Subway SuperBike Doubleheader Recap: AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 7, 2012)
- 2010 AMA Pro GoPro Daytona
SportBike champ Martin Cardenas did nothing at Road America but
help his chances of winning another crown. Cardenas won both races at the
4.05-mile track and now has a commanding lead in the championship. The GEICO
Suzuki pilot leads by 47 points over on-track rival Jason
DiSalvo of Team Latus Motors Racing Triumph. With
the three-race stretch held in a little over a week, Cardenas has rallied nicely
from his Sonoma crash by taking three wins and three bonus points to curtail any
damage done by that mishap. GoPro
Daytona SportBike racing is always tight by nature, but Cardenas has found a way
to get ahead on the last lap time and time again in his tenure in the class. Two
wins by a little over a second each time out in Wisconsin ... the all-time class
wins leader described it as a "perfect weekend," even though it was hard to
shake his rivals.
"I
just tried to push, get in a good rhythm, and see if somebody comes with me or
not," said Cardenas. "A lot of guys were really close behind me. I knew the last
two laps were going to be really important. When the time came, I pushed very
hard."
Martin Cardenas #36 leads Jason DiSalvo #40 during one of the AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike Series races at Road America last weekend. AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
DiSalvo
earned the podium twice and made a good charge through the field to get there on
Sunday. Afterward, the New Yorker said it reminded him of his 2010 Moto2 race at
Indy.
"That
last lap was really incredible. It was everything I had, that's for the whole
race. The whole race I was hammer down trying to make up positions," DiSalvo
said. "We just got a bad start and got buried back at the back of the lead
group. It was a couple of laps before the field started to thin out. I noticed
every time someone started to drop off the pack, it would be like they would
lose a little bit of the draft that'd allow me to get around them and then close
the gap back up to the lead group. As the lead group got smaller and smaller, I
just worked my way up into it. At the end, we found ourselves sort of in
contention until the end when stuff started going sideways with Cameron
(Beaubier) and J.D. (Beach). We were all battling really hard. It let Martin get
away a little bit, but no regrets. Second place feels like a win."
Cameron
Beaubier (Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha) ran strong once again and took second
on Saturday and looked to repeat on Sunday before a last lap crash put him out
of the event. That
elevated J.D. Beach and RoadRace Factory/Red Bull to their
first GoPro Daytona SportBike podium. "We've
just been working really hard and moving forward, improving race by race, not
trying to do anything crazy and crash. It was good race, it was really good
battle being up front. All of those four guys are really fast," Beach said. "It
was cool to be racing with Martin (Cardenas), Jason (DiSalvo), Cameron
(Beaubier) and Tommy Hayden and everybody, because when I was in SuperSport I
was watching them and trying to learn from them. Now I'm racing against
them."
Dane
Westby took fourth on Saturday riding the M4 Suzuki and garnered sixth
the second day. Westby has shown great speed in the races this year, but once
again didn't get the starts he wanted in Wisconsin. He left himself with too
much work to contend for the win. "I need to go to a drag strip or something,"
said Westby.
Tommy
Hayden's weekend changed when the team switched motors in his
Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha YZF-R6. Hayden had a rough go at Miller and in Road America
Race One, but an engine change saw him jump up on the speed chart and in the
results table. He was in the lead pack Sunday and is optimistic for Barber
Motorsports Park, although the team has not officially extended his deal yet as
he replaces the injured Garret Gerloff.
Upstart
Bobby Fong took fifth on Saturday for Meen Motorsports and was
in a similar position on Sunday when he came together with Jake
Gagne in turn five mid-race. Fong still managed tenth. Jake
Zemke, riding the Ducshop Ducati, carved another solid weekend with
sixth and fifth place results. Cory
West was the fastest of the Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki competitors,
earning seventh and eighth.
LTD
Racing's Huntley Nash was a rider with a breakthrough weekend in Wisconsin. Nash ran as high as
third in Saturday's race and ran extensively with the lead Daytona SportBike
pack for the first time in both races. He took 10th and seventh. "I learned a
lot," said the 20-year old. Gagne had a disappointing weekend by his standards with
eighth and ninth place finishes. The Californian brought home a wounded bike on
Sunday, his RoadRace Factory/Red Bull Yamaha YZF-R6 receiving damage from a
collision with Fong. "I didn't have much brake pressure," said Gagne.
Cardenas is the class of the field, but the GEICO Suzuki
GSX-R600 pilot isn't leaps and bounds ahead. Will someone chasing him find a way
to unseat the Colombian at Barber Motorsports Park?
Top 10 Finishers from Road America Race
1:
Top 10 Finishers from Road America Race
2:
AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike Point Standings
(After Round 5):
Year-End
Award Updates
Jake Gagne
has reclaimed the points lead for the $5,000 Saddlemen Rookie of the
Year award program. Dane Westby has now logged 1488.68 miles in 485
laps and leads the chase for the $5,000 Sunoco "Go The Distance"
Award.
Current
Sunoco "Go The Distance" Award Standings After Round 5:
Next
Event
AMA Pro Road
Racing heads to Birmingham, Ala. for the Triumph Superbike Classic at the
highly-acclaimed Barber Motorsports Park June 22-24. Tickets can be purchased at
barbermotorsports.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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