Johnny Lewis joined the Lloyd brothers' team for the 2016 AMA Pro Flat Track season. |
Lloyd Brothers Motorsport and Johnny Lewis Team Up Again for 2016
A short season won’t stop the Lloyd brothers from competing at the top level in this year’s series.
Johnny Lewis will ride for Lloyd Brothers Motorsport in select rounds of the AMA Pro Racing Flat Track Championship and the Second Annual Harley-Davidson Flat Track X Games. Lewis will be riding the newest version of the LBM Flat Tracker with title sponsorship from Dillard Family Racing.
Lloyd Brothers Motorsport races exclusively in the AMA Pro Racing Grand National Dirt Track Circuit as well as the Flat Track X Games.
“We didn’t have the funding for the full series this year, but we are excited to continue with our rider from last year, Johnny Lewis. Johnny would not have been able to compete in a full season anyway because he and his wife are expecting a baby girl in the coming weeks. So we are skipping three rounds and will pick it up at the X-Games,” said David Lloyd, co-owner with his brother Michael of Lloyd Brothers Motorsport (LBM).
“Our Focus is to make sure that the team has every possible advantage to compete well at each race that we attend while at the same time gaining valuable experience together to move forward in the future,” stated team co-owner Michael Lloyd. “We had several top-five finishes last year running a partial season with Johnny. In addition to removing over 13 pounds from the motorcycle, we have made chassis and power plant changes that should move us forward,” added David Lloyd.
According to David, Michael and David have owned a team for 12 or 13 years. “We helped to develop the LBM Flat Tracker, which we have been having pretty good success with. We also participated in the Moto ST Series and won that championship two years in a row, back in 2007 and 2008.”
David and Michael’s primary business is building homes in the Columbus, Ohio area.
David started racing 30 years ago when he was 14 years old. “I grew up riding motorcycles. I did the pro series for a couple of years and we’ve been influential in getting new brands involved in the sport,” he said.
He first started getting interested in motorcycle racing when he was about 13. He noted that no one in his family was involved in the sport. It was a personal appeal that stemmed from the popularity of motorcycle racing in the rural area in which he grew up.
“We lived out in the country and I heard of people riding motorcycles,” said David. “The first time I rode one I was hooked. I got involved locally and a shop owner saw how well I was riding and he helped support me and got me into racing by the time I was 16.”
David turned pro when he was 16. “I turned to the then Pro-Am class at 16 and then moved up to the Junior pro ranks when I was 17 and I got my expert license when I was 18,” he said.
Johnny's featured bike this year is 13-pound lighter Ducati Scrambler with improvements made to the chassis and powerplant. |
As a co-owner of a team David focuses on recruiting riders and collecting sponsors. “Finding riders for dirt track is just looking at the talent pool and seeing who is available each year,” he explained. “We are very excited to have Johnny Lewis moving forward. His talent, work ethic and personality are unmatched in the paddock.”
Building a program that attracts high visibility and provides a quick return on investment has allowed the team to lure sponsors. They have attracted a lot of attention by using different types of branded motorcycles that have not been seen in Flat Track racing before. For example, Lloyd Brothers Motorsport has competed on motorcycles from Ducati and Aprilia as well as Harley-Davidson and Kawasaki.
David pointed out that the team’s biggest race victory occurred in 2010 in Prescott, Arizona. In their first race with Joe Kopp, who won the national championship twice, Lloyd Brothers Motorsport’s Ducati was the first to beat a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in 19 years. To say it was close would be an understatement. Kopp won by 17-thousandths of a second.
“Prior to that race Harley-Davidson and Honda had both developed motors for Flat Track racing that won every race for 28 years. The win got us in every motorcycle magazine around the world. It was pretty cool,” he said.
The racing team concentrates on Flat Track racing because it gives them the opportunity to develop new things for their motorcycles. “I like to develop new things so everything we do on dirt track is hand made,” said David. “For example, we design our own chassis. Every time we race we have a chance to test them and then improve them. It is a constant evolution process to make them better. That’s why Flat Track racing is so cool.
“Dirt track seems pretty simple,” continued David. “You just keep going left all the time. But the motorcycles and the riders have to be very much on point. We’re always in one gear, there are no front brakes and there are only four corners. Things have to work very, very well opposed to road racing when you have 15 corners, six-speeds and a front brake. You have to be sure that your motorcycle is set up and designed correctly so it can work on different types of tracks.”
This isn't the first time Johnny is running with the Lloyd brothers. However, this season will be a short one for the team. |
David noted that tracks vary widely in Flat Track racing. Some tracks are hard and sticky, some are hard and slippery and some are deep cushioned. “Racing Flat Track is like a moving target. You have to make sure everything fits right. It’s very challenging,” he said.
Members of Lloyd Brothers Motorsport include Lewis, who also runs a dirt track school, Daniel Kalal, and Richard Lambracht. “We’ve all been together for quite awhile. We have a good group of people. It truly takes a village to be successful,” said David.
David noted that K&N Filters has been sponsoring Lloyd Brothers Motorsport for 13 years. “They’ve been fantastic. We have built a personal relationship with them,” he said.
“You know, some cushion tracks are incredibility dirty and violent environments where motorcycles get hit with 100-mile an hour rooster tails. For us, K&N is our only choice as far as air filters are concerned. They take a beating and still come through,” he concluded.
Lloyd Brothers Motorsport will compete next in the X-Games on June 2. |
