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Bel-Ray Racing Weekend Wrap Up

Bel-Ray Racing Weekend Wrap Up

Bel-Ray Weekend Racing Wrap-Up—May 7, 2012

 

For decades, professional racers have experienced the performance advantages that Bel-Ray powersports lubricants provide. This past weekend, Bel-Ray’s professional racers raced around the world in various types of competition.

 

MotoGP

The Bel-Ray sponsored Power Electronics Aspar team of Aleix Espargaro and Randy DuPuniet were the top CRT riders this weekend at the Estoril circuit in Portugal. Espargaro was 12th and was the top CRT racer for the second race in a row, while DePuniet finished 13th. DePuniet overcame the pain from a crash that occurred during the weekend's qualifying session to finish right on the heels of his teammate.

Espargaro was very pleased with his results and he spoke about it following the race. "I am very happy. I was riding well on the ART and delighted to be part of this Power Electronics Aspar team. We have improved so much since Qatar and Jerez."　Teammate DePuniet spoke about overcoming his pain to score a respectable finish. "This was a very difficult race because of the pain that I have on my left side from yesterday’s crash. I haven’t broken anything, but even breathing hurts me at the moment."

After this weekend’s racing , Espargaro is ranked 12th and DePuniet 13th in the World Championship point standings.　The series continues in Le Mans, France on May 20th.

 

Moto2

The 2012 Moto2 championship series continued this weekend in Portugal with good races for Bel-Ray backed Mapfre Aspar team of Nico Terol and Toni Elias. Starting from 9th on the grid, Elias was able to race with the second pack of racers competing. This group of competitive racers was just out of sight of the lead pack trying to gain track position. When the checkered flag flew, Elias was in 7th place. Teammate Terol had to overcome a first lap melee that saw him move up to 26th place by the end of lap 4 and up to 16th by the end of the race.

Elias is in 8th and Terol is unranked in the 2012 series’ point standings.　The series continues in Le Mans, France on May 20th.

 

Moto3

The Estoril circuit in eastern Portugal hosted the 3rd round of the 2012 Moto3 World Championship Series. The Bel-Ray sponsored Bankia Aspar team of Hector Faubel and Alberto Moncayo raced in this very competitive class.　 Faubel started the race well and attempted to latch on to the lead pack. He came in contact with another rider, which forced him off the racing line and allowed the lead pack to get away. Out of sight of the leaders, he raced with those around him to an eventual 12th place finish. He spoke about the race following the checkered flag. "I did not have a good start, remaining in the same position as I had taken on the grid. I was up with the frontrunners for eight laps, but then Fenati made contact with me and that pack escaped. I was then part of a second group, which had many more battles for position and slower times as a result. If I were to have broken free, I would have gone two seconds a lap faster. I am angry, because I think that this result could have been a lot better."

Teammate Moncayo started from a 17th place grid position and struggled with the bike setup during the race. He spoke about the difficulty he experienced during the race and how he plans to regroup for the next event in France in 2 weeks time. "That was a difficult race. My start wasn't great and it was hard for me to pick up the pace. This is becoming difficult because we are not developing the potential that we had in preseason. We are going to try a few things and will arrive at Le Mans with more hunger, ready to fight for better positions."

After the first 3 rounds, Faubel is 10th and Moncayo 11th in the series' points standings.　The series continues in Le Mans, France on May 20th.

 

World Superbike

The 4th round of the 2012 World Superbike Championship series took place in Monza, Italy this weekend. Mother nature played a big part in the weekend's results as rains caused dangerous track conditions and the cancellation of the first race of the event. Round 2 began under better conditions, but was red-flagged and cancelled half way through the scheduled distance. Bel-Ray’s racers, Carlos Checa and David Giugliano, were both within the top 10 in competition when the race ended. Checa was 7th and Giugliano was 8th. Since only half the race was completed, only half points were awarded by the sanctioning body.

With the points tallied, Checa is in 2nd while Giugliano is 10th in the series' standings.　The series continues at Donington Park in England this upcoming weekend.

 

AMA Supercross

The 2012 AMA Supercross series concluded on Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada and Sam Boyd Stadium was the sight of all of the action. As the series finale, Las Vegas would host 3 separate Lites class races as well as the finale in the supercross class.

Bel-Ray sponsored Team Rockstar Energy Racing Suzuki ended their Supercross season on a high note in the evening’s competition. The East Coast region final saw Blake Wharton score another top 5 finish with a 5th place, while teammate Hunter Hewitt had one of his best rides this season with a 7th place finish. The West Coast Region final saw both riders in the top 5 at the checkered flag. Martin Davalos was 4th and teammate Jason Anderson was 5th. Davalos backed up this result with his second podium in as many races and was 3rd place in the Dave Coombs Sr. East West Shootout.　 When the final points are added up, Wharton was 3rd and Hewitt 15th on the East Coast and Anderson was 5th and Davalos 8th on the West Coast. The team will enjoy a one week break before racing resumes in Sacramento, California for the AMA National Motocross series.

The Dodge/ Sycuan Casino/ Hart & Huntington/ Bel-Ray Racing team comes to their home race in Las Vegas this past weekend looking to put their troubled season behind them, which was marred with injuries that took out all 4 of the teams original riders. Kyle Regal and more recently Tyler Bowers have filled in, performing well and putting the team into the main event. After a 10th place finish last week in Salt Lake City, Tyler Bowers had hoped to improve on that result on Saturday night. It was not to be as Bowers clipped another rider early in the main event and went down. He remounted and charged through the field to an eventual 15th place finish. Teammate Kyle Regal was also looking to improve on his previous results, but a crash that saw him clip a tuff block and end up off the track sealed his fate. He was unable to recover and finished 20th place. The team will regroup this off-season and come back strong for the 2013 Supercross series.

 

World Enduro Championship

The second round of the 2012 FIM World Enduro Championship series took place this past weekend in the Euskadi region of Spain. The Bel-Ray supported TM Factory racing team took part in the competition. In E1 class racing, Antti Hellsten scored a 12th on day 1, but retired from competition on early on day 2. In E2 class racing, Aigar Leok put in top finishes on both days with a 5th and 6th place result for his efforts. The team’s entry in Junior class competition is Italian racer Nicolo Mori. He had a　 17rh place finish on day 1 that he improved upon during day 2 with a strong 12th place finish.　 After 3 rounds in the series, Hellsten is 13th, Mori 14th and Leok 4th in the series' standings in their respective classes. The series continues this upcoming weekend in Portugal for the GP Polisport Portugal.

 

British Motocross Championship

The third round of the 2012 ACU Maxxis British Motocross Championship took place this past weekend at the Cadders Hill track in Lyng, Norfolk, England. The Bel-Ray backed Route 77 Energy MVR-D Honda race team had mixed results during the competition. MX1 competitor Gert Krestinov scored 3 excellent results during the event to earn a 5th overall for the event. MX1 teammate Jason Dougan scored 2 top 10 results in the first 2 motos and scored 12th overall for his efforts. Krestinov is currently in 5th and Dougan 12th in the overall series' standings after 3 of 8 rounds. The series continues on May 27th at Milton MX Park in Northampton.

 

ATV Motocross Championship

The third round of the 2012 ATV Motocross Championship series came to Budd’s Creek Motocross in Mechanicsville, Maryland this past weekend. Bel-Ray backed Josh Upperman again put the Baldwin Motorsports Honda in the front of the first moto. He earned the SSi Decal Holeshot award　 and put in consistent laps on his way to a 3rd place finish in moto 1. The second moto again saw Upperman near the front, where he held on for a 5th place finish. His 3-5 moto finishes were good enough for 5th place overall. He is still 3rd in the season’s points standing. The series continues on May 19th and 20th at Sunset Ridge MX in Walnut, Illinois.