmax Q2 provides substantially better grip and handling than the previous Qualifier the only tire ever to win a MOTY Award from Motorcyclist magazine. INTRODUCING THE SPORTMAX Q2: THE SPORTBIKE TIRE THAT DOES IT ALL CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTMAX Q2 INFORMATION 10 11

7 THREE STRAIGHT FOR ASHLEY FIOLEK Ashley Fiolek is certainly proving to be a dominant force in Women s Motocross racing. Bursting onto the professional Motocross scene in 2008, winning the Women s Motocross Championship in her rookie season, and being the first-ever woman signed to race for a factory Motocross team are monumental achievements for the 18-year-old racer. At the opening round of the 2009 Women s Motocross Championship, and at her Honda Red Bull Racing team debut, Fiolek dominated the Glen Helen Raceway competition winning both motos. The reigning champ raced fellow Dunlop rider and six-time women s champion Jessica Patterson to take top honors aboard her Honda CRF250R. Fiolek finished the event first overall, Patterson came in second and Dunlop racer Sherri Cruise secured third. The following week at the Hangtown Motocross Classic, Fiolek again came out firing and secured back-to-back round wins. She continued her campaign out front, winning both the holeshot and opening race. Fiolek again got the start in moto two, but Patterson caught and passed her to clinch the second moto win Fiolek finished second. She won the overall again at the third round to build a 23-point lead over Patterson. CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR ASHLEY VIDEO 12 13

8 DUNLOP RACERS COMBAT FOR MOTOCROSS TOP SPOTS The 2009 Motocross Championship is underway, and Dunlop s talented Motocross pilots have had strong showings at the opening three rounds of 450, 250 and women s championship racing. In the 450 class, Honda Red Bull Racing s Ivan Tedesco finished second overall at the Hangtown Motocross Classic in California, and teammate Andrew Short duplicated that second-place result at Freestone County Raceway in Texas. Short is fourth in the championship points tally with 93, and Tedesco is fifth on 70. GEICO Powersports Honda s Trey Canard, Justin Barcia and Blake Wharton have all represented Dunlop on various 250-class podiums, with Canard racking up five moto podiums taking second overall at Hangtown and third overall at Freestone and holding third in the series points on 117. Barcia s raced onto two moto podiums in his rookie season, and Wharton s recorded one moto podium. In the women s competition, Dunlop racers dominate the top spots in the series point score with Honda Red Bull Racing s Ashley Fiolek winning a perfect three from three round wins leading the points tally on 147 points. Honda racer Jessica Patterson is second on 123, and Suzuki pilot Sherri Cruise is third with 114 points

9 BIKE OF THE MONTH: MAT MLADIN S 2009 GSX-R1000 Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider Mat Mladin came into the 2009 season with a highlight reel that included a record six AMA Superbike championships, a record 72 career Superbike victories and a second-place finish in the 2008 season with 11 wins and five more podium finishes. In 09 he s been outstanding again, earning nine wins in 11 races to establish a dominating lead in the championship standings despite beginning the season on a 2008-model-year bike. That changed during the first weekend in May, when Mladin rolled out his new 2009 GSX-R1000 at the Honda Superbike Classic at Barber Motorsports. Seen here, this newest Suzuki includes all the changes possible under the new Superbike rules package. The specs below, from Rockstar/Makita team coordinator Rich Doan, highlight the major modifications made to Mladin s Suzuki GSX-R1000. Dry weight: 380 pounds 6-gallon aluminum fuel tank Custom race handlebars/billet-aluminum triple clamps with adjustable fork offset and steering head position Custom-fit solo seat Adjustable spring/ohlins race shock Titanium exhaust 520 racing chain & sprockets Factory outer and inner fork tubes/adjustable spring/ohlins race internals Mag x17 wheel/dunlop spec tire Mag x17 wheel/dunlop spec tire (determined by track & conditions) Galfer Wave 220mm rotor Solid-mount foot pegs 999cc DOHC engine/homologated race camshaft/ported cylinder head (compression ratio much higher than factory)/em Pro fuel mapping & ignition timing Brembo racing caliper/320mm rotor/brembo master cylinder 16 17

10 BY THE NUMBERS MAT MLADIN S AMAZING CAREER HIGHLIGHTS By all measures, the accomplishments of six-time AMA Superbike champion Mat Mladin are simply astounding. He has already won nine Superbike races in 2009 to boost his all-time win record to 81 as this is being written. You can count on one hand the number of riders who have beaten Mat heads up in the past decade. Name a record in the AMA books career wins, most poles, most laps led, most podium finishes and you will find one name at the top of the list: Mat Mladin. Here we take a quick look at the chronology behind this amazing man. Early Career: Began racing 1990; won Australian Superbike Championship Competed in 500 Grand Prix World Championship Finished second in Australian Superbike Championship Raced AMA Superbike Series with Yoshimura Suzuki Finished third in AMA Superbike Series with Ferracci Ducati Finished third in AMA Superbike Series. Raced with Yoshimura Suzuki through next three seasons Won first Superbike Championship Won Daytona 200 plus three more races for the AMA Superbike title Won third consecutive AMA Superbike Championship; tied Superbike record for season pole wins with nine Struggled with injury, resulting in first winless season since Raced with Blimpie Suzuki Back with Yoshimura Suzuki, where he remains to this day. Won a record fourth AMA Superbike Championship with 10 wins Won a record-setting fifth Superbike title with eight wins Won a record sixth championship with 11 wins. Topped Superbike all-time win list with Won eight Superbike races plus 10 podiums, and finished the season in second Earned a record 12 Superbike wins with five additional podiums. Finished second to teammate Ben Spies in the championship Won nine races and finished second in Superbike Championship to Ben Spies again. Increased all-time win count to 72 victories and all-time pole wins to

11 MAT MLADIN IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCES ABOUND IN AMA ROADRACING 20 21

12 JAMIE HACKING LARRY PEGRAM JOSH HAYES The springtime AMA roadracing season brought race fans plenty of exciting action and a number of surprises both on and off the track. At Alabama s gorgeous Barber Motorsports Park, torrential rains escalated into a tornado warning, yet Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider Mat Mladin still swept both Superbike races to tie the consecutive single-season win-streak record at seven. These wins raised Mladin s total career victories to 79 and marked the second consecutive one-two finish for Suzuki s new 2009 GSX-R1000, which got a late start on the season. In Daytona SportBike action, M4 Suzuki s Martin Cardenas followed suit by scoring a double-win sweep of his own. In the rain-delayed and shortened SuperSport race, Michigan s Garrett Carter notched his first AMA professional road-race win with an impressive ride on a track that was still wet. TOMMY HAYDEN CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR ROAD-RACE PHOTO GALLERY 22 23

13 MARTIN CARDENAS DANIEL ESLICK The next race meet happened two weeks later, all the way across the country, with opposite weather conditions. Scorching heat accompanied the races at Infineon Raceway in California as a red-hot Josh Hayes guided his Yamaha R1 to the Saturday Superbike victory, thereby snapping Mladin s historic run of consecutive race wins. However, Mladin bounced right back and took Sunday s race, with Hayes teammate Ben Bostrom in second. Cardenas remained blazing hot as he pressed his M4 Suzuki to a double SportBike win again. The SuperSport race likewise provided heated action as Ricky Parker barely bested Leandro Mercado for the win. CHRIS PERIS June action at Wisconsin s Road America included rainy weather, but spectacular racing held reign for the weekend. In Saturday s Superbike action Mladin made history again, claiming his 81st class victory in a contest that was declared a wet race before it flagged off. The next day, Mladin held a race-long battle with Foremost Pegram Racing s Larry Pegram, who finally earned his first win in a decade aboard his Ducati 1098R. The soggy Saturday Daytona SportBike win went to Erion Racing Honda s Chris Peris, while Sunday s contest saw another Erion rider, Jake Zemke, battle right to the finish with Cardenas, who hammered out a hard-fought victory right at the flag, his sixth of the season. In Supersport action, Kawasaki rider Mercado came away victorious

14 JOSH FREDERICK ON TARGET FOR WORCS ATV TITLE TRIFECTA Team Motoworks Josh Frederick is one very persistent ATV racer. While facing the challenge of being injured mid-season, the 31-year-old champion continues to be at the top of WORCS racing. Entering the professional ATV ranks six years ago, Frederick has racked up an impressive list of racing achievements and is on target to capture his third consecutive WORCS Pro ATV title. In 2003, the Dunlop pilot raced his first professional WORCS race, and it was enough to spark his appetite for professional competition. The following year, he returned to race the entire 2004 season, impressively finishing the series as runner-up. Frederick showcased his quad-racing ability, winning 2005 Best in the Desert Championship and 2005 SCORE Championship, but the coveted WORCS Pro ATV title continued to elude him although he finished runner-up in both 2005 and Winning the 2006 WORCS Utility Cup crown, Frederick headed into 2007 determined to take his WORCS Pro ATV results to the next level the top of the championship box. His persistence paid off, and he captured his first-ever WORCS Pro ATV Championship that year and again in Aboard his Dunlop-equipped Team Motoworks DS450, Frederick built a solid 20-point lead in the 2009 WORCS competition, scoring four podium finishes including two wins, before sustaining a leg injury in a QuadCross Championship event in late May. Forced to sit out the WORCS Pro ATV round five to heal, Frederick plans to make his return and continue his title trifecta hunt at round six in Olympia, WA

15 THE BIKES OF SUPERMOTO Supermoto is the freshest form of motorcycle racing to appear on the two-wheel radar, and its undeniable appeal can be attributed to a number of reasons. In no particular order, some of this appeal includes the hybrid nature of the converted showroom-accessible motocross machines; the hybrid nature of the asphalt/dirt course that is also laden with exciting jumps; the garage-built, run-what-youbrung work lavished on many of the very competitive racebikes; the grass-roots racing efforts with free and ready fan access to competitors; the up-close views of the lurid slides these talented racers lay down lap after lap; and the unpredictable nature of the racing that favors no one competitor but provides great viewing for the fans. More reasons for the sport s popularity abound. But next, ponder this fact: Since Supermoto racing arrived on the shores of America in 2003, only one make of tire has earned the title of champion Dunlop. For six straight seasons Dunlop riders have swept every class title in Supermoto, Supermoto Lites and Supermoto Unlimited. There s every reason to believe that trend will continue this year, and to give you a preview of likely winners to come, here we present the front-running Dunlop race machines for BURKHART/HMC/KTM RACING Mark Burkhart #6; Supermoto class KTM Kurt Nicoll #8; Supermoto Unlimited CHM/ALL ACCESS Micky Dymond #43; Supermoto class Jason Conlon #18; Supermoto class TROY LEE DESIGNS RACING Jeff Ward #3x; Supermoto class Joey Pascarella #5; Supermoto Lites CURRIE/GRAVES RACING Brandon Currie #2; Supermoto class MDK/RJ PERFORMANCE Matt Burton #39; Supermoto Lites HART/HUNTINGTON RACING Steve Drew #1; Supermoto Unlimited Doni Wanat #89; Supermoto Unlimited MACH 1 Danny Casey #40; Supermoto Lites CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR SUPERMOTO BIKE PHOTO GALLERY 28 29

16 UPCOMING EVENTS AMA Flat Track Series June 20 Bulls Gap, TN WORCS ATV June Pacific Raceways Auburn, WA Amateur National June Mammoth Motocross Mammoth Lakes, CA AMA/WMA Motocross June 27 Thunder Valley Motocross Lakewood, CO AMA Flat Track Series June 27 Lima 1/2 Mile Lima, OH ATV-MX Nat. June Muddy Creek Raceway Blountville, TN GNCC June Moose Snowshoe Snowshoe, WV AMA Motocross July 4 Red Bud Buchanan, MI AMA Road Racing July 3-5 Laguna Seca Monterey, CA ATV-MX Nat. July Pleasure Valley Armagh, PA AMA Road Racing July Honda Super Cycle Weekend Lexington, OH AMA Motocross July 18 Spring Creek Motocross Millville, MN AMA Flat Track Series July 18 Greenville, OH AMA/WMA Motocross July 25 Washougal MX Park Washougal, WA AMA Flat Track Series July 25 Hagerstown 1/2 Mile Hagerstown, MD Endurocross July 25 Las Vegas, NV QuadCross Series July 26 Racetown 395 Adelanto, CA Amateur Grand National July 27- August 1 Ponca City, OK AMA Road Racing July 31-August 2 Heartland Park Topeka Topeka, KS 2009 Dunlop Tires P. O. Box 1109, Buffalo, New York dunlopmotorcycle.com