Press Release from Pirelli

October 20, 2009

Rosamond, California: Rock and Roller David Kennedy, guitar player for the band Angels & Airwaves, competed in his second road race ever, again finishing on the podium. This time Kennedy took second place in the Willow Springs Motorcycle Club (WSMC) Novice Heavyweight class, adding to his first-place finish achieved in his first race ever, on his Kawasaki ZX-10R, fitted with Pirelli Diablo race tires.

Kennedy rode his 785-numbered Kawasaki to this second-place finish after quickly establishing himself in fourth place. Kennedy said, “I really wanted to get to the front quicker but I was stuck behind two guys that took a while to get around, you know, because of my lack of knowledge of racing. The guy who won [Brent Kapin] was faster than me in practice, but I wanted the chance to battle with him. He ended up about 12 seconds ahead of me and third turned out to be about that far behind, at the end.

“I really enjoyed it, racing is really fun. I like the feeling of the battle and competition. I like the intensity. I wanted to battle with the leader because then I would have had someone helping me make bad decisions, going faster, pushing me to the next level.

“I lost some practice time on Saturday because my countershaft nut came off. I lucked out though because it just came off and didn’t crack the cases or cause me to crash. Cutis Adams was a great help in getting my bike going again 

As always, Joey Lombardo from Kawasaki was there Sunday to get my head and the bike in the right places. Joey helps out by telling me to say what I think I’m feeling and he’ll figure it out. He can decipher my nonsense. I tell him, ‘It feels like it’s slack, like it’s hitting a note that’s not in tune.’ And Joey says, ‘Oh, we need to stiffen up the back end so that it doesn’t squat so much and keeps more weight on the front so it steers out of the turn.’ And he does that and it works! And Chris McGuire is such good energy. He and Corey Neuer do much more than just take care of the Pirelli racing tires for me. 

Kennedy’s next race will be the WSMC November event, November 14-15.

Pirelli Tire North America designs, develops, manufactures, and markets tires for passenger vehicles in both the original equipment and replacement markets, as well as marketing tires for motorcycles and race cars. Located in Rome, Georgia, Pirelli’s Modular Integrated Robotized System (MIRS) employs state-of-the-art technology to manufacture tires for both export and domestic markets. For more information please visit: www.us.pirellimoto.com.