Chip Yates

Chip Yates and team qualify for their first ever AMA Professional Roadrace!

News Release

Media Contact:

William “Tim” Rylott

wrylott@hardmount.com

Chip Yates Qualifies For His First AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Race at Auto Club Speedway

AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY FONTANA, CALIFORNIA, March 21, 2009  --  Chip Yates (AMA #89) has put the SWIGZ.COM GSX-R600 on the grid for the Daytona Sportbike double header race weekend at Auto Club Speedway.

Yates’ best lap time from Saturday’s 20 minute qualifying session was well within the 110% cutoff rule of class leader Jason DiSalvo’s best time to make the grid, but was 2 seconds off what Yates had expected to do leaving him 15^th out of 20 riders.

Chip Yates:  “With this being our first AMA Pro race, we first have to focus on making it into the show, and then figure out how to fight farther up the field.  I have a number of improvements to make in my riding and our data acquisition found a few things with the bike that weren’t helping matters so I am optimistic that we will do some better times for the Saturday final qualifying and the 4:00pm Daytona SportBike race.  In any case, we are thrilled and honored to be here among the best riders in America”.

At 38 years old and with less than two years of racing experience, Chip is almost certainly on the steepest learning curve of any rider taking the Daytona SportBike grid Saturday, and there have been some exciting moments in his rapid ascent to the professional ranks.

Two of Chip’s three crashes have occurred at Auto Club Speedway; in January, 2008 Chip crashed at over 100MPH and broke his left collarbone but walked away thanks to the protection of his Dainese leather suit.  Last month, Yates crashed at 70MPH while testing control tires in preparation for this race weekend, but was completely uninjured thanks again to his Dainese suit.  An on-board video of the crash footage is at www.youtube.com/chipyates.

Chip is sponsored by:  SWIGZ.COM Dual Hydration System, Dainese, Dainese D-Store Costa Mesa, Aim Sports LLC, Woodcraft, M4 Performance Exhaust, and Armour Bodies.

About SWIGZ.COM:  SWIGZ^® is the world’s first dual hydration sports bottle allowing athletes to carry two drinks of their choice in a single bottle during workouts.  SWIGZ^® sports bottles can be purchased at www.swigz.com.  For more details of the SWIGZ.COM Pro Racing team and exciting on-board videos and crash footage, visit www.chipyates.com and www.youtube.com/chipyates.