Brea, CA, June 17, 2024 — Suzuki Motor USA (Suzuki) and its Premier MotoAmerica team Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki continued to lock into its midseason form with a hugely successful weekend at Brainerd International Raceway in which they collected three podiums and five top five finishes.
Race Highlights:
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
Rossi Moor (92) made gains on the GSX-8R at Brained. 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.
“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.
On his Saturday podium, Hobbs said, “It’s long overdue. I’ve got to give it up to my Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki crew. The GSX-R750 was on rails. We’ve put ourselves in the right spots, and the whole team is working so hard. Finally all that hard work is paying off.”
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.
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.
“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.
“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.
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.
