AMA Pro Racing Resumes at Auto Club Speedway
- From: 'the Wire' | Published: March 22nd, 2010 - 11:20 pm
Heading into round two of this year’s AMA Pro Road Racing championship at California’s Auto Club Speedway, to be held March 26 – 28, riders, teams and fans are ready to rejoin the battles that begin at the opening round last month at Daytona International Speedway.
The Suzuki AMA Pro SuperBike Challenge weekend will feature two action packed races in each of the three AMA Pro Road Racing classes. Practice and qualifying begin on Friday, March 26th at the 2.36-mile combination speedway/road course. Saturday, March 27th will see more qualifying and the first of two AMA Pro National Guard American SuperBike races. Just prior to the American SuperBike race on Saturday, fans will be treated to rider introductions and a Grid Walk. The second American SuperBike race will be on Sunday, March 28th.
After an historic two-race Daytona sweep for Jake Zemke and his No. 54 National Guard Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000, all eyes will be focused on whether the California native can build on his fast start to the season with his new team and maintain his championship points lead. Hot on Zemke’s heels is No. 22 Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 rider Tommy Hayden, who finished second in both Daytona races after running in the lead in race two before Zemke passed Hayden for an incredible 0.009 of a second win at the line.
Both National Guard American SuperBike races at Daytona International Speedway were wild affairs and a number of riders held and battled for the lead in each race. No. 72 Foremost Insurance Ducati 1098R rider Larry Pegram finished a strong third in race one and backed that up with a solid fifth in race two to put him in third place in the points. Round one Pole Position winner Aaron Yates (No. 23 Brand Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000) underscored the strong weekend for the Jordan Suzuki team by finishing fourth in both races under the watchful eye of team owner Michael Jordan. Hayden’s teammate, Blake Young (No. 79 Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000) also ran well at Daytona and currently sits fifth in the points after solid fifth and seventh place runs. Taylor Knapp is in sixth place in the points after two strong races on his No. 44 RidersDiscount.com Suzuki GSX-R1000.
Conspicuously absent from the top of the standings are Yamaha riders Ben Bostrom (No. 155 Pat Clark Motorsports Yamaha R1), Josh Hayes (No. 4 Graves Motorsports Yamaha R1) and Chris Clark (No. 48 Pat Clark Motorsports Yamaha R1), but even though their Daytona performances didn’t meet their expectations, keep your eye on this group at Fontana and beyond. Bostrom had a tough start to his season with an eighteenth place finish in race one but recovered nicely to take a strong third in race two on his Pat Clark Motorsports/Palms Hotel/Las Vegas Motor Speedway Yamaha. Bostrom’s teammate Clark just missed a top ten performance in race one and finished sixteenth in race two. Team Graves Yamaha rider Josh Hayes took fourteenth after an early off-track excursion in race one and improved to a solid sixth in race two but is still below his and the team’s expectations.
Two other riders that had up and down weekends at Daytona were Chris Ulrich, who finished a solid sixth place in race one and recovered for another strong finish in race two after he also had an early off track excursion on his No. 18 Roadracingworld Monster Energy Suzuki GSX-R1000. His teammate, fan favorite and former MotoGP star John Hopkins had a troublesome first weekend back on his No. 21 M4 Monster Energy Suzuki GSX-R1000, but stayed tuned as this strong combination will soon take their rightful place at the front.
After a busy winter testing schedule at Auto Club Speedway, the teams are ready to tackle the exciting 21-turn, two-mile plus combination circuit and with the unpredictable start to the season, this weekend’s Suzuki AMA Pro SuperBike Challenge races should be more competitive than ever.
AMA Pro National Guard American SuperBike practice begins on Friday, March 26th at 12 noon with first round qualifying at 3:50 PM. Saturday will see final SuperBike qualifying at 9:50 AM and the 21-lap race one will be at 1:30 PM. Sunday’s race two will line up at 4:00 PM and start at 4:30 PM, bringing the weekend to an exciting finish.
After putting his name firmly into the history books with his dramatic Daytona 200 win, AMA Pro Racing Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL points leader Josh Herrin and his No. 8 Team Graves Yamaha head into the second race of the season at California’s Auto Club Speedway looking to take advantage of his early season momentum. The Suzuki AMA Pro SuperBike Challenge weekend at the 21-turn, 2.36-mile combination speedway/road course configuration at Auto Club Speedway will give Herrin and his competitors’ two chances to fight their way back into the season long point’s battle.
Practice and qualifying begin on Friday, March 26th with more qualifying on Saturday, March 27th and the first of two AMA Pro Daytona SportBike races starting at 4:30 PM local time. The second 17-lap Daytona SportBike race will be on Sunday, March 28th at 1:00 PM and will open with Rider Introductions and a Fan Grid Walk. All three AMA Pro Road Racing categories will be competing during the Suzuki AMA Pro SuperBike Challenge weekend, including doubleheaders for AMA Pro National Guard American SuperBike and AMA Pro SuperSport.
The rider most anxious to get back to work this weekend is No. 36 M4 Monster Energy Suzuki rider Martin Cardenas. He started second on the grid at Daytona and held the lead after the first turn but had an unfortunate fall on the first lap, ending his race before it really had begun. Another rider who hoped for better things at Daytona was Daytona SportBike Championship defender and No. 1 GEICO Powersports Suzuki rider Danny Eslick. He started from pole position but had slow starts on both the original start and red flag restart. Eslick fought back to an impressive fourth place at the end of a long night in Daytona but showed he is more than ready to defend his Daytona SportBike championship crown.
No one can take anything away from what was an historic Daytona 200 victory for Herrin and his Team Graves Yamaha. His victory underscored that this sport is also about teamwork, as his Team Graves Yamaha Team gave him a lead he would not surrender at the second and final pit stop. He and eventual second-place finisher Dane Westby came down pit lane side by side and it was only the excellent pit work that got Herrin out with enough of a lead so that Westby and his Project 1 Atlanta Yamaha couldn’t reel Herrin back in. Veteran Steve Rapp put up an excellent performance, showing his patience and experience in taking his Team Latus Motors Racing Ducati to a fine third place in the race and also the points standings heading into the Fontana, CA Auto Club Speedway event.
The true form for the season has yet to emerge thanks to the unique nature of the season-opening event. This weekend should give real indication of who the riders to beat are and, including the above named riders, there are a number of people to watch as the season begins to take shape. Herrin’s teammate Tommy Aquino is one to watch, he ran up front for a good part of the Daytona 200 when he suffered an unfortunate refueling problem, ending his race after 17 laps. Cory West ran well at Daytona for the Vesrah Suzuki team, as did Shawn Higbee on his Higbee-Racing.com Buell. 2009 AMA Pro SuperSport East Champion Josh Day on his Four Feathers Racing Yamaha will feature this weekend along with Westby’s teammate, Clinton Seller riding the second Project 1 Atlanta Yamaha. Ducati fans will be cheering for Bobby Fong and teammate Mark Crozier on their DNA Energy Drink CNR Motorsports Ducatis. Another strong rider is Santiago Villa on the Roadracingworld.com Suzuki. Tyler Odom will be riding for local California Honda team owner Kevin Erion and P.J. Jacobson is back from his difficult start at Daytona, riding a Celtic Racing Suzuki.
AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL provides some of the best racing of the weekend. Practice and qualifying begin Friday, March 26th and the doubleheader race weekend features 17-lap races both Saturday, March 27th and Sunday, March 28th at the beautiful Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.
One thing is pretty clear after the first of two AMA Pro SuperSort races at this year’s season opening Daytona event in February – the competition can’t get any closer. After an amazing race, where six motorcycles battled lap after lap, Cameron Beaubier took an amazing win over Joey Pascarella by the incredible margin of 0.001 of a second.
The AMA Pro Racing SuperSport battle will again take to the track for this weekend’s Suzuki AMA Pro SuperBike Challenge weekend at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Fans will see these and the two other exciting AMA Pro Road Racing series, AMA Pro National Guard American SuperBike and also the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL, all of which will provide wheel-to-wheel action with doubleheader events Saturday, March 27th and Sunday, March 28th.
The amazing SuperSport racing continued at Daytona International Speedway when the second race of the doubleheader weekend saw Pascarella, on his LTD Racing Yamaha, win over Jake Gagne on his Yamaha, with Tomas Puerta and race-one winner Beaubier on his Rockwall Yamaha. This time the margin of victory between first and fourth was an impressive 1.354 seconds.
Another standout performance at Daytona was put in by Richie Morris Racing/ Roadracingworld.com Suzuki rider, 16 year old Elena Myers. Myers, who is working to finish her high school studies a year ahead of schedule through Liberty Union High School District in Brentwood, will be competing in her second professional AMA Pro Racing event at Auto Club Speedway this weekend. Elena finished a very impressive seventh place in both races at the historic Daytona circuit last month.
Another interesting aspect of the AMA Pro SuperSport class is that it enables local riders with an Expert level license from an accredited motorcycle racing organization to register right up until Friday at 12 noon for the Auto Club Speedway event and compete with the SuperSport regulars under the halo of the big Suzuki AMA Pro SuperBike Challenge weekend. This gives a local rider a chance to compare their skills against the younger stars of tomorrow in the SuperSport class.
The two classes within SuperSport are called Young Gun and Top Gun and Top Gun entrants Sam Nash and Eric Stump II both finished in the top ten at Daytona aboard their Yamaha and Honda motorcycles, respectively.
The AMA Pro Racing SuperSport class is fun to watch and gives fans a look to the future as tomorrow’s stars are competing in this great class today.
Practice and qualifying for the Suzuki AMA Pro SuperBike Challenge weekend begins on Friday, March 26th and continues on Saturday, March 27th when the first of two AMA Pro Racing SuperSport races goes off at 2:45 PM with Sunday’s SuperSport race starting at 2:15 PM.
Another fun aspect of the weekend will be “Lefty’s Family Fun Day and 5K” event taking place on Saturday, March 27th. Starting at 7:00 AM, everyone participating in the non-competitive 5K walk, run, ride and roll around the 2.36-mile motorcycle road course will be admitted free to the Suzuki AMA Pro SuperBike Challenge that same day, which includes an action packed day of qualifying and races in all three categories of AMA Pro Road Racing.
Please visit www.leftys5k.com for more information and also check out www.autoclubspeedway.com for more info and ticket information. Visit www.amaproracing.com for the latest points and information on all aspects of AMA Pro Racing.
