JUNE | 2009 - Dunlop Motorcycle Tires

JUNE | 2009
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CONTENTS
ON THE COVER:
Mat Mladin has a record in AMA racing
unrivaled in the history of the sport
2
4
DUNLOP RACERS FINISH ONE/TWO AT HONEY LAKE WORCS RACE
6
ON TOUR AT AMERICADE
6
WINNING THE DUNLOP TIRE-CHANGING CHALLENGE
7
ATV HIGHLIGHTS
7
ATTENTION ALL RACERS
8
STRANG AND MULLINS SOLDIER ON IN GNCC RACING SERIES
10
INTRODUCING THE SPORTMAX Q2: THE SPORTBIKE TIRE THAT DOES IT ALL
12
THREE STRAIGHT FOR ASHLEY FIOLEK
14
DUNLOP RACERS COMBAT FOR MOTOCROSS TOP SPOTS
16
BIKE OF THE MONTH: MAT MLADIN’S 2009 GSX-R1000
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BY THE NUMBERS MAT MLADIN’S AMAZING CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
20
IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCES ABOUND IN AMA ROADRACING
26
JOSH FREDERICK ON TARGET FOR WORCS ATV TITLE TRIFECTA
28
THE BIKES OF SUPERMOTO
30
UPCOMING EVENTS
Dunlop Download magazine is published for Dunlop Motorcycle Tires by Vreeke & Associates. www.vreeke.com
3
NATHAN WOODS
BOBBY BONDS
DUNLOP RACERS FINISH ONE/TWO
AT HONEY LAKE WORCS RACE
Round five of the 2009 WORCS competition held at Honey Lake Motocross
Park in Milford, CA, over the May 8-10 weekend produced gripping action as
Dunlop racers successfully rallied to finish first and second. Valli Motorsports’
Bobby Bonds dominated the event, winning aboard his CRF450R, and Team
Suzuki’s Nathan Woods steered his RM-Z450 to second.
At the halfway point in the championship, Dunlop racers hold seven of the
top 10 positions in the series point tally, with Monster Energy Kawasaki’s
RICKY DIETRICH
Ricky Dietrich just one point shy of the championship lead. Bonds holds the
number-three spot.
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5
JOE BYRD
HEATHER BYRD
ON TOUR AT AMERICADE
Each year Dunlop Tires enjoys taking part in Americade, the
sive tire inspections and provided detailed tire analyses to mo-
world’s largest annual multi-brand motorcycle touring rally.
torcycle riders—a professional, informative service. Every par-
More than 50,000 motorcycle enthusiasts from across the U.S.
ticipant received a complimentary tire gauge and Dunlop
make the annual journey to the Lake George region in New
catalog for future checking and referencing.
ATV HIGHLIGHTS
With Dunlop’s headquarters based in Buffalo, NY, the Dunlop
Honey Lake MX Park in Milford, CA, hosted round four of the
Heather Byrd remains unbeaten in the Pro Am Women series
York, enjoying six days of motorcycle touring and riding adventures. This year’s rally took place from June 1 to June 6.
crew embraced the opportunity to work in familiar, relaxed,
2009 WORCS ATV Series, and Team Motoworks pilots Dillon
after five rounds of racing, recording five straight wins.
Operating on location from Dunlop’s fully equipped mobile
home-state surrounds and invited local Dunlop customers and
Zimmerman and Josh Frederick lead Dunlop’s podium
Heather has a perfect score of 150 points in the
workshop, Dunlop tire technicians carried out free comprehen-
associates to join them at the rally.
charge. Zimmerman has literally dominated the Pro Am ATV
championship, and fellow Dunlop racer Adrienne Cooper is
series aboard his Can-Am DS 450; he’s won every race this
third in points with 105.
season to accumulate a perfect series score of 120 points.
WINNING THE DUNLOP TIRE-CHANGING CHALLENGE
At the final Supercross Championship race of the season held
at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas each year, Dunlop throws
out the challenge to Las Vegas’ Supercross fans to see who
can prepare and install a race-ready tire the quickest—just like
Frederick finished second on the Pro ATV class podium and
Team Motoworks’ Jeremie Warnia continued his dominance
remains on top in the series points with 110.
at round three of the ITP QuadCross Championship at Glen
Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, CA winning top honors
In the AMA ATV Motocross Nationals competition, champion
in both the Pro Open and Pro 450 Production classes.
Dunlop racer Joe Byrd leads the AMA Pro ATV point score on
Zimmerman continued his winning ways in the 450 Production
231 points after six rounds. Byrd’s wife and teammate
Expert class.
Dunlop’s professional tire fitters.
Returning for his second consecutive year and ready to race
the stopwatch again, Supercross fan Eric made a gutsy effort
and pulled off the quickest tire mount. Racing to complete the
ATTENTION ALL RACERS
task in 85 seconds, the speedy Supercross fan walked away
No matter which off-road racing venue you’ve chosen, Dunlop
the winner, scoring a set of brand-new Dunlop MX51 tires for
has the right tire and specific recommendations for your racing
his efforts.
needs. From professional Supercross and Arenacross to
Off-Road/Enduro and Amateur National MX, we have all the tire
Congratulations, Eric! Dunlop looks forward to having you re-
info you’ll need to get ready to win!
turn and invites anyone who thinks they’re up to the tirechange challenge to race the clock at the Las Vegas
Supercross next year.
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CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE TIRE USAGE GUIDE
7
CHARLIE MULLINS
STRANG AND MULLINS SOLDIER
ON IN GNCC RACING SERIES
The 2009 Can-Am GNCC Racing Series charges on, and as the
halfway point in the series comes and goes, Dunlop pilots Josh
Strang and Charlie Mullins are positioned two and three in the championship standings. Mounted aboard his Team Suzuki RM-Z450,
Strang bounced back from his fourth-place finish at round six in Tennessee to win round seven in Pennsylvania and finish third on Ohio’s
round-eight podium—Strang is second in the series point score with
186 points. Mullins’ third-, second- and fourth-place finishes have
JOSH STRANG
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the Suzuki pilot third overall with 179 points.
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CLICK HERE FOR A SPORTMAX Q2 VIDEO
At Dunlop, no sportbike tire is ready for the road until it’s racetrack-proven.
Case in point: the new Sportmax Q2 featuring Dunlop’s Intuitive Response
Profile (IRP) and MT Multi-Tread™ technology. This remarkable new tire
incorporates many race-tested advancements that add up to a vastly
superior street-going tire that’s equally at home on the track.
With its new IRP technology in the rear tire, the Sportmax Q2 possesses
steering characteristics unlike those of any other sport tire made. It allows
the rider greater latitude in line choice while cornering and provides amazingly
consistent steering no matter what shape, speed or camber the corner or
what lean angle the rider achieves. Because this radical new profile allows
greater lean angles and higher corner speeds, the Sportmax Q2 provides
substantially better grip and handling than the previous Qualifier—the only
tire ever to win a MOTY Award from Motorcyclist magazine.
INTRODUCING THE
SPORTMAX Q2:
THE SPORTBIKE TIRE THAT DOES IT ALL
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTMAX Q2 INFORMATION
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THREE STRAIGHT FOR
ASHLEY
FIOLEK
Ashley Fiolek is certainly proving to be a
At the opening round of the 2009 Women’s Motocross
dominant force in Women’s Motocross
Championship, and at her Honda Red Bull Racing team
racing. Bursting onto the professional
debut, Fiolek dominated the Glen Helen Raceway
Motocross scene in 2008, winning the
competition winning both motos. The reigning champ raced
Women’s Motocross Championship in her
fellow Dunlop rider and six-time women’s champion Jessica
rookie season, and being the first-ever
Patterson to take top honors aboard her Honda CRF250R.
woman signed to race for a factory
Fiolek finished the event first overall, Patterson came in
Motocross team are monumental
second and Dunlop racer Sherri Cruise secured third.
achievements for the 18-year-old racer.
The following week at the Hangtown Motocross Classic,
Fiolek again came out firing and secured back-to-back
round wins. She continued her campaign out front, winning
both the holeshot and opening race. Fiolek again got the
start in moto two, but Patterson caught and passed her to
clinch the second moto win—Fiolek finished second.
She won the overall again at the third round to build a
23-point lead over Patterson.
CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR ASHLEY VIDEO
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DUNLOP RACERS
COMBAT FOR
MOTOCROSS TOP SPOTS
The 2009 Motocross Championship is underway, and
GEICO Powersports Honda’s Trey Canard, Justin Barcia
Dunlop’s talented Motocross pilots have had strong
and Blake Wharton have all represented Dunlop on various
showings at the opening three rounds of 450, 250 and
250-class podiums, with Canard racking up five moto
women’s championship racing.
podiums—taking second overall at Hangtown and third
overall at Freestone—and holding third in the series points
In the 450 class, Honda Red Bull Racing’s Ivan Tedesco
on 117. Barcia’s raced onto two moto podiums in his
finished second overall at the Hangtown Motocross
rookie season, and Wharton’s recorded one moto podium.
Classic in California, and teammate Andrew Short
duplicated that second-place result at Freestone County
In the women’s competition, Dunlop racers dominate the
Raceway in Texas. Short is fourth in the championship
top spots in the series point score with Honda Red Bull
points tally with 93, and Tedesco is fifth on 70.
Racing’s Ashley Fiolek winning a perfect three from
three round wins—leading the points tally on 147 points.
Honda racer Jessica Patterson is second on 123, and
Suzuki pilot Sherri Cruise is third with 114 points.
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BIKE OF THE MONTH:
MAT MLADIN’S
2009 GSX-R1000
Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider Mat Mladin came into the 2009 season with a highlight reel that included a record six AMA
Superbike championships, a record 72 career Superbike victories and a second-place finish in the 2008 season with 11 wins
and five more podium finishes. In ’09 he’s been outstanding again, earning nine wins in 11 races to establish a dominating lead
in the championship standings despite beginning the season on a 2008-model-year bike.
That changed during the first weekend in May, when Mladin rolled out his new 2009 GSX-R1000 at the Honda Superbike
Classic at Barber Motorsports. Seen here, this newest Suzuki includes all the changes possible under the new Superbike rules
package. The specs below, from Rockstar/Makita team coordinator Rich Doan, highlight the major modifications made to
Mladin’s Suzuki GSX-R1000.
6-gallon aluminum fuel tank
Custom race handlebars/billet-aluminum
triple clamps with adjustable fork offset
and steering head position
Dry weight: 380 pounds
Custom-fit solo seat
Adjustable spring/Ohlins race shock
Titanium 4-2-1 exhaust
Factory outer and inner fork
tubes/adjustable spring/Ohlins
race internals
520 racing chain & sprockets
Mag 10 6.0x17
wheel/Dunlop spec tire
Mag 10 3.5x17
wheel/Dunlop spec
tire (determined by
track & conditions)
Solid-mount foot pegs
999cc DOHC engine/homologated race camshaft/ported
cylinder head (compression ratio “much higher” than
Galfer Wave
220mm rotor
factory)/EM Pro fuel mapping & ignition timing
Brembo racing caliper/320mm
rotor/Brembo master cylinder
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BY THE NUMBERS
MAT MLADIN’S AMAZING CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
By all measures, the accomplishments of six-time AMA Superbike champion Mat Mladin are
simply astounding. He has already won nine Superbike races in 2009 to boost his all-time win
record to 81 as this is being written. You can count on one hand the number of riders who
have beaten Mat heads up in the past decade. Name a record in the AMA books—career wins,
most poles, most laps led, most podium finishes—and you will find one name at the top of the
list: Mat Mladin. Here we take a quick look at the chronology behind this amazing man.
Early Career: Began racing 1990; won Australian Superbike Championship 1992.
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1993
Competed in 500 Grand Prix World Championship.
1995
Finished second in Australian Superbike Championship.
1996
Raced AMA Superbike Series with Yoshimura Suzuki.
1997
Finished third in AMA Superbike Series with Ferracci Ducati.
1998
Finished third in AMA Superbike Series. Raced with Yoshimura
Suzuki through next three seasons.
1999
Won first Superbike Championship.
2000
Won Daytona 200 plus three more races for the AMA Superbike title.
2001
Won third consecutive AMA Superbike Championship; tied Superbike
record for season pole wins with nine.
2002
Struggled with injury, resulting in first winless season since 1996.
Raced with Blimpie Suzuki.
2003
Back with Yoshimura Suzuki, where he remains to this day. Won a
record fourth AMA Superbike Championship with 10 wins.
2004
Won a record-setting fifth Superbike title with eight wins.
2005
Won a record sixth championship with 11 wins. Topped Superbike
all-time win list with 43.
2006
Won eight Superbike races plus 10 podiums, and finished the season
in second.
2007
Earned a record 12 Superbike wins with five additional podiums.
Finished second to teammate Ben Spies in the championship.
2008
Won nine races and finished second in Superbike Championship to
Ben Spies again. Increased all-time win count to 72 victories and
all-time pole wins to 55.
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MAT MLADIN
IMPRESSIVE
PERFORMANCES
ABOUND IN AMA
ROADRACING
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JAMIE HACKING
LARRY PEGRAM
The springtime AMA roadracing season brought race fans plenty
of exciting action and a number of surprises—both on and off
the track. At Alabama’s gorgeous Barber Motorsports Park,
torrential rains escalated into a tornado warning, yet Rockstar
Makita Suzuki rider Mat Mladin still swept both Superbike races
to tie the consecutive single-season win-streak record at seven.
These wins raised Mladin’s total career victories to 79 and
marked the second consecutive one-two finish for Suzuki’s new
2009 GSX-R1000, which got a late start on the season. In
Daytona SportBike action, M4 Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas
followed suit by scoring a double-win sweep of his own. In the
rain-delayed and shortened SuperSport race, Michigan’s Garrett
Carter notched his first AMA professional road-race win with an
JOSH HAYES
impressive ride on a track that was still wet.
TOMMY HAYDEN
CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR ROAD-RACE PHOTO GALLERY
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MARTIN CARDENAS
The next race meet happened two weeks later, all the way across the
DANIEL ESLICK
country, with opposite weather conditions. Scorching heat
accompanied the races at Infineon Raceway in California as a
red-hot Josh Hayes guided his Yamaha R1 to the Saturday Superbike
victory, thereby snapping Mladin’s historic run of consecutive race
wins. However, Mladin bounced right back and took Sunday’s race,
with Hayes’ teammate Ben Bostrom in second. Cardenas remained
blazing hot as he pressed his M4 Suzuki to a double SportBike win
again. The SuperSport race likewise provided heated action as Ricky
Parker barely bested Leandro Mercado for the win.
June action at Wisconsin’s Road America included rainy weather, but
spectacular racing held reign for the weekend. In Saturday’s
Superbike action Mladin made history again, claiming his 81st class
victory in a contest that was declared a wet race before it flagged
CHRIS PERIS
off. The next day, Mladin held a race-long battle with Foremost
Pegram Racing’s Larry Pegram, who finally earned his first win in a
decade aboard his Ducati 1098R. The soggy Saturday Daytona
SportBike win went to Erion Racing Honda’s Chris Peris, while
Sunday’s contest saw another Erion rider, Jake Zemke, battle right to
the finish with Cardenas, who hammered out a hard-fought victory
right at the flag, his sixth of the season. In Supersport action,
Kawasaki rider Mercado came away victorious.
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JOSH
FREDERICK
ON TARGET FOR WORCS ATV TITLE TRIFECTA
Team Motoworks’ Josh Frederick is one
In 2003, the Dunlop pilot raced his first professional
very persistent ATV racer.
WORCS race, and it was enough to spark his appetite for
professional competition. The following year, he returned
While facing the challenge of being injured
to race the entire 2004 season, impressively finishing the
mid-season, the 31-year-old champion
series as runner-up. Frederick showcased his quad-racing
continues to be at the top of WORCS
ability, winning 2005 Best in the Desert Championship and
racing. Entering the professional ATV ranks
2005 SCORE Championship, but the coveted WORCS Pro
six years ago, Frederick has racked up an
ATV title continued to elude him–although he finished
impressive list of racing achievements and
runner-up in both 2005 and 2006. Winning the 2006
is on target to capture his third consecutive
WORCS Utility Cup crown, Frederick headed into 2007
WORCS Pro ATV title.
determined to take his WORCS Pro ATV results to the next
level—the top of the championship box. His persistence
paid off, and he captured his first-ever WORCS Pro ATV
Championship that year and again in 2008.
Aboard his Dunlop-equipped Team Motoworks DS450,
Frederick built a solid 20-point lead in the 2009 WORCS
competition, scoring four podium finishes including two
wins, before sustaining a leg injury in a QuadCross
Championship event in late May. Forced to sit out the
WORCS Pro ATV round five to heal, Frederick plans to
make his return and continue his title trifecta hunt at round
six in Olympia, WA.
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THE BIKES OF
SUPERMOTO
Supermoto is the freshest form of motorcycle racing to appear on the two-wheel
radar, and its undeniable appeal can be attributed to a number of reasons. In no
particular order, some of this appeal includes the hybrid nature of the converted
showroom-accessible motocross machines; the hybrid nature of the asphalt/dirt
course that is also laden with exciting jumps; the garage-built, run-what-youbrung work lavished on many of the very competitive racebikes; the grass-roots
racing efforts with free and ready fan access to competitors; the up-close views
of the lurid slides these talented racers lay down lap after lap; and the
unpredictable nature of the racing that favors no one competitor but provides
great viewing for the fans.
More reasons for the sport’s popularity abound. But next, ponder this fact: Since
Supermoto racing arrived on the shores of America in 2003, only one make of tire has
earned the title of champion—Dunlop. For six straight seasons Dunlop riders have
swept every class title in Supermoto, Supermoto Lites and Supermoto Unlimited.
There’s every reason to believe that trend will continue this year, and to give you
a preview of likely winners to come, here we present the front-running Dunlop
race machines for 2009.
BURKHART/HMC/KTM RACING
KTM
Mark Burkhart #6; Supermoto class
Kurt Nicoll #8; Supermoto Unlimited
CHM/ALL ACCESS
TROY LEE DESIGNS RACING
Micky Dymond #43; Supermoto class
Jeff Ward #3x; Supermoto class
Jason Conlon #18; Supermoto class
Joey Pascarella #5; Supermoto Lites
CURRIE/GRAVES RACING
MDK/RJ PERFORMANCE
Brandon Currie #2; Supermoto class
Matt Burton #39; Supermoto Lites
HART/HUNTINGTON RACING
MACH 1
Steve Drew #1; Supermoto Unlimited
Danny Casey #40; Supermoto Lites
Doni Wanat #89; Supermoto Unlimited
CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR SUPERMOTO BIKE PHOTO GALLERY
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UPCOMING
EVENTS
AMA Flat Track Series
June 20
Bulls Gap, TN
WORCS ATV
June 19-21
Pacific Raceways
Auburn, WA
Amateur National
June 23-28
Mammoth Motocross
Mammoth Lakes, CA
AMA/WMA Motocross
June 27
Thunder Valley Motocross
Lakewood, CO
AMA Flat Track Series
June 27
Lima 1/2 Mile
Lima, OH
ATV-MX Nat.
June 27-28
Muddy Creek Raceway
Blountville, TN
GNCC
June 27-28
Moose Snowshoe
Snowshoe, WV
AMA Motocross
July 4
Red Bud
Buchanan, MI
AMA Road Racing
July 3-5
Laguna Seca
Monterey, CA
ATV-MX Nat.
July 18-19
Pleasure Valley
Armagh, PA
AMA Road Racing
July 17-19
Honda Super Cycle
Weekend
Lexington, OH
AMA Motocross
July 18
Spring Creek Motocross
Millville, MN
AMA Flat Track Series
July 18
Greenville, OH
AMA/WMA Motocross
July 25
Washougal MX Park
Washougal, WA
AMA Flat Track Series
July 25
Hagerstown 1/2 Mile
Hagerstown, MD
Endurocross
July 25
Las Vegas, NV
QuadCross Series
July 26
Racetown 395
Adelanto, CA
Amateur Grand National
July 27- August 1
Ponca City, OK
AMA Road Racing
July 31-August 2
Heartland Park Topeka
Topeka, KS
©2009 Dunlop Tires • P. O. Box 1109, Buffalo, New York 14240-1109 • 1-800-845-8378 • dunlopmotorcycle.com