Team M4 Hammer GEICO Suzuki's Chris Ulrich smashed records giving two-up rides at the eighth annual Roadracing World Action Fund (RWAF) event in conjunction with Fastrack Riders track days at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California recently.
The 33 year old American gave RWAF donors 71 rides on his two-seat GEICO Suzuki GSX-R1000 (38 on Saturday and 33 on Sunday), covering 213 laps and 489.9 miles at speed with a passenger around the 2.3-mile infield road course. This beats previous fund-raiser records for most two-up rides and also sets new fund-raiser records for most laps completed in one day with a passenger (114) and over two days (213), plus the most miles ridden in one day with a passenger (262.2 vs. 248.4) and over two days (489.9 vs. 432.2 miles).
Ulrich also broke another important record - the most money ever raised in the history of the fund-raiser: In just two days he raised $6314, far surpassing the previous record of $4815 set in 2011. The money will be used to deploy Airfence soft barriers at AMA race events.
Ulrich ran on standard US-made Dunlop KR448 front and KR449 rear racing slicks, and used just three front tyres and four rears during the entire 213-lap, 489.9-mile fundraiser.
The fund-raiser was bolstered by warm, calm weather conditions and by the generosity of Lucas Oil Products, who made a donation so that selected employees and dealers could enjoy rides with Ulrich. Lucas Oil Products also donated $500 worth of product offered as a prize in a special fundraiser draw. All donors who signed up for a ride with Ulrich were entered into the draw and entries were also accepted online from those who made a $50 minimum donation during the fund-raising weekend.
Over the last eight years Ulrich has raised a total of $27,069 giving two-up rides on his AMA Pro Superbike. That's in addition to raising awareness of motorcycle road racing by giving rides to broadcast and print journalists prior to AMA Pro Road Races, the two-seat Superbike's original mission.
The Roadracing World Action Fund has provided AMA Pro Racing with over 130 30-sections of inflatable Airfence-brand soft barriers for deployment at road races and dirt track events. At current replacement pricing, those sections of Airfence would be worth about $585,000.
Fastrack Riders has partnered with Ulrich and the Roadracing World Action Fund to hold the fundraiser each year, providing track time, riding gear and staff support. For more information, go to http://fastrackriders.com.
For more information on the Roadracing World Action Fund, a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit organisation which promotes the deployment of soft barriers to help prevent rider injuries at racetracks, go to http://actionfund.roadracingworld.com/.
