Wyman rides through injury at Sonoma Raceway for Ducati Richmond

TUCSON, Ariz. — The KWR Ducati team raced at Sonoma Raceway this past weekend for the 7th round of the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship. With title sponsor Ducati Richmond, Kyle Wyman recorded two DNF (did not finish) results but gained data and confidence for the remaining rounds.

Wyman had surgery on July 15th to repair a broken scaphoid, injured in a crash at the previous round at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca. Just a few weeks after the operation he was back on the bike and finished up 7th fastest in the early morning session, on Saturday of the two-day Sonoma event.

Wyman proceeded to qualify 10th overall after QP2, and with a goal of moving into the top five in the first afternoon, a mechanical took the Ducati Richmond/KWR Panigale V4 R out of contention early in the race and ended the bid.

“Going into this weekend I had no expectations, because of my wrist injury,” Wyman said. “Fortunately that was not our biggest problem, but unfortunately we battled some mechanical issues in race one that took us out of the fight. We were running up in 6th spot when we broke a fuel line inside the fuel tank, kind of a freak thing.”

After making changes to the rear of the motorcycle, the KWR team improved the feeling for Wyman in Sunday morning warm up and set off for race two determined to make up for Saturday’s woes. Wyman got another good start and was battling for the top 6 again before another mechanical forced him to pull in. After rectifying the issue Wyman put his head down for 10 laps to finish the race, and was the fastest rider on track on the final lap of the race. Unfortunately, Wyman did not complete enough total laps to record a finishing result (75% of race distance), and was credited with a DNF again in race two.

“As bummed as I am that we had our mechanicals this weekend, I feel like I have more confidence in the bike than I’ve had all season long,” Wyman said. “Getting back out there, even as many laps down as we were, I had the chance to still race with some guys who I’ve been around all year, and get the best of them. It may not count for anything on paper but we gathered some very valuable data that will help us in the upcoming rounds.”

“I want to thank Doreen Walmsey for her support with Ducati Richmond and Ducati North America for bringing their big hauler to the track,” Wyman added. “It was a tremendous weekend for KWR and Ducati, with all of the fans that came out to support. I can’t wait until Pittsburgh, next on the schedule, as it’s a place we tested at earlier this year with our new electronics package. We will be able to return to a track for the first time ever on this Panigale V4 R, and my expectations are very high for myself to perform at these next few events.”

The MotoAmerica Superbike championship heads to Pittsburgh International Race Complex the weekend of August 23-25, 2019.

Visit www.kylewymanracing.com for more news and updates.

More, from a press release issued by Weir Everywhere Racing BMW:

Travis Wyman takes hard-fought top-five finish at MotoAmerica Championship of Sonoma

Weir Everywhere Racing BMW rider recovers from lackluster start, eyes upcoming east coast rounds

Recovered from a lackluster start to score a top-five finish in the MotoAmerica Championship of Sonoma Stock 1000 race on Aug. 11.

SONOMA, Calif. — Weir Everywhere Racing BMW rider Travis Wyman made the most of a tough weekend at the MotoAmerica Championship of Sonoma on Aug. 10-11, scoring a fifth-place finish in the Stock 1000 race.

The team entered the weekend hopeful that it could repeat the podium finish it managed last year at Sonoma Raceway, but struggled to find the right set up to allow Wyman to keep up with the class’ front-runners. Wyman’s finish at Sonoma helped him remain inside the top five in the Stock 1000 Class standings with three rounds to go.

Wyman had a good start to the event. He was third fastest in the class’ only practice session and was fifth fastest in the Saturday qualifying session. He dropped about a second off his best Saturday qualifying time in Sunday’s qualifying session, but several other riders upped their pace and Wyman was forced to settle for seventh place on the starting grid. In the Sunday afternoon race, Wyman fell back to ninth place on Lap 1 but gradually worked his way through the field. He made his move for fifth place in Lap 10 of 14, but was too far back from the front-runners to move up the running order.

The next stop on the MotoAmerica’s schedule takes place Aug. 23-25 at Pittsburgh International Race Complex in Wampum, Pa. Wyman has ample experience racing at the track, as it was his home track when he was growing up in western New York State.

Travis Wyman / #24

“We were hoping to repeat the success we had at Sonoma Raceway last year, but the weekend didn’t go as planned. We were struggling to find the right setup for our BMW S 1000 RR during qualifying, and I made things harder on the team by not getting the best start. The weekend ended on a high note, though. While I was pushing hard all race long, the setup we used for the race really came into its own as the race went on. During the last several laps I was running my fastest times of the race. We battled our way to some good championship points here at Sonoma, and I’m looking forward to heading east to tracks I have a lot more experience racing on. We had an unlucky weekend at Pittsburgh International Race Complex last year, but I’ve had really good pace at that track over the years and am expecting to have our BMW back at the front.”

More, from a press release issued by Quarterley Racing On Track Development

MotoAmerica at Sonoma Raceway, August 10-11, 2019

Stroud Eighth in His First Weekend in USA, Barnes Gets Pole

Quarterley Racing On Track Development had a successful weekend racing in MotoAmerica at Sonoma Raceway the second weekend of August. New team member Jacob Stroud finished eighth in his first weekend in the USA in the LIQUI MOLY Junior Cup while teammates Teagg Hobbs and Ben Gloddy both put in solid results in the class. Jamie Astudillo moved up six places from her spot on the grid by the end of the second Junior Cup race while Michael Barnes got the pole position in the Twins event.

Jacob Stroud:

“Well that was an experience and a half! Sonoma Raceway was a completely different track from what I am used to in New Zealand and it demanded a completely different riding style. If I didn’t have an amazing bike right out of the box I would have struggled a lot more.

“I qualified 22nd after 45 minutes on the track and then made up a few positions in the first race to finish 19th, bettering my qualifying lap time by a second and a half in the race.

“The Dunlop tires were another new aspect to adjust to and in Sunday morning warmup I dropped another second and a half off my lap times after I found out how much grip there was on the very edge of the tire.

“I started race two on the fourth row and I knew how hard it was going to be to pass two rows of America’s best around the outside up a blind hill, but I did it.

“I made it up into ninth after the third lap and worked with another rider to drag ourselves up to the next group. I dropped another second and a half getting there but the unfamiliar heat took its tool in the last couple of laps and I came home in eighth.

“I was happy with big improvements the team and I made every time I went out on the track. The speed of the riders over here is immense and it has really lifted my riding being here already. The coaching from Dale Quarterley has been so beneficial and I wouldn’t have ended up where I did without him.

“Overall the team is run so much more professionally than anything I have ever experienced and really makes it easy to just focus on riding. Quarterley Racing On Track Development is less about race results and more about developing young riders and I just love that.

“I’d like to thank all the Quarterley Racing On Track Development sponsors and also my sponsors from back home: Eurobike New Zealand, Spidi, Stylmartin, Motorcycling New Zealand Inc., Hamilton Motorcycle Club and especially Kevin Grant from Kiwi Classic Moto for making it happen.”

Teagg Hobbs:

“It was a constructive weekend to say the least; I definitely learned a lot. The weekend started out pretty well. I was seventh in practice even though I had never been to Sonoma Raceway before. A lot of people told me it was going to be like Loudon and it was. The elevation changes, the bumps and the patches in the asphalt were very similar. I liked it, it suited my style, and the bike felt good from the get-go,

“In the first race, my teammate Ben, another rider and I got into a battle at the beginning. Looking back on it, I might have been too aggressive in those early laps. I should have stayed behind them, saw where their weaknesses were and where my strong points were and put the two together.

“In race two, I got a decent start but I was trying to focus on too many things at once. I had a thousand things in my mind that I need to fix and I need to narrow that down. I couldn’t put the dots together at the end, but I’m actually glad that happened because now I know not to go back into that state of mind.

“I found that I was working well with our new teammate, Jacob Stroud. He’s easy to talk to and he got along with the whole team right away. Jacob was riding really well toward the end of the weekend, and as he got more track time, I started to talk with him a little more about different lines and things like that. He’s contributing a lot to the team, bringing in a lot of feedback.

“I have a game plan now and know what I need to do going to the East Coast rounds. As Dale keeps reminding me, you have nothing without an action plan. Pittsburgh is the only track left on the calendar that I haven’t been to before, but I’m getting better at adapting to new tracks and that makes it a lot less stressful than the beginning of the year. I’m still not satisfied because I’m not winning races, but I definitely learned a lot this weekend, and by the end of season I should be fighting for the top step of the podium. If anyone can help me get there, it’s the Quarterley team.”

Ben Gloddy:

“Even though it was my first time at Sonoma, I wasn’t nervous at all. The track was easy to learn for me because it’s a lot like Loudon. It’s really bumpy but I’m comfortable with that. I really liked turn one up to three and turn five, the right-hander just before the Carousel.

“In the first qualifying session I got faster almost every lap. In race one I kept getting faster and I tried to hunt down group in front of me but I kept getting passed by other riders in the group I was in and couldn’t make the break from the riders behind me. They’d get in front of me and slow me down going into the turns. The group in front already had a good-sized gap and I knew I wasn’t going to catch them, but I was trying. In the end, I was happy with eighth at a track I had never been to.

“Race two did not go as planned at all. I had a good start and a fast first two laps. As I entered turn one in seventh place to start lap three, I tucked the front and crashed. The front started to go away, then it came back a little bit and then it was gone. There was a second where I thought I had it saved. I am okay, no major injuries. The bike has definitely seen better days, but I walked away from it thanks to my top-notch safety gear. Thanks to Arai Helmet Americas, TCX Boots USA, Impact Safe T Armor and Vanson Leathers Inc.

“I truly cannot thank the whole Quarterley Racing On Track Development team enough for all of their hard work all weekend. Congratulations to my teammates on their finishes.”

Jamie Astudillo:

“I raced at Sonoma Raceway for the past two years and it’s not one of my favorite tracks. It’s not like anything else we ride in the country and it’s the one I struggle with the most. Despite that I was mid-pack in thirteenth at the end of the first practice.

“In the first race I got pushed around and went backwards a little. I couldn’t find the pace to keep up with the group in front of me. For the last five laps I was struggling just to ride the bike.

“On Sunday morning in warmup things were pretty iffy and I didn’t go any faster. Then in the race the bike felt awesome and I wasn’t tense at all. It turned out that my mechanic, Paul, did a bunch of changes on the bike without telling me. Dale kept reminding me that if you’re comfortable you can go faster. Before the race he told me there was nothing more we could do at the moment, to just go out and have some fun.

“I was gridded in 22nd and my goal was to get through as many riders as I could or at least stay with the pack. I stayed with a group of five or six riders and ended up dropping two seconds off my previous best lap time for the weekend. Usually this year I’ve been two or three seconds off my time from last year at each track we’ve been to so far, but this was the first track I did the same lap time as last year. Now I know we can at least get back to lap times from last year, and that is a huge thing for me. My mindset changed, the bike changed, and it all came together to help me out in the last race.

“The whole team was pretty happy with me. This race boosted my confidence more than any other race this year and from here we can move forward.”

Michael Barnes:

“With as much time as I’ve had on this track, I was comfortable right out of the gate. I knew I would be strong and after the first qualifying session I knew there was more. In the second qualifying session I put out the best lap I could imagine, so going into the race I was pretty confident.

“The only concern I had was the start. I like to get out in front and get away if I can, but, this year, it hasn’t been easy. I almost came together with another rider on the start and I had to get off the throttle a little.

“I took the lead in the last corner on the first lap and started to pull away. Then on lap four I started seeing a little bit of smoke coming from the gas tank area. I knew something was up but the bike wasn’t slowing down and I didn’t see any oil on my boots. I thought the smoke was coming from the airbox, just a little oil blowback.

“I was wrong. Then the bike really slowed down and I was just waiting for the black flag that I knew would come. I didn’t want to pull over, but I had to get off the track. We got torn down in Wisconsin and everything looked fine at that time, but I’ve been flogging this thing all year.

“I came into this round with a nice points lead and I wanted to pad it, but it was not to be. Even though I didn’t get any points, we left Sonoma just two points out of first place. There are four races left in the year so it’s not a big deal. I haven’t been to Pittsburg before, but I’m hoping the longer three-day weekend will help me learn the track quickly.”

Quarterley Racing On Track Development sponsors for 2019 include Inter-Tech Supplies, Fast By Ferracci, Inc, Yoshimura Research & Development of America, Inc., Wiseco Powersports, Motul USA., Regina Chain, BrakeTech USA, Inc., Ferodo Racing, Matt & Jesse, Scott Powersports, Inc., Defiance Lifestyle, Woodcraft Technologies, Dynojet Research Inc., Beta Tools of Italy – USA, RoadracingWorld.com, Drippinwet.com, MOTO-D Racing, Fast Bike Industries, Nitron Racing Systems Ltd., VAN DYK Recycling Solutions, Earl’s Racing Team and Kiwi Classic Moto. In addition, Michael Barnes is sponsored by Moto Corse Performance and Ducati North America.