AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike presented by Parts Unlimited Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin June 7, 2009 Provisional Race Results (all on Dunlop tires): 1. Larry Pegram (Duc 1098R), 13 laps 2. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000 K9), -0.342 second 3. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000 K9), -2.455 seconds 4. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000 K9), -10.515 5. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), -12.885 6. Neil Hodgson (Hon CBR1000RR), -18.700 7. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000 K9), -18.701 8. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R1000 K9), -28.775, crash 9. Jake Holden (Hon CBR1000RR), -41.187 10. David Anthony (Suz GSX-R1000 K8), -42.835 11. Shane Narbonne (Suz GSX-R1000 K8), -66.207 12. Aaron Gobert (Hon CBR1000RR), -66.207 13. Ryan Elleby (Suz GSX-R1000 K8), -72.180 14. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000 K9), -85.859, start infraction/ride-through penalty 15. Shawn Higbee (Buell 1125R), -99.026 16. Eric Haugo (Suz GSX-R1000 K8), -109.735 17. Trent Gibson (Suz GSX-R1000 K8), -111.317 18. Ron Hix (Suz GSX-R1000), -122.819 19. Doug Polen (Suz GSX-R1000 K8), -132.022 20. Brian Boyd (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap 21. Marcin Biernacki (Suz GSX-R1000), -1 lap, 7.058 seconds 22. Michael Laverty (Suz GSX-R1000 K9), 01 lap, 23.898, crash 23. Tim Hunt (Suz GSX-R1000 K8), -2 laps 24. Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R100 K8), -2 laps, 17.993 seconds 25. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), -6 laps, DNF, crash 26. Dominic Jones (Suz GSX-R1000 K8), -8 laps, DNF 27. Mark Crozier (Suz GSX-R1000 K8), -12 laps, DNF Provisional Championship Point Standings (after 11 of 20 races): 1. Mladin, 325 points 2. Hayden, 215 3. Bostrom, 187 4. Pegram, 180 5. Hayes, 164 6. May, 161 7. Yates, 152 8. Young, 143 9. Anthony, 120 10. Knapp, 97 11. Holden, 87 12. Ulrich, 83 13. Gobert, 80 14. Hawk Mazzotta, 61 15. Scott Jensen, 59 16. Hodgson, 57 17. Elleby, 55 18. Laverty, 46 19. Crozier, 42 20. Haugo, 32 More, from a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing: Pegram and Cardenas Take Victories in Pair of Barnburners at Suzuki Superbike Doubleheader Mercado Scores Second AMA Pro SuperSport Victory ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (June 7, 2009) – On a nearly perfect day for racing at Road America, Larry Pegram captured his first AMA Pro Racing National Guard American Superbike presented by Parts Unlimited victory in 10 years and Martin Cardenas scored his sixth AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL victory of the season on the final day of the Suzuki Superbike Doubleheader. The American Superbike race featured an epic, four-bike battle royal at the front with Pegram on the No. 72 Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing Ducati 1098R, Mat Mladin on the No. 7 Rockstar/Makita/Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000, Blake Young on the No. 79 Rockstar/Makita/Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 and Geoff May on the No. 54 National Guard Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000. The four bikes swapped positions throughout the first three-quarters of the race before the fight for the victory became a mano-a-mano duel between Pegram and Mladin. As he also did at the standing start in Saturday’s first race of the doubleheader, Pegram got an outstanding start from the second row and claimed the lead. Pegram led the first six laps of the 13 lap race before Mladin first took the lead as he went in search of his 10th victory of the season. The second half of the race featured a seesaw battle in which Pegram would power past Mladin heading into Turn 1 at the end of the long front straightaway, and Mladin would return the favor under braking in Turn 5 on each lap. As a result, Mladin was scored as the leader from Lap 7 through Lap 11. However, the lead changed hands an amazing four times on Lap 8 alone as the two combatants thrilled the Road America fans with their determination to wrestle the lead from one another at every opportunity. The battle came to a head on the penultimate lap of the race. Pegram took the lead on the front straight heading into Turn 1, but Mladin reclaimed the position in Turn 3. Pegram finally sealed the deal on the run from Turn 3 to Turn 5 and managed to pull away for a 0.342-second victory. It was Pegram’s first win since April 19, 1999 at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond, Calif., and was the third victory of his AMA Pro Racing career. The other win came in 600 SuperSport competition at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, Colo. On September 6, 1998. “It was definitely a great race,” said Pegram. “I was expecting that I could run the pace, but I wasn’t expecting to lead like that most of the time. I was real comfortable. When Mat would get in front of me, he wouldn’t really get me anywhere. We were pretty even, but I’d catch him in The Carousel (Turns 9 and 10). When we’d go through there, he would gap me in the left-hander after The Carousel. It was weird. He was really getting through there good. It’s been such a long time. I don’t know if that was as good as the first one or not, but I don’t want to wait 10 years for another one.” For Mladin, who won the opening race of the doubleheader on Saturday, it was just the second time in 11 races this season that he did not stand atop the box. However, it was his 10th podium of the season and he comfortably leads teammate Tommy Hayden (No. 22 Rockstar/Makita/Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000) – who finished seventh today – in the American Superbike championship standings by 110 points, 325-215, with nine races remaining on the season. “Obviously, it was back-and-forth,” Mladin said. “In the end, we couldn’t get it done. We rode hard and that’s all we could do today.” Riding the No. 23 Jordan Brand Suzuki GSX-R1000, Aaron Yates caught the lead pack late in the race as his teammate dropped back. Yates came out on top in the fight for the final podium spot with Young, taking third place away in Turn 11 on the final lap. Young fell just after Yates took the spot away, but was not injured in the incident and finished the race in eighth place. It was Yates’ first podium since finishing second in the second race of a doubleheader at Barber Motorsports Park last month. “We had a pretty decent race there,” Yates said. “The start didn’t go quite like I was hoping. I left a little late, but I managed to just start to get by folks and just started putting in some good laps. We made some changes last night and this morning, so I was able to go out there and ride like I needed to to go fast. Thanks to the Jordan crew for that. “I couldn’t do much with ‘ol Blake. His little self on that Yoshimura bike was getting it pretty good down the straightaways. I was making a lot of ground through the (Turns) 5, 6 and 7 area. I had a look under the inside of him coming out of The Carousel. I was on the inside for the next turn on one lap, and I knew he’d just get me on the straightaway. On the final lap, I looked again, but I was a little too late getting in there. I just kind of slipped up under him for that right (Turn 11) and I had to get in there and kind of park it. He wasn’t expecting that, for sure, and I guess he had to get on the brake a little hard or something. It looked like he slid down, and I was able to just ride it hard to the end. It feels good to get us up here on the podium for the Jordan Suzuki.” May made it two Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000s in the top four with a fourth-place performance, for his sixth top-five result of the season. Ben Bostrom finished fifth on the No. 2 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1. It was Bostrom’s fifth top five in his past six races and was his sixth top-five run of the season overall. The next round for American Superbike is scheduled for Sunday, July 5 as part of the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Cardenas Wins Daytona SportBike Thriller In a race where the lead changed hands at least five times on the final lap, Cardenas came away with his sixth AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL victory of the season on the No. 36 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600. After running second for most of the race, Cardenas had an epic final-lap battle with Jake Zemke on the No. 1X Erion Racing Honda CBR600RR. Over the final four miles of the race, Cardenas took the lead from Zemke in Turn 1, but Zemke returned the favor in Turn 5. Cardenas reclaimed the lead from Zemke five turns later, but Zemke got inside position heading into the left-hand Turn 12, which is famously known as “Canada Corner,” and appeared to be headed for Victory Lane. However, Cardenas had one last burst on the long, uphill front straightaway and won the drag race to the stripe to win by 0.104 seconds. It was the eighth podium in 10 races for Cardenas, who now leads the Daytona SportBike championship standings by 51 points, 255-204, over No. 88 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R rider Jamie Hacking, who finished ninth. Eleven of 20 races are now in the books. “The first plan that I had was to pass him,” Cardenas said. “I tried to make a very good lap and tried to win, but under braking into Turn 5, Jake came by again. I tried to pass him again on the chicane, and he went past me on the next turn. We went side-by-side for the last half of the racetrack and it went down to the last corner. He was protecting the inside and, on that particular lap, I made a good run out of that turn and it worked out and I could win. Especially today, my bike was very fast and it helped me a lot today to win the race. Thank you to M4 Suzuki and all the team.” Zemke took the lead on Lap 7 and led a total of six laps, coming up just short in his bid for a breakthrough Daytona SportBike victory. Nevertheless, it was the Californian’s first podium finish of the season. His previous best ride was a fourth-place performance in the first race of the April doubleheader at Road Atlanta. “I was trying to be anywhere that Martin wasn’t,” Zemke said. “We were pretty much side-by-side through all those final corners. We were basically side-by-side since out of the chicane (Turn 11). He had a little slip there with the rear and we went side-by-side all the way to Canada Corner. I had the inside there, and then he crossed back over and was outside of me as we went into where the bridge used to be (Turn 13). I knew he was kind of sitting there and I knew I had to protect the inside on the last corner. Leading the race, you just can’t go in there and leave the door wide open for somebody. Being where I was, I just had to protect the inside. Martin is real strong on the brakes, so I knew if I left that open, he’d definitely go up the inside of me. I just had to do what I had to do, and today it didn’t work out for us. “Congratulations to Martin, he rode great, and also Jason (DiSalvo). These guys have been the class of the field this year, and they’re the ones we’ve got to set our sights on. We’re going to come out to the next race at Laguna and see if we can’t hunt Martin down.” Rounding out the podium was Jason DiSalvo, who started from the pole position on the No. 40 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600. DiSalvo never led, but kept the lead battle in sight throughout the race to take his fifth podium result of the season. “I was just really happy to make it out and get back on the box,” DiSalvo said. “After yesterday’s performance in the rain, it was just good to get back out. I wish I could have fought for the win, but we lost a little bit of power in the bike from about Lap 3 on, and I just really couldn’t hang in the draft and couldn’t get off some of the slower corners. I just had to sit back and watch those guys inch away from me. It was pretty tough to do, but we just stuck it out and brought it home a very comfortable third. We just want to go out and get that win. We’ve been waiting a long time for it.” Yesterday’s race winner, Chris Peris, finished fourth in the second race of the Suzuki Superbike Doubleheader on the No. 10 Erion Racing Honda CBR600RR. Danny Eslick rounded out the top five on the No. 9 GEICO Powersports/RMR Buell 1125R. Next up for Daytona SportBike is the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Sunday, July 5. Mercado Scores Second SuperSport presented by Shoei Victory Leandro Mercado (No. 92 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) and Ricky Parker (No. 96 Graves Motorsports Yamaha YZF-R6) capped an entertaining day of racing at Road America with a great, race-long battle for the victory in AMA Pro SuperSport presented by Shoei action. The race, which included both the East and West divisions of SuperSport, was a continuation of sorts of the battle Mercado and Parker had last time out at Infineon Raceway last month. On that day, Parker came out with his first SuperSport victory. Things would be different this time around. Mercado started from the pole, and although Parker was able to lead the first two laps of the race, the 17-year-old Argentine proved why he topped the time charts throughout the weekend by putting the No. 92 Kawasaki into the lead in Turn 5 on Lap 3. Mercado led the next four laps before Parker once again stepped to the front of the class in Turn 5 with four laps remaining. Heading down the front straightaway with two to go, Mercado made the decisive pass and managed to keep Parker in his mirrors to win by 0.449 seconds. It was Mercado’s second career SuperSport victory and his first since taking Round 2 of the SuperSport East championship at Road Atlanta in April. The victory moved Mercado to the top of the SuperSport East point standings by 18 points, 81-63, over No. 5 Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R600 rider Russ Wikle. “It was a really fun race,” said Mercado. “It was really hard, Ricky was very close behind. He passed me a couple times. The race was difficult. I tried to push hard every lap and be consistent and not make any mistakes. I’m really happy. Today, my Kawasaki worked awesome. I hope to keep it like this in the other races of the year. I want to thank my team for a great job.” Parker came home second for his second consecutive SuperSport podium result. He is now third in the SuperSport West point standings with 56 points, just one point behind Clint Shobert (No. 26 American Honda CBR600RR), who finished ninth today, and 18 behind leader Tyler Odom (No. 46 Erion Racing Honda CBR600RR), who was seventh in today’s race. It was just Parker’s third SuperSport race of the season. “This was actually better than Infineon,” said Parker. “There was a lot more action in there. We had a lot of passes during the whole race and that made it a lot more fun for us, and I believe for the spectators also. It was an awesome race. Leandro and I stayed close pretty much the whole race. The last lap unfortunately I made a mistake, I ran wide and lost a little bit from him and couldn’t just make up the gap in the last few corners. It’s okay, I’m happy with second. I’ll take second this weekend and look forward to Laguna, hopefully we’ll get another podium.” Josh Day completed the podium on the No. 4 Team E.S.P. Yamaha YZF-R6 with a third-place ride. It was Day’s best ride since finishing second in Round 2 at Road Atlanta. “It went pretty well,” said Day. “I wish I could have stayed with the guys at the front but they just picked up the pace a little bit more than what I had for them and we didn’t really have the bike setup to be going that quick. Congrats to how good they were riding up front. Other than that, the rest of the race was pretty flawless and lonely. The rest of time I was pretty much out there all by myself towards the end. I wish I could have stayed with them up front, that way we would have had a good three-way battle but hopefully we’re coming out for the next race and can stay up front with them.” James Rispoli, who leads the points in the AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Pro Singles Championship, finished fourth in his SuperSport debut aboard the No. 71 NPS Racing Suzuki GSX-R600, and Wikle completed the top five. The next SuperSport round is scheduled for Saturday, July 4 as part of the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. 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 Ducati North America: TEAM FOREMOST PEGRAM RACING WINS WITH THE DUCATI 1098 R AT ROAD AMERICA An epic battle from flag to flag gave Larry Pegram and the Ducati 1098 R the race win in Wisconsin ELKHART LAKE, WI (June 7 2009) Larry Pegram and the Foremost Racing Ducati 1098 R won today after a race long dual at historic Road America- only three months after Ducati’s return to Superbike racing in America. Larry Pegram used the stable chassis and massive horsepower of the Ducati 1098 R Superbike to defeat the long dominant Suzuki squad today. The fast, flowing circuit has historically suited Ducati well, and entering the weekend Pegram was confident of a win. “I told my guys we’ve got past Barber and Sears Point. Those are my two worst circuits and after finishing third at Sears Point I knew we could win anywhere else,” commented Pegram. “The bike went well in the wet yesterday and I felt confident going into today’s race.” Pegram’s primary opposition came from Suzuki’s Mat Mladin, who pressured Pegram from flag to flag; stating later that the Ducati 1098 R must have had a “10 mph advantage” over the Suzuki on the straightaway. In an effort to take control of the race Mladin attempted a series of risky passes, only to find Pegram blowing back by. With two laps to go Pegram built up a gap, and put his head down to take the checkered flag. “I got a good start and out-broke everyone into turn five,” said Pegram in the press conference. “Once I made it out front I rode a good pace until Mladin caught me. I didn’t want a four or five way battle come the last few laps so I had to stay on Mladin in order to gap the others. The Ducati was working better than the Suzuki over most the track so I just fought to keep Mat behind me. On the last few corners I kept telling myself to keep my head down and not screw it up! It feels so good to win on my own factory team. It’s been a long time since we set started out in 2004, and my last Superbike win was at Willow Springs in 1999. To be able to do it on a factory Ducati, with the team I built means a lot to me. It hasn’t fully set in yet but it feels so great.” The race win was popular with both fans in attendance as well as historians of the sport, all delighted to see Ducati back on top of the podium in America. After a three year absence from the Superbike class Ducati returned to action only three months ago; with today marking their 40th win in the class. Looking forward to the next round at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca July 3-5th; Pegram has another reason to smile- this weekend’s finish promotes him two spots to fourth overall in the Championship. For a race report, photos and team information please visit www.pegramracing.com; for more information on Ducati and the revolutionary 1098 R Superbike please visit www.ducatiusa.com.