FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Chip
Spalding, Team Manager
KWS
Motorsports
4657
Franchise Street
North
Charleston, SC 29418
Phone:
1-800-KWS-RACE
Matt
Lynn carries the flag for Millennium/KWS Suzuki at Fontana
North
Charleston, SC – April 2006 -- Millennium/KWS Suzuki sponsored by Ron
Ayers Motorsports found out Wednesday that John Haner unfortunately would not
be able to compete at Fontana due to the shoulder injury he sustained at Barber
Motorsports Park. John had surgery on Monday, and will hopefully be ready to
compete at Road America, June 2nd - 4th. With Haner out
with an injury, 21-year old Matt Lynn was tasked with the job of carrying the
flag on the Millennium/KWS Suzuki GSX-R1000Õs - and what a job he did!
Matt Lynn
shocked the paddock on Saturday morning with a lap time of 1:25.270 on his
Pirelli shod GSX-R1000 in Superbike qualifying. This placed him 10th
on the grid, which is his best qualifying position in his short AMA career. ÒWe
put on some 16.5 inch wheels and some sticky Pirelli rubber on my Superstock
bike and went for it,Ó said Lynn. ÒThose tires just flat hooked up!Ó Lynn
continued this trend in Superstock qualifying by running a fast lap time of
1:26.445 for 12th position on the grid.
The first
race of the weekend for Millennium/KWS Suzuki was Superbike Race 1. The team
was very upbeat after LynnÕs qualifying performance and was hopeful for a good
result. Lynn got a great start from the third row and was leading factory
Ducati rider Neil Hodgson when Lynn lost the front and crashed on the second
lap. Lynn was unhurt and thanks to quality parts from Vortex and tough bodywork
from Catalyst Racing Composites the bike was unhurt as well. Lynn immediately
picked up the bike and rode hard to a 22nd place finish.
The
Superstock class is Matt LynnÕs focus this year and when the green flag dropped
on Sunday morning he was ready to go. Lynn got another great start and was in a
battle for 11th with Ben Thompson when the red flag came out on lap
seven for a downed rider. While the AMA officials cleaned up, the
Millennium/KWS Suzuki crew opted for a slightly softer compound rear Pirelli
tire for the ten lap sprint to the finish. Again, Lynn got a great start and found
himself in a battle with Erion Honda rider Aaron Gobert. Matt stalked the
factory supported rider for five laps and then made his move going in to the
tight infield section on the last lap to finish an outstanding 10th place,
his best AMA finish to date.
After LynnÕs
great ride in Superstock, the team felt that they were ready for a good result
in the second Superbike race. Lynn got another great start but immediately had
trouble with front end grip. Despite struggling with the motorcycle, Lynn rode
a smart race and was able to bring the bike home with a 15th place
finish, tying his best ever Superbike finish.
Matt
Lynn – ÒThe
weekend went really well. Qualifying for both Superbike and Superstock was
incredible. I made a mistake in the first Superbike race and fell down, but I
was able to recover and finish the race. In the second Superbike race we didnÕt
have the set up right due much high track temps on Sunday afternoon and I had
to ride pretty conservatively to bring the bike home in one piece. I am really happy
with the Superstock race as I got my best AMA finish to date. The team worked
really hard this weekend and I couldnÕt do it without them. Thanks to Rick
Matheny, Michael Godin, and Brian Stricker, those guys are the best!Ó
Kevin
Hunt (Team Owner) –
ÒIf this was easy then everybody would be doing it! We are very upset about
John Haner being injured, but Matt is doing a great job for such a young rider.
I was very impressed by his performance this weekend. The team missed the set
up for Superbike race 2 because it was so much hotter on Sunday afternoon and
Matt showed a lot a maturity by not over riding the motorcycle and bringing it
back in one piece. The team really pulled together this weekend to get a good
result. Although John was in pain he showed up at the track to support the team
and help Matt. This shows what kind of person John Haner is and I would like to
thank him for it.Ó
For Information: http://www.kwsracing.com
or
Contact: info@kwsracing.com
Phone: 1-800-KWS-RACE
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