(NEWS RELEASE)

Monterey, CA (July 22, 2011) – David Gaviria and Tomas Puerta provisionally qualified on a unique AMA Pro Supersport front row on Friday at Laguna Seca, as the class will use the MotoGP style 3-man line-ups. Sam Nash was 14th. In Daytona SportBike practice, Huntley Nash earned 19th while Raul Azate took 27th.

 

Gaviria, who leads the West division by 21 points with just tomorrow’s race to go, was pleased with his effort on Friday.

“This is a good result because we have only three people in each row,” said David. “I’m not thinking about the points so much right now. I have a points difference between Beny Solis and me but I am trying to find a good pace and do the best I can. The track has a little bit of everything and it is a lot of fun.”

For Tomy Puerta, qualifying was not easy. “At the beginning of the session, I had some problems with the slipper clutch. I came in to fix it and then there was a lot of traffic. We earned third but I was not happy. I wanted to be in the 1:31s or 1:30. The front row was good but I am not satisfied with our setup for the race yet.”

Part-time competitor and full-time law school student Sam Nash impressed in the first session but missed out on an ideal lap in the afternoon. “I rode better in the morning,” said Sam Nash. “I need to put together all the sections and do a clean lap on Saturday and we’ll be ready to race.”

In Daytona SportBike, last year’s SuperSport race winner Nash looked for more confidence from the front on his Yamaha R6 as the team heads into qualifying. “We’ve tried a lot of things looking for a better feel,” said Huntley, 19. “We have a major change tonight coming and we’re working hard to get in the top ten.”

Raul Azate is racing his second event for the team this weekend. “I like the track a lot. It’s my first time here and the circuit is very tough and fast but I got used to it. I was down to a 1:34 in my first session and my goal is to get inside the top 15 this weekend.”

LTD Racing’s Director of Competiton Gary Medley commented, “It was a big day for the team. SuperSport was about like we expected it to be. We’re looking to race and get in the top five with David. David had some good laps on race tires and is really showed he can get it done here. Tomy picked it up in the end after some issues and he improved his time enough to be on the front row. Sam ran a little better this morning but he did okay. Huntley progressed on some things today and we’ll follow up tomorrow. We’re short on time, so we are somewhat limited in what we can do. Raul is still learning. It’s a tough place to race and a tough crowd out there.”