Harley Class Has Record Entries
Cycle News Staff | February 16, 2011
The 2011 AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 class has a record number of entries for the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway as it enters its first full year of racing.With RMR Bruce Rossmeyer Daytona Racing Revolution Performance announcing the signing of Chris Fillmore, the grid now stands at 15 riders with late entries closing on Friday, February 18. The number is encouraging for the series, which wasn’t introduced until the middle of last year at Road America. There were nine entries at Road America and only 11 at the season finale at Barber Motorsports Park had 11 XR1200’s.Fillmore joins Kyle Wyman and Michael Corbino on the RMR Bruce Rossmeyer team for the 2011 season.
Fillmore, 24, first made a name for himself in Supermoto, but has since competed in AMA Pro Daytona SportBike, with a best finish of fifth in last year’s series. Fillmore ended the Daytona tire test as the second fastest of the Harley men.”We’re really happy to have Chris on our bike this year,” said team owner Richie Morris. “He has a lot of talent and is a very promising racer and impressed the team at the Daytona test. We took Danny Eslick’s advice. He thought Chris should be the guy. Chris has experience riding the larger bikes and we think that will help in this class.”
“I really appreciate the opportunity to ride for a championship-winning team and look forward to the season,” said Fillmore. “I rode the bike at Daytona and I thought it was a blast. The handlebars and upright seating position seemed like home to me after racing Supermoto. As soon as I left the pits, I had a smile on my face and I really enjoyed the nature of the XR1200. Another thing I like about the class is the bikes are all similar, so it is very competitive and it comes down to the rider and team.”
The Rossmeyer team won the inaugural AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 championship last season with Danny Eslick.
“The class is really going to be exciting for the fans this year,” said Morris. “Some of the other teams have good efforts, too, and there will be some racers like Michael Barnes and Steve Rapp out there that will add to the series. We’re looking forward to some competitive racing and expecting some 10-wide racing at the first one at Daytona.”
