Yamaha's Jamie Hacking came home second while American Honda's Miguel DuHamel finished third with Erion Honda's Jake Zemke taking fourth. Both chose gearing that wasn't optimal. American Honda's Ben Bostrom finished a dispiriting 10th. The former World Superbike star found it difficult to hold on to the handlebars after a vibration developed early in the race.

Roberts, 24, the youngest son of three-time 500cc World Champion Kenny Roberts made a crucial gearing change before the race that allowed him to control the pace of the race from the outset. He led a furious pack of 600's at the start and for nine of the 15 laps. On the final tour of the high-banked speedway, Roberts exited the last corner, a chicane on the back straight, in second place, then powered to victory by 0.118 seconds.

"I can't say enough about theCBR600RR," Roberts, who will only race selected Supersport events, said. "It was perfect. I don't think I put a wheel out of place. It was definitely the most patient smoothest Daytona 600 in a while."

Helping propel Roberts to victory was a gearing change he and crew chief Dave McGrath made prior to the race. While the other riders were on the limit crossing the finish line, Roberts had power to spare.

The win was Honda's 11th in the 600cc Supersport race at Daytona. Four of the previous wins were delivered by French-Canadian Miguel DuHamel, today's third place finisher.

Erion Honda's Kurtis Roberts - First Place - "It wasn't the fastest pace we could have done. That's why I kept Jamie (Hacking) and all them guys behind me, because they don't have to race later on in the day and we had to. I kept them right where I wanted to and it was really easy. The bike was perfect. On the last lap I went back to third where I needed to be. The lapper got in the way and made Jake (Zemke) get a little antsy and jump on the throttle a little bit. It gave Jamie (Hacking) the gap to where I let him go down the straightaway that far and I passed Jake."

Jamie Hacking - Yamaha - Second place - "I'm very delighted for what position we finished. The Yamaha has been running excellent all weekend long. Kurtis is not finishing out the championship season so we're looking good right now. That's the best thing. It's been so frustrating. I come here every single year and just can't seem to pull it off no matter what I do. I'm not going to give it up. Hopefully we'll pull this thing off sometime. It took Earnhardt I don't know how many tries.  Once again, here I am second. I'm going to start putting those second-place trophies up in the closet because I'm tired of looking at them. I did the best I could. I rode my bike as hard as I could."

American Honda's Miguel Duhamel - Third Place - "The bike was running good. I was out there really composed and really relaxed. My bike, when I got in the draft, hit the rev limiter a little bit and that's not good. I was having a little trouble with that. I could see Jamie and Jake (Zemke) up there (and thinking) as long as they didn't get away from me. I was just keeping that in mind and trying to figure out a way to get up there. I was hoping more guys in front of me the better because that would help me get a draft. I was so happy just to see how good my bike is. We're definitely in there the whole rest of the season and Kurtis (Roberts) won't be there at all."

Erion Honda's Jake Zemke - Fourth Place - "It was going pretty good until that last lap. We kind of had to roll the dice on the gearing because it seemed like to gear it for the front straightaway we were losing out not the infield, but we put the gearing on that we thought was going to win the race for us. I'm pretty sure I had the fastest bike out there. I didn't have any trouble drafting past anyone at the line. It seemed like when I'd lead out of the chicane I'd tow them around almost all the way to the start-finish. I knew we were looking good. I was having a little bit of a grip problem. With our gearing, it wouldn't really come off the corners the way we wanted on the infield."

American Honda's Ben Bostrom - 10th Place - "The bike was fantastic. The only mistake I made on the bike was the gearing was a little short and I was on the limiter for probably a good five seconds going across the stripe. That wasn't the only problem. On the third lap, I don't know from the high vibration, I couldn't feel my hands. It started happening on the second lap and by the third lap I couldn't feel my hands any more. So I was just shaking off the left one but I couldn't let go of the throttle hand. So I couldn't grab the front brakes. I could feel the throttle opening but not so smooth and I couldn't feel the brakes at all. It only happened once before and that was on a Supersport bike.


1. Kurtis Roberts (Honda)
2. Jamie Hacking (Yamaha)
3. Miguel DuHamel (Honda)
4. Jake Zemke (Honda)
5. Jason Disalvo (Yamaha)
6. Damon Buckmaster (Yamaha)
7. Jamie Stauffer (Yamaha)
8. Aaron Gobert (Yamaha)
9. Ben Spies (Suzuki)
10. Ben Bostrom (Honda)
11. Roger Hayden (Honda)
12. Matthew Wait (Yamaha)
13. Tommy Hayden (Yamaha)
14. Aaron Yates (Suzuki)
15. Alex Gobert (Honda)


The Daytona 200 Superbike race was rained off and will now take place tomorrow at 16.00. GMT