Six-time winner Cardenas hoping to build on points lead MONTEREY, Calif. (July 26) – With just seven races spread across four events left in the AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SuperBike Series, Martin Cardenas knows every good finish will take him one step closer to clinching the 2012 championship for the GEICO Suzuki team. “It’s difficult to win in the class because the competition is so tough,” Cardenas said. “But I think we’ll be able to get a good result this weekend and earn more points toward that championship.” On Sunday, Cardenas is looking to register win No. 7 on the season during the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway. “I hope we’ll be fighting for the top spot again this weekend,” Cardenas said. “The team has been giving me good bikes to ride and Sunday should be no different.” Cardenas, who has six wins on the season, leads second-place rider Dane Westby by 40 points going into this weekend’s race. With Tommy Hayden in third, 34 points behind Westby, the championship fight is shaping up to be a two-man duel. Laguna Seca is one of the tracks Cardenas looks most forward to racing. He holds the SportBike class track record for the event when he conquered the 11-turn, 2.238-mile course in 2010. This year’s main event will be 20 laps, Cardenas’ record came during a 23-lap main that finished in record 34 minutes, 4.080 seconds. “It would say it is one of my favorite places to race,” Cardenas said. “So I’m very excited to race here. The layout has a lot of fast corners and is very flowing. I’ve had many good results here in the past.” Practice for the AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBikes gets under way at 12:20 p.m. PDT Friday from Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway. The first qualifying session gets under way at 8 a.m. Saturday with the second session at around noon. The race will be at 11:15 a.m. Sunday. SPEED will broadcast the race at 11 p.m. EDT Sunday. More, from a press release issued by RacersEdgePerformance.com: Dale Kieffer will race on a RacersEdgePerformance.com/Maximon Rum-prepared Suzuki GSX-R1000 in the AMA Superbike event this weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Also joining the team aboard another Suzuki GSX-R1000 will be Ivan Sala, then current points leader in the Costa Rican Superbike series. “I’m grateful for this opportunity to return to AMA Pro racing and compete,” says Dale. “It’s been a few years since I’ve raced here at Laguna, but I think I still can get around this place pretty good.” In 1997, Dale finished 3rd overall in two AMA championship series (750cc Supersport & Formula Extreme). Dale has running a one-on-one motorcycle coaching business based out of Las Vegas, Nevada as well as being one of the Lead Instructors for the Yamaha Champions Riding School. Dale is receiving additional support from Fastrack Riders, Boeddeker Motorsports, Xtreme motorcyclerental.com, ACT Racing, Cali Photography and Paradigm Racing. More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: BRADL TAKES HIS RCV TO SAN FRANCISCO AND STANFORD UNIVERSITY LCR Honda rookie Stefan Bradl took to San Francisco’s infamous Lombard Street and Treasure Island with his Honda RC213V yesterday as he prepared for the upcoming Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca this weekend. As part of a Red Bull promotional video, the German rookie delighted crowds in true MotoGP fashion, as he wheelied his way around Treasure Island, before bringing a hefty exhaust note to the usually quaint Californian town, winding his way down twisty Lombard Street, much like he will at “The Corkscrew” come Friday. Later in the afternoon he was joined by LCR team owner Lucio Cecchinello to take part in a conference held at the prestigious Stanford University, named “Embracing Risk in the Pursuit of Victory”. It was a discussion about the balance between embracing risk and protection for safety, highlighting the advancements made by man and machine in one of the fastest forms of motorsports. Stefan: “Basically we were there to train the Corkscrew (laughing)! At the beginning we were a bit scared about the asphalt temperatures and tyres pressure but at the end everything worked well and we had fun. After that we moved to Stanford University to join an interesting discussion with Lucio and the public there was very curious about the several aspects of a MotoGP rider preparation (physical and mental) and the Team attitude to embrace risk. Anyway”¦ I am looking forward to Laguna GP, but I know it will be more difficult for me compared to the other races. I have been there some weeks ago riding a Honda Fireblade for a first taste. For sure we will work harder compared to the last tracks which I knew already and we must be sharp and careful with the setup of the bike, because we have no data. It’s a new track for me and this means double effort for me. Every Friday is a new discovery for me, because all tracks seem new on a MotoGP bike, but in this case it will be even more complicated, but I am not worried about it. We are in a good shape.”