Elena Myers Rides The Brickyard on the Suzuki GSV-R

Elena Myers got a bit closer today to her dream of racing a MotoGP motorcycle, as the young AMA Pro Supersport rider got a chance to ride one of the Rizla Suzuki GSV-R race bikes around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway GP circuit. The outing started with a rocky start, as the Suzuki GSV-R cutout after Myers finished her out-lap, and was on her first proper lap of the session. Getting it started and riding back to the pits, Elena got back out on the track, after her tires were thrown back on the warmers for 20 minutes, and gave the Suzuki a proper go of things.

Taking a slew of laps around The Brickyard’s GP layout, Myers, to our knowledge, is the first rider on a GP bike to go around the newly paved infield section (Nicky Hayden lapped last week on a production Ducati Superbike 1198 SP). Eager not to crash one of Álvaro Bautista’s race bikes, the 17-year-old rode a smooth and consistent pace around IMS, but still managed to open up the Suzuki a bit with a top 306 km/h (190 mph) speed down the front straight. More of a chance for Myers to try out the MotoGP machinery than an actual test, her GSV-R was race-spec sans for some steel brake rotors (MotoGP bikes typically run carbon fiber brake discs).

“Wow! I can’t really say anything else; it was such an incredible experience ! I can’t thank the guys at Suzuki MotoGP enough — they have been awesome!” said an ecstatic Myers. “This makes me so hungry to come out here and try it someday for real on a race weekend — well I guess this is a race weekend, but I mean for real next time. I can’t say enough about the bike either, it does everything 20 times better than I ever would have imagined — this has just been amazing, and I think I’ll slowly realize what just happened over the next couple of days. The GSV-R just blew me away!”

“It was great to see Elena out on a MotoGP bike and very cool that — as the Suzuki MotoGP team — we could help her fulfill one of her dreams,” said Rizla Suzuki Team Manager Paul Denning. “At 17-years-old, and judging by her performances in the AMA Pro SuperSport Chamionship, she has a significant amount of ability that is only going to develop as she gains experience. She treated the run today with great intelligence and maturity, but nonetheless it was impressive to see that she wasn’t afraid of either the speed of the power!

“Thanks to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for helping us to make this happen, and the boys for preparing the bike and to Álvaro for letting Elena use it!” add Denning.