AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Presented by AMSOIL VIRginia International Raceway Alton, Virginia August 15, 2009 Provisional Race Results (all on Dunlop tires): 1. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R6), 23 laps 2. Jason DiSalvo (Suz GSX-R600), -0.010 second 3. Jamie Hacking (Kaw ZX-6R), -8.380 seconds 4. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR600RR), -12.553 5. Steve Rapp (Yam YZF-R6), -16.074 6. Bobby Fong (Yam YZF-R6), -21.584 7. Danny Eslick (Buell 1125R), -25.237 8. Dane Westby (Yam YZF-R6), -27.340 9. Martin Cardenas (Suz GSX-R600), -30.348 10. Roger Hayden (Kaw ZX-6R), -36.307, ran off track 11. Michael Beck (Yam YZF-R6), -41.296 12. Matt Lynn (Kaw ZX-6R), -45.931 13. Ricky Parker (Yam YZF-R6), -60.653 14. Garrett Carter (Yam YZF-R6), -61.961 15. Christian Cronin (Yam YZF-R6), -79.304 16. Fernando Amantini (Kaw ZX-6R), -85.824 17. Taylor Knapp (Buell 1125R), -1 lap, crash 18. Shawn Higbee (Buell 1125R), -1 lap, 1.027 seconds 19. Huntley Nash (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap, 4.204 seconds 20. Reese Wacker (Suz GSX-R600), -1 lap, 4.361 seconds 21. Chris Fillmore (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap, 4.581 seconds, crash 22. Brent Lyskawa (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap, 12.770 seconds 23. Cory Hidebrand (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap, 25.097 seconds 24. Alex Lazo (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap, 31.613 seconds 25. Michael Morgan (Suz GSX-R600), -1 lap, 45.343 seconds 26. Larry Karpinsky, Jr. (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap, 59.038 seconds 27. Walt Sipp (Buell 1125R), -1 lap, 64.823 seconds 28. Marcos Reichert (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap, 137.533 seconds 29. Nadr Riad (Yam YZF-R6), -2 laps 30. Abe Stacey (Suz GSX-R600), -4 laps, DNF, crash 31. Chris Clark (Yam YZF-R6), -6 laps, DNF 32. Tommy Aquino (Yam YZF-R6), -9 laps, DNF, crash 33. Chris Peris (Hon CBR600RR), -12 laps, DNF, crash 34. Josh Galster (Kaw ZX-6R), -13 laps, DNF 35. Melissa Paris (Yam YZF-R6), -13 laps, 1.352 seconds, DNF 36. Chaz Davies (Apr RSV1000R), -13 laps, DNF, retired/mechanical 37. Aaron Gobert (Apr RSV1000R), -15 laps, DNF, retired/mechanical 38. Michael Barnes (Buell 1125R), -15 laps, 1.947 seconds, DNF, crash 39. C.R. Gittere (Yam YZF-R6), -18 laps, DNF 40. Robertino Pietri (Yam YZF-R6), -20 laps, DNF 41. Josh Day (Yam YZF-R6), -20 laps, DNF 42. Daniel Parkerson (Kaw ZX-6R), -21 laps, DNF 43. Eric Haugo (Yam YZF-R6), -21 laps, DNF 44. Santiago Villa (Suz GSX-R600), DNS 45. Dominic Jones (Yam YZF-R6), DNS 46. Shea Fouchek (Hon CBR600RR), DNS Provisional Championship Point Standings (after 17 of 20 races): 1. Eslick, 332 points 2. Cardenas, 330 3. Herrin, 291 4. Hacking, 262 5. DiSalvo, 261 6. Zemke, 204 7. Peris, 199 8. Davies, 194 9. Aquino, 192 10. Rapp, 179 11. Knapp, 151 12. Hayden, 132 13. Barnes, 113 14. Beck, 94 15. Damian Cudlin, 92 16. Fong, 86 17. Fillmore, 77 18. Higbee, 70 19. Ben Bostrom, 62 20. Pietri/Westby, 60 More, from a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing: Yamaha Sweeps Saturday AMA Pro Road Racing Action at VIR Big Kahuna with Hayes and Herrin Hayes Dominates American Superbike for Fourth Victory; Herrin Gets First Daytona SportBike Win ALTON, Va. (August 15, 2009) – Josh Hayes (No. 4 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) and Josh Herrin (No. 8 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6) combined to give Yamaha a banner day Saturday at Virginia International Raceway in the opening rounds of the Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals. Hayes dominated in AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike presented by Parts Unlimited for his fourth win of the year while Herrin made two passes for the lead on the last lap to win his first AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL race. After winning his second Superpole of the season Friday in qualifying, Hayes took the lead at the start and never looked back. He led all 23 race laps and crossed the finish line a comfortable 10.062 seconds ahead of Mat Mladin (No. 7 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000). Hayes’ teammate Ben Bostrom (No. 2 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) prevailed in a thrilling race-long duel with Aaron Yates (No. 23 Brand Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000) to finish third. “I think these types of wins are rare to come by, few and far between, except for what Mat’s done the last several years,” Hayes said. “I was fortunate. We worked really hard; we have a really good motorcycle. It was the right bike to be on and we made the right tire choice. We were able to put together good laps from the beginning and I feel real fortunate to be here. I’m sure that these guys are going to up their game tomorrow.” Hayes won his first race of the season in May at Infineon Raceway where he broke a season-opening streak of seven straight wins by Mladin, who came up just short in his bid to win a seventh AMA Pro American Superbike Championship on Saturday. Mladin will clinch the crown tomorrow if his only remaining challenger Tommy Hayden (No. 22 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000), who is winless in his American Superbike career, doesn’t take the victory in Sunday’s final. “Josh has been fast all weekend,” said Mladin, who is retiring at the end of the season. “He did a great job today. We got out to a bit of a gap so on the podium the boys have sort of quietly been trying to tell me to think about the championship in their passing comments. Sometimes you have to just do what you have to do, but today it wouldn’t have mattered really what I did. Even if I pushed as hard as I could, I don’t think I had anything for Josh. He was just too fast today. We’ll try and get through tomorrow and New Jersey and that’s it. VIR’s always a fantastic race. I enjoy coming here and I enjoy the race track. It’s nice to put on a good show in front of a good crowd.” Bostrom rebounded from starting 12th after missing Friday’s Superpole to take the final podium spot. The third-place showing was his seventh podium of the year. “Honestly, Aaron was doing a fantastic job and once we got up into third he actually got me back,” Bostrom said. “Fun racing today. It’s not fun from the third row, it’s hard. I saw Holden and Hayden, and a bunch of good riders there as well, so it was pretty cool to look forward and see Mat, Josh and everybody come back and see three rows of great riders there. I just have to step up tomorrow, obviously the boys here are out riding us and it’s time to get a little nastier off the starting line and get it up there and hold on.” Yates swapped third place with Bostrom several times in the race and ended up finishing fourth after a great battle. The final position in the top five also came down to a thrilling conclusion with Hayden nipping his other teammate Blake Young (No. 79 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000) at the line. Sunday’s American Superbike final is scheduled to start at 4:20 p.m. local time for 23 laps/50 miles and will close the Big Kahuna weekend. Saturday’s American Superbike and Daytona SportBike finals will be shown tonight in a two-hour show at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) while Sunday’s premier class races and other highlights will air in a two-hour show that evening at Midnight ET (9 p.m. PT). Daytona SportBike Thriller Herrin took the lead from fifth on the grid on the first lap and then had to pass Jason DiSalvo (No. 40 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600) twice on the last lap to score his first AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL race win. It was the third Daytona SportBike victory of the year for Team Graves Yamaha and Herrin’s first victory in AMA Pro Road Racing competition since winning in AMA Pro SuperSport at Barber Motorsports Park last year. Bostrom won the season-opening Daytona 200 and at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in July in a pair of Daytona SportBike cameo appearances for Team Graves Yamaha earlier this season. Herrin battled at the front of the field for the entire race but led just the first and final laps and only two others in the 23-lap race. He charged by DiSalvo in Turn 1 on the last lap only to have the Suzuki rider retake the top spot a few corners later. Herrin then regrouped and slipped past DiSalvo in the Turn 16 downhill run leading up to the front straight. DiSalvo made a final move as the leaders crossed the finish line but Herrin held him off for a tight .010 of a second victory. “At the start of the race I just had to stuff it in there,” Herrin said. “I think I passed six guys right there. I didn’t think I was going to make it but I did. From there on out it was a pretty smooth race, no big moments. I try not to be a real contact racer. I tried to pass Jason as clean as I could and I didn’t feel any contact. My Yamaha’s been working really awesome today and I just can’t thank my crew enough.” DiSalvo finished second for the third time this year and scored his sixth overall top-three finish. He charged to the lead Saturday after starting ninth after an accident in yesterday’s Superpole qualifying. “I just felt really, really good making passes out there today, which I needed to,” said DiSalvo, who was not injured in yesterday’s spill. “That was one of the biggest things that I focused on after yesterday, because I knew I’d be coming from ninth. Just figuring out what I needed to do to get from ninth to first, and we did it, we just couldn’t hold on. I knew I had the pace. I didn’t really expect Josh to come with me, but he did and he put up a great fight at the end. The pass up at the top of the hill was good. I leaned on him a little bit, because at that point that’s really all I could do. It was a good race. Tomorrow I just hope to be one spot higher.” Jamie Hacking (No. 88 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) finished third for his first podium result since finishing second at Mid-Ohio. “It was a good race,” Hacking said. “I’m still waiting for that win. I know Josh probably feels good, it feels good to actually get a win. It’s been a couple of years for me now. We’re not giving up for sure. Josh made us look bad there on the start. He came from my row and I don’t know how he made it in there in Turn 1, but it was a hell of a ride that he did and he didn’t touch anybody.” Jake Zemke (No. 1x Erion Racing Honda CBR600RR) and DiSalvo each led a race-high eight laps, with the Honda rider up front for Laps 2 through 9. Zemke finished fourth while Steve Rapp (No. 48 Bazzaz/Pat Clark Motorsports Yamaha YZF-R6) rounded out the top five for his best finish since placing third in the Saturday final at Infineon. The race’s only other leader was Herrin’s teammate Tommy Aquino (No. 6 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6) who was uninjured when he lowsided in Turn 16 battling for the lead on Lap 15. First-time pole-sitter Taylor Knapp (No. 54 Latus Motors Racing Buell 1125R) was also running up front when he lowsided in Turn 3 one lap after Aquino’s incident. Knapp was uninjured. Championship contenders Danny Eslick (No. 9 GEICO Powersports/RMR Buell 1125R) and Martin Cardenas (No. 36 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600) never played a factor and had quiet runs to seventh and ninth, respectively. Cardenas raced despite a broken hand from a Friday practice crash but only lost two points to Eslick after Saturday’s race. Eslick is on top with 332 points, Cardenas in second with 330 markers and Herrin closed on the top duo in third with 291 points. Sunday’s Daytona SportBike final is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. local time for 23 laps/50 miles and will kick off the final races of the Big Kahuna weekend. Saturday’s American Superbike and Daytona SportBike finals will be shown tonight in a two-hour show at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) while Sunday’s premier class races and other highlights will air in a two-hour show that evening at Midnight ET (9 p.m. PT). 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. More, from a press release issued by Team M4 Suzuki: DISALVO AND M4 SUZUKI EARN SECOND IN VIRGINIA RACE ONE Team M4 Suzuki came back strong on Saturday at Virginia International Raceway, putting in a pair of spirited rides to collect another AMA Pro Daytona SportBike podium finish and remain squarely in the class championship hunt. Jason DiSalvo sliced his way up through the field to battle for the win right to the checkered flag, while Martin Cardenas put in a brave ride to finish in the top ten after breaking his right hand on Friday. After starting from ninth due to his Superpole crash, DiSalvo actually finished the opening lap in tenth following a moment just after the start. However, he put his head down and quickly closed on the huge pack contesting the lead. The superior speed the New Yorker had shown on his Suzuki GSX-R600 during practice and Basic Qualifying on Friday allowed him to work his way up through the battle and claim the lead as the laps wound down. In the end, the race evolved into a two-rider showdown with Josh Herrin for victory with Jason just coming up short on a drafting maneuver that would have secured his his first win of the season following a thrilling final lap in which the lead was traded back-and-forth three times. DiSalvo took the runner-up position a scant 0.010 seconds off the win. “It was just incredible. To come up from tenth and race for the win was something,” Jason said. “It took me a little while to catch those guys because there was a bit of a gap to the front train. Once I got to the pack I just started picking them off one at a time. My bike felt really good; it was really stable on the brakes. It was slippery out there and we were sliding around a good bit at the end. It really took a lot to ride the bike at the end of the race. “I was strong up in the last section and I thought I might have had the race won, but I left the door open a little bit. I didn’t think he’d try to make a pass there because I’ve been the fastest guy into that corner by a good bit but I should have protected a little more. “I didn’t know if I was going to be able to get him back at the flag. It was close. It was good though. A lot of things went my way in that race, and I put in some good moves and lappers worked in my favor. It paid off pretty good for us. We’ll come back tomorrow and try to do one better.” Meanwhile, Cardenas gritted his teeth to pick up a strong ninth-place finish after Friday fears that he may be unable to ride this weekend following his morning fall. The Colombian kept his title rival, Danny Eslick, firmly in his sights, and only finished two spots behind him to minimize the championship damage. He now sits second in the Daytona SportBike title hunt, just two points out of the lead. “I think that was the best I could do today and it was a good result considering the circumstances,” Cardenas remarked. “I think I rode well and Danny only finished two positions ahead of me. We’ll try to do the same tomorrow or even a little bit better. “Honestly, the hand was not too painful but it forces me to ride different. I can’t push on the outside of my hand so it’s very difficult to brake and changing direction is difficult as well. It’s costing me a little bit of time, but that’s the way it is. “Physically it was tough too because it was very hot and I couldn’t use my hand 100% so I had to compensate with my feet and my other hand. It was kind of difficult.” Team M4 Suzuki will be back in action tomorrow at Virginia International Raceway looking to add to their 2009 trophy haul and championship aspirations. More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki: Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki’s Hacking Rides Smooth to Podium Finish at VIR Alton, Va. Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking earned his seventh podium finish of the season with a consistent ride aboard his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R during the first of two AMA Daytona SportBike races at the penultimate round at Virginia International Raceway. Teammate Roger Hayden earned 10th after he went off-track in turn one early in the race. Back On The Podium Hacking made the veteran decision to play it smart and consistent during the race and it paid off with a third-place finish. After qualifying sixth, Hacking rode a smooth race, while riders in front of him made mistakes allowing him to constantly move forward. “We were all really close during the beginning of the race,” said Hacking. “I was pushing really hard, but trying to be smart. I saw several riders in front of me go down and in the end I was in a lonely third. I think if we make a few good changes to give me a little more grip, I could be up even higher on the podium tomorrow.” Strong Times During Saturday’s morning warm-up, Hayden topped the charts and looked to improve on his fourth place starting position. He was battling early for a podium position, but ran off the track in turn one. He rejoined the field in 10th and was pushing forward when he went off again, eventually finishing 10th. “I am pretty disappointed with myself since I was running times to put me up front,” said Hayden. “On days like today, its nice to know there is another race to redeem my results from the first race.” Hot Days The summer days in Virginia have proved to be hot. The riders faced 23 laps of heat in the high 80s to low 90s. “It was definitely hot, especially for a 38 year old,” said Hacking. “Training and preparation shows through in this type of humid heat.” Another Try With another race on Sunday, both riders are able to improve on their results. “I know its going to be a hot one tomorrow, but I am really looking for that first win of the season,” said Hacking. “I’m running out of time and I really feel like I have the speed be on top.” Mercado’s Back After a three-race absence, Mercado made it back to the United States to compete in the final two rounds of the AMA Pro Road Racing series. The cobwebs were dusted off right away as Mercado qualified second for the AMA SuperSport race on Sunday. “I am really happy to be back,” said Mercado. “I was not too happy being at home and wanting to be here and race. I’m looking forward to racing again and I hope I can do well for my team.” Results AMA Pro Road Racing Series Virginia International Raceway Alton, Va. August 15, 2009 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Results 1. Josh Herrin, Clovis, Calif., Yamaha 2. Jason DiSalvo, Las Vegas, Nev., Suzuki 3. JAMIE HACKING, DENVER, N.C., MONSTER ENERGY ATTACK KAWASAKI 4. Jake Zemke, Paso Robles, Calif., Honda 5. Steve Rapp, Hawthorne, Calif., Yamaha 6. Bobby Fong, Stockton, Calif., Yamaha 7. Daniel Eslick, Broken Arrow, Okla., Buell 8. Dane Westby, Tulsa, Okla., Yamaha 9. Martin Cardenas, Miami, Fla., Suzuki 10. ROGER HAYDEN, OWENSBORO, KY., MONSTER ENERGY ATTACK KAWASAKI AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Point Standings 1. Daniel Eslick, Broken Arrow, Okla., Buell, 332 2. Martin Cardenas, Miami, Fla., Suzuki, 330 3. Josh Herrin, Clovis Calif., Yamaha, 291 4. JAMIE HACKING, DENVER, N.C., MONSTER ENERGY ATTACK KAWASAKI, 262 5. Jason DiSalvo, Las Vegas, Nev., Suzuki, 261 6. Chris Peris, Calgary, Canada, Honda, 199 7. Chaz Davies, Carlsbad, Calif., Aprilla, 194 8. Tommy Aquino, Saugus, Calif., Yamaha, 192 9. Jake Zemke, Paso Robles, Calif., Honda, 204 10. Steve Rapp, Hawthorne, Calif., Yamaha, 179 12. ROGER HAYDEN, OWENSBORO, KY., MONSTER ENERGY ATTACK KAWASAKI, 132