Rapp Surprise Leader Of AMA Formula Xtreme Series

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Steve Rapp earned the biggest win of his career last month by taking a surprise victory in the Daytona 200. Now the Attack Kawasaki rider approaches the rest of the Lockhart-Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series presented by HMR with the confidence the Daytona victory gave him. Rapp will be one of the favorites when the series comes to Barber Motorsports Park, in Birmingham, Ala., on Saturday, April 21.

Rapp is still basking in the glory of winning the historic Daytona 200 on March 10. Now the resident of Manhattan Beach, Calif., turns his attention to the balance of the Formula Xtreme season. He and teammate Ben Attard, who finished second in Daytona and comes to Barber ranked second in the series, will attempt to give Kawasaki its first Formula Xtreme title.

Rapp feels his new ride with Attack Kawasaki may be the spark his racing career needed.

“For me to be on a new team, on a new bike, with new tires, just makes me feel good that maybe over the years I just didn’t have the right combination,” said Rapp, who turned pro in 1996. “I never tried a lot of different things. I was always just with one team, one brand of this, one brand of that. Until you get around to trying everything, you don’t know. I think that’s the case with this. You get on a good bike with good tires on a good team, and it just suits my style. Not to say that the other teams weren’t good or the tires weren’t good, but maybe they didn’t work with the way I rode.”

M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Michael Barnes is third in the Formula Xtreme standings after earning his first podium in the Daytona 200. Barnes, 38, of Boca Raton, Fla., is one of the most experienced riders in the AMA paddock and he feels like he is ready to make a serious bid at the Formula Xtreme title.

“I’m really excited to see the progress Pirelli has made with its racing tires,” Barnes said. “They’ve shown their commitment to our team and the series and I think that’s going to pay dividends this season.”

Another impressive performer at Daytona was young Brit Chaz Davies. Davies finished fourth at Daytona on the Celtic Performance Yamaha and he impressed a lot of experts with his speed and race savvy at Daytona. It will be interesting to see how Davies performs at Barber, a track that’s considered a real riders’ circuit.


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