Suzuki Winning with or without Mladin | AMA Pro
- From: 'the Wire' | Published: August 3rd, 2009 - 10:09 am
AMA Superbike Series, Race 2 – Heartland Park, Topeka, Kansas – August 2, 2009
Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden celebrated an impressive second-place finish in Sunday’s AMA Superbike race at Heartland Park Topeka in Topeka, Kansas. After finishing fourth in Saturday’s race, Hayden was particularly pleased with Sunday’s results. The Kentucky rider got a good start on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 and was moving into position to battle for second place with his teammate Blake Young. Young, however, went into a turn a little too fast at this point and ran off the track. The result was that Hayden moved into the second-place position that his teammate had vacated. Hayden then followed the race leader closely and hoped to make a pass for the win but was unable to do so. In the end, he came away with second place. This is Hayden’s eighth Superbike podium finish this year. Meanwhile, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Young re-entered the field in 10th place after going off-track and worked his way into eighth place before the 20-lap race’s end. Finally, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Mat Mladin opted to sit out the Kansas race. In spite of this, six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mladin still leads the overall championship points standings in the premier class.
Tommy Hayden:
“This was a good race but at the same time, it’s kind of frustrating to keep getting this close and not get a win. But I feel like I’m learning a lot in the races and so if I just keep on doing what I’m doing, it can’t be that far away… I feel like I’m trying hard and I’m putting all I can into it, and I am learning a lot. Today, though, I knew that some guys were beginning to catch me in the points over the last few races. So I wasn’t quite as unafraid as I would’ve been if I hadn’t had that to worry about also.”
Blake Young:
“I have to admit this wasn’t one of my better races. At first, I got a great start on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 but then I made a misjudged a turn and went in a little hot and I ran off the track. When I came back out, I was too far back to catch anybody and I just rode around by myself. I’m pretty disappointed because I felt like we got the set-up pretty good for today and I think we could have run a good pace. Now, I’m just going to focus on doing my best at the next race at Virginia.”
M4 Suzuki’s Cardenas Wins Daytona SportBike Race at Heartland Park Topeka
Team M4 Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas finished off the Heartland Park Topeka double-header weekend strong by winning the second of two AMA Daytona SportBike races on Sunday in Topeka, Kansas. The Colombian rider got a good start on his M4 Suzuki GSX-R600 and rode an almost flawless 20-lap race, in spite of having to go through a restart after a red flag sidelined the race early on. In the restart, Cardenas was running in third place for multiple laps before moving into second place. He paced the leader for a while and then put on a charge toward the end. On the last lap, Cardenas battled hard for the lead before taking the win at the checkers. Winning this race was a confidence boost for Cardenas, who crashed out of Saturday’s race while battling for the lead. Additionally, this victory marks Cardenas’ seventh win of the season and also means he is currently tied for the lead in the overall championship points standings.
Martin Cardenas – 1st place, Race 2 (Sunday):
“It was a very good race. I had a good battle with Danny (Eslick, yesterday’s winner) after the halfway point and at the beginning with my teammate Jason (DiSalvo). It was very difficult today. I knew it was going to be very difficult because Danny was very strong on the straights and I was catching him in some places but when we got to the front straight, he would get me a little bit there. I noticed today he was struggling more than yesterday in some places. So I decided to give it a go and with three or four laps from the end, I tried to pass him. My original plan was to try and gap him a little bit and try to maintain the lead when we get to the start/finish line. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out but at the end I waited for the last lap and tried to make a pass on the back section of the track and stay in front and hope that I’ll be first on the finish line. It did work that time and I’m very happy with this race and thanks to M4 Suzuki and the GSX-R600.”
Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing and M4 Suzuki will race next at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia, the weekend of August 14 – 16, 2009.
