GEICO Powersports announced today it will sponsor a Richie Morris Racing Buell 1125R in the 2009 AMA Superbike Championship with veteran rider Michael Barnes. The RMR team will compete in the Daytona SportBike class with plans to participate in the entire 12-race series, beginning with the Daytona 200 at Daytona International Speedway under the lights on the evening of March 6, 2009.
Wisconsin-based Richie Morris Racing, which revealed its GEICO Powersports-liveried 1125R at Dunlop’s December tire test at Daytona International Speedway today, is making the jump to AMA competition after two successful seasons racing Buell motorcycles in the SunTrust MOTO-ST endurance series.
"We’ve been racing in MOTO-ST because I appreciate the vision and energy Jimmy France and Roger Edmondson of Daytona Motorsports Group brought to that series," said team owner Richie Morris. "I think they’ll do the same for the AMA Superbike series in 2009.
"We were introduced to GEICO Powersports last season through its support of the Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing team," said Morris. "GEICO was impressed with our performance last year with a first-year motorcycle, and wanted a stand-alone team in a premier AMA Superbike Championship class for 2009. We are honored to have GEICO Powersports join Richie Morris Racing for the coming seasons. The familiar shield of Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing will also appear on the motorcycle."
The Bruce Rossmeyer Daytona Racing No. 8 Buell 1125R entered by Richie Morris Racing won two races and finished third overall in the premier Buell Motorcycle Company SuperSport (SST) class during the 2008 MOTO-ST season. In 2007, the team placed second in the MOTO-ST GrandSport Twins (GST) class, racing a Buell Firebolt XB12R. Richie Morris Racing last competed in the AMA Pro Superbike Series in 1999.
"We are excited to be working with Richie Morris Racing again as they compete in the AMA Daytona SportBike class," said Eric Vaden of GEICO Powersports. "We were involved with Richie Morris and the Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing SunTrust MOTO-ST team last season and they did an outstanding job for us. This is a great opportunity with a winning team and we are very pleased with how well this all came together."
Michael Barnes, age 40, started racing motorcycles professionally in 1990 and has been an AMA regular since 1994. Barnes finished third in the AMA 750 Supersport class and won the season-finale race at Las Vegas in 1996. Racing for Team M4 Emgo Suzuki in 2006, Barnes had five podium finishes and placed third in the AMA Supersport championship. He has numerous podium finishes in AMA Superstock, Supersport, Superbike and Formula Xtreme classes. Barnes has also raced in the American Sportbike Racing Association (ASRA) Pro series, and in 2008 raced for the Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing team entered by Richie Morris Racing in the SunTrust MOTO-ST series. Barnes lives in Boca Raton, Florida.
"It’s great to see Buell privateer race teams raise sponsorship like this," said Buell Chairman and Chief Technical Officer Erik Buell. "Richie Morris Racing will also be the first AMA privateer Buell team to benefit from our new race development support program, led by David McGrath, who will work with select privateer teams to develop the 1125R at the track and back at the factory."
GEICO Powersports has committed to sponsor the team for three seasons. Additional product sponsors will be announced at a later date.
"When we created the Daytona SportBike class, it was always our vision to see a variety of motorcycle brands competing head to head," said AMA Pro Racing President Roger Edmondson. "It was also our belief that this type of racing program would be attractive to outside the industry sponsors. Congratulations and good luck to GEICO Powersports and Richie Morris Racing in 2009."
AMA Pro Racing’s new Daytona SportBike class will feature a variety of high-performance motorcycles, with four-cylinder, triple-cylinder and twin-cylinder engines. Models from Aprilia, BMW, Buell, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, Suzuki, Triumph and Yamaha have been approved for the class.
To learn more about Buell motorcycles, visit your local Buell dealer today and experience the pure streetfighter attitude, style and performance only found on board a Buell. For the Buell dealer nearest you, pull into www.buell.com.
