Bel-Ray Racing Weekend Preview
For decades, professional racers have experienced the performance advantages that Bel-Ray powersports lubricants provide. This weekend, Bel-Ray’s professional racers will be competing around the world in various types of competition.
MotoGP
The Grand Prix of Portugal will take place this weekend at the famous Estoril circuit. Situated along the Atlantic coast of the country, the track is just 28km from the capital city of Lisbon. The long, high speed front straight could prove difficult for the Bel-Ray backed Power Electronics Aspar team of Aleix Espargaro and Randy De Puniet, as their CRT bike are slower than the factory backed MotoGP machines.
De Puniet is committed to giving it his all despite the handicap. "We are going to be struggling down the long straight compared to the MotoGP bikes, so it is up to us to make the most of the bike's other strengths."
Teammate Espargaro echoed his sentiment, “at Jerez, I had the best top speed of all the CRT bikes, but I was still 20km/h shy of the best MotoGP bike on a straight that is 350m shorter than this. But our job is to keep progressing and working twice as hard if we can, with the added confidence of a good result at Jerez behind us."
Coming into this weekend, Espargaro is ranked 12th and De Puniet 15th in the World Championship point standings.
Moto2
The 3rd round of the 2012 Moto2 championship series continues this weekend in Portugal. Both riders on the Bel-Ray backed Mapfre Aspar team, Nico Terol and Toni Elias, have had success at the Estoril circuit in their careers, a trend they hope to continue. Known as the “fifth home race” for the Spanish racers on the tour, thousands of fans cross the border to cheer for their favorite riders. Terol’s success at Estoril came as recent as last season where he was the 125cc class winner, while Elias has won multiple times including an unprecedented victory in the MotoGP class in 2006.
Elias is in 11th while Terol is unranked in the 2012 series' point standings.
Moto3
Following disappointing results at the opening 2 rounds, the Bel-Ray sponsored Bankia Aspar team of Hector Faubel and Alberto Moncayo hope to turn their season around this weekend in Portugal. After they both suffered crashes last week in Jerez, they look to Estoril to turn it around. Both riders have had success at this circuit in the past and look to use that confidence to perform well over the course of the event.
After the first 2 rounds of the season, both riders are in the top 10 in world championship points. Faubel is currently 10th while Moncayo is 9th.
World Superbike
Monza, Italy will host round 4 of the 2012 World Superbike Championship series this weekend. Following a double podium finish in the rains at Assen, the Bel-Ray supported Althea Ducati team of Carlos Checa and Davide Giugliano comes to the Italian round with confidence. The Monza track puts the teams Ducati at a disadvantage due to the 1195m straightway and the rules set in place by the sanctioning body. Both Checa and Giugliano spoke about this disadvantage prior to the event. “We know that Monza will probably be the hardest round on the calendar for us and the Ducati, something we have also seen in the last two seasons. We will do our best to take as many points as possible, but realize that this weekend will be mainly about containing the damage. Two top ten finishes would be good, and closing inside the top five would feel like a win for us here!” Teammate Giugliano added, “Reaching the podium at Assen has really boosted my confidence. I realize that a similar result will be almost impossible at Monza, as the bike is disadvantaged at tracks with long straights, but I’ll be fighting to improve my position in the standings with a good performance in the two races on Sunday. It’s always great to race at ‘home,’ so I’ll be doing my best to please the Italian crowds!”
Going into the 4th of 14 rounds, Checa is in 2nd while Giugliano is 10th in the 2012 series' point standings.
AMA Supercross
The 2012 Monster Energy Supercross series concludes this Saturday night at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas Nevada. The Bel-Ray sponsored Team Rockstar Energy Racing Suzuki will field all 4 of their riders this weekend, as the Lites series concludes for both the East and West division. Saturday night will also feature the Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Shootout, a winner take all event that features the best riders from each division. Last week, for the first time in the team’s history, both riders raced to podium finishes. Jason Anderson was 2nd and Martin Davalos was 3rd at the checkered flag. East coast division riders Blake Wharton and Hunter Hewitt will both rejoin the team for this final Supercross of the season.
In a year marred by injuries, the Dodge/ Sycuan Casino/ Hart & Huntington/ Bel-Ray Racing team comes to their home race prepared to end the series on a high note. Much like the rest of the season, last week’s race in Salt Lake City had its ups and downs with team rider Tyler Bowers finishing a strong 10th place in only his 2nd ride for the team, while Kyle Regal was the victim of a crash that took him out of the main event. Both riders are grateful for the opportunity that they’ve had to act as fill in riders and look to reward them for their confidence on Saturday night.
World Enduro Championship
The Euskadi region of Spain will host round 2 of the 2012 FIM World Enduro Championship series this weekend. Following events in Argentina and Chile, the competitive series will make its first appearance in Europe this season. The Bel-Ray supported Factory TM racing team enters 3 riders in 3 different divisions at each event. The E1 class entry is Finish rider Antti Hellsten, Estonian Aigar Leok is the E3 class entry and Italian Nicolo Mori is the EJ class entry. Both Hellsten and Mori are in the top 15 in the series' standings with Hellsten in 13th and Mori in 14th. Leok is a strong contender for victories and is currently in 3rd in the series' standings with 2 of the 8 championship events completed.
British Motocross Championship
The 2012 ACU Maxxis British Motocross Championship continues for round 3 this weekend in Lyng, Norfolk at the Cadders Hill track. This spectacular, physically demanding track has hosted British Championship events for more than 25 years. Bel-Ray’s professional entry in the series is the MVR-D Honda Race Team of Jason Dougan, Gert Krestinov and Brad Pocock. After 2 of the series 8 rounds, the team has both MX1 riders, Dougan and Krestinov, in the top 10 in the series' standings, while the teams MX2 entry, Pocock, is in the top 20 at 18th. Round 2 of the series took place at the Canada Heights Circuit in Swanley, Kent with mixed results for the team. Krestinov was 9th overall and Dougan was 15th overall in the MX1 class and Pocock was 15th overall in MX2. The riders all look to improve on their results coming into this weekend’s event.
ATV Motocross Championship
Round 3 of the 2012 ATV motocross championship will take place this weekend at Budd’s Creek in Mechanicsville, Maryland. Following a 4th place finish at Round 2 in Tennessee 2 weeks ago, Bel-Ray sponsored Josh Upperman is looking to put himself back up on the podium after an opening round 3rd place overall finish. The high speed sections of the track should prove to be an advantage for Upperman’s Baldwin Motorsports powered Honda.
Follow all of Bel-Ray’s racers in action each week on www.belray.com and www.belrayracing.com.
Bel Ray Company Inc was founded in 1946 and is a privately held, woman owned business serving the lubrication needs of powersports, industrial and mining customers worldwide. Bel-Ray is recognized as the leader in the specialty lubricants industry for setting high standards of quality and performance with products formulated for the motorcycle, automotive, aviation, energy, food, marine, military, mining, OEM, Industrial steel, and textile industries.
“Flex Your Engine” with Bel-Ray’s superior Powersports line that delivers top quality Made-in-the-USA products to motorcycle and recreational vehicle enthusiasts around the world. Bel-Ray products are available at powersports dealers worldwide. Visit Bel-Ray.com for a complete dealer listing. Like us on Facebook.com/BelRay or follow us on Twitter/Bel_Ray