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SUZUKI RACERS SHOW SPEED IN WET AND DRY AT BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK

Brea, CA, (April 7, 2025) — Fresh off an impressive all-around showing at the Daytona season opener, Suzuki Motor USA (Suzuki) race teams were well prepared to come out swinging as the 2025 MotoAmerica Superbike and Supersport title fights officially got underway at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. A mix of sunny and wet conditions resulted in high drama, complete with alternating highs and lows, but didn't prevent Suzuki from adding to its early-season victory tally.

Race Highlights:

  • Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki
    • Superbike
      • Sean Dylan Kelly qualified on the front row and claimed a pair of top fives in his Team Hammer return.
      • Richie Escalante bounced back from a Saturday crash to fight his way up to sixth in the rain.
    • Supersport
      • Tyler Scott backed up his Saturday fourth with a gritty Sunday ride to salvage what points he could.
      • Max VanDenBrouck scored a top-five finish in his Team M4 ECSTAR Suzuki debut weekend.
    • Twins Cup
      • Bad Boy Racing’s victorious Avery Dreyer took full advantage of his opportunity to ride the Team Hammer built Suzuki GSX-8R.
  • RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines
    • Twins Cup
      • Matthew Chapin added a podium finish to his Daytona double win.

Sean Dylan Kelly (#40) showed instant pace on his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000R, claiming a pair of top-five finishes in both dry and wet Superbike conditions 

Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sean Dylan Kelly proved an immediate factor at the front of the MotoAmerica Superbike field in his return to Team Hammer. Having dominated the Supersport class earlier in his career with the squad, SDK proved himself a force in his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000R debut, qualifying third fastest and then securing a pair of charging fourth-place finishes in both the dry and the wet.

Kelly said, “It was a pretty wild weekend with two P4s. Of course I want more, but I’ll have to be content with this for now. In the dry race, I was really happy with the pace in the first half… I just got a bad start. The bike is new to me, but I will not let that happen again. I liked the times we were doing compared to the leaders. At the end, the rear tire was used up. For the wet race, I had a hard time with traction, but I was able to hang with the top five despite a lot of moments. I think our start really bodes well for things to come.”

Richie Escalante (#54) overcame a crash on Saturday and surged to sixth in Sunday’s wet Superbike race. 

SDK’s former Supersport rival and current Superbike teammate, Richie Escalante, was similarly quick. After qualifying fifth fastest on his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R1000R, the Mexican born racer jostled for a podium position early in Saturday’s contest before suffering a crash while running in fourth. He made his amends in Sunday’s rainy affair, splashing his way up from an early 10th to take the checkered flag in sixth.

Escalante said, “The weekend had a lot of positives, with a couple of mistakes. And unlike last year, I am healthy leaving the track to get ready for Round 2. The pace in the dry felt really good. We had an issue, and I ended up crashing in the first race, but the bike felt the best it has to date, so that is promising for the season. In the wet, the setting was good, but I needed to build confidence through the race. By the end, I felt really good. The team did a great job for me and I am excited.”

Tyler Scott (#70) fought through treacherous weather to earn valuable points in Supersport. 

 Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki Supersport ace Tyler Scott was his usual fleet self in the dry, qualifying fifth and racing to fourth aboard the next-generation GSX-R750 on Saturday. He was every bit as competitive in the wet on Sunday, running third late in the race before being thrown over the bars with just two laps remaining. Despite suffering the hard fall and the resultant damage to his machine, Scott remounted and flat-tracked his way to ninth even while lacking a front fairing, dashboard, and left footpeg.

“The weekend started off a little rough for us,” Scott said. “We were trying to get the bike to turn how I wanted it to, and we kept making progress. We got a good result Saturday, and then it rained on Sunday. It was going well in the wet race, and I was in a podium spot before I lost the rear in the Museum Corner. I was able to get back on and finish ninth so we got some points.”

Max Van (#48) impressed in his first weekend with Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki, notching a top-five Supersport finish in challenging wet conditions aboard the GSX-R750. 

Scott’s new teammate, Max Van, did well to make incremental improvements aboard the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R750 throughout the weekend. After registering a steady ride to 11th on Saturday, any thoughts that the young pilot would be in over his head in Sunday’s extremely slick race were proven wrong, as he raced his way to a maiden Supersport top five.
Max Van said, “I’m happy to get my first-ever top five in Supersport. The weekend makes me feel like I belong in the top five, and I will push to do it again for Atlanta. This is something of a struggle track for me, but the pace in the dry was good. Then I went quick in the wet warm-up, so I was feeling confident for the race. The team was great the first time out and having fast teammates pushed me as well.”

Bad Boy Racing’s Avery Dreher swung his leg over a Team Hammer-built-and-prepared Suzuki GSX-8R Twins Cup racebike this weekend and promptly used it as a vehicle for some memorable heroics. Stuck in fifth in the early going of Saturday’s race, Dreher found his groove and slithered his way into second. Once there, he gobbled up the big gap separating him to first to score a last-lap victory. Unfortunately, Dreher’s hope of a Sunday podium ended the same way it did for so many others – with a crash in the treacherous wet conditions that eventually saw the race red-flagged and called complete.

After winning Saturday’s race, Dreher said, “I was able to put it on the front row, which is decent, even though I wasn’t happy with my times. But we figured out a couple more things with the bike and got it pretty dialed in. I honestly didn’t think I had the rear tire left at the end – I was spinning around everywhere and didn’t want to push it too hard. But I have to say a big thank you to the whole Team Hammer crew for giving me this awesome opportunity, and thanks to the whole Bad Boy Racing team for helping me get up on this top step. I’m pretty stoked with this.

Matthew Chapin (#95) maintained his Twins Cup championship momentum with a solid third-place finish on Saturday riding his RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki GSX-8R. 

It was a similar story to RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki’s Matthew Chapin, who opened the weekend with the Twins Cup points lead on the strength of his Daytona double. The reigning Junior Cup champ carried that advantage through Saturday with a measured ride to third aboard his Suzuki GSX-8R. However, Chapin too was a victim of Sunday’s conditions, crashing twice despite his best efforts. Despite the setback, he remains ranked second.
Of his Saturday podium, Chapin said, “It was a really good race. I didn’t have the pace to go with the guys at the front, so I knew to keep it within my abilities. I just have to give a huge thanks to the whole RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki team. I couldn’t do it without everyone behind me, and I want to keep this championship fight rolling.”

The 2025 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship resumes on May 2-4 at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia.

Please visit SuzukiCycles.com/Racing/road-racing for more team news.

About Team Hammer

The 2025 season marks Team Hammer's 45th consecutive year of operating as a professional road racing team. Racebikes built and fielded by Team Hammer have won 134 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National races, have finished on AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National podiums 375 times and have won 11 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National Championships, as well as two FIM South American Championships (in Superbike and Supersport). The team has also won 137 endurance races overall (including seven 24-hour races) and 13 Overall WERA National Endurance Championships with Suzuki motorcycles and holds the U.S. record for mileage covered in a 24-hour race. The team also competed in the televised 1990s Formula USA National Championship, famously running "Methanol Monster" GSX-R1100 Superbikes fueled by methanol and won four F-USA Championships. 

About Vance & Hines Motorsports

Vance & Hines Motorsports is a powerhouse in the world of motorcycle racing, boasting a rich legacy of success. With a focus on innovation, performance, and commitment to pushing boundaries, the team continues to redefine excellence in NHRA and MotoAmerica.

About Suzuki

Suzuki Motor USA, LLC (SMO) distributes Motorcycles, ATVs, Scooters, Accessories, and ECSTAR Oils & Chemicals via an extensive dealer network throughout 49 states. Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC), based in Hamamatsu, Japan, is a diversified worldwide manufacturer of Motorcycles, ATVs, Scooters, Automobiles, Outboard Motors, and related products. Founded in 1909 and incorporated in 1920, SMC has business relations with 201 countries/regions. For more information, visit www.suzuki.com.