New GSX-8R Continues to Excel, Suzuki Teams Earn Multiple Podiums
Brea, CA, June 17, 2024 — Suzuki Motor USA (Suzuki) and its MotoAmerica teams RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki, and Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki– continued to lock into their midseason form with a hugely successful weekend at Brainerd International Raceway in which they collected a combined two wins, five podiums, and eight top five finishes.
Race Highlights:
- RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki
- Twins Cup
- Rocco Landers continued to assert his dominance on the field with a double victory aboard the GSX-8R.
- Twins Cup
- Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki
- Twins Cup
- .Rossi Moor grabbed a pair of podiums, highlighted by a come from behind run on Sunday.
- Supersport
- Teagg Hobbs put together his best weekend of the season, earning a podium on Saturday and fighting for another on Sunday.
- Tyler Scott was quick per usual with a strong bounce-back to fourth after crashing from contention in Race 1.
- Joel Ohman continued to gain experience and increase his comfort level with the team.
- Superbike
- Brandon Paasch earned his second top-five of the season
- Xavi Forés was unable to perform at his peak following a qualifying crash
- Twins Cup
RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki racer Rocco Landers (97) was effectively perfect on the weekend, claiming a pair of Twins Cup victories from pole aboard the quickly developing Suzuki GSX-8R – the first win in runaway fashion, and the second following a heated three-way scrap. The wins were the 18th and 19th of Landers Twins Cup career and allowed him to further stretch his rapidly expanding championship advantage.
Rocco Landers (97) extends his Twins Cup championship lead, winning both races at Brainerd.
Landers said, “It’s amazing where we are now considering where we started on the GSX-8R when we finished P5 in the season opener at Daytona. The bike was new to us, but one thing we did have was a direction, and we’ve just been following the breadcrumbs ever since. The GSX-8R has been getting better and better every round, and the team has worked hard. At this point we have a great base setup, we made one small tweak this weekend – and now it’s obviously feeling incredible.”
Landers was twice joined on the Twins Cup box by Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Rossi Moor (92), who also made gains on the GSX-8R. The young gun earned a pair of thirds, including a particularly impressive ride on Sunday in which he chased down the leaders and fought for the race win.
Rossi Moor (92) had a strong weekend, with two podium Twins Cup finishes.
“This was a hard-fought third,” Moor said. “As the race was going on, I could see we were in better shape with our tires, and I was able to close the gap. I did my best to try for the victory, but these are all top-level racers, and I’m grateful just to be pushing them and learning. The Suzuki GSX-8R worked great. It was really fantastic throughout both races. I'm really happy for these results and to get as many points as possible.”
Moor’s Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki Supersport teammates were also in the podium mix all weekend on the next-generation Suzuki GSX-R750. Teagg Hobbs (79) broke through following a difficult start to his sophomore Supersport campaign with an outstanding ride to third on Saturday. Hobbs led early in Sunday’s race but was shuffled down to fifth in a late three-rider fight for the podium.
Teagg Hobbs (79) continues strong progression, earning a podium in Supersport Race 1.Teammate Tyler Scott (70) opened both races from pole thanks to his blistering qualifying performance on the GSX-R750. Scott used that starting slot and sheer pace to lead both races. Unfortunately, his Saturday race ended in a lap-five crash. He bounced back to challenge Hobbs and another rider for the podium on Sunday, ultimately coming home in fourth.
Tyler Scott (70) earned pole positions in both of Brainerd’s Supersport races.
Scott said, “I felt great on the GSX-R750. I wanted to be with the first group racing for the win, but I was struggling a bit with front end traction. We’re improving every weekend, and there’s more to come from the bike, myself, and the team. We’re going to come back swinging.”
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s third Supersport runner, Joel Ohman (92), continued to gain valuable experience and grows more and more accustomed to competing against the nation’s elite racers.
Joel Ohman (92) continues to gain experience with the fast MotoAmerica pace.
“It was the toughest weekend for me yet,” Ohman admitted. “I was off the pace, and in Race 2, the tire went off, and I lost even more. I was looking for improvement and couldn’t find it, which was frustrating. We’ll come back for the next race and see if we can get back on track.”
Superbike pilot Brandon Paasch (96) backed up his best weekend of the season with an even better one at Brainerd on the GSX-R1000R. After securing sixth on Saturday, Paasch fought his way to fifth on Sunday.
Brandon Paasch (96) continued positive momentum in the hypercompetitive Superbike class.
“We moved up the order and got some good results,” Paasch said. “Moving forward is exactly what we’re trying to do. It wasn’t one big move this time; it was a lot of areas where we made small gains, from feel for the bike, to my conditioning. That’s the key, to keep improving and getting the details better. Our goal is to get on the podium, and we know it will be hard. The plan now is to go to the Ridge and pick up where we left off. Everything is super positive and going in the right direction.”
Reigning Supersport champion Xavi Forés (34) was beat up in a Friday crash which limited his ability to ride the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000R to his full potential. Forés was forced to pull in during both of the weekend’s races, despite demonstrating the pace to run inside the top ten early on both Saturday and Sunday
Xavi Forés (34) had a challenging weekend in Brainerd, suffering a crash on Friday.
Forés said, “It was a tough weekend after my crash on Friday. Physically, I was very sore, and it was difficult to manage. Today I was feeling better and coming back with a good pace, but we had an issue that forced me to retire. There’s not much to say. I want to apologize to the team for a difficult weekend, and now I’m really looking forward to healing well and to be strong at Ridge, a track I really like.”
The Suzuki contingent travels next to Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton, Washington, on June 28-30 when the 2024 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship resumes.
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 over 130 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National races, have finished on AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National podiums over 360 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 over 130 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 wheel of choice will look on their vehicle before purchase and installation. For more information on Vision Wheel, visit www.visionwheel.com.