Safety First Suzuki headed to VIR poised for a good result and came up a little short during the weekend. Team owner, Kevin Hanson, commented on the weekend. “I guess it was our turn to finally have a difficult weekend. Thursday practice went well and we tested some new suspension stuff for Penske. Right out of the box the part we tested was good for 6 tenths of a second on Bobby Fong’s bike. Friday and Saturday rolled around and we hit a wall. Bobby and Gabor were both stuck at their lap times and qualifying didn’t go so hot. My crewchief, Don Finnelli, analyzed where we were at setting wise and Sunday morning we scrapped the changes that we had made and went back to our old setup. The change worked right away and Bobby dropped into the 27’s confident that he could run mid 27’s during the race. Come race time, good old Murphy reared his ugly head! After doing the parade lap, Bobby’s mechanics went to change the rear tire and put on the fresh race tire and had a problem with the rear axle. At that point, the bike had to be pushed off the grid because we couldn’t fix it and Bobby had to start the race from pit lane on his backup bike. The problem was compounded because the backup bike had a slightly harder rear tire on it that had no grip during the race. One bright side was Bobby stayed calm during the incident and went out and did the best he could with what he had. Gabor found some more time during the race and had a breakthrough in what’s been holding him back in his riding,’’ commented Hanson.

Bobby Fong: Qualified 16th, Finished 15th

“That was a bummer of a weekend, stated Fong. We struggled a little finding the right setup during the weekend. I got down to a flat 28, but was having trouble getting into the 27’s. After we went back to my old setup, my times dropped and I felt I had the pace to easily run inside the top ten. Penske had a new part that I tested that gave me a lot more sidegrip, which was really cool. It just sucks that we had a problem at the start of the race. I think we could have a good result. I’m excited for Atlanta because it’s one of my favorite tracks along with Laguna. I’ll just get ready for the next race now. I’m going to hangout in Atlanta next week and go see Traxxion Dynamics manufacturing facility with all of the cool CNC machines which should be pretty neat,” commented Fong. See everyone in week!

Gabor Rizmayer: Qualified 22nd, Finished 16th

“This weekend was not so good,” explained Rizmayer. “I like the track and seemed to learn it quickly. I just couldn’t find that last second that I needed. My bike was good, I just need to relax a little more and not stress about doing the times. Owen Weichel helped me with that this weekend by sharing some of the things that worked for him when he was racing. I think Owen’s coaching will definitely help me at Road Atlanta. Now I get to go log some more frequent flyer miles before I return next week!” joked the Hungarian Rider.

Safety First Racing was formed in 2004 by police officer/racer, Kevin Hanson, based out of Chicago, IL.�  For 2008, Safety First Suzuki is competing in the Supersport class in the AMA Superbike series. Checkout www.SAFETYFIRSTRACING.com to see the latest line of apparel and performance products from Safety First Racing. Kevin Hanson continues to give away Bell bicycle helmets to elementary school children nationwide and educate children about the importance of helmet usage.