Great Clips West Coast Moto Jam Recap: AMA Pro GoPro
Daytona SportBike
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DAYTONA
BEACH, Fla. (May 10, 2012) - It was no shock that the AMA GoPro Daytona SportBike
action was fast and furious at Infineon Raceway. Martin
Cardenas (GEICO Suzuki) and Jason DiSalvo (Castrol
Latus Motors Racing Triumph) split the wins at in Sonoma in what were difficult
races with hot paces. The two veterans had the most speed in the class and made
it very tough for their rivals to hang on.
Cardenas won on Saturday, holding
off an assault from DiSalvo on the 2.32-mile circuit. The Colombian extended his
win streak to three with the victory.
It wasn't easy, though. Early
leader Cameron Beaubier (Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha) showed he could
run up front despite an injury that forced him to miss the Atlanta event.
DiSalvo and Cardenas followed closely in the early going, eventually shaking the
Yamaha pilot and relegating him to third place. Cardenas and DiSalvo traded the
lead a few times as both men were riding aggressively and making a few mistakes
but Cardenas made a pass for the lead with three to go - an unplanned pass that
just happened to be there for the 2010 series champion. He then put in some
great final laps to win by 1.460 seconds.
"It was a pretty tough race.
Jason was fast in some sections of the track and I was catching up in some
others. It was hard and we exchanged positions three or four times," said
Cardenas. "It's been awesome all year long and I hope to continue."
It was Martin's 20th AMA Pro win
and 19th in the GoPro Daytona SportBike class. Cardenas holds the record for
most Daytona SportBike wins.
DiSalvo had an excellent race on
the Triumph. He'd shown promise all year, finishing second at Daytona, but had
two mechanical issues at Road Atlanta.
"The pace for the race was pretty
hefty and Infineon is a physical racetrack," said DiSalvo. "I have to give it to
Martin. He rode a great race. We went back and forth but on that last lap he
dropped the hammer."
Cameron Beaubier #6 leads Jason DiSalvo #40 and Martin Cardenas #36 during one of the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Series races at round 3 of the AMA Road Racing series at Infineon Raceway. AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Beaubier consolidated third,
showing courage despite considerable pain. He would withdraw from the meet after
his knee issues flared up. "I felt really good on both the starts. I felt
fresh," said Beaubier. "A little bit before the halfway mark, my knee started to
tense up and I felt really bad, so I fell off their pace a little bit. The last
six laps, I was just trying to get it to the checkered flag." The battle for fourth went to
Dane Westby (M4 Suzuki), who topped points rival Tommy
Hayden (Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha) by just 0.2 seconds. Westby nailed the
last few corners to hold off the Kentuckian.
Cory West,
Bobby Fong, and J.D. Beach comprised the next
group. West (Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki) put in a good ride and won the
battle to take sixth over the resurgent Fong (Meen Motorsports) and young rider
Beach (RoadRace Factory/Red Bull). DAYTONA® 200 winner Joey
Pascarella ran up front early but finished ninth on the SGA Yamaha.
Veteran Jake Zemke earned a top ten for Ducshop Ducati, making
it four brands in the top ten.
On Sunday, DiSalvo ran away with
a 9.532-second win. His biggest challenger, Cardenas, crashed out in the closing
laps.
Polesitter DiSalvo got a great
launch on both starts of the red-flagged race. With Cardenas mired in the pack,
the New Yorker got away and earned his lead with solid laps on a clean
track. Pascarella and Hayden gave chase.
Hayden was able to work past Pascarella on lap five, but couldn't close the gap
to DiSalvo and settled in. Further back in the field,
Cardenas was working his way towards the front after a disappointing restart.
Cardenas was able to turn the same lap times as DiSalvo, but the Colombian could
not work his way up to second place until midway through the 22-lap event. When
he made it to second, Cardenas trailed DiSalvo by 5.2 seconds to start lap
14.
Cardenas was unwilling to concede
victory to DiSalvo and was able to cut into DiSalvo's lead, but crashed at the
Esses with 4 laps to go. Hayden, who finished second to DiSalvo, was able to
close within 12 points of Cardenas in the points. After the race, DiSalvo said, "We
made some adjustments to the bike. They were small but critical. It gave me the
comfort to push all race long. I backed it down at the end because I knew I had
a big gap."
Hayden was able to earn his best
result yet in his fill-in ride for Y.E.S/Graves/Yamaha's Garrett
Gerloff. He was a major beneficiary of the first red flag. When Zemke
crashed, Hayden ran off course and returned to the track as one of the last
riders in the field. When the race began with riders in their original grid
positions, he was able to take advantage of a tire compound switch from Saturday
to improve his pace. "Jason had his head down and
wanted to get away. I tried to latch onto him but he was in his own league
today," said Hayden. "It feels good, though. It was a big points turnaround for
us. I'm still getting used to the 600 but I'm enjoying it."
Pascarella was able to finish
third despite a hurt shoulder. "We had a crash Friday in first
qualifying. I've had a shoulder that's messed up and I landed on it," said
Pascarella. "It was super sore. I knew I had the pace to do it. I just didn't
know if it could last."
West won a dogfight for fourth,
passing Fong for the position in the last corners. Beach also snuck past Fong in
the run the checkers to earn fifth. Dane Westby (M4
Suzuki) had a bizarre run to seventh. He had tangled with Cardenas in turn 11
early and fell, but remounted and passed numerous riders. Westby is now third in
points, 19 behind Cardenas. Zemke crashed before the red
flag, but was able to get repairs and restart from his original grid position.
He finished eighth. Michael Beck
(Full Tuck Racing) showed well for his small team. The Californian garnered his
best result of the year and second top ten of the year. Benny Solis
(Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki) rounded out the top ten, topping Huntley
Nash (LTD Racing) who gained four positions from Saturday's race. Jake Gagne
(RoadRace Factory/Red Bull) was second early on Sunday before clutch issues
forced him to retire. That followed on the heels of his Saturday crash in what
was a bad luck weekend for him.
Top 10 Finishers from
Infineon Raceway:
AMA Pro GoPro Daytona
SportBike Point Standings After Round 3
Year-End Award Updates
Benny Solis has taken the points lead for the
$5,000 Saddlemen Rookie of the Year award program. Dane Westby
has now logged 967.53 miles in 342 laps, passing Beck in the chase for the
$5,000
Sunoco "Go The Distance" Award.
Current Sunoco "Go The
Distance" Award Standings After Round 3
Next
Event
AMA Pro Road Racing will next head west for Round 4 with a stop at Tooele, Utah. The BigM Weekend will take place at Miller Motorsports Park in three weeks time, May 26-28. For tickets and event information, please visit http://www.millermotorsportspark.com
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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
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