American Superbike
Mat Mladin continued his dominance of AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike presented by Parts Unlimited while Martin Cardenas claimed his second AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL victory in his last three starts in Saturday’s Honda Superbike Classic races at Barber Motorsports Park on Saturday.
Racing the 2009 Suzuki GSX-R1000 model for the first time, Mladin dropped back to fourth on the opening lap after starting from pole on the No. 7 Makita/Rockstar Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000. However, he quickly began working his way back toward the front, and claimed the lead from Ben Bostrom’s No. 2 Yamaha R1 on Lap 6 of the 21-lap race.
Mladin wouldn’t be challenged from that point on as he claimed his sixth AMA Pro American Superbike victory in six 2009 starts, this time by 1.928 seconds ahead of teammate Blake Young. It was also Mladin’s fifth consecutive victory at Barber Motorsports Park and the eighth of his career at the 2.38-mile Alabama road circuit.
“At the start of the race, the boys were having a bit of a go,” Mladin said. “Ben came by and I just sort of sat there to see what was going on, just to get a feel for the bike with a full tank of gas and a few laps in. I had a bit of a look at what they were doing and made our way through. I just tried to keep it solid, but try not to wear too much stuff out, because we really didn’t know what the bike was capable of doing or what it was going to do to the tires. This motorcycle, as far as a GSX-R1000 goes, is very, very different to any other one we’ve ever had. It’s a very different motorbike. We have some work to do to try and figure out a few things. We didn’t want to go too crazy today. We were riding hard, but we needed to keep it within a certain envelope.”
Young and Bostrom played central roles in a thrilling race-long battle for second place, although both riders also spent time at the head of the field. Young led Lap 2 on his No. 79 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 before surrendering the spot to Bostrom, and the two riders resumed their battle — this time for second — throughout the remainder of the race. Young took advantage of several lappers on the second-to-last lap to claim second place for the second-straight race behind his teammate.
“It started off pretty good there,” Young said. “After getting out front, I really wanted to see what the track was like. It was obviously really green and not very much grip, but I just tried to get comfortable and put in a pace that I was comfortable doing. Ben came by and he was running a bit quicker, so I definitely just jumped in and tried to learn where he was a little bit better. All of a sudden, Mat came by and he was running even more of a quicker pace, so I knew he was going to go. I was just trying to stay on his rear wheel and wait until he went by Ben and try to go with him. It didn’t end up like that. We had to wait another lap, but I just kept my head down and worked really hard. We’ve got another race tomorrow. Hopefully, we can get up there and race with Mat a little bit longer.”
Bostrom also had his hands full keeping the No. 22 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki of Tommy Hayden at bay, but the 2009 Daytona 200 winner managed to take his first AMA Pro American Superbike podium result of the season with a third-place run on the No. 2 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1. Bostrom’s Daytona 200 victory came aboard an AMA Pro Daytona SportBike.
“It’s a lot better than where I’ve been sitting, so I’m not going to be bummed,” said Bostrom of his third-place showing. “I’m going to sleep well tonight. I think it was a fantastic ride and the Yamaha worked amazing. The boys here (Mladin and Young) are out-riding us a little bit and made a couple of amazing passes on me. Mat about scared the (crap) out of me, honestly. It was good racing. It got my heart rate up, and I’m ready to attack again. I’m looking forward to another good day tomorrow. Hopefully, that’s how it goes. I want to maintain this spot up here and keep racing. I really enjoyed racing with these guys. It just seems like a long way ’til today. It’s a big race tomorrow. It’s going to be exciting. Hopefully, we find something, but honestly, these guys are riding amazing, so it’s going to be hard to chip away at it.”
Hayden finished fourth on the No. 22 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, and Josh Hayes — who led the opening lap of the race — completed the top five aboard the No. 4 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1.
The second race of the American Superbike doubleheader was delayed by two hours on Sunday and the race distance reduced to only five laps after severe storms swept through the area and tornado warnings were issued in the early afternoon.
However, not even the weather could stop Mladin’s run of dominance on a weekend when sevens were wild for Mladin. Mladin fittingly rode the No. 7 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 to his seventh consecutive victory to open the season and extended his lead in the point standings as he looks for his seventh career American Superbike championship. Mladin leads teammate Tommy Hayden by 77 points, 220-143, after seven of 20 rounds in the 2009 championship.
Just as he did in Saturday’s first race of the Honda Superbike Classic doubleheader, Mladin started from pole and surrendered the lead heading into the first turn. A lap-and-a-half later, however, the Australian muscled past leader Josh Hayes in Turn 5 and led the rest the way en route to a 2.745-second victory over Aaron Yates. It was Mladin’s 79th career AMA Pro victory and moved him to within seven of Miguel Duhamel’s record of 86 career wins.
“I’ve had seven in a row, and obviously nobody has had any more than seven before so we’ll see if we can go to Infineon and get another one,” said Mladin, who earned his fifth consecutive Barber Motorsports Park victory and ninth overall. “The bike worked great today, we found some stuff out this morning in the warm up. I had a completely different motorcycle this afternoon and very similar lap times to what I did this morning even with the condition of the track. It was pretty good. I’m pretty happy with the bike. We definitely made some progress this week.”
The runner-up result was the best of the season for Yates on the No. 23 Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000, topping a previous best ride of fifth in the second race of the Road Atlanta doubleheader last month. Mladin, Yates and Hayden were three of the six riders utilizing the 2009 Suzuki GSX-R1000 for the first time this weekend and were joined on the new bikes by Blake Young (No. 79 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki), Geoff May (No. 54 National Guard Jordan Suzuki) and Chris Ulrich (No. 18 Roadracingworld.com Suzuki).
“It’s been an up-and-down year for us,” said Yates. “We got the ’09 Suzuki a couple of weeks ago, did some riding on it and got a few things sorted out. I’m really feeling good about the bike; it’s running pretty good. We had a good package in yesterday’s race also, I just kind of messed up the start on that and it put us way back. It really feels good to get up here, back on the podium and show that the Jordan Suzuki guys are working hard and the new GSX-R1000 is going good.”
One day after earning his first AMA Pro American Superbike podium of the season with a third-place run, Ben Bostrom duplicated that effort on the No. 2 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1. The performance moved Bostrom to fifth in the American Superbike point standings and he now trails Young by just one championship marker.
“The boys are doing a great job,” said Bostrom. “They definitely built a winning bike today and the rider didn’t put it all together. That’s rider error. The R1 is fantastic. These guys just out-rode us today so congratulations to Suzuki, Aaron and Matt. I look forward to a great race at Infineon. The bike is great, a big thanks to the crew. I always enjoy being up here. It’s a lot more fun when you’re racing at the front so we’re going to do our best. We were hoping to move up the ladder one step today and Aaron just beat us to it. That’s all right, we have more races to go.”
Bostrom finished one spot ahead of his teammate, Hayes, who came home in fourth place on the No. 4 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1. Just as he did in Saturday’s first race of the American Superbike doubleheader, Hayes also led the first lap in today’s final. It was his fourth consecutive top-five result. May made it two Jordan Suzuki riders in the top five with a fifth-place run on the No. 54 National Guard bike for his fifth top-five performance in his last six American Superbike starts.
Larry Pegram came home sixth on the No. 72 Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing Ducati 1098R, and Jake Holden was seventh on the No. 100 Corona Extra Honda CBR1000RR. Holden once again stood in for the injured Neil Hodgson in both races of the Honda Superbike Classic.
While battling for third place on the second lap of the race, Young crashed at the exit of Turn 5, sending his No. 79 Suzuki cart wheeling down the track. He quickly made his way to a nearby ambulance and was taken to the track medical center. According to UAB Medical Center Coordinator Drew Ferguson at the track, Young was transferred to UAB Medical Center in Birmingham for further evaluation. He was awake and alert and more information will be provided as it becomes available. Young’s incident brought out the safety car from Laps 6-9.
Next up for AMA Pro American Superbike is a doubleheader at the Kawasaki AMA Superbike Showdown at Infineon Raceway on the weekend of May 15-17.
Pictorial – Daytona Gallery A – Daytona Gallery B – Daytona Gallery C
SBK Race 1
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SBK Race 2
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SBK Points
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Daytona Sportbike
In an exciting, seesaw battle between Team M4 Suzuki teammates Cardenas and Jason DiSalvo that lasted for the final two-thirds of the race, Cardenas took the lead from DiSalvo for the final time on the penultimate lap to take his second AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL victory in three races on Saturday.
While Jamie Hacking and Josh Herrin both led in the early stages of the race, Cardenas and DiSalvo established themselves as the main protagonists for the victory on Lap 7 after both riders dispatched Herrin. Cardenas led Laps 7-12 of the 21-lap race on his No. 36 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600, and then DiSalvo took his turn in the lead on the No. 40 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600 for Laps 13 to 19 before Cardenas’ decisive pass.
“This one felt really tough, because I think the track is very demanding physically,” said Cardenas. “I had a huge battle with him for 10 laps or maybe more. At the beginning, I tried to put a gap to him, but I pushed and saw that I wasn’t doing much so I tried to stay in a rhythm. Two laps later, he passed me and I started to look for his stronger points. Two laps from the end, I made a move on him, put my head down and tried to ride as fast as I could. I pulled a little bit of a gap and it worked out to the end. It was a great race and I want to thank the team for giving me a great bike. Suzuki, M4, all the guys, thank you very much.”
After starting from the pole and coming tantalizingly close to his first Daytona SportBike victory, DiSalvo settled for a season-best result of second. He previously finished third in the Daytona 200 and the second race of the doubleheader at Auto Club Speedway in March.
“Martin and I just had such a fantastic race,” DiSalvo said. “There’s not much I can say. It was awesome. Where he passed me, it was such a great pass. I honestly didn’t think he was going to be able to make it stick, but he did, and then he really put his head down. We hung in there pretty good for the last lap, but there was just nothing we could do. Both bikes were just so evenly matched that it made it difficult. Tomorrow, we’ve just got to try to get out in the lead and stay there.”
Hacking’s No. 88 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R appeared to be one of the quickest bikes on the circuit for most of the event, and Hacking led the first lap before near disaster struck in the final turn on Lap 2. Hacking nearly crashed but managed to get the bike righted, albeit dropping all the way to eighth in the running order. He chipped away over the remaining laps to take the final spot on the box in third place.
“The bike worked great,” said Hacking. “We managed to run down Josh there, and I was able to put in some good laps and make Josh push up to the back of these guys. Once I got around Josh, unfortunately, we got into the lapped riders. Josh got hung up a little bit, and it’s unfortunate that happened, but it’s just the way things go. Once I got around him, I managed to somewhat reel these guys (Cardenas and DiSalvo) in just a little bit. I could see them, but by that time, the race was pretty much over. I’m glad to finish third, actually.”
Herrin, who led five laps, came home fourth on the No. 8 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6, one spot ahead of teammate Tommy Aquino, who finished fifth on the No. 6 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6. Danny Eslick came home eighth on the No. 9 Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing/RMR Buell 1125R to retain the Daytona SportBike points lead.
The second race of the Daytona SportBike doubleheader at the Honda Superbike Classic saw Cardenas make a race-winning pass on the penultimate lap for the second straight day to record his third AMA Pro Daytona SportBike victory in the last four races.
Riding the No. 36 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600, Cardenas stalked leader Jamie Hacking throughout the race before making his move in Turn 5 on the Lap 15 of the 16-lap event. After making the pass, Cardenas put his head down and pulled away to win by 2.204 seconds over Hacking.
“The conditions weren’t very good, and I got to him by Lap 4 or 5,” said Cardenas, who moved to third in the Daytona SportBike point standings with the victory. “I knew there were 16 laps, so I didn’t want to pass him and crash trying to get away, (because) maybe he would sit behind me and do the same thing that I did to him. I was going to wait until the last lap or maybe until two laps to the end, try to make a pass and then try to make a good lap and finish the race in first position. That’s what I did and this time it worked out, so I ended up winning the race but it was really tough because of the conditions. My M4 Suzuki worked awesome and I want to thank everybody, the sponsors and the whole team.”
In nearly a carbon copy of his start in Saturday’s Daytona SportBike race, Hacking motored the No. 88 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R into the lead heading into Turn 1 on the opening lap. Unlike Saturday’s race, however, when he nearly crashed at the end of Lap 2, Hacking held the lead until Cardenas’ pass on Lap 15. Hacking wound up second, putting it on the box for the second consecutive race and the fourth time in seven races.
Despite the fact that he hasn’t recorded a Daytona SportBike victory yet, Hacking has finished seventh or better in every race thus far and those consistent performances have moved him to the top of the point standings by three points, 146-143, over Danny Eslick. Cardenas trails Eslick by just one point.
“I managed to glance up at the board and noticed that Martin was in P2, and I tried a couple times to put a pretty good brake on him and kick down the lap times,” Hacking said. “But, obviously, he was able to do the same thing and match me. I couldn’t ever put anything on him and I knew there was a good possibility that I could maybe hold him off, but just gauging off yesterday’s comments where he could figure out where Jason (DiSalvo) was stronger, and he decided to wait on him, I figured that’s probably what he would do with me and it ended up turning out that way.
“He managed to step the pace up a pretty good bit when he passed me and I just wasn’t able to match it today. Martin rode a great race and we pulled a pretty good gap on the rest of the field. It feels good, the Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki was working great this weekend and we got two solid podium finishes. We’re really looking forward to going to the Infineon race in a couple of weeks.”
Charging from 11th on the starting grid, Eslick rode his No. 9 Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing/RMR Buell 1125R to a third-place result. Eslick gained two positions on the final lap of the race as Dane Westby (No. 213 Westby Racing/Kneedraggers.com Yamaha YZF-R6) and Chris Peris (No. 10 Erion Honda CBR600RR) tangled while battling for the final podium spot in the final series of turns. It was Eslick’s fifth podium result from the first seven races of the season.
“It was definitely a surprise,” Eslick said. “I was running just a little better than the top 10 and picked a couple of guys off, and was stuck in about fifth going back and forth with Chaz (Davies). That was the pace that I was comfortable at and that was pushing it. We were all over the place, so I didn’t want to crash and give a whole bunch of points away, I just wanted to finish and get through this weekend without losing too many points and move on. Third is awesome.”
Davies picked up his best result of the season to date with a fourth-place ride on the No. 57 Factory Aprilia Millennium Technologies Team Aprilia RSV1000R. Michael Barnes made it two Buells in the top five with a fifth-place performance on the No. 34 GEICO Powersports/RMR/Buell Racing Buell 1125R.
The last-lap incident sent Westby to the track medical facility and later to UAB Medical Center in Birmingham for further evaluation. No. 32 Roadracingworld.com/Suzuki GSX-R600 rider Santiago Villa was also transferred to Birmingham’s UAB Medical Center for evaluation after an incident in Turn 1 just after taking the chequered flag. According to Ferguson, both riders were awake and alert before being transported to the hospital, and further updates will be provided as they are available.
—Â Crozier and Caudill Take Overall AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT Win; Filices Take Moto-GT2
Off and on rain showers throughout the day at Barber Motorsports Park shortened the scheduled two-hour AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT race as part of the Honda Superbike Classic to one hour and 15 minutes, but not before No. 14 Crozier Motorsports Triumph Daytona 675 co-riders Mark Crozier and Phil Caudill scored their first victory of the season.
It was redemption of sorts for the whole Crozier Motorsports team, as the No. 14 Triumph ran out of fuel within 15 minutes of the chequered flag in the season-opening round at Daytona International Speedway, and mechanical problems prevented them from contending for the victory last month at Road Atlanta.
Everything worked out this weekend for the team, as Crozier put the No. 14 machine on the pole for the first time this season in qualifying on Friday. The No. 14 Triumph led a race-high 19 laps of what would be a 40-lap race, including the all-important final six laps. It was Crozier’s first victory since 2006 and was the first-ever in SunTrust Moto-GT competition for Caudill.
“We’ve had a lot of trials and tribulations this year,” Caudill said. “We’ve been quick in practices and qualifying, but have had trouble putting the whole race together. It did come together for us today, regardless of all that. The Crozier Motorsports, Augusta Triumph team has been working hard. That’s what has kept us at the top and kept us today with the result we’ve got.”
Finishing second was the No. 69 HurtByAccident.com Suzuki GSX-R600 of co-riders Rodolfo Ramirez and Armando Ferrer. It was an impressive comeback for Ferrer, who was sent to the UAB Medical Center in Birmingham after a crash during qualifying yesterday. The performance enabled the No. 69 team to move into a first-place tie with the No. 37 Old Pros Racing team — which finished seventh today — in the Moto-GT1 point standings with three of nine races now complete.
The No. 2 Aussie Dave Racing Suzuki GSX-R600 of co-riders David Anthony and Hawk Mazzotta completed the GT1 podium with a third-place performance. It was the No. 2 machine’s first appearance of the season.
In the Moto-GT2 race, the father and son team of Jimmy and Justin Filice celebrated a victory on the No. 64 HurtByAccident.com Ducati PS1000LE. While the Filices have previously ridden to victory together in the 8 Hours At Daytona, this was the first time they did it by themselves.
“This is a great facility and I like coming here,” said AMA Hall-of-Famer Jimmy Filice. “To win with my son here is pretty cool. Justin did the first stint and he did a wonderful job. I just got on the bike and kept it upright. Our strategy worked well, the bike worked good, and I’m just happy that his (Daytona SportBike) team, R&B Racing, let him do this with me.”
“It was just unbelievable today, just the circumstances that it came down to with the weather and tire choice,” added Justin Filice. “We didn’t ever even intend to go to dry (tires) in the beginning. We stuck with wets because, really, we were doing a rain dance out there. We were just hoping for rain. I was praying for it when I was on the bike. The tires started to go away a little bit in the dry and they were flexing, but the Dunlops today were unbelievable tires. They worked great all the way through my stint, even in the torrential downpour that we had. I didn’t slip one wheel the entire time I was out there. To ride with my dad here was unbelievable. It was a great experience and I’m glad we could win.”
The No. 77 Touring Sport Ducshop Ducati PS1000LE scored its third top-two result in as many starts this season with a second place run in the hands of co-riders Frank Shockley and Dane Westby, who started the race from the class pole position. The No. 77 team now leads the GT2 point standings by 15 points, 83-68, over the No. 9 Pair-A-Nines team, which finished sixth in class today.
Co-riders Lyles Sanders and Greg Melka came home third in GT2 aboard the No. 83 D & D Cycles Suzuki SV650. Next up for SunTrust Moto-GT will be Round 4 of the nine-race championship at Road America on the weekend of June 5-7.
—Â Carter Takes AMA Pro SuperSport presented by Shoei East Win in First Start
In his first-ever AMA Pro SuperSport presented by Shoei start, Garrett Carter earned a convincing victory over polesitter Russ Wikle in the 12-lap AMA Pro SuperSport East final under conditions that were wet at the start of the race and got progressively drier throughout.
Riding the No. 31 Ridersdiscount.com/Woodcraft Yamaha YZF-R6, Carter chased down Wikle on Lap 4 and claimed the lead from the Suzuki rider on the short straightaway between Turns 6 and 7. Carter set sail from there, cruising to a 4.291-second victory in the race, which was shortened by five laps due to weather delays. Immediately after celebrating his SuperSport victory, Carter jumped back on his No. 31 Garrett Carter Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 and competed in the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike final.
“It was a really good race,” said Carter. “It was pretty wet at the start of the race. I think we were all still getting our feel for it, so I wasn’t out there right at the start, but I got a pretty good feel for it halfway through the race, put my head down and got by quite a few guys. Wikle was running at a really good pace and I thought that once I got by him I was going to show him some stuff and he was going to hang with me, but luckily I pulled a gap on him. Within five or six laps I saw an eight-second lead so I cooled it down a little bit and brought it home. It was definitely a really good race. Wikle was definitely on pace and I think if he would have gotten going pretty good, he would have been with me the whole race. Luckily, I got away from him and got the win.”
Wikle, who hails from nearby Huntsville, Ala., earned his best SuperSport result of the season with a second-place run aboard the No. 5 Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R600. It was Wikle’s second trip to the podium in the season’s first three races, as he also finished third in the season-opener at Daytona in March. He is now third in the AMA Pro SuperSport East point standings with three of nine races complete.
“Well I knew that starting from pole, I was definitely going to have an advantage over everybody and I was able to get a real good start,” said Wikle. “Since everyone was behind me, I knew that everyone was going to have to get by so I just made myself wide. I think I led the first lap or two, maybe. When Garrett got by me, he was really flying, so I was able to learn a couple of things from him. It was just a good race, I tried to keep my head smart and came out second.”
Finishing third was Huntley Nash on the No. 15 Arai/Racing Sport Services Yamaha YZF-R6. It was also a season-best result for Nash, whose previous best run this season was a fifth-place outing in Daytona.
After winning last time out at Road Atlanta, Leandro Mercado finished fourth in the Honda Superbike Classic aboard the No. 92 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-R6. Mercado is now second in the SuperSport East championship standings. Joey Pascarella completed the top five with a fifth-place ride on the No. 25 Shoei/Shift/TCX/LTD Racing Yamaha YZF-R6. Pascarella leads the point standings by 13 points, 62-49, over Mercado.
