Ben Bostrom was once again the quickest rider during Daytona SportBike testing Sunday morning at Daytona International Speedway. In spite of riding only the final 18 minutes of the session, the 2008 AMA Supersport Champion lapped the 3.51-mile infield road course in 1:49.843, which was slower than his best of the test, 1:49.198, but ambient and track temperatures were down significantly Sunday morning. In fact, the track temperature was colder Sunday morning than it was during Saturday night’s Daytona SportBike session, according to Dunlop. The cold track temperatures may have contributed to two crashes early Sunday morning. Jake Zemke crashed his Erion Racing Honda CBR600RR in the chicane on his first flying lap. Zemke was not injured in the lowside crash, but his bike was too damaged for the Erion Racing team to repair with the limited parts they had on hand. Erion Racing Honda sent its single motorcycle, tools and a small supply of spare parts on the American Honda semi truck rather than bringing their semi truck all the way from California. Moments after Zemke crashed, Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s Tommy Aquino lost the front end of his YZF-R6 in exactly the same spot. Aquino was uninjured in the fall, but his bike was knocked out of action. Aquino continued his test on Ben Bostrom’s YZF-R6. Much later in the three-hour session T. Westby Corp./Kneedraggers.com’s Dane Westby highsided coming out of the west horseshoe when he set up to make a pass on Aquino’s teammate Josh Herrin. There had been only one crash in the first two days of the three-day test. Team M4 EMGO Suzuki and the Geico Powersports Buell/Buell R&D unit did not test Sunday morning because they had accomplished everything they had hoped to accomplish in the first two days. Testing will conclude Sunday afternoon, after the American Superbikes of American Honda, LeoVince Foremost Insurance Ducati and Yamaha finish their final four-hour session. AMA Pro Racing Tire Test Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida December 7, 2008 Daytona SportBike Provisional Test Times (all on Dunlop tires, as supplied by AMA Pro Racing and teams): 1. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R6), 1:49.843, 171.83 mph 2. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R6), 1:51.489, 171.97 mph 3. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R6), 1:51.576, 176.89 mph 4. Tommy Aquino (Yam YZF-R6), 1:53.01, crash 5. Dane Westby (Yam YZF-R6), 1:53.167, crash 6. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR600RR), 2:12.801, 169.44 mph, crash More, from a press release issued mid-day Sunday by Daytona International Speedway: DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Dec. 7, 2008) The three-day AMA Pro Racing Dunlop tire test in preparation for Daytona 200 Week By Honda wrapped up on Sunday at historic Daytona International Speedway. The Daytona SportBikes and American Superbike riders have been touring both the 3.51- and 2.9-mile road courses at “The World Center of Racing” for the past three days testing Dunlop tires and the Musco lights in preparation for the upcoming Daytona 200 Week By Honda on Feb. 27 – March 7. Among the riders in attendance included Yamaha’s Ben Bostrom and Josh Hayes, Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke, American Honda’s Neil Hodgson, Richie Morris Racing’s Michael Barnes and Roadracingworld.com’s Chris Ulrich. For the first two days of the test, there were both day and night sessions while Sunday featured only daytime testing. For the first time in event history, the prestigious season-opening Daytona 200 By Honda Daytona SportBike race will be held under the lights on Friday, March 6 with the Daytona Supercross By Honda moving to Saturday night, March 7. This weekend’s testing sessions have been extremely valuable to the Daytona SportBike riders who were running the lights at DIS for the first time. After night testing, Bostrom, the 2008 AMA Supersport champion, was really pumped up about running the Daytona 200 By Honda under the lights. “It was really fun at night,” Bostrom said. “The bike seems to run good on the crisp air, which is kind of cool. More than that, you get a special feeling under the lights, you feel more like a rock concert . . . like big time. It enthused me.” After taking a dinner break on the first day of tire testing on Friday, Bostrom came back to DIS for the first night testing session and found the 3.51-mile course lit up. “When I pulled back in with the place all lit up and grand looking, I just got this rush like I couldn’t wait to get on my bike and get out there,” Bostrom said. “It felt like a big-time race and I know it’s just testing. It was beautiful.” Ulrich, who rides the No. 18 Roadracingworld.com Suzuki in American Superbike, won’t be racing in the Daytona 200 By Honda under the lights, but says riding at night is a great move for fans of motorcycle racing at DIS. “I think it’s going to be a good spectacle,” Ulrich said. “During the day, there’s so much other stuff going on around Daytona during Bike Week. Some people have to work and some people have to do some other things. I think having it at night adds that extra bit (of excitement). What else are you going to do at night, site around and watch sitcoms? I think bring the party into the speedway, have a bunch of people around and watch some fast motorcycles go around at night. It’s going to be a neat thing to see.” Many of the riders who attended the test stressed how important the track time under the lights has been for them in learning Daytona after dark. “I’m really, really grateful,” Bostrom said. “It gave us a chance to evaluate the track. There were a couple of dark spots out here and there and we gave the feedback to the guys that actually move the lights around and turn them up and down. Even the second day there was still issues. Now, we should have that nailed by the time we come back. That helped them and us for safety issues. “But also, your first couple of laps at night, the track has a real (shine) to it when you see it. It looks slippery. You have to get that out of your head. It gave all the riders a chance to realize it’s the same track, it’s just dark. It looks slippery but it’s not.” Tickets for the Daytona 200 Week By Honda events are available online at http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PITSHOP.