Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Grant Lopez came from fifth on the grid to finish second in the Formula Xtreme race at Sears Point Saturday, May 5.
Lopez charged his way forward, picking off competitors one by one with his Suzuki GSX-R1000.
The event marked the team’s first AMA Formula Xtreme race with the new Suzuki.
“I didn’t get the start I wanted to,” Lopez said in the post-race press conference. “I just worked my way through ’em.”
Lopez said he had a moment when a tankslapper exiting the carousel caused his brake pads to move away from the front discs, causing the lever to come back to the handlebars when he applied the brakes. Lopez made his move into second place two laps later and quickly gained an advantage.
Lopez’s young teammate, John Hopkins, collided with another rider early in the race, and both crashed, uninjured.
