Josh Galster
August 5th, 2009, 06:49 PM
Press Release For Immediate Release
Galster 21st in both races at Tornado Nationals, best finishes so far in 2009 season
July 31st-Aug 2- Heartland Park Topeka in Topeka, KS: Josh Galster of Team Slednecks enjoys his best race weekend so far in the 2009 AMA Daytona Sportbike Series after returning to racing from a life-threatening injury.
Arriving at the new to the AMA circuit, Heartland Park Topeka, Galster spent Thursday’s Promoter Practice setting up his bike and learning the unfamiliar track alongside his competitors. Feeling fairly comfortable at the end of the day with the way his 2007 Kawasaki ZX6 was handling, he made a few calls to Barry Wressell from KFG Racing and to GP Suspension in order to figure out how to get it to transition from side to side better.
With an hour-long practice on Friday morning he was able to further dial in his bike for the tight, twisty and technical racetrack and was running a 1:44.147. During Friday’s qualifying session he was able to knock a half second off his time to reach a 1:43.629 and qualify 32nd on the grid.
Trying to sleep at the track during the huge evening storm proved nearly impossible for Galster as he battled the wind, rain, thunder and lightning in order to hold down his EZ-UP canopies. With a wet racetrack in the morning, Galster patiently used the practice time to further learn the track instead of pushing hard to gain feel for his suspension settings.
After a few riders opted out of Saturday’s race, Galster was able to start one row up and in 30th position on the grid. An incident on the first lap, saw Galster tangle with another rider in turn one, bumping him so hard that his leg was pulled off his foot peg. He lost a few valuable positions. Shortly after, a red flag brought the riders back to the pit lane for another restart from the original grid spots. Galster secured a better start this time and hunted down rider after rider, making several passes. With a few laps to go he was making some gains on the 20th place rider, Michael Barnes on the factory Buell, but was not able to make the pass. Galster finished in 21st place, pleased with how he was riding and happy he was able to reach a best time of 1:42.244.
Looking for some better rear end grip, Galster made a few changes to his bike before race #2. Again, Josh was able to secure a good start but had to re-do it again after another red flag stopped this race as well. The second start was unfortunately not as good for him and he fell back quite a few places, having to work extra hard to gain them back again.
Following Fernando Amantini for a few laps, Galster made his move after Amantini ran slightly wide in a corner and started a charge towards Santiago Villa. Making some really good gains, Galster got close, but not close enough and settled for another 21st place finish.
After both races, Galster said, “Overall I had an amazing weekend and I feel like I am finally getting back into shape. I’m feeling more and more comfortable on the bike, and getting my speed back. I would like to say thanks to Mark Presting and rider Matt Presting with AMS Racing, Ryan Spencer, the Moto Garage Racing team and mechanics, as well as Slednecks, EDR Performance, California Superbike School, Bazzaz Performance, Arai Helmets, LeoVince, Studio819, GPR Stabilizers, Kawasaki, Attack Kawasaki, Lockhart Phillips.”
Galster 21st in both races at Tornado Nationals, best finishes so far in 2009 season
July 31st-Aug 2- Heartland Park Topeka in Topeka, KS: Josh Galster of Team Slednecks enjoys his best race weekend so far in the 2009 AMA Daytona Sportbike Series after returning to racing from a life-threatening injury.
Arriving at the new to the AMA circuit, Heartland Park Topeka, Galster spent Thursday’s Promoter Practice setting up his bike and learning the unfamiliar track alongside his competitors. Feeling fairly comfortable at the end of the day with the way his 2007 Kawasaki ZX6 was handling, he made a few calls to Barry Wressell from KFG Racing and to GP Suspension in order to figure out how to get it to transition from side to side better.
With an hour-long practice on Friday morning he was able to further dial in his bike for the tight, twisty and technical racetrack and was running a 1:44.147. During Friday’s qualifying session he was able to knock a half second off his time to reach a 1:43.629 and qualify 32nd on the grid.
Trying to sleep at the track during the huge evening storm proved nearly impossible for Galster as he battled the wind, rain, thunder and lightning in order to hold down his EZ-UP canopies. With a wet racetrack in the morning, Galster patiently used the practice time to further learn the track instead of pushing hard to gain feel for his suspension settings.
After a few riders opted out of Saturday’s race, Galster was able to start one row up and in 30th position on the grid. An incident on the first lap, saw Galster tangle with another rider in turn one, bumping him so hard that his leg was pulled off his foot peg. He lost a few valuable positions. Shortly after, a red flag brought the riders back to the pit lane for another restart from the original grid spots. Galster secured a better start this time and hunted down rider after rider, making several passes. With a few laps to go he was making some gains on the 20th place rider, Michael Barnes on the factory Buell, but was not able to make the pass. Galster finished in 21st place, pleased with how he was riding and happy he was able to reach a best time of 1:42.244.
Looking for some better rear end grip, Galster made a few changes to his bike before race #2. Again, Josh was able to secure a good start but had to re-do it again after another red flag stopped this race as well. The second start was unfortunately not as good for him and he fell back quite a few places, having to work extra hard to gain them back again.
Following Fernando Amantini for a few laps, Galster made his move after Amantini ran slightly wide in a corner and started a charge towards Santiago Villa. Making some really good gains, Galster got close, but not close enough and settled for another 21st place finish.
After both races, Galster said, “Overall I had an amazing weekend and I feel like I am finally getting back into shape. I’m feeling more and more comfortable on the bike, and getting my speed back. I would like to say thanks to Mark Presting and rider Matt Presting with AMS Racing, Ryan Spencer, the Moto Garage Racing team and mechanics, as well as Slednecks, EDR Performance, California Superbike School, Bazzaz Performance, Arai Helmets, LeoVince, Studio819, GPR Stabilizers, Kawasaki, Attack Kawasaki, Lockhart Phillips.”