Brea, CA (May 24, 2021) – Suzuki and Team Hammer upped the ante following a successful 2021 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship season opener with an even stronger Round 2, notching up two victories, two pole positions, and four podiums at Virginia International Raceway.
Sean Dylan Kelly (40) took pole position and scored his fifth consecutive Supersport race win at VIR.
M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sean Dylan Kelly continued to lead the charge, scoring the pole in MotoAmerica Supersport for a second consecutive weekend aboard his GSX-R600 and then backing it up with a fifth consecutive race win dating back to the end of the 2020 season.
‘SDK’ rounded out his weekend with a runner-up result on Sunday to leave VIR with a healthy 17-point championship advantage following four races.
“It was definitely a challenging day and we're not satisfied at all with the P2,” a motivated Kelly said. “We've been working hard. We've got three wins so far and we're looking for more. I promise we won't make it as easy for the opposition at the next one. We're going to do our homework and come back stronger at the next one,” added SDK.
“Thanks again to M4 ECSTAR Suzuki and all my guys.”
Sam Lochoff (44) continues to learn and claimed a career best fifth-place finish on Sunday.
Sam Lochoff, Kelly’s young M4 ECSTAR Suzuki stablemate, continued to show vast potential early in his MotoAmerica Supersport career. After seeing a potential podium foiled by an off-track excursion that resulted in an eighth on Saturday, the South African rebounded with a fifth-place ride on Sunday to match his career best in the class.
Jake Lewis (85) proved that he’s back with a pole position and Stock 1000 victory on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Altus Motorsports Suzuki’s Jake Lewis effectively mirrored Kelly’s weekend in Stock 1000 aboard his Team Hammer-built GSX-R1000. The Kentuckian earned the pole on Saturday and then parlayed it into his first race win since claiming the Superstock 1000 victory at Sonoma Raceway aboard an M4 ECSTAR Suzuki back in 2017.
Like Kelly, Lewis rounded out his weekend with a Sunday runner-up in a thriller that came down to the race’s final lap. As a result, Lewis now leads the Stock 1000 championship fight by a seven-point margin.
Bobby Fong (50) continues to race with determination and earned a fifth-place finish on Sunday.
M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Superbike duo of Bobby Fong and Cam Petersen again demonstrated podium pace and race-winning potential but were unable to fully exploit it.
An electronics issue dropped Fong out of a fight for second on Saturday and down to an eventual 12th-place finish. As a result, he was forced to start Sunday’s rematch from the outside of Row 4. Despite the disadvantage, the charging Californian hustled his GSX-R1000 Superbike into another scrap for the podium before taking fifth in the end.
Cam Petersen (45) battled hard for two impressive finishes at VIR in the Superbike class.
Petersen was shuffled back from third to fifth in the race’s decisive laps on Saturday. Looking to make amends, the South African got an excellent start and attempted to storm into second in the race’s opening corner, only to be pushed off track and down to last place.
Petersen spent the remainder of the race making up that lost ground, finally clawing his way to seventh at the checkered flag.
Wyatt Farris (79) rode well and delivered two points scoring results on his GSX-R1000.
M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Wyatt Ferris improved on his opening round performance in Stock 1000, claiming eighth and 11th-place finishes as he continues to acclimate to the team’s GSX-R1000.
Team Hammer and Suzuki will be back in action for Round 3 at high-speed Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on June 11-13.
Photos by Brian J. Nelson