Westby Racing/Kneedraggers.com turned the fastest time during Friday’s rain-shortened practice/qualifying session for the AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT 8 Hours At Daytona, at Daytona International Speedway.
The team of Dane Westby, Dustin Meador, Jeff Wood and 2009 AMA American Superbike Championship runner-up Josh Hayes recorded a 1:53.367 on their Yamaha YZF-R6, shortly before a cloud burst just past the halfway point brought the two-hour session to a premature end.
“It went alright,” said Hayes, who turned the team’s fast lap while riding on a rear tire that had 20 laps on it. “Chuck [Giacchetto] did a great job building the bike. It’s easy to ride. Everything’s working well. I’m enjoying myself. I just want to do my job for the team.”
The second-best time (1:53.990) was recorded by two-time and defending 8 Hours At Daytona Champions, Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki (Chris Ulrich/Martin Cardenas/Jason DiSalvo).
“Everything is good,” said Cardenas, who did the team’s quickest lap after both of his teammates had ridden stints on the same set of Dunlop control tires. “I think the gearing can maybe be a little better, but everything is pretty good.”
Cardenas said his right hand, which he broke while practicing for a race at Virginia International Raceway in August and which kept him from racing in the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike finale, was not giving him any problems at all.
James Gang/Hoban Brothers Racing’s Shawn Higbee, Paul James and Jeff Johnson were third-fastest overall and in the Moto-GT1 class with a 1:54.141 on their Buell 1125R.
Crozier Motorsports’ Mark Crozier, Scott Jensen, David Estok and Michael Barnes made it four different brands of motorcycles in the top four by turning a 1:55.007 on their Ducati 848.
The top team in the Moto-GT2 category was KRM Racing by Motocrose. The team of Chris Boy, Barrett Long and Fernando Ferrer did a 2:01.881 on their Ducati PS1000LE. Long said he did that lap even though he has a total of 10 laps of practice on the bike, which was specially built for the event.
The second-fastest team in Moto-GT2 was Ducati PS1000LE-equipped Touring Sport Ducshop Ducati 38 (Brian Stokes/Dario Marchetti/Frank Shockley), which lapped the 3.51-mile infield road course in 2:03.464.
Touring Sport Ducshop Ducati 77 (Pete Friedland/Corey Rech/Brad Phillips/Brian Stokes), contenders for the GT2 class Championship, qualified third in GT2 with a 2:04.092.
The other GT2 Championship hopefuls, Pair-A-Nines’ Jay Springsteen, Scotty Ryan and new addition Taylor Knapp, were fourth in practice/qualifying with a 2:04.337 on their Kawasaki Ninja 650R.
Pair-A-Nines trails Touring Sport Ducshop Ducati 77 by 14 points. A maximum of 31 points can be earned during Saturday’s race, which starts at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
UPDATE: KRM Racing by Motocorse’s Ducati PS1000LE was found to be two horsepower over the class’ maximum limit during post-qualifying checks. The team will now have to start the race from the back of the Moto-GT2 grid.
AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT 8 Hours At Daytona Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida October 16, 2009 Provisional Practice/Qualifying Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Westby Racing/Kneedraggers.com (Dane Westby/Dustin Meador/Jeff Wood/Josh Hayes), Yam YZF-R6, GT1, 1:53.367
2. Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki (Chris Ulrich/Martin Cardenas/Jason DiSalvo), Suz GSX-R600, GT1, 1:53.990
3. James Gang/Hoban Bros. Racing (Shawn Higbee/Paul James/Jeff Johnson), Buell 1125R, GT1, 1:54.141
4. Crozier Motorsports (Mark Crozier/Scott Jensen/David Estok/Michael Barnes), Duc 848, GT1, 1:55.007
5. Touring Sport Ducshop Ducati 49 (Ryan Elleby/Matt Lynn/Hawk Mazzotta), Duc 848, GT1, 1:55.759
6. Team Hurtbyaccident.com 69 (Santiago Villa/Russ Wikle), Suz GSX-R600, GT1, 1:56.421
7. Riderschoice.ca (Matt McBride/Andrew Nelson/Larry Orde/Pat Barnes), Suz GSX-R600, GT1, 1:57.731
8. McNology Racing (David McPherson/Mark McCormick/William Luke), Yam YZF-R6, GT1, 1:57.957
9. Liberty Waves Racing (Eric Pinson/Eric Haugo/David Sadowski), Buell 1125R, GT1, 1:58.574
10. Old Pros Racing (Paul Schwemmer/Dave Aldana/J.P. Tache), Tri Daytona 675, GT1, 2:01.702
11. KRM Racing by Motocorse (Chris Boy/Barrett Long/Fernando Ferrer), Duc PS1000LE, GT2, 2:01.881 *
12. R&B Motorsports (Michael Barnes/Phil Caudill/Mark Crozier/Skip Salenius), Duc 848, GT1, 2:03.055
13. Touring Sport Ducshop Ducati 38 (Brian Stokes/Dario Marchetti/Frank Shockley), Duc PS1000LE, GT2, 2:03.464
14. Touring Sport Ducshop Ducati 77 (Pete Friedland/Corey Rech/Brad Phillips/Brian Stokes), Duc PS1000LE, GT2, 2:04.092
15. Pair-A-Nines (Jay Springsteen/Taylor Knapp/Scott Ryan), Kaw EX650, GT2, 2:04.337
16. Team Hurtbyaccident.com 59 (Rodolfo Ramirez/Tomas Puerta/Eric Wood), Duc PS1000LE, GT2, 2:05.614
17. El Rey Beer for Kings 20 (Dave Ebben/Dennis Espinosa/Calvin Martinez), Duc 848, GT1, 2:05.703
18. Team Hurtbyaccident.com 64 (Robert Fisher/John Linder/Justin Filice), Duc PS1000LE, GT2, 2:06.116
19. East Coast Powersports (Kenny Rodriguez/Trey Yonce/Ryan Patterson), Suz SV650, GT2, 2:06.428
20. Team MIM/Repsol 26 (Jeff Purk/Mitch Stein), Suz SV650, GT2, 2:11.113
21. Team MIM/Repsol 17 (Paul Onley/Chris Onwiler), Suz SV650, GT2, 3:23.014
* time disallowed for exceeding horsepower limit in post-qualifying checks
More, from a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing:
Josh Hayes Puts Westby Racing on Pole for AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT 8 Hours At Daytona
Barrett Long Wins GT2 Pole for KRM Racing by Motocorse in Team Debut
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (October 16, 2009) – Josh Hayes was a late addition to the No. 13 Westby Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 team for this weekend’s AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT 8 Hours At Daytona but that didn’t stop the top AMA Pro American Superbike rider from winning the overall and GT1 class pole Friday for tomorrow’s eight-hour endurance race.Hayes, who will co-ride the No. 13 with Jeff Wood and regular team riders Dane Westby and Dustin Meador, turned a top qualifying lap time of 1:53.367 (112.731 mph) just minutes before a heavy rain shower forced an early end to the scheduled two hour session just past the one hour mark.
“I am glad I was kind of able to do my job for the Westby Racing team,” said Hayes, who won seven AMA Pro American Superbike races this year riding a Yamaha R1 for Yamaha Motor Corp. USA. “Whenever they ask me to come ride, I want to do a good job for them. If I can put down a good time and get a top position on the grid, that’s one step and one part of my job.”
Hayes was added to the Westby team just this week but he had been planning on being in Daytona for the Fall Cycle Scene to support his wife and fellow racer Melissa Paris. Paris is racing for the first time this weekend in Championship Cup Series (CCS) competition since sustaining a fractured right tibia/fibula injury in the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike race at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) in mid August.
“It was kind of a last minute deal,” Hayes said. “The guys called me up and they knew I would be here with Melissa anyway, and they know how much I enjoy riding. Melissa is riding well too considering she is only about eight weeks out of a broken leg. She finished fifth in today’s GTU race and is riding pretty well around this track, so it is good to finish on a high note.”
Hayes and the No. 13 team will share the two-bike front row with the No. 18 Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R600 of Chris Ulrich, Martin Cardenas and Jason DiSalvo. Team Roadracingworld.com has won the last two 8 Hours At Daytona and finished second in the inaugural race in 2006. Cardenas, who joined Ulrich on last year’s winning rider line up, was on the bike for the No. 18’s top lap of 1:53.990 (112.115 mph).
“Everything is good with the bike and we did the fast lap on the same set of tires we started with, so that is good,” said Cardenas, who is recovering from a broken right hand from an accident of his own in Friday practice at VIR. “The hand is good, feeling as good as it has, and it will be no problem to race.”
The No. 70 James Gang/Hoban Bros. Racing Buell 1125R of Paul James, Jeff Johnson and Shawn Higbee qualified third. Higbee was on the Buell for the No. 70’s quick lap of 1:54.141 (111.966 mph).
“I went out first on it and the bike felt really good,” Higbee said. “We figured we were going to get some weather here so that is why we went out first and tried to put down a good lap, but unfortunately it didn’t stick for us. We are looking good for the race, the bike is coming along and we made a few changes. We have three riders this weekend and we are just trying to get everybody comfortable.”
GT2 Late Addition Too
Hayes wasn’t the only late-addition rider to post a pole-winning run on Friday. Daytona 200 sixth-place finisher Barrett Long was asked to ride the No. 23 KRM Racing by Motocorse Ducati PS1000LE just this morning and promptly went out and won the GT2 class pole.
“The team asked me this morning if I wanted to ride, because they had a rider out,” said Long, who will team with Fernando Ferrer and Chris Boy. “Everything is going smoothly so far, the bike feels good, the team is great. This is my first time on this bike. I think I did about 10 laps and it was on the last lap that I did the good time. I was just learning the bike, I wasn’t even trying to do a fast lap.” Touring Sport Ducshop’s pair of Ducati PS1000LE bikes rounded out the top three. The No. 38 Ducati of Frank Shockley, Dario Marchetti and Brian Stokes was second fastest with Shockley turning a top lap time of 2:03.464 (103.512 mph). The championship leading No. 77 of Pete Friedland, Brad Phillips and Corey Rech was third with a lap of 2:04.092 (102.988 mph).
The season-ending 8-hour race is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. on the 3.55-mile Daytona International Speedway road course. AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. From its Daytona Beach headquarters, the organization operates and manages AMA Pro Road Racing, which includes AMA Pro American Superbike, AMA Pro Daytona SportBike, AMA Pro SuperSport and AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT. AMA Pro Racing also manages and works closely with the day-to-day operational organizations of the AMA Pro Flat Track Championship and the AMA Pro Supermoto Championship Series in addition to other two-wheel and ATV series. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.