BIO ~

Chris Gorel

Riding since his father brought home a Honda ATC70, at age 7, he has been riding roughly 25 years, both on and off road. After a 6 year Infantry tour with the Marines and 2 years on the North Carolina roads on his ZX6R Ninja, Sgt. Gorel actively pursued the race track, further fueling his passion (and some would say "his addiction"). Chris then became a motorsports consultant, growing his talents to a top-rating in both new and used units at Martin Motorsports, a top 100 dealer located in Boyertown, PA... and one of his biggest sponsors.

In 2001, Chris married his biggest supporter, Shana, and in 2004, welcomed their son, Logan, into the Fan Club. Also in 2004, Chris entered the Mid-Atlantic Road Racing School in Summit Point, WV. Upon graduating MARRC, he began competing on his Suzuki SV650 in the CCS Series amatuer Thunderbike Class, taking 5th place. Shortly thereafter, he became the lead shadow-rider for Doug Hagy's Shadow Video Productions, an on-track video service and another of his current sponsors.

The year 2005 proved to be a stepping-stone, as he picked up a 600cc in-line 4 race bike and "picked up speed". In 2006, he chose WERA for his first full-season commitment and founded his own race team. This lead to  numerous podium finishes in the WEAR North East Regional Series before a mid-season high-speed crash during practice that cut the season short.

Shortly following the wreck, Chris had the opportunity to ride the new Ducati Sprot Classic... and he fell in love! In the Ducati he found the symbol of the glory days of motorcylce racing, but with a tame and untapped production package.

With Chris' promotion to the WERA Expert Level in the Fall and Ducati's release of the Sport Classic Race Kit in early 2007, Chris had a new-found focus and founded ThunderDuc Racing... a team with one true purpose -- the fun and glory of old school racing.

And there's more history yet to be written.