Photo courtesy of Suzuki
The following is from Suzuki…
Team Hammer, Inc. and Suzuki Motor USA, LLC (Suzuki) will continue their racing partnership in the MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship for the next two seasons. The team will race as Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki.
Long recognized for a winning tradition, both Suzuki and Team Hammer have a proud racing history. This season will be Team Hammer’s 44th straight in American motorcycle racing paddocks and promises to be one of the best yet.
In addition to the Supersport and Superbike classes racing Suzuki GSX-Rs, the team will also compete in the Twins Cup class in 2024 with the new Suzuki middleweight, parallel-twin-powered GSX-8R sportbike.
Richie Escalante (54) and Brandon Paasch (96) will race again in the MotoAmerica Superbike class on Suzuki GSX-R1000R race bikes after showing remarkable promise in 2023. Tyler Scott and Teagg Hobbs both return as Supersport contestants after a season of vying for wins and podiums on Suzuki GSX-R750s. They will be joined in 2024 in Supersport by Joel Ohman. Young hotshot Rossi Moor will race in the Twins Cup class for the team, joining a long line of top young talent for Suzuki and Team Hammer.
“We are confident in the team we have assembled for our 44th season,” said Team Hammer’s Chris Ulrich. “We’re back with Suzuki again and we have had a lot of success together over the years. We have some great sponsors, suppliers, and partners, plus some very talented riders. We are all excited for 2024,” said Ulrich.
“Now, for the first time since winning the championship in 2019 and 2020, we are returning to the Twins Cup class with the new Suzuki GSX-8R and, for us, developing a new motorcycle is exciting. For Supersport, we’re continuing our development of the Suzuki GSX-R750 next-generation program, and our ride-by-wire system will now also be used in the Dutch Supersport Championship and in Germany in addition to the Isle of Man and BSB. We’ve also made some good gains in Superbike with the Suzuki GSX-R1000R and are looking forward to having two healthy riders back and ready to go into the season with momentum,” added Ulrich.
Vision Wheel returns as the team’s title sponsor. A leading aftermarket custom wheel supplier for many vehicle types, Vision Wheel strives to reach present and future customers through racing.
“We’re glad to extend our partnership with Team Hammer,” said Vision Wheel CEO Roger Minor. “We’ve already had a lot of success together and Vision Wheel is looking forward to continuing that momentum in MotoAmerica competition. Race fans are our customers, and we feel it’s important for Vision Wheel to have a strong presence with a successful organization.”
Mission Foods, a Texas-based maker of Mexican food products, also returns with the team for 2024.
Long-time exhaust partner M4 Performance Exhaust will once again support and supply the team.
“M4 Performance Exhaust looks forward to another year of racing with Team Hammer.” said Vice President Kyle Martin. “The MotoAmerica series looks to be as competitive as ever, which brings extra excitement. After 26 years of this commitment together, we absolutely know this team will be a force to be reckoned with in 2024.”
ECSTAR is the global brand of Suzuki Genuine Oils & Chemicals, and supplies high-quality ECSTAR lubricants to the team again in 2024.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki will race in the 82nd Daytona 200 March 7-9, 2024, fielding Escalante, Paasch, Hobbs, and Scott on Supersport GSX-R750s, and Moor will make his team debut on a GSX-8R in Twins Cup at the storied speedway. Ohman will join the team starting with the second round of the series, at Road Atlanta April 19-21.
