The Vance & Hines XR1200 Series made a thundering debut this weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, just one hour north of the Motor Company’s Milwaukee headquarters, as part of the AMA Pro Racing Superbike Doubleheader Weekend.
With an emphasis on creating a level playing field and keeping costs manageable, the new XR1200 Series provides a great opportunity for both Harley-Davidson dealers and privateer efforts to put together their own race teams and be involved in the excitement of professional road racing at some of the best racing venues in the United States.
An enthusiastic mix of both veteran and up-and-coming racers kicked off the series with RMR Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing and 2009 Daytona Sportbike Champion Danny Eslick taking the checkered flag on Sunday after an intense race long battle against his RMR teammate and Superbike regular Jake Holden, by a margin of only .054 seconds.
The impressive roar of a close running pack of v-twins definitely gave the crowd a thrill that they haven’t experienced since the SuperTwins class of the 1990s. As the race progressed, Eslick and Holden were able to break away from the pack, swapping the lead back and forth several times all the way to the last lap. The battle for the third spot on the podium also provided a fierce three-way battle between the young guns of the series, which ultimately saw 16-year old Eric Stump prevail over the Wyman Brothers, Travis Wyman racing for Harv’s Harley-Davdison Racing and Kyle Wyman on another RMR Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing XR1200.
As the presenting sponsor and supplier of the official race kit parts for the class, Vance & Hines will be on hand at each event to offer spare race kit parts for sale to all the teams throughout the season. Vance & Hines President, Terry Vance, who was at Road America this weekend stated, “I couldn’t be more excited about the new AMA Pro Racing V&H XR1200 class. This weekend’s opening event at Elkhart Lake indicates how great this class will become. Surely, it will be an outstanding addition to the AMA schedule in the coming years, showcasing new young talent with exciting close racing. I can’t wait for Mid Ohio, and I believe we will have more than 30 bikes on the grid by the first race next year.”
The next round for the XR1200 Series will be at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio from July 16-18. In the coming weeks Vance & Hines will also be launching its own microsite for the XR1200 Series to provide the latest race results, team and rider information as well as galleries and news stories.
For the 2010 season, the AMA Pro Racing Vance & Hines XR1200 Series will race at five rounds of the AMA Pro Road Racing Championship:
* Road America (Jun 4-6)
* Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (Jul 16-18)
* Virginia International Raceway (Aug 13-15)
* New Jersey Motorsports Park (Sept 3-5)
* Barber Motorsports Park (Sept 24-26)
The Vance & Hines XR1200 Series features Harley-Davidson XR1200 motorcycles specially modified with racing kit parts supplied exclusively through Vance & Hines. For more information on the series, please contact Paul Langley, Vance & Hines Motorsports at (317) 852-9057, e-mail to xr1200@vhmotorsports.com. Visit vanceandhines.com and amaproracing.com for all the latest announcements.