In the wake of the deadly bombing attacks at the Boston Marathon earlier this week, the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, announced security measures being taken for this weekend’s MotoGP round. Circuit organizers point out these measures are standard protocol for the track and are the same as those used in last November’s Formula 1 round, but in light of recent events, decided it was a good idea to assure visitors of the security measures in place.

“Circuit of The Americas hosts large-scale sports and entertainment events throughout the year, and as a matter of practice, we restrict the types of items that can be brought into the venue by patrons and others working at the track,” says Julie Loignon, vice president of public & media relations. “We work closely with public safety and emergency services personnel at the City, County, State and Federal level to monitor activities in and around the facility. We have been in touch with local law enforcement following [Monday]‘s unfortunate events in Boston, Mass., and will work with them throughout the upcoming weekend to ensure we conduct a safe and secure event.” Continue Reading »

Blake Young may not have a full time AMA Superbike ride this season but he will get the chance to compete in some high-profile races. CycleNews reports the former Yoshimura Suzuki rider will race for Attack Performance on its Kawasaki-powered CRT racebike at the three U.S. MotoGP rounds.

Young was runner-up to Josh Hayes in the last two AMA Superbike campaigns. In 2011, Young trailed Hayes 363-358 at the end of the season but had a 7-3 edge in race wins. This year, Young had three wins but they all came in the first three double-header events before Hayes separated himself from everyone else on his way to a record-setting season. Despite being one of the few racers with a good chance of catching Hayes, Young found himself without a ride after Yoshimura decided to go in a different direction.

Now that he’s landed with the Attack Performance team, Young will be chasing M1s around the track instead of R1s at three MotoGP races. Young will compete in the April 21 Grand Prix of the Americas at Austin’s new Circuit of the Americas, the July 21 U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif., and the Aug. 18 Indianapolis Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Continue Reading »

Attack Performance Racing and GPTech made history this year as the first teams to build and enter motorcycles under MotoGP’s Claiming Rule Team rules as a  wild card entry. Both teams will race again, receiving wild card invites to all three U.S. rounds in the 2013 MotoGP season.

Attack Performance debuted at the Laguna Seca round but failed to qualify due to a fuel pump problem, but returned weeks later for the Indianapolis Grand Prix, finishing 14th overall and earning two championship points with Steve Rapp riding a Kawasaki ZX-10R-based race bike. Indianapolis Motor Speedway also saw the debut of GPTech‘s Suzuki GSX-R1000-based machine which Aaron Yates piloted to 16th place. Continue Reading »