Pegram Fastest in Both Superbike Practice Sessions at Daytona as AMA Live Scoring and Timing Suffers from Major Problems on Both RR and FT Sites

In an opening salvo to the AMA American Superbike season, Larry Pegram lead all comers today in both practice sessions at Daytona to set his stamp of authority on the beginning of the season.
However, the AMA Live Timing and Scoring has been suffering through some major glitches today that all but has kept the timing site down. Once it finally did come back up, the new-look link stayed on results of the first Daytona SportBike session-led by Martin Cardenas-and never updated beyond.
And from a post over at http://www.flattrack.com/, other people were having the same problem as I have all day over on the AMA Flat Track side and couldn't get anything more then the last results of the Supercross race from Atlanta last Saturday. One person did post that said to the effect that Mike Kidd (AMA Flat Track) did say the timing and scoring would be up for the races themselves this evening at the short track. We'll see and are waiting patiently.

As of this writing, at 6 P.M. EST, the 'live timing' link had been completely removed from the road race side and the link on the flat track side took you to Saturday's Supercross results in Atlanta.

Are you listening AMA? We hope so......

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Here is the 'new' link as taken off of the AMA Road Racing site earlier today:

http://laptraxtg.racersites-cluster.com/LapTraxTG/AMA/livescoring.html?LAPTRAXID=2010011005#

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Without trying to be critical of Mike or the AMA, which I'm not as I understand his and their position is to oversee and run the show, I do want to point out that for both the AMA Road Racing site and AMA Flat Track site to come out of the box with these types of problems at an event that is not only their 'Super Bowl' so to speak, let alone the inuagaral races of the year, and to not have the glitches ironed out at this point is a gross oversight. And one that after all the problems from last year and the steps taken by both series over the off season to improve themselves leaves a pretty big gap in trying to please the fan base and keep and/or to grow on that fan base. Let alone in this wired world we live in now.


For the results of the first two Superbike practice sessions you can go here thanks to the great people at http://www.superbikeplanet.com/ who are on scene for the 'festivities' at the big raceplex in Daytona:
http://superbikeplanet.com/2010/Mar/100303c.htm
http://superbikeplanet.com/2010/Mar/100303e.htm
And you can check out the first Daytona SportBike session from this morning here. The second session is scheduled for tonight and should be running now. Of course if the AMA's timing and scoring was running we could tell:
http://superbikeplanet.com/2010/Mar/100303b82w.htm

We sincerely hope that the glitches experienced throughout the day today on both the AMA Road Racing site http://amaproracing.com/rr/
and the AMA Flat Track site http://amaproracing.com/ft/
are not something that we will have to put up with throughout the course of the rest of the event. We would like to think that they can get these details worked out at least by this evening to where by tomorrow we can follow the great live timing and scoring that we have come to expect out of the people at the AMA. And that their oversight in having these problems on the first day of the first races of the season are just that. An oversight. We are patient, but........

The shot I picked above for this irate sounding post is of Larry Pegram's Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing Ducati 1098R as was on display last August at the Indy MotoGP round. This was a diplay of the bike Larry used to contest the '09 season last year in AMA American Superbike and won three races with, including a surprise victory over 7-Time Champ Mat Mladin in the second race at Elkhart Lake's Road America in June.

Here's a link to a great article penned by Paul Carruthers over at http://www.cyclenews.com/ that talks about Larry's first session today:
http://cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2010/03/03/pegram-gets-it-started

We wish Larry the best of luck and a tip of the helmet for his first day's work effort at the opening round today, and we wish all the competitors the best of luck and safety. At least we are back racing. Now, if the AMA can get the technical problems straightened out with the live timing and scoring, this could be a great race event to see and watch over the next few days.

Thanks again for hanging with us here at Stu's Shots and listening to me rant again! Maybe they'll be able to get these problems worked out for us fans and I won't have to rant again. At least not this week....
Maybe I just have too much passion for this sport, and it might just be me. But I doubt it. And as I have proven in the past, if I am wrong I will retract my statements and offer a complete and total apology to those parties involved. Until then, it appears as amateurish at best coming from the professional series that they are.
But we are still waiting patiently.....

....and apparently so are others.
As of 8:35 P.M. EST over at www.roadracingworld.com, this was just found on the problems having to do with the timing and scoring:
http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=39626

It's going to be a long week.........

Update 9:00 P.M. EST--

According to a post over at www.flattrack.com, Mike Kidd with the AMA has said that they are having problems with the software for the timing and scoring on both the RR and the FT side. They ARE working on the problem as this was posted.

Here is the Twitter link that seems to be updating current race info at the short track:

https://twitter.com/GNC_Flattrack

Stu's Shots Previews the Daytona 200 and the 2010 AMA Daytona SportBike Season

With practice for the upcoming Daytona round of AMA Pro Road Racing only six days off, we can already smell the smoke and racing fuel in the air. As noted in the previous post, AMA Pro Racing and the AMA/DMG folks have been making wholesale changes to the series in the last several weeks, among them personnel changes and increased purses for the Daytona SportBike class premier Daytona 200 event, as well as adding a second Superbike round and increasing purse and place payouts for this event. We can only hope that these changes will help to bring public sentiment back around in their favor, and to give the series it's much needed bounce that was missing from last year's running of the series.

As of today's writing, there were 50 entries for the Daytona SportBike class for the Daytona round, so the that signals a very good sign considering just a little over a month ago less then 20 entries were showing. Today we will do a short profile on a few of those riders.

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Danny Eslick #1-'09 AMA Daytona SportBike Champion-Suzuki GSX-R600

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Richie Morris Racing's Geico-sponsored Danny Eslick set the world on fire during the '09 season riding the Buell 1125R. What many considered a bike that should never have been allowed in the class, Danny and the Buell won six races and clearly showed that talent and bike set-up were the key to the championship. Several other riders, among them Danny's teammate Michael Barnes, also raced the Buell last year, but not with near the results as young Mr. Eslick.

With Buell now defunct thanks to operations out of Milwaukee's 'finest' Harley Davidson, Eslick and the RMR team will be riding Suzuki GSX-R600's this year in their quest to retain the title.

With Danny having ridden Suzuki's in the past, the transition may not be as severe as what could be expected. The top shot shows Danny on the #69 Matsushima Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 while qualifying for the Barber round in Leeds, AL., for the April '07 round of the AMA SuperStock class.

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Geoff May #99-Vallely Racing/GMR Racing Suzuki GSX-R600 for 2010

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Geoff will be aboard his own equipment this year with help from Leo Vince, Ohlins and Dunlop, among others. Having raced for the M4 Emgo Suzuki team and Michael Jordan Motorsports over the course of the last five seasons, Geoff is going it on his own year, more a result of the lack of rides and sponsorship for the 2010 season then lack of effort. Having ridden Suzuki's with these teams as well can only help as well in his quest to run this class this year after having run AMA America/U.S. Superbike and AMA SuperStock and SuperSport the last 5-6 seasons. The second shot above shows Geoff in qualifying at Road America during the '06 event. Aboard the #99 M4 Emgo SuperStock Suzuki GSX-R1000, this was just coming out of turn 8.

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Martin Cardenas #36-Seven Time AMA Daytona SportBike Race Winner-Team M4 Emgo Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R600

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In what will be his fourth year of riding in the States, Martin returns to the M4 Emgo Suzuki team and again will be Suzuki GSX-R600 mounted for the 2010 season. Martin won seven races and garnered 10 podiums in his debut in the Daytona SportBike class, and pretty much lost the title due to a late season crash that put him out of action at the last round. This year could be pivotal for Mr. Cardenas as he will be on like-equipment as his main adversary, Danny Eslick, and with four seasons of racing for M4 and on Suzuki's the transition shouldn't be too severe. Martin is shown in the third shot above at Road America in 2008 in the turn 10 area off of the carousel during rain practice for the AMA FX class.

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Steve Rapp #15-2007 Daytona 200 Winner-Team Latus Motors-Ducati 848 for 2010

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The senior member of the class, Steve Rapp has been throwing his leg over a racing motorcycle in the expert ranks now going on a decade and a half. Having won the Daytona 200 in '07, Steve has raced for Michael Jordan Motorsports, Vance and Hines Racing, and Valvoline Suzuki among others in his road racing career. With a new off-season deal with Latus Motors--the same folks who have sponsored 2000 AMA Flat Track Champion Joe Kopp for several years--the '10 season could be a new lease on racing life for Mr. Rapp. Having raced Ducati's for Vance and Hines and for HMC Racing back in the '00 and '01 seasons, adapting to the characteristics of the grunt from the twin shouldn't be a problem here. And with the Big Buell gone now, the 848 could prove to be a strong force in this class. Steve is shown in the fourth shot above on the Michael Jordan Motorsports GSX-R1000 during qualifying for the Road America SuperStock round in '08 coming out of the turn 8 area before heading under the bridge into the carousel.

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Jake Holden #23-Three Time AMA SuperStock Race Winner-Ducshop Racing Ducati 848 for '10

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Jake is another rider who has amassed a 'journeyman's' resume in AMA Road Racing over the course of the last several years. Michael Jordan Motorsports, Hypercycle Racing and Corona Honda Racing are among some of the teams he has raced for, and he won an AMA SuperStock race in '07 while with the Team Jordan Suzuki team and winning two rounds in '08 while riding for the Corona Honda Racing team. Jake will be on the #23 Ducshop Racing Ducati 848 in the Daytona SportBike class, and will be riding his own Honda CBR1000RR in the American Superbike class for the 2010 season. Jake is shown in the fifth shot above at Road America in 2006. As a team mate to Steve Rapp and Jason Pridmore, Jake was on the #59 Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000 for the SuperStock class and is shown coming out of the turn 8 area during practice.

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Here's wishing not only the Daytona SportBike class but the entire field and all the entrants for Daytona, as well as the 2010 season, the best of luck. Keep in mind that the same-day tape-delayed Daytona 200 WILL be shown on SpeedTV on Friday, March 5th at 9 P.M Eastern Time. You can also follow it and all the racing 'live' via the AMA Live Wire timing/scoring link, which you can find on the left column side bar here as well. And the two Superbike races which are to run on Thursday March 4th at 3 P.M. Eastern and Friday March 5th at 4 P.M. Eastern are scheduled to be shown on SpeedTV on Saturday, March 6th at 10:30 P.M. Eastern as of this writing.

Thanks for coming by, and stay tuned and please come back in the next few days as we preview who will be coming back to the SpeedTV booth this year to help announce the races, and we will also do a preview on the AMA Flat Track rounds at Daytona scheduled for Wednesday March 3rd and Thursday March 4th. We will do our best to showcase the archives of Stu's Shots while we talk about the upcoming racing as well. Take care and we hope to see you back soon!

Jake Zemke Signs With Michael Jordan Motorsports for 2010 AMA Superbike Championship...and He Won't Be on a Honda!

Having been involved in AMA Road Racing since the late '90s, Jake Zemke has raced Hondas almost exclusively since the early part of the last decade. Racing not only directly for the Team Honda/American Honda factory, but with Bruce Transportation and Erion Racing as well, Jake garnering won the '06 Daytona 200 in the Formula Xtreme class, as well as the '08 AMA Formula Xtreme Championship. From the CBR600RR to the big bore CBR1000RR in the superbike class, Honda has been Jake's weapon of choice for quite some time now.

A dawn of a new era in Jake's road racing career began this week when it was announced that he would be riding a GSXR1000 Suzuki for Michael Jordan Motorsports and it's sponsor The National Guard in the 2010 AMA Superbike Championship. Teaming with multi-time AMA Champ Aaron Yates, the '10 season will look decidedly different for not only Jake but the Michael Jordan team as well. But with big-name sponsor National Guard, and Jake's reputation of bringing it home, it can't but help the overall look of the series after having taken such a serious hit in the off season.

With the loss of direct factory support in the Honda and Kawasaki camps, the retirement of 7-time Superbike Champ Mat Mladin, the loss of a host of riders across the pond to European series and many others that are still searching for rides, the 2010 season will have a very different look. And with the second year of 'the new rules' under the DMG/AMA Road Racing umbrella, not much has changed as a result when it comes to Suzuki's filling out the grid and dominating the class at the top. At times the song DOES remain the same....

With Jake's experience not only in superbike, but in the Formula Xtreme and Supersport classes, the 2010 season just picked up a jump in it's step in regards to rider talent. After running in only the Daytona Sportbike class in the '09 season, this will mark Jake's return to the full liter class after a two year hiatus.

Always one of the guys with the biggest smile on his face, Jake was, before the massive rules changes for the '09 season, the last man to put a superbike on the top of the box other then a Suzuki. Jake won at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah during the '06 season while riding a CBR1000RR for Team Honda to break a stranglehold on the class that the big Suzuki GSXR1000 had held in the premier class for some time. And continued to hold until the end of the '08 season.

This should be an interesting transition year for Jake and for Team Jordan. We wish everyone the best of luck and look forward to seeing them on the box during the upcoming season. You can read the official releases here thanks to Paul Carruthers at http://www.cyclenews.com/ and to John Ulrich and his army of journos over at http://www.roadracingworld.com/. Without their efforts being able to bring you these official releases would be very difficult:
http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=39299

http://roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=39285

http://cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2010/02/01/zemke-to-suzuki

While you are viewing the news of Jake's signing this week, I'll fill you in on Stu's Shots choices for today's post.

Starting from the top is a shot of Jake on the Team Honda CBR1000RR at Barber Motorsports Park during practice for the April '07 round in Leeds, AL. Up next is Jake coming out of the carousel at Road America in '04 during practice for the June '04 round. Jake was riding for Erion Racing on the satellite-based team on a CBR1000RR with sponsorship from Parts Unlimited that year.

We then see a shot of Jake's Team Honda CBR1000RR superbike under the tent in the paddock area during the '06 round at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI. We then go to another shot of Jake going into turn 14 at Road America while qualifying for the weekend's superbike event in June of '04. Jake was on the Erion Racing Parts Unlimited CBR1000RR this year.

Last but not least is another shot of Jake diving into turn 14 at Road America while riding the big CBR1000RR for Team Honda during one of the superbike practices over the course of the '05 weekend event.

Thanks again for stopping in and we look forward to you coming by to hang out with us again. Take care and have a great rest of the week!