It’s not often you get a call from a respected AMA Pro Roadracing team to come down to a privately-owned track and ride with them for two days. But that’s exactly what happened 17-18 August 2011. Mark Junge, owner of Vesrah Suzuki, gave us a ring to stop by and check out Autobahn Country Club – a relatively palatial track next to Union Pacific’s massive Joliet intermodal terminal and ride with his team. When we arrived, the Vesrah Suzuki race truck was already set up and unloaded – we really didn’t need to bring much other than our bikes and a few spares! But the real kicker was the facility and the many garages, some of which were business, others privately owned – on the sprawling 350-acre facility. Porches, Ferraris, high-end Mercedes and the occasional Lotus were regularly spotted in and around these garages and on the track. And of course, the two-mile south track with its rough surface and mixture of high-speed straights with a few hard-braking corners that really test the bike’s suspension.

It was an interesting affair for us with the schedule of car and bike sessions. Four groups total, in fact: a learners’ class, sports car group, open-wheel and motorcycle – each with four or maybe five vehicles running at the same time. Getting a clean track was not a problem and we took full advantage of each 20 minutes session. Vesrah Suzuki brought out a range of their motorcycles – from the latest GSX-R600 L1 (ridden by Cory West in AMA Daytona SportBike), a GSX-R1000 K9 endurance racer and, for the first time – a GSX-R750 L1 that Mark himself built just for kicks. Interestingly, Mark chose to bring along his GSX-R1000 K4 endurance racer too.

Team RidersDiscount.com brought out our YZF-R1 SuperBike and our Triumph Daytona 675 project bike. And, while the R1 is almost at the end of its development, it’s still a blast to take it on the track. The Triumph, on the other hand – just had a new set of Öhlins Road & Track forks installed the week before and, as a result, needed quite a bit of attention to dial it in. Two days of testing proved fruitful with getting the Triumph up to race pace and we quickly found ourselves swapping out offsets and moving back the radiator to account for front tire clearance issues. As expected, the R1 just hummed along and required no changes at all.

The Vesrah Team just clicked off lap-after-lap on their range of Suzukis and even had a few guest riders take a spin on their bikes too. Mark looked exceptionally smooth on his GSX-R1000 K4 – like the return of an old friend, they got along great. Cory West was clearly pushing himself every lap out, backing the bike in everywhere and even throwing out the occasional leg dangle just for good measure.

We have many thanks to offer to Mark, Cory, Tony, Don and everyone at Vesrah Suzuki for letting us come play at their track. It’s always a blast watching a good team work on their machines and rarely do you get a chance to ride with a bunch of fast guys on a clear track. It was a unique experience and we can’t wait to get back to Autobahn and do it all over again!

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On Monday and Thursday of this week, Team RidersDiscount.com and Jake Holden Racing tested the RidersDiscount.com-built Yamaha YZF-R1 and BMW S1000RR superbikes at Grattan Raceway Park and Gingerman Raceway, respectively. The team got together after the AMA event at Mid-Ohio to help Jake determine which bike would be best suited for his return to the AMA American SuperBike class at the upcoming Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix weekend in Laguna Seca. The two tracks offer a sharp contrast from each other, which is ideal for testing the strengths and weaknesses of each machine. Grattan Raceway features a fast, flowing layout with many blind corners along with a few drops and rises. Gingerman, on the other hand, while mostly flat, demands a very precise line to get the fastest lap and so, puts stability under braking at a premium.

Jake remarked that the Yamaha YZF-R1 features a smooth power delivery on corner exits and a fantastic growl from the crossplane crank motor. For the BMW S1000RR, Jake’s favorite aspect was the bike’s top-end power and the unobtrusive electronics package. The positives of each bike will lend themselves well to Laguna Seca’s undulating layout and now that he’s had a chance to ride both bikes on two completely different tracks, Jake has a limited amount of time to decide which bike will work best at the California track.

Jake Holden – “I was excited to ride the RidersDiscount.com superbikes. After Mid-Ohio, which was just a devastating race for my season, I was looking forward to going riding and having fun with the RidersDiscount.com crew. And that’s exactly what we did – I got to ride a couple of kick ass superbikes that they built; the BMW S1000RR and Yamaha R1. It got my mind off of some of the things I’d been stressing about lately. Now I’m looking forward to getting on the superbike at Laguna Seca because that’s where I had my first AMA career win and I’ve always been pretty successful there.

I’d like to thank everyone at Riders Discount for supporting me this week during testing. It was a lot of fun and it was good to go back to where I started at the club level just doing trackdays with friends and people who enjoy riding and racing. It was a lot of fun to get out there and learn some new tracks. Now I just have to pick the bike I want to ride!”

Brian Gibson, owner RidersDiscount.com – “It was very satisfying to watch Jake ride the bikes we built and listen to his feedback on each one. It was clear after his first session on each bike Monday at Grattan Raceway that he knew exactly what he wanted from each machine. Now all he has to do is decide which bike he wants to take to the grid at Laguna Seca! The whole team is really excited for Jake’s return to the AMA’s main event, especially since we built these bikes ourselves using the very same parts we sell!”

In addition to his first 2011 appearance in the AMA Pro American SuperBike class at Laguna Seca, Jake will continue to compete aboard the Ducati 848 EVO in Daytona SportBike. Jake Holden Racing and Team RidersDiscount.com have only a small amount of time for Jake to decide which bike he wants to take to the line at the Laguna Seca weekend and an announcement will be made shortly. For race updates, videos and other news, check out facebook.com/ridersdiscount and facebook.com/jakeholdenracing

Jake Holden would like to thank RidersDiscount.com, FMF Exhaust, Motul, Shoei Helmets, Cortech Apparel, Sidi, Held, Motion-Pro, Liquid Performance, Vortex Racing, Bazzaz Performance Design, SharkSkinz Bodywork, Zero Gravity Windscreens, Vicci, Goodridge Brake Lines, Speedy Moto, K & N Engineering and Penske Shocks.

The post Team RidersDiscount.com & Jake Holden Test in Preparation for Jake’s Return to the AMA American SuperBike Class appeared first on Riders Discount.

Two-time AMA Formula Xtreme Champion Kurtis Roberts returns to his favorite track to ride the RidersDiscount.com Yamaha YZF-R1 after a few years away from AMA Pro Racing. In preparation, the California native will test the YZF-R1 with ?hlins suspension at Grattan Raceway two weeks before the American Superbike event at Mid-Ohio. This is the first time Team RidersDiscount.com will have two bikes on the grid at an AMA Pro Race and should provide an interesting challenge with each rider on completely different machinery.

Kurtis Roberts – “I’m looking forward to getting on a good motorcycle at what is probably my favorite track in America. I know some of the guys on the team pretty well and I’m really looking forward to working with them.”

Brian Gibson, owner RidersDiscount.com – “When we found out that a Formula Xtreme champion was looking to ride in the AMA, we jumped at that chance to get him on our team. We’re very excited to have a rider of Kurtis’ caliber and background ride with us. This has certainly increased the competitive spirit within the team and we look to Mid-Ohio with great enthusiasm.”

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