Barnes Dominates the Daytona 200 Equipped With Pirelli Tires
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (USA) – Pirelli’s Michael Barnes raced to victory in dominating fashion aboard his Palm Beach Police Foundation/Prieto Performance Yamaha at the 75th annual running of the AMA Daytona 200 by Victory ASRA Sport Bike race at the famous Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, March 12. At 47 years old, he became the oldest rider to win in the event’s history. The event has hosted four open tire races since 2007, which Pirelli has claimed the victory three times.
At the start of the race, Barnes using Pirelli’s Diablo™ Superbike SC1 front slick (120/70 R17) and Diablo Supercorsa DOT rear Daytona spec (190/60 R17), quickly gained control of the number one position by overtaking polesitter Geoff May. He spent the opening laps under heavy pressure from multiple riders, but fended them off before breaking away and opening a small gap on the field.
Barnes would have his comfortable cushion stripped away from him when a rider went down near the halfway point of the race, resulting in a single file restart on pit road. Fortunately for Barnes, he was able to once again break away from the field and record the fastest time of the race on lap 31. He went on to lead 46 out of 57 laps en route to a convincing win.
“We race what we sell, we sell what we race! Pirelli has a history of success at Daytona and today proves yet again that the very same tires the public can purchase are capable of propelling riders to victory at the highest levels,” said Jeff Johnston, Pirelli Tire Road Racing Manager, Moto, NAFTA. “A big congratulations to Barnes on his Daytona 200 win.”
Rounding out the podium in third place was Trackside Suspension & Engineering/MD Racing’s Wyatt Farris, who used the same tire combination as race winner Barnes. The 22-year old displayed a strong performance in his first-ever star at the Daytona 200.
Daytona 200 Results:
Michel Barnes (Yamaha YZF-R6)
Geoff May (Yamaha YZF-R6)
Wyatt Farris (Yamaha YZF-R6)
Shane Narbonne (Yamaha YZF-R6)
Bostjan Skubic (Yamaha YZF-R6)