RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki’s Rocco Landers (97) took pole position and raced the new Suzuki GSX-8R to its first-ever Twins Cup victory.
Brea, CA, April 22, 2024 — Suzuki Motor USA (Suzuki) and its lead road racing teams – Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki and RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki – showcased their obvious potential as the 2024 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship season kicked off at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia.
The Sunday weather and some racing misfortune each conspired to limit many of the final results. The bright spot though was Rocco Landers (97) winning Saturday’s Twins Cup race, marking the new Suzuki GSX-8R’s first-ever victory in only its second race weekend in competition.
Race Highlights:
- RevZilla/Motul.Vance & Hines Suzuki
- Twins Cup
- Rocco Landers translated pole position into the historic maiden victory for the Suzuki GSX-8R.
- Twins Cup
- Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki
- Supersport
- Tyler Scott was blisteringly quick in qualifying but unable to fully capitalize on his pole-winning pace.
- Teagg Hobbs fought his way to a pair of top-ten results.
- Joel Ohman debuted with Team Hammer in the class.
- Twins Cup
- Rossi Moor bounced back from a Saturday fall to finish seventh in wet conditions on Sunday.
- Superbike
- Richie Escalante suffered an injury moments after finishing eighth in Superbike Race 1 on Saturday.
- A luckless Brandon Paasch endured a double DNF on the weekend.
- Supersport
Rocco Landers (97) victory in Saturday’s Twins Cup race was the bright spot of the Road Atlanta weekend.
RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki ace Rocco Landers made good on the all-new Suzuki GSX-8R’s immense racing promise, securing both pole position and the motorcycle’s maiden MotoAmerica win with a spirited and scrappy ride on Saturday. Wet conditions prevented the former class champ from doubling up on Sunday, but Landers still negotiated the tricky conditions to eighth place points in Race 2.
“Things came together a bit late in the offseason, but everyone on the team busted their tails to have us ready,” Landers said. “Getting this first podium on the GSX-8R at Daytona was nice, but to win this race at my favorite track is another level beyond that. It was such a fun race after having to fight hard and work my way up from third. I’m stoked and really can’t thank everyone enough at RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines and Suzuki,” added Landers.
Rossi Moor (92) qualified strong on the GSX-8R and came back to a top-ten result in Race Two.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s talented new young gun Rossi Moor (92) posted the second-best time to Landers to officially put the GSX-8Rs 1-2 in the qualifying order. Unfortunately, Moor suffered a high-speed crash in the session and was not medically cleared to make the start. He came back on Sunday to register a brave seventh place finish.
Tyler Scott (70) won pole position in Supersport to kick off the weekend, bringing the GSX-R750 home in sixth despite challenging weather on Sunday.“We started off sunny and happy with good times. We were close to the class’s outright track record. I felt good in the first race, but I lost the front at the top of the hill. I hit the ground abruptly and suddenly. It was a sudden, quick, and violent flip to the ground. The second race went fairly well, considering we had a big crash Saturday, and the normal issues after that. We got through them the best we could and got some points.”
Scott’s teammate and fellow title hopeful Teagg Hobbs (79), also struggled to take full advantage of his outright pace at Road Atlanta. The second year Supersport ace left the weekend with a pair of solid tenth-place results aboard his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R750 and is eager to improve next time out.
Teagg Hobbs (79) delivered a pair of top-ten results in Supersport.
“My weekend wasn’t as tough as my teammates’ weekend, but it wasn’t what we are looking to do either,” said Hobbs. “In the dry, we had a lot of pace but couldn’t really put it all together. In Race 1, we had an issue causing us to lose time every lap. Sunday was just a wet mess. At a certain point, I was just trying to bring home a shiny bike and get what points we could. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to the next round.”
Joel Ohman (92), Team Hammer’s newest rider made his team debut in Supersport at Road Atlanta.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki newcomer Joel Ohman (92) rounded out the team’s Supersport efforts, claiming 23rd- and 26th-place finishes in his racing debut with the squad.
“It was my first experience on a team like this. It’s no surprise I went faster than I have ever have before, by like 3.5 seconds,” said Ohman. ”In some ways, it was a tough weekend for everyone, but I know what to work on for the next round. We made changes to the bike for me that I felt were big improvements. My goal is to win one day, and this was a good first step.”
Richie Escalante (54) raced to eighth in Race 1 on Saturday, but was injured in a post-race incident.
The run of bad luck that permeated the team’s overall efforts was most apparent in the premier Superbike class. Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante (54) crashed in a two-rider incident just moments after finishing Saturday’s season opener in eighth place. Despite walking away from the crash under his own power, Escalante was later diagnosed with a left wrist fracture and compression fractures of the L1, L2, and L4 vertebrae. After spending the night at a local hospital, Escalante was released to fly home to Mexico for further medical evaluation and treatment.
Brandon Paasch (96) had a tough race weekend and looks forward to bouncing back at Barber Motorsports Park.
Teammate Brandon Paasch (96) had a difficult weekend of his own. Paasch crashed out of a top-ten position aboard his GSX-R1000R early in Saturday’s dry Superbike contest and then suffered another DNF the following day in challenging, variable conditions.
“It was a rough weekend for our team. I had never ridden a Superbike before here and I figured I would just jump on and go. It didn’t quite work out that way, and I struggled to get up to speed,” said Paasch. “In Race 1, I crashed on my own, trying to hang with the group and pushed a little harder than the conditions allowed. Sunday, we had an issue and I crashed again with about five laps to go.”
Suzuki Motor USA (Suzuki) will have another opportunity to make good on its full podium potential when the MotoAmerica season returns to action at Barber Motorsports Park, in Birmingham, Alabama, on May 17-19.
For Suzuki road racing news, results, and team updates, visit suzukicycles.com/racing/road-racing. For more information and updates on Team Hammer, visit teamhammer.com.
Photos By Brian J. Nelson
ABOUT TEAM HAMMER
The 2024 season marks Team Hammer's 44th consecutive year of operating as a professional road racing team. Racebikes built and fielded by Team Hammer have won 133 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National races, have finished on AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National podiums 362 times, and have won 11 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National Championships, as well as two FIM South American Championships (in Superbike and Supersport). The team has also won 137 endurance races overall (including seven 24-hour races) and 13 Overall WERA National Endurance Championships with Suzuki motorcycles, and holds the U.S. record for mileage covered in a 24-hour race. The team also competed in the televised 1990s Formula USA National Championship, famously running "Methanol Monster" GSX-R1100 Superbikes fueled by methanol, and won four F-USA Championships.
ABOUT VISION WHEEL
Founded in 1976, Vision Wheel is one of the nation’s leading providers of custom wheels for cars and trucks, and one of the first manufacturers of custom wheels and tires for ATVs, UTVs, and golf carts. Vision Wheel looks beyond the current trends and to the future in developing, manufacturing, and distributing its wheels. Vision’s lines of street, race, off-road, American Muscle, and Milanni wheels are distributed nationally and internationally through a trusted network of distributors. Vision Wheel also produces the Vision It AR app to allow users to see how their wheels of choice will look on their vehicle before purchase and installation. For more information on Vision Wheel, visit www.visionwheel.com.