A 17-Year-Old Girl, A Suzuki GSV-R and 190 MPH at Indy
At the risk of exploding your personal stereotype of 17-year-old girls, read on about the exploits of young Elena Myers at Indianapolis earlier today aboard Alvaro Bautista’s GSV-R MotoGP bike. I have had the pleasure of riding on a race track with young Elena a few years ago at a press introduction, and she was already extremely fast aboard a Kawasaki 650cc twin. She has since graduated to AMA Pro roadracing, and has even won at that level in the SuperSport class (where, no surprise, she is the only female competing).
Now racing a sponsored Suzuki in the AMA SuperSport category, Ms. Myers was given the opportunity to sample Bautista’s GSV-R at Indianapolis by Paul Denning, Rizla Suzuki team manager. On a green Indy track that makes the MotoGP regulars nervous as they anticipate the first practice for this weekend, Myers rode carefully, and smoothly, but impressed virtually all of the onlookers (and there were plenty) as she put down five laps earlier today.
One of her passes down the front straight netted 306 kilometers per hour (190 mph in old money). Here is the press release:
Elena Myers made her debut on a MotoGP machine at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway today as she completed a handful of laps onboard Alvaro Bautista’s Suzuki GSV-R prototype machine.
Team SuzukiScoopFans rider Myers was given the chance to ride the GSV-R after chatting with Suzuki MotoGP Team Manager Paul Denning at Laguna Seca this year and was able to fulfil that opportunity at Indy today. The 17-year-old produced a superbly-confident performance on the Suzuki as she completed five laps of the 4,216m American circuit as part of the build-up to this weekend’s Grand Prix at the historic track.
Myers got into a smooth rhythm and managed to break the 300km/h barrier as she clocked an impressive 306km/h (190mph) down the main straight. She was watched by regular Suzuki MotoGP racer Bautista and many other Grand Prix stars as she put the GSV-R through its paces, and all were impressed with her smooth and self-assured riding style. Bautista was also on-hand before Myers took to the track to offer advice and was waiting in the pit-box as she returned his bike ready for Sunday’s race.
Myers became the first female racer to win an AMA Pro road-race when she took victory at the AMA Pro SuperSport event at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma in 2010. This season Myers has recorded a podium finish at Barber Motorsports Park, plus five more top-five finishes on her way to an impressive fifth overall in the 2011 AMA Pro SuperSport West Division – despite missing two rounds due to injury.
The young American star will remain at Indianapolis for the rest of the weekend and see Bautista, the GSV-R and the rest of the MotoGP field in action during the 12th round of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship.
“Wow! I can’t really say anything else; it was just such an incredible experience! I can’t thank the guys at Suzuki MotoGP enough – they have been awesome! This makes me so hungry to come out here and try it someday for real on a race weekend: Well I guess this is a race weekend, but I mean for real next time.
I can’t say enough about the bike either; it does everything 20 times better than I ever would have imagined – this has just been amazing and I think I’ll slowly realise what just happened over the next couple of days. The GSV-R just blew me away!”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“It was great to see Elena out on a MotoGP bike and very cool that – as the Suzuki MotoGP team – we could help her fulfil one of her dreams. At 17-years-old, and judging by her performances in the AMA Pro SuperSport championship, she has a significant amount of ability that is only going to develop as she gains experience. She treated the run today with great intelligence and maturity, but nonetheless it was impressive to see that she wasn’t afraid of either the speed or the power!
“Thanks to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for helping us to make this happen, the boys for preparing the bike and to Alvaro for letting Elena use it!”
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