Team Suzuki Press Office – September 18. AMA Superbike runner-up Blake Young will join the FIXI Crescent Suzuki team for the forthcoming eni FIM Superbike World Championship round at Laguna Seca in America as a replacement for the injured Leon Camier.
The American will turn 26-years-of-age on the September 20th so the chance to ride the Yoshimura-Powered GSX-R1000 Superbike has come as an early birthday present for the Wisconsin-based racer. He has finished as runner-up in the highly competitive AMA Superbike series in the last two years and has this season raced in the Indianapolis and Austin rounds of the MotoGP™ Championship.
Young has been drafted in to replace Camier at Laguna Seca following the Englishman’s huge crash in Turkey last weekend that left him needing surgery on seven broken bones in his right foot. He is now recovering from the injury and is aiming to be fit for the final race of the season at Jerez.
Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Young was 14 when he became a full-time road racer and two years later he officially entered the AMA Pro Road Racing Series on a Suzuki GSX-R600. He spent his first seasons in the Supersport, Superstock and the Formula Xtreme series’, before making his debut in Superbike in 2008 on a Suzuki. In 2009 Young moved to a full-time ride in the AMA Superbike class with Rockstar Makita Suzuki, taking four podiums in his first season and sixth overall. The following season he took five podiums – including three wins – and again raced to sixth in the championship. In 2011 he challenged for the title onboard the Yoshimura Suzuki, recording seven wins and another eight podiums, to see him finish runner-up – just five points away from the title-winner. Last season, while still with Yoshimura Suzuki he again finished second in AMA Pro Superbike Championship, taking three wins and 13 additional podiums to his name.
Fixi Crescent Suzuki’s latest recruit will get his first taste of the Suzuki GSX-R1000 in Friday morning’s free-practice at Laguna Seca on September 27th, where his knowledge of the Californian circuit will be put to good use as learns to ride a full-blown World Superbike there for the first time.
Blake Young:
“I’m really excited at the prospect of riding for FIXI Crescent Suzuki and I can’t wait to ride the bike. It was a surprise to get the call, but it will be great to go back to Laguna Seca, especially on a World Superbike – it’s a bit like a dream come true for me and made even better that it’s a Suzuki. I’m now ready to get out on the bike and try to do some good things on the world stage and see what happens from there. I want to thank all the people that have made this happen and it’s never good when a rider gets injured, so I want to wish Leon all the best for a quick and full recovery. It will be great to ride his bike and hopefully I can do well on it for him and the team.”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“We are happy to have secured Blake for the Laguna Seca round for the FIXI Crescent Suzuki team; he has excellent knowledge of the circuit and also knows how to win on a Suzuki GSX-R and we think he’ll adapt to WSB quickly. It is never an easy job having to replace one of your riders due to injury, but we are sure Blake will do a good job for us at Laguna and the whole team is looking forward to welcoming him and we hope to have a smooth and successful weekend. We’ll certainly do all we can to help him be competitive and to get the best possible result.”
OK, Blake, slow down the first couple laps of practice so you don’t crash and then not make the races.