Rapp
surprise Xtreme leader
(AMA Pro Racing Release)
Steve Rapp earned the biggest win of his career last month by taking a
surprise victory in the Daytona 200. Now the Attack Kawasaki rider
approaches the rest of the Lockhart-Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series
presented by HMR with the confidence the Daytona victory gave him. Rapp
will be one of the favorites when the series comes to Barber Motorsports
Park, in Birmingham, Ala., on Saturday, April 21.
Rapp is still basking in the glory of winning the historic Daytona 200 on
March 10. Now the resident of Manhattan Beach, Calif., turns his
attention to the balance of the Formula Xtreme season. He and teammate
Ben Attard, who finished second in Daytona and comes to Barber ranked
second in the series, will attempt to give Kawasaki its first Formula
Xtreme title.
Rapp feels his new ride with Attack Kawasaki may be the spark his racing
career needed.
“For me to be on a new team, on a new bike, with new tires, just makes me
feel good that maybe over the years I just didn't have the right
combination,” said Rapp, who turned pro in 1996. “I never tried a lot of
different things. I was always just with one team, one brand of this, one
brand of that. Until you get around to trying everything, you don't know.
I think that's the case with this. You get on a good bike with good tires
on a good team, and it just suits my style. Not to say that the other
teams weren't good or the tires weren't good, but maybe they didn't work
with the way I rode.”
M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Michael Barnes is third in the Formula Xtreme standings
after earning his first podium in the Daytona 200. Barnes, 38, of Boca
Raton, Fla., is one of the most experienced riders in the AMA paddock and
he feels like he is ready to make a serious bid at the Formula Xtreme
title.
“I’m really excited to see the progress Pirelli has made with its racing
tires,” Barnes said. “They’ve shown their commitment to our team and the
series and I think that’s going to pay dividends this season.”
Another impressive performer at Daytona was young Brit Chaz Davies.
Davies finished fourth at Daytona on the Celtic Performance Yamaha and he
impressed a lot of experts with his speed and race savvy at Daytona. It
will be interesting to see how Davies performs at Barber, a track that’s
considered a real riders’ circuit.
Defending series champ Josh Hayes got off to a less than stellar start to
the season, with fuel-related problems with his Erion Honda at Daytona.
He made it to the finish with extra pit stops and was able to salvage a
sixth-place finish in the opener. Hayes realizes he now has a tall task
of working his way back into the position to defend his championship. The
Mississippi native will be among the favorites at Barber.
While Formula Xtreme appears to be wide open in 2007, Ben Spies is a
clear-cut favorite in AMA Superstock this year. Last year Spies seemed to
approach his second class (last year Supersport) with less than 100
percent commitment, instead focusing on earning his first AMA Superbike
title. This year Spies, of Longview, Texas, feels the situation is
different.
“Our Suzuki is so strong that I think it’s the best bike in the field,”
Spies said. “Having the best bike is going to make things a lot easier on
me in my effort to win two championships this year. I don’t think
Superstock distracts from my Superbike efforts. The bike is so similar in
many ways to the Superbike that it actually helps me for both classes. My
goal is to win both titles this year.”
Suzuki is loaded in Superstock with Spies leading the way and other top
Suzuki riders hoping to keep pace. M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Geoff May, Jordan
Suzuki riders Aaron Yates and Jake Holden, Matsushima Suzuki’s Danny
Eslick and Chris Ulrich, of Roadracingworld.com Suzuki all are proven
contenders in the class. Yates, of Milledgeville, Ga., is the defending
Barber Superstock winner.
Ben Bostrom, with the Graves Motorsports Yamaha team, is the one
non-Suzuki rider with a serious shot at winning the title. A former AMA
Superbike Champion, Bostrom finished runner up to Spies at Daytona and he
loves riding the Graves Yamaha R1 Superstock bike.
“I’m getting comfortable on the R1 very quickly,” Bostrom said. “If we
continue to improve I think we have a legitimate shot at winning
Superstock this year. It feels great because it’s been a while since I
felt I had this kind of chance at a championship.”
Tickets for the 5th annual Honda Superbike Classic at Barber Motorsports
Park can be purchased via the website
www.barbermotorsports.com or charge by phone at (205) 327-RACE or
1-800-240-2300.
The Barber Formula Xtreme and Superstock races will be shown on SPEED on
Tuesday, April 24 at Noon Eastern.
