Pikes Peak: Formula Xtreme, Superstock preview

ZEMKE AND DUHAMEL VYING TO BECOME FIRST 10-RACE WINNER IN FORMULA XTREME 2DiSalvo trying to hold off charging Yates in Repsol Superstock

PICKERINGTON, Ohio (May 18, 2005) -- Jake Zemke tied Miguel Duhamel, Kurtis Roberts and Eric Bostrom atop the all-time wins list in Lockhart-Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series with his victory last weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. This weekend, May 21-22, at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, Colo., Honda riders Zemke and Duhamel will both be trying to become the first to reach the 10-win mark in the class.

In the Repsol Lubricants Superstock Series Yamaha's Jason DiSalvo holds a slight advantage on Yoshimura Suzuki veteran Aaron Yates, but Yates is charging, hungry to win another title.

Zemke comes into Pikes Peak the defending winner of the Formula Xtreme race. He's hoping to become the first back-to-back winner of the event since Jason Pridmore did it in 2002.

"Miguel and I have been having some good battles," Zemke said. "We know each others' riding style pretty well and that allows us to race a little more closely than you typically would. I've been fortunate to get a little winning streak going here, but I can't let up for a second because Miguel will be right there if I do."

Zemke is trying to finally break through to win the Formula Xtreme title, a series in which he has been runner up three times. If he wins at Pikes Peak his four-race winning streak would be the longest in Formula Xtreme in five years.

MPTracing.com Suzuki's Danny Eslick is third in the standings coming into this weekend's race. Eslick, a former flat track racer, should feel at home on the broad left-hand turns of PPIR.

The series will miss top competitor Vincent Haskovec. Haskovec crashed his M4 EMGO Suzuki at Infineon Raceway last weekend and was seriously injured. AMA Pro Racing, along with the rest of the racing community, wishes Vincent all the best in his rehabilitation.

The Repsol Lubricants Superstock Series was the most competitive of the four championships last year and this year it's become the case again. Jason DiSalvo has scored three straight podium finishes including a win at California Speedway to take the championship lead, but Aaron Yates won a dramatic victory last week and has closed to within five points of DiSalvo. Three other riders, Graves Yamaha's Jamie Hacking, Kawasaki's Tommy Hayden and Steve Rapp riding for Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki, are very much in contention for the title as the series reaches the halfway mark at Pikes Peak.

"It was an exciting race and lots of fun," Yates said after claiming his first Superstock win of the season last week. "These guys had me working all weekend to figure out what I needed to do to get up to speed -- Jason was fast and Jamie was going good too. We just worked hard and got the GSX-R1000 dialed-in to where we got up to running with them in the race. We just hung on with Jason and then Jamie came by. I just felt like I was able to push it at the end and come up with the win."

Yates' victory at Infineon was the sixth Superstock win of his career and moved him into a tie with Doug Polen and Britt Turkington for sixth on the all-time wins list in the class. Yates will try to give Suzuki yet another Pikes Peak Superstock win. The maker won the first six Superstock races at the track, from 1997 to 2002.

The Lockhart-Phillips Formula Xtreme and Repsol Superstock races with be shown on SPEED Channel, Sunday, May 22 beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern.

All tickets for the Pikes Peak AMA Superbike Weekend presented by Honda are general admission seating. Junior tickets are available for persons 6-15 years of age. Senior tickets are available for persons 60 years of age or older. The track also features a weekend package includes practice/qualifying day ticket, raceday ticket and infield/garage pass each day. For additional ticket information call (888) 306-7223 or visit www.ppir.com.

About AMA Pro Racing

AMA Pro Racing is the leading sanctioning body for motorcycle sport in the United States. Its properties include the THQ AMA Supercross Series, the AMA Motocross Championship, the AMA Superbike Championship, the AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship and the AMA Supermoto Championship. For more information about AMA Pro Racing, visit www.amaproracing.com.

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