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MOTO-ST: Daytona practice notes

Aprilia USA Team Fastest in SunTrust MOTO-ST Series Practice at Daytona DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The No. 6 Aprilia USA Aprilia Tuono 1000R ridden by Ty Howard led the way in Friday evening's practice for the final round of the SunTrust MOTO-ST ...

Published: Oct 20, 2007, 8:57 PM

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Aprilia USA Team Fastest in SunTrust MOTO-ST Series Practice at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The No. 6 Aprilia USA Aprilia Tuono 1000R ridden by Ty Howard led the way in Friday evening's practice for the final round of the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series, the 8 Hours At Daytona Finale at Daytona International Speedway.

The Weatherford, Tex. rider turned a lap at one minute, 55.227 seconds around the 3.51-mile road course with just under half an hour remaining in the two-hour practice session. Howard is scheduled to share the bike with Ben Thompson of Anchorage, Alaska and Blanchard, Mich.'s Henry Wiles in Saturday's season-ending race, which gets the green flag at 1:00 p.m.

Cory West of Vista, Calif. set the second best time of 1:56.097 on the No. 18 Roadracingworld.com Suzuki SV1000S and Howard's teammate, Zack Chapman turned a fastest lap of 1:56.490 aboard the No. 5 Aprilia USA Aprilia Tuono 1000R.

The No. 6 Aprilia USA bike leads the Team Standings in the Buell Motorcycle Company Supersport Twins (SST) class in the SunTrust MOTO-ST series and will start from pole position on Saturday.

"The bike's working perfectly," said Howard, who was fastest virtually throughout the practice session. "We'll probably make a couple of little changes to make the tires last a little longer, but the bike works great every time it comes off the truck."

West is sharing the No. 18 Suzuki with Chris Ulrich of Lake Elsinore, Calif. and Englishman Gary Mason. The bike will start 12th in the 8 Hours At Daytona Finale.

"I've always liked this place and I'm just trying to get used to the motorcycle right now," said West, who is making his debut with the Roadracingworld.com team. "I'm really enjoying myself and having a good time working with these guys."

Chapman was drafted into the Aprilia USA team by Howard, who has worked with him in racing schools in Texas. The 18-year-old had his first experience of the Daytona track and the Aprilia Tuono in Thursday testing.

"The bike handles really well and it's plenty fast," Chapman said. "Learning the track is the main thing for me right now."

Chapman is slated to share the No. 5 Aprilia with Troy Green of Dallas and Jon Francis of San Marcos, Tex. Howard and Green are currently tied for the lead in the Rider Standings in the SST class.

Doug Polen recorded the quickest practice time in the BMW Grand Sport Twins (GST) class with a time of 2:01.554 on the No. 77 Touring Sport Ducati Supersport 1000DS. Polen, who won World Superbike titles in 1991 and '92, is due to share the bike with Peter Friedland (Columbia, S.C.) and Frank Shockley (Greenville, S.C.). The No. 38 Touring Sport Ducati of Ryan Elleby (Powder Springs, Ga.), Brad Phillips (Greer, S.C.) and Monte Nichols placed second and the No. 8 Richie Morris Racing Buell XB12 of Shawn Higbee (Oconomonoc, Wis.), Dan Bilansky (Waukesha, Wis.) and Clint Brotz (Elkhart Lake, Wis.) was third.

The No. 77 Touring Sport Ducati team enters Saturday's race with a two-point lead over the No. 70 James Gang Racing Buell squad in the GST Team Standings.

Jay Springsteen of Lapeer, Mich. was the pacesetter in the Sport Twins category aboard the No. 9 Pair-A-Nines Kawasaki EX650 with a time of 2:04.896. Springsteen is due to share the bike with Justin and Jimmy Filice from Modesto, Calif.

Second and third quickest were the pair of SpeedWerks.com Suzuki SV650s, led by the No. 87 machine of Scott Ryan (Lemant, Ill.), Brian Kcraget (Danville, Va.) and Hawk Mazzotta (Carmel Valley, Calif.).

The No. 9 Pair-A-Nines squad leads the No. 79 Go Big Racing Suzuki team by 13 points in the ST standings.

The SunTrust MOTO-ST Series 8 Hours At Daytona finale is scheduled to go green at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 20 and is part of Fall Cycle Scene. Tickets are available online at www.racetickets.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.

The SunTrust MOTO-ST Series is organized and sanctioned by Professional Motorsports Productions (PMP) of Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the Grand American Road Racing Association (Grand-Am), based in Daytona Beach, Fla., provides the series with administrative and commercial support. Learn more about MOTO-ST at www.moto-st.com.

-credit: garra

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