Daytona: New bike, new team.great results The first Yamaha across the finish line in the 2005 Daytona 200 was piloted by Chris Peris, the Calgary resident snaring fifth place in the 71-rider field. Peris’ debut in the two-hour-long race was a veteran performance and bringing the Topline Printing R6 home in the top five was the culmination of a winter’s worth of training. “I knew that 68 laps at Daytona would be tough mentally and physically so I really trained hard over the winter,” Peris admitted. A mix of bicycling, gym work and monthly races at Willow Springs put last-year’s top-ten Supersport rider in great shape, and it all paid off March 12. Peris comes off a great year with Valvoline Emgo Suzuki and credits that team with a large spike in his learning curve. “I had a great Supersport team last year and the Valvoline guys were great to work with. I was always in contention to get in the top 10,” said Peris. Topline Printing put together a Yamaha program for the ’05 season that adds Formula Xtreme to Peris’ Supersport duties, putting the young rider in both 600cc classes. Max McAllister of Traxxion Dynamics came on board to handle suspension and chassis duties, while Willie Vass, of Vass Performance got the nod for his detail-oriented engine work. That team, along with the very fast and very calm rear-tire-man, Geoff Cesmat, knocked out three great pit stops to get Peris in and out of the Daytona pits in record time. The team’s third stop was so quick, Peris didn’t have time for a sip of water! Earlier in Speed Week, Peris lined up in the 11th qualifying spot for Supersport and battled up into the top ten, eventually finishing 11th, within sniffing distance of ninth. “Racing with Pascal Picotte and Danny Eslick was really great, those guys are fantastic riders,” Peris enthused after the race. “The weather really hurt everyone’s track time and I think quite a few of us were on new bikes that need a bit more development.” Development is the goal of Topline’s FX R6 before the race at Barber Motorsports Park, because the bike Peris ran into fifth spot at Daytona was in Supersport trim, including DOT tires. “I knew our bike would be down on power compared to most FX bikes, but we weren’t confident in making many changes because we didn’t have a chance to test before the 200,” Peris explains. “I love the Supersport R6 and knew it would be a good bike for 200 miles.” Good enough for fifth place in America’s most prestigious road race. More, from a press release issued by the Team Suzuki Press Office: HASKOVEC LEADS SUZUKI 1-2-3 M4 EMGO Suzuki rider Vincent Haskovec started the team’s 25th anniversary season by leading a Suzuki GSX-R1000 one-two-three in the opening AMA Superstock round at Daytona, Florida on Thursday. The Czech-born racer tracked down and overhauled the top factory riders after clawing his way up from sixth on the opening lap to lead by lap 10. He built up just enough of a gap over the final laps to prevent any of his rivals from counter-attacking with a last-gasp drafting manoeuvre. Using a clever race strategy, he settled in during the first five laps so that he could readjust to his fire-breathing GSX-R1000 after immediately coming from his Formula Xtreme qualifying session and, after doing so, his Pirelli tyres offered him more grip than his opponents could muster in the race’s late stages. Haskovec raved about the all-new bike that took a clean sweep of the podium: “As soon as I got up to the leaders, I sat behind them for five or six laps,” he explained. “I told myself, ‘everything feels good, and I should start to roll forward.’ The Suzuki is unbelievable. It’s like they made it for me. I didn’t have the best time in practice as I struggled a lot, but everything came together for the race. “I knew three or four laps from the end that I was going to have some rubber on them. I could drive off the corners much better. The motorcycle was amazing and the tyres worked real well with the set-up we found. The team gave me the perfect motorcycle today.” Haskovec’s team mate Geoff May diced with the leaders in the early stages of the Superstock race as well before claiming a clear sixth place in his AMA racing debut as a member of the squad. The Georgian then went straight back out onto the 2.95-mile circuit and picked up his second top-ten finish of the day, taking eighth in the 22-lap Supersport final. But perhaps his most impressive accomplishment of the day was his showing during qualifying for Saturday’s Superbike final. May ripped off a 1:40.608 aboard his GSX-R1000 to set the fifth best time, outpacing several full-factory and factory-supported Superbike stars. More, from a press release issued by Joe Rocket: ROCKET RULES DAYTONA! The Rocket Racing Team rolled out of the AMA Superbike series opener in Daytona Beach Florida, taking with it the plunders of victory. The Rocket Racing Team brought their best game and dominated the Winner’s Circle at Daytona International Speedway during Bike Week 2005. American Honda’s Miguel Duhamel won the Daytona 200 for the 5th time in his illustrious career after starting the race from the pole position. Duhamel won the 64th running of this prestigious race with a comfortable margin over the second place finisher and has now extended his career victories tally to a total of 83 race wins. Miguel owns 7 AMA Championships and has won at Daytona 12 times, in three different classes. AMA Superbike Champion Mat Mladin began his chase for a record 6th AMA Championship and started 2005 right where he left off by winning the Daytona Superbike race in his typically dominate manner. Mladin started the race from the pole position and on lap two, took the lead from Aaron Yates. Never once was Mladin challenged for the front. Triumphantly, Mladin was joined on the podium by Yoshimura Suzuki’s Superbike rookie sensation, Ben Spies, who finished third in his very first Daytona Superbike race. Mat Mladin has now won Daytona 4 times; his career Superbike wins tally consists of a lofty 33 AMA Superbike victories. In Supersport action, defending AMA Supersport Champion Tommy Hayden – did just that. Aboard his Kawasaki ZX6RR, Tommy fortified his title defense with this season’s inaugural Supersport victory. Hayden started the race from pole position and led from flight to finish. Jason Pridmore of Jordan Suzuki fought hard to earn a podium and finished 3rd place in the Daytona Superstock race. In his first outing aboard the Jordan Suzuki GSXR 1000, Pridmore battled the field to commendably take his place on the podium. The Rocket Racing Team will next engage for Superbike supremacy April 22 and 23rd as the AMA Superbike series heads to Barber Motorposrts Park in Birmingham Alabama. Stay tuned to www.joerocket.com for all the details