Miguel Duhamel On The Pole For Daytona 200 By Honda Mladin Wins AMA Superbike Opening Round Pole DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (March 9, 2006) — For the second straight year, Canadian Miguel Duhamel captured the pole for the 65th Daytona 200 By Honda Formula Xtreme event scheduled for Saturday at historic Daytona International Speedway. Duhamel, riding the factory No. 1 American Honda, turned a track record fast lap of 1:40.928 seconds, 105.224 mph to earn the pole for the legendary motorcycle event as well as a Rolex watch. “It means a lot to come out here and get the pole and get the beautiful Rolex watch,” said Duhamel, who has five Daytona 200 By Honda wins but only two Daytona 200 By Honda poles. “It means a lot to the team, especially this year, with all the competition. Some people were thinking it was luck last year, but it was actually determination and a faster CBR600RR.” If the 37-year-old Montreal native, who now calls Las Vegas home, wins the prestigious 200-mile motorcycle road race on Saturday he will become the first six-time winner in the storied history of the race, which first ran in 1937. Duhamel is currently tied the legendary Scott Russell with his fifth victory in the Daytona 200 By Honda last March. “It’s hard,” Duhamel said of winning the Daytona 200 By Honda. “You’ve got to respect Daytona. It’s a hard race, it’s 200 miles. If I do win six, I’ll definitely go out, break my training regime and party with my guys.” Rounding out the podium was second place Jason DiSalvo aboard a Yamaha (105.134), third place Eric Bostrom (104.795) and fourth place Jake Zemke (104.209). Other notable Daytona 200 By Honda qualifiers include Erion Honda’s Josh Hayes (Sixth, 103.961) and Aaron Gobert (Seventh, 103.925) and Jeremy McWilliams aboard the Buell XB12R (103.574). Mladin On The Pole For AMA Superbike Championship Opening Round The track qualifying records continue to fall during Daytona 200 Week By Honda as Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin captured the pole for Saturday’s Opening Round of the AMA Superbike Championship at Daytona International Speedway. Mladin, a native of Australia who is gunning for his seventh AMA Superbike title this year, toured the 2.95-mile Daytona International Speedway with a track-record lap of 1:37.075 seconds, 109.400 mph to earn his third Daytona Superbike pole and record 48th career Superbike pole. “I couldn’t test here in December recovering from surgery last year,” Mladin said. “We haven’t been here in 12 months and the bike is certainly very different from what it was 12 months ago so that puts me at a little bit of a disadvantage. But the race track still goes the same way. We’ve got more grip in the infield and that shows in the lap times.” Mladin’s pole was the eighth time a Suzuki has sat on the pole for the Daytona Superbike. Rounding out the front row for the Opening Round of the AMA Superbike Championship was second-place qualifier Ben Spies (108.857), third-place Parts Unlimited Ducati rider Ben Bostrom (108.354) and fourth-place American Honda rider Miguel Duhamel (107.996). More, from a press release issued by Daytona International Speedway: Hacking, Roger Lee Hayden Find Daytona Glory DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (March 9, 2006) — Thursday’s Superstock and Supersport final delivered two first-time Daytona International Speedway winners. Jamie Hacking can finally call himself a winner at Daytona International Speedway after his thrilling victory in the Superstock event. After coming up short so many times in tight finishes at “The World Center of Racing,” Hacking was able to nip Yamaha teammate Jason DiSalvo at the start/finish line by a mere .072 seconds. “It’s been nine years since I’ve been in here,” Hacking said. “I have second place lined up there on the shelf, and now I’ve finally got that one to go up there in the middle of them.” Hacking, riding in second place on the final lap aboard the factory No. 2 Yamaha, felt like he was in perfect position behind the leader DiSalvo. “I was hoping he was going to play the cards like he played them and I took them,” Hacking said. “I didn’t think he wanted to lead me out of the chicane but he did. I ran out of the banking, let him go and breathed the bike a little bit. “I’ve been in too many situations where I caught myself out trying to make the break too early. I left it as late as possible and ran him down pretty good. I dove down to the inside. If I had to take it to the dirt, I was going to the dirt to win this one.” DiSalvo gave credit to Hacking’s slingshot move at the checkered flag. “He just played the draft right — Miguel Duhamel right,” said DiSalvo referring to five-time Daytona 200 By Honda winner who has patented the slingshot move out of the Daytona chicane. Aaron Yates delivered a third-place finish aboard his Yoshimura Suzuki despite an injured shoulder he suffered during a recent test session at California Speedway. Hacking continued his Daytona successes on Thursday with a runner-up finish in the Supersport race behind winner Roger Lee Hayden. Hayden, riding the No. 95 Kawasaki, was able to break away from the competitive field in the final laps for the 1.609-second victory. “The first 15 laps was a little bit of a struggle,” Hayden said. “I changed my gearing right before the race because I thought we had a pretty bad headwind. It really wasn’t the right decision. “I couldn’t get by either one of these guys (Hacking or Tommy Hayden) by the stripe so I knew my only chance was to try to break away. Once we got into lappers, they were getting out the blue flag, and I was being a little bit aggressive.” Tommy Hayden, the 2005 Supersport champion competing in his only 2006 Supersport event of the year, finished third on his No. 1 Kawasaki. More, from a press release issued by Vreeke & Associates, on behalf of Dunlop: Dunlop Motorcycle Tires race report: 2006 AMA Superbike Series, round one, Daytona International Speedway Daytona, Fl. — March 9, 2006 — The annual spring rite of motorcycle roadracing on the storied tri-oval at Daytona International Speedway (DIS) unfolded in glorious fashion today as Dunlop-supported racers swept the podium in the Superstock and Supersport races at the opening round of the 2006 AMA Superbike Series. Graves Motorsport Yamaha’s Jamie Hacking took top honors in Superstock competition on his YZF-R1LE, beating teammate Jason Disalvo by .071 seconds with a draft pass at the finish line. For Hacking, his first Daytona win served notice that he was back in top form after losing virtually all of last season to rehabilitate two fractured elbows suffered in a bicycle training crash. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates was third, riding valiantly despite weakness in his shoulder, which was broken last month in a crash at a practice session at California Speedway. “I thank all of my friends from home who came here and supported me,” said Hacking. “And my crew for doing a great job on my bike. It’s great to have a fast motorcycle and finally win this race. It’s been nine years since I’ve been in here.” In the 600cc Supersport race that followed, Kawasaki Road Racing’s Roger Lee Hayden took the win on his ZX-6RR by 1.609 seconds over Hacking, who drafted past Hayden’s teammate and brother Tommy Hayden at the finish line. Hayden, who collected his first win in Supersport competition at Daytona, clocked the fastest lap of the race on the last lap. “I knew my only chance was to try and break away,” he said. “I got lucky with the lappers and I’m pretty happy to leave here with a good result.” On the day, Dunlop-shod riders took 15 of the 20 top finishing positions; eight out of 10 in Superstock and seven of 10 in Supersport. The series takes a break on Friday while the AMA Supercross series holds center stage for a day. The road racing resumes Saturday as Yoshimura Suzuki’s Mat Mladin, six-time AMA Superbike champ, hopes to capitalize on his pole-winning position in Superbike competition and Honda Racing’s Miguel Duhamel — the Daytona 200 pole-sitter — goes for a record sixth Daytona 200 victory running in the Formula Xtreme class. About Dunlop Tires Dunlop Tires is the largest supplier of original equipment and replacement motorcycle tires in the U.S. and the only manufacturer of motorcycle tires in North America. With North American operations headquartered in Buffalo, NY, Dunlop has been making and selling high-quality tires in the U.S. since 1923. For more information, please visit www.dunlopmotorcycle.com.