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KELLY WINS FOR TEAM HAMMER IN NEW JERSEY

By September 15, 2020July 20th, 20212020 News

Brea, CA (September 14, 2020) – Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. and Team Hammer continued their winning ways with another successful MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Once again, it was M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sean Dylan Kelly who provided the exclamation point with a thrilling race win in Sunday’s MotoAmerica Supersport contest from the pole position.

After salvaging third place on Saturday despite being hindered by a technical issue, ‘SDK’ was motivated to demonstrate his full potential in Sunday’s rematch. The Floridian did exactly that, showcasing a full complement of eye-opening overtaking maneuvers and defensive tactics on his nimble GSX-R600, winning out in a three-rider dogfight for the victory by a scant 0.011 seconds at the checkered flag.

Sunday’s triumph marked Kelly’s 11th consecutive podium — all but Saturday’s third being either a win or runner-up result.

He said, “First of all, I have to give it up to my whole M4 ECSTAR Suzuki team. We had a little bit of an issue with the bike yesterday so we weren’t able to fight the way we wanted to. But we did our homework, and my guys really made it happen. We made a big step and the bike was amazing today. It just shows that even after a tough Saturday, we can come back strong on Sunday.

“It was a proper race today. I think we put on a really good show for the fans. I’m really happy about the great battle and super happy to get the 25 points.”
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Toni Elias (24) was back on the podium in race 1 on his GSX-R1000 Superbike

It was also an important weekend for 2017 MotoAmerica Superbike champion Toni Elias in premier-class duty. Elias finally broke through to secure his first podium of the ’20 season as he and his M4 ECSTAR Suzuki crew at last reaped the rewards for their tireless efforts to improve the connection between the talented Spaniard and his fire-breathing GSX-R1000.

“It feels great to get back on the podium,” Elias said. “We still have a lot of work to do, but this is the first step. Thanks to my team for all the support. Let’s continue like this and, sooner or later, we will arrive back on the top step of the podium.”

Elias and teammate Bobby Fong scored double top-five finishes on the weekend; Fong ran fifth on Saturday and fourth on Sunday while Elias completed his weekend with a ride to fifth.

Lucas Silva (23) continued his streak of top-ten finishes on his GSX-R600 in New Jersey

Also, M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Lucas Silva put together another consistent weekend, which has proven to be his trademark in 2020. After picking up his first-career podium last time out at the Ridge Motorsports Park, the fast teenager Silva notched up a pair of seventh-place finishes in New Jersey, keeping his perfect season record of top tens intact.

Team Hammer will have only a moment to catch their breath as the 2020 MotoAmerica season resumes next weekend at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 18-20.

Photos by Brian J. Nelson.

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About Team Hammer: The 2020 season marks Team Hammer’s 40th consecutive year of operating as a professional road racing team. Racebikes built and fielded by Team Hammer have won 97 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National races, have finished on AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National podiums 271 times and have won seven AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National Championships, as well as two FIM South American Championships. The team has also won 137 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.