Daytona Beach, Fla. - When the Daytona 300, Round 1 of the 2008 SunTrust MOTO-ST Series swings into gear March 2 at Daytona International Speedway the Touring Sport Ducati team will be set to step up their pace.
Headquartered in Greenville, SC, this winning team plans to defend their BMW GrandSport Twins (GST) title in the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series as well as making their debut in the hotly contested Buell Motorcycle Company SuperSport Twins (SST) Class.
"We are really excited about this upcoming season," says team manager Frank Shockley. "Our plan is to compete the Ducati Sport 1000S in the GST class and the newly-released 848 Ducati Superbike in the SST class. We tested the 1000S at Roebling Road and right out of the crate the bike was definitely impressive. The 848 is also looking good and I'm confident that it will be a great platform for us to go after the front-runners."
Running in the GST class, Touring Sport Ducati will utilize the talents of Frank Shockley and Brad Phillips. In SST team members Peter Friedland and Doug Polen will be going for the checkered.
Shockley, a native of Greenville, has been competing on two wheels for a number of years. With 10 regional championships, two WERA National crowns and the 2007 SunTrust MOTO-ST Series GST title to his credit, he has more than proven his ability on the pavement. "Racing motorcycles is something I love," he says. "I'm very much a two-wheel kind-of guy. I manage a motorcycle dealership, race, ride street bikes and am also an avid bicyclist. It doesn't get much more two wheeled than that."
Also ready to rev it up, is Shockley's co-rider Brad Phillips. Another Greenville, S.C. native, Phillips has been racing motorcycles for the past six years and has earned seven WERA vintage motorcycle championships, plus helped the team win last year's SunTrust MOTO-ST Series GST title. The owner of a production company, Phillips' main priority is definitely motorcycles. In fact, his hobby is motorcycle fabrication, he enjoys trials riding and to relax he builds motorcycles.
Moving up into SST class this season is teammate Peter Friedland. Born in Philadelphia and now a resident of Orlando, Fla., Friedland began riding motorcycles when he was nine years old and has been competing for seven years. A district manager for a southeastern auto distributor, Friedland also enjoys fishing, scuba diving and snow skiing.
"My priorities are to work smart and have fun," he says with a smile. "And, racing in the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series is definitely fun. I think this season is going to be great and I am really looking forward to running our 848 Ducati Superbike. Ducati is definitely my motorcycle of choice. In fact, I like them so much that I collect them. I think we will be able to run up front and win some races."
Co-riding with Friedland is motorcycle legend Doug Polen, who was part of Shockley's winning team at the 2007 8 Hours At Daytona. Polen, who lives in Southern California with his wife and son, holds the distinction of earning Ducati their first AMA Championship in 1993. In addition, he also won two straight World Superbike title in 1991 and 1992 and holds the 1997 Endurance World Championship crown.
"I think we have an incredible team and top of the line machinery," sums up Shockley. "Our bikes are ready, our pit crew is ready and our riders are ready. We are counting down the days until March 2nd and the start of the first race of the season."
The SunTrust MOTO-ST Series is organized and sanctioned by Professional Motorsports Productions (PMP) of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the Grand American Road Racing Association (Grand-Am), based in Daytona Beach, Fla., provides the series with administrative and commercial support. Learn more about MOTO-ST at http://www.moto-st.com/ .
From: Penny Nicolai, SunTrust MOTO-ST Series Public Relations and Gene Crouch, Grand-Am Internet and Communications Services Coordinator
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