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Yoshimura Media Event
Kicks Off 2009 ATV Season
2009 Team Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory
Racing - ATV (left to right) Joe Havel,
Doug Gust, Kory Ellis, Dustin Wimmer,
Glenn Schlude (Kevin Mummah not shown) |
Chino, Calif. - March 9, 2009 - Yoshimura
held a press conference Friday to launch the
Team Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing ATV
team. The event was held at the Yoshimura /
Suzuki racing facility in Chino, California. In
attendance were most of the ATV U.S. press
corps, many of the team sponsors and the team
itself.
Yoshimura Vice President Brant Russell began
by introducing the new 2009 sponsors – Parts
Unlimited/Moose Racing, Fulmer Helmets, Memphis
Car Audio, Falicon and Pro Armor.
A number of sponsors were unavailable as they
were attending Daytona events sent along
prepared quotes. Greg Blackwell, Vice President
of Sales for LeMans Corp. wrote:
"All of us at Parts Unlimited are very proud
to be associated with the Rockstar Makita Suzuki
Yoshimura ATV Team. Our involvement with this
high caliber, race winning team allows us to
continue to deliver our "We Support The Sport"
philosophy to the market."
Brad Kruckenberg, General Manager of Moose
Racing sent this along:
"Moose Racing is proud to continue its
long-standing relationship of
sponsoring top tier teams and riders by
welcoming the Rockstar Makita Suzuki ATV Team
into our family. An obvious part of this is
working closely with key suppliers like
Yoshimura and we appreciate their willingness to
share this opportunity with us. Moose Racing's
sponsorship of this team is a perfect match to
our support of the 2009 ITP / Moose Racing / AMA
/ ATVA National Motocross Championship Series
and we look forward to much success with both
Doug and Dustin throughout the season."
Brant Russell spoke about the other new
sponsors of the team: "We are excited to welcome
our new sponsors to the 2009 ATV team," "Suzuki
and Yoshimura were there in the infancy of this
series, and are excited that as we grow we see
more and more companies become involved in this
exciting sport. We especially want to thank
Rockstar and Makita without whom we wouldn't be
able to put out this tremendous effort each
year," Russell explained.
He then turned the microphone over to
Suzuki's Glenn Hansen who explained how the
Suzuki QuadRacer R450 exemplified the passion of
the company's commitment to racing. "The
QuadRacer R450 was designed to win races,"
Hansen said. "Dustin Wimmer's 2008 Championship
proved that once again last year and we're
looking to see these riders securing first and
second this year. Racing is a huge part of what
we do at Suzuki and it's why we made the
QuadRacer R450 – that is the whole purpose of
this quad and what it is designed for. It's all
about racing and this year we're going out there
again to prove what we can do with the QuadRacer
R450. It is there to celebrate what we love at
Suzuki - racing."
Team Manager Kory Ellis then introduced the
two-man team of Dustin Wimmer #1 and Doug Gust
#55. "We are proud to have such a talented team
this year," Ellis explained. "It will be an
exciting season, for sure. Dustin Wimmer is
coming off of a stellar year clinching the
Championship and returning multi-time Champion
and racing icon Doug Gust is determined to take
the title back."
Ellis went on to introduce Kevin Mummah who
returns this year as crew chief and Gilbert
Lujan who is taking over engine building duties.
Glenn Schlude is back as Dustin's mechanic and
Doug has a new wrench in Joe Havel.
The Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing
effort also includes Chris Borich in the 2009
Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series. He
placed 2nd overall in the 2008 series and is
hungry for first.
The evening concluded with interviews and
photos of the riders, mechanics and of course,
the ever-popular Rockstar Girls.
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