Team Suzuki Press Office – August 16.
Cameron Petersen: GSX-R1000R – 4-6
Bobby Fong: GSX-R1000R – 8-3
Sean Dylan Kelly: GSX-R600 – 2-1
Sam Lochoff: GSX-R600 – 5-4
Jake Lewis: GSX-R1000R (Stock 1000) – 1st
Suzuki added more wins, podiums and pole positions to its season tally while taking another big step towards a pair of national championships at the weekend’s Pittsburgh International Race Complex.
Suzuki Motor USA, LLC and Team Hammer’s M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s MotoAmerica Supersport rider Sean Dylan Kelly was the headliner: The rising star saw his six-race win streak snapped following a hard-fought fight on Saturday only to come back even stronger a day later.
‘SDK’ pulled off a tactical master class in the rematch, executing a stunning last-lap pass aboard his GSX-R600 in Turn 11 to secure his 10th triumph of 2021.
The 19 year old already boasts 17 victories and 36 podiums in his MotoAmerica Supersport career. He’s also closing in on a first career MotoAmerica Supersport Championship as he currently leads the title fight by 61 points with just two stops on the calendar remaining.
Kelly said: “Man, the confidence came from the feeling I had in the bike today. It was absolutely amazing. Huge thank you to my whole M4 ECSTAR Suzuki crew, all my guys. I just felt so great with the bike. I feel I played it smarter today, too. Yesterday, I didn’t win and I wasn’t going to let it happen again. You can see I had a different game plan and it worked out to perfection.
“We did what we had to do. I’m very proud of the work. Today was an important step to the ultimate goal. We’re going to keep on fighting until we reach it.”
Kelly’s M4 ECSTAR Suzuki Supersport teammate, Samuel Lochoff, enjoyed a strong weekend as well, backing up his Saturday fifth with a podium-contending fourth on Sunday. The South African already boasts 10 top-five finishes during a successful rookie Supersport campaign.
He said: “It’s still my first year, so finishing the year strong means just finishing every race. I’m not really putting a lot of pressure on myself. Obviously, getting podiums is nice, but wherever I finish, I’ve already reached many of my goals. I’m always trying to improve, but I’m very happy with how the year is going.”
Meanwhile, M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Bobby Fong concluded an inspiring weekend with a much-deserved podium in MotoAmerica Superbike action.
The Californian was robbed of an opportunity to demonstrate his full potential on Saturday due to a technical issue. Undeterred, he started the race from pitlane and ripped his way up through the field, overtaking nearly 20 riders en-route to eighth.
He was forced to start from Row 3 on Sunday as a result, but continued his upward mobility, streaking up to third while pressuring second by the time he took the flag aboard his GSX-R1000R.
Fong said: “It’s been a roller coaster of a year, but I’ve fought through worse challenges before. We just kept our head held high and kept charging. It was a good race. I’m happy to be back up and excited that we have the M4 ECSTAR Suzuki handling well.”
It was another steady weekend for second Superbike pilot Cameron Petersen. The South African collected fourth-and sixth-place results on the weekend.
Like Kelly, Altus Motorsports Suzuki’s Jake Lewis enjoyed another weekend that further strengthened his championship hopes. Lewis guided his Team Hammer-built GSX-R1000R to victory from pole to expand his Stock 1000 season advantage to 20 points.
Lewis was also the top Superbike Cup finisher in both Superbike races in Pennsylvania.
After earning his fourth Stock 1000 win of 2021, Lewis said: “It was a perfect weekend. This race was pretty tough. I had pace on the guys all weekend, but they kept me honest in the race. Big thanks to the whole team. The Suzuki has been amazing.”
Unfortunately, M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Wyatt Farris was unable to earn additional Stock 1000 results from his recent strong form. Farris crashed on the original race’s second lap and his GSX-R1000R subsequently went up in flames and burned on the track. That brought out the red flag while pushing the Stock 1000 restart to the end of the day. Farris was forced to watch from the fences after flashing top-five potential in the lead up to the race.
Team Hammer will contest the season’s penultimate round at New Jersey Motorsports Park on September 10-12th.
