GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing Race
Recap: Beaubier Continues Strong Mid-Season Rally with GoPro
Daytona SportBike Win during Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna
Seca
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: |
  
 |
|
DAYTONA
BEACH, Fla. (August 3, 2012) - Martin Cardenas won six of the first
eight AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike races of the year and the GEICO Suzuki
GSX-R600 pilot's championship run quickly outdistanced the competition well
before last weekend's GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing action at the Red
Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Early in 2012, Cardenas
wasn't necessarily winning the races by a mile (often he faced tough
competition, notably from Jason DiSalvo and Cameron Beaubier) but he was winning
and he certainly looked a cut above the competition.
With
a big points lead, Cardenas spent the two previous events at Barber Motorsports
Park and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course scoring solid finishes while Beaubier
(Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha YZF-R6) and Dane Westby (M4 Suzuki GSX-R600) took the
spotlight at the front. Cardenas
had a bike issue in one of the Barber races and ran strong at Ohio but the
slightest of errors meant Beaubier was able to pass him late and win on Sunday.
Beaubier has made great strides this year and to top Cardenas in a straight
fight even once is a significant achievement. That
set the stage for another battle at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca,
with the usual gang of GoPro Daytona SportBike gladiators looking to usurp glory
from Cardenas and Beaubier.
Cameron Beaubier #6 leads Martin Cardenas #36 and Tommy Hayden #22 to the checkers last Sunday during the AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike Series final at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
The
conditions were tough and the track time minimal after the Monterey fog played
havoc with the schedule but Cardenas won pole with a lap of 1:25.575 and was
joined by Tommy Hayden (Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha YZF-R6) and Beaubier on the
three-rider front row. Those three riders got away first of the start and then
Dane Westby (M4 Suzuki GSX-R600) saw his string of first or second place
finishes end at four when he highsided his bike on lap one. He was able to
remount and continue the race, which meant Westby would continue to hold second
place in the Daytona SportBike points. Beaubier
had a good view of two fast veterans for much of the race. Cardenas led but
Hayden, who won the AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike race at Laguna Seca in
2011, was quicker in some spots and looked content to follow until the end.
By
lap six, Bobby Fong (Meen Motorsports Yamaha YZF-R6) was able to join the
leading trio. Through the middle of the race, there weren't many moves attempted
at the front, but there were a lot of looks. At halfway, Beaubier decided to
make a move on Hayden, getting a good run up the hill and making the move
entering the Corkscrew. Jake
Zemke (Ducshop Ducati 848) closed in with seven to go and was just off the
leading four.
"Hammer
Time" came with four to go, the same time the leaders hit some lapped traffic.
Beaubier tried to make a move around the outside in turn four and five, but
Cardenas was having none of it. Seconds later, Fong crashed in turn six to end
his run. Beaubier was right on the tail of the 36 bike but Cardenas had all the
obvious passing areas covered. It was going to take a move similar to the one
Beaubier made at Mid-Ohio; a move in a spot that Cardenas wasn't expecting. It
happened in turn two on the last lap. Beaubier got a good run out of the final
corner and continued down the straight, but was able to get his Yamaha slowed
and positioned on the inside for the second part of turn two. Cardenas hit the
corner hot and left the slightest of gaps. It left just enough room for Beaubier
to take the lead. Like
at Mid-Ohio, Beaubier was able to cut a really hot lap at the end, having held a
little something in reserve for that final time around just like Cardenas does.
No one could close on the Yamaha rider and Beaubier was able to win by 0.093
over Cardenas and Hayden.
"Martin
made a little mistake coming out of the last corner and I was able to pass him
into two," said Beaubier. "I was riding a little impatient in the middle of the
race, trying to get around Tommy and showing Martin a wheel here and there. I
felt like I could get in there pretty good but to tell the truth I did not plan
that move. I saw the opportunity." Cardenas
didn't win but now leads the points by 64. "Cameron made a good move to pass
me," Cardenas said. "I was expecting him to try something in turn five and I had
an idea of how to shut the door, but he surprised me in turn two and made the
pass. I wanted to try to get back around him because I felt the race was ours,
but I also didn't want to give anything more away. He had just enough cushion
that he was able to hold the position. Aside from that, it was a perfect race
for us and we are happy."
Hayden
had the fastest lap of the race but somehow didn't quite get the finish he
wanted. "The
race went pretty smooth and I was in a position I wanted to be in," said Hayden.
"I was pretty confident that if I got with the leaders, I could run the pace to
win. Some places, I was a little faster than Martin, others he was quicker than
me. The areas I was faster were the areas where you couldn't pass. I was a
little disappointed because halfway through the race I thought I had a better
chance of winning than I did at the end. I'm not completely satisfied."
Zemke
earned fourth place and took another fine finish for the Ducshop Ducati team
just a shade over three seconds back. It's the fourth time this season Zemke has
finished fourth. Jake
Gagne (RoadRace Factory/Red Bull Yamaha YZF-R6) was fifth in another crazy race
for the luckless Californian. Westby banged him hard on lap one when he crashed
and Gagne then had another moment one corner later. After the race, the 132 bike
was battered and Gagne's ankle swollen but he had a top five finish to show for
it. The
battle for sixth was pretty wild. Cory West earned the spot for Riders Discount
Vesrah Suzuki crew over Benny Solis (Kneedraggers.com Yamaha)
Joey Pascarella (Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki) and J.D. Beach (RoadRace
Factory/Red Bull) all dive-bombing into the last corner trying to get sixth. Venezuela's
Fernando Amantini (Team Amantini) earned tenth place.
With
a month off before the series renews the hostilities at New Jersey Motorsports
Park, it is time for the GoPro Daytona SportBike regulars to gear up for the
2012 stretch run.
|
  
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Point
Standings (After Round 8)
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About GEICO Motorcycle
AMA Pro Road Racing:
GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro
Road Racing is the premier motorcycle road racing series in North America and is
universally regarded as one of the most competitive road racing organizations in
the world. The 2012 schedule consists of 12 rounds of competition on the
country's finest road courses. The Series is comprised of four production-based
classes: AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike, AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike, AMA
Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport and the AMA Pro Vance & Hines
XR1200 Series. Learn more about GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing at www.amaproracing.com/rr/.
About AMA Pro
Racing:
AMA Pro Racing is the premier
professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full
schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines.
Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.
For additional information
contact:
AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com
|
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep it nice, but keep them coming!
---Please note---You can leave comments anonymously, but you can also leave them while logged into Google, Yahoo and other platforms.
We'd love to hear from you!
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.