Kawasaki Devil’s Showdown/AMA Pro Road Racing
AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike
New Jersey Motorsports Park
Millville, New Jersey
September 13, 2014
Provisional Race One Results (wet conditions, all on Dunlop tires):
1. Dane Westby (Yam YZF-R6), 16 laps
2. Jake Gagne (Yam YZF-R6), -8.999 seconds
3. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR600RR), -17.793
4. Garrett Gerloff (Yam YZF-R6), -27.874
5. Danny Eslick (Tri Daytona 675R), -44.896
6. Joe Roberts (Hon CBR600RR), -45.142
7. Miles Thornton (Tri Daytona 675R), -45.288
8. JD Beach (Yam YZF-R6), -68.120
9. Tucker Lancaster (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap
10. Kyle Wyman (Yam YZF-R6), -9 laps, DNF, crash
11. Melissa Paris (Tri Daytona 675R), -12 laps, DNF
12. Jason DiSalvo (Tri Daytona 675R), -13 laps, DNF, crash
13. Tomas Puerta (Yam YZF-R6), -14 laps, DNF, crash
14. Bryce Prince (Yam YZF-R6), -15 laps, DNF, crash
15. Elena Myers (Tri Daytona 675R), -16 laps, DNF, crash
16. Jake Lewis (Yam YZF-R6), DNS
17. Bobby Fong (Tri Daytona 675R), DNS
18. Shane Narbonne (Yam YZF-R6), DNS
19. Taylor Knapp (Tri Daytona 675R), DNS
20. Blake Young (Yam YZF-R6), DNS
21. Ben Young (Yam YZF-R6), DNS
22. Steve Rapp (Tri Daytona 675R), DNS
23. Kenny Riedmann (Tri Daytona 675R), DNS
Championship Point Standings (after 9 of 10 races):
1. Gagne, 214 points (clinches 2014 Championship)
2. Lewis, 182
3. Eslick, 173
4. Westby, 172
5. Beach, 167
6. Gerloff, 138
7. Zemke, 112
8. DiSalvo, 111
9. Kyle Wyman, 98
10. Young, 93
11. Puerta, 86
12. Fong, 78
13. Benny Solis, 77
14. Prince, 64
15. Lancaster, 52
16. Rapp, 50
17. Roberts, 45
18. Myers, 43
19. Riedmann, 40
20. Luke Stapleford, 26
More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:
Yamaha Rider Gagne Wins DSB Championship; Yamalube’s Westby Wins DSB Race 1 At New Jersey Motorsports Park
Millville, NJ – September 13, 2014 – On a thoroughly rain-soaked Thunderbolt Raceway, Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Dane Westby started from the pole in Saturday’s AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike Race 1 at New Jersey Motorsports, and the “Wolverine” led every lap from start to finish to notch his third victory of the season. Meanwhile, second-place finisher Jake Gagne clinched the DSB season championship aboard his RoadRace Factory/Yamaha YZF-R6.
Yamaha Extended Service/Monster Energy/Graves/Yamaha riders Garrett Gerloff and JD Beach toughed it out in the difficult conditions. Both riders completed the race, with Garrett bringing his #8 R6 home just off the podium in 4th and JD finishing 8th aboard his #6 R6.
After winning the season championship, Jake said, “It’s incredible. This class is stacked with so many fast riders, and a lot of the guys are on Yamaha R6s like me. The last thing I thought about today was to have this wrapped up. I’m stoked for the Yamaha and the whole RoadRace Factory crew. To do it for those guys and to pay off all their hard work is incredible.”
“Man, I’m just ecstatic,” race winner Dane said. “I’m over the moon to be able to ride in the rain and get this win. It was extremely treacherous, and I had a couple of moments out there on my double-zero R6. Someone told me I’m the winningest rider of the 2014 (DSB) season, so that’s pretty amazing. I’m really happy to get this win.”
Daytona SportBike Race 2 from New Jersey Motorsports Park’s Thunderbolt Raceway is scheduled for tomorrow at 3 PM ET.
For more Yamaha racing news, results, photos, and videos, check out www.YamahaMotorsports.com/Racing or your favorite Yamaha social media channel.
More, from a press release issued by Team Hammer PR:
Best Result Of The Year For Joe Roberts In New Jersey
M4 SportbikeTrackGear.comRacing’s Joe Roberts showcased measured skill and considerable bravery to splash his way up to an outstanding result in Saturday’s AMA Pro Daytona SportBikecontest at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
Starting from the outside of the fifth row after qualifying 15thon Saturday morning, Roberts slashed through the field despite the day’s slick and rainy conditions.
By the conclusion the once-stopped and shortened race, 17-year-old Roberts worked forward to ultimately claim sixth aboard his CBR600RR.
The result was the Californian’s first top-ten in the SportBike class and his best result of the 2014 AMA Pro Road Racing season with just tomorrow’s finale remaining.
“Today was good,” Roberts said. “The race was difficult, just staying on two wheels was tough. I was able to catch up with Jake Gagne, Garrett Gerloff, and Danny Eslick after a few laps.
“At the end, I stayed a little more conservative than those guys to secure a good result. I am happy and it was actually the first time I rode a bigger bike with rain tires. I’ve ridden smallermachines in the wet before but this was my first time racing a 600 on rain tires.”
Roberts’ sixth added to what proved to be a spectacular day for Team Hammer as GEICO Motorcycle Racing’s Jake Zemke finished third in the race, his first podium result of the ’14 racingseason.
Roberts will look to end in fine style as the 2014 AMA Pro Road Racing season will wrap up tomorrow after at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
More, from a press release issued by Yamalube/Westby Racing:
GREAT DANE: WESTBY WINS POLE AND THE RACE IN NEW JERSEY
Millville, NJ (September 13, 2014) – Dane Westby and Yamalube/Westby Racing won pole and the first AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike race of the weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park on Saturday.
Surprisingly, the pole position was Westby’s very first in AMA Pro competition. He set the best mark in the dry, rising to the top several times during the competitive session.
The very wet 16-lap race was an entirely different matter from the full-bore quickness of the morning. The first race of the weekend for the class would challenge riders to stay upright as much as it would to go fast.
Westby won by nearly nine seconds, having charged forward and dominated the contest even as the track became wetter and wetter in the final laps.
“I still have the claws,” said ‘The Wolverine’. “It was extremely treacherous out there, even with the rain tires. Until the very end, it was tough even with the bike straight up. Eric Knight, my Ohlins guy, put a new shock in at the last second for the wet conditions. I am glad we had a couple of laps to try things out before the race started. The crew has really worked hard for me all year and this morning they really came through again. They gave me a great bike in the dry and in the wet. I felt like I was on fire.”
For Dane and the Yamalube-backed squad, the victory was the third win of the season, more than any other rider has accomplished in the class so far in 2014.
“That’s great,” said Dane. “It would have been nice to round it out with some other good finishes so we could have been more competitive in the points but it has been a strong season for us. I think we’ve accomplished a lot during the year. I want to think my dad Tryg for believing in me all these years. Trevor Kemp and the guys at Yamalube had faith in me and my boys. This crew has been there all along for me. I am looking forward to having one more race tomorrow, and I feel like we’re not done yet.”
Team manager Chuck Giacchetto said, “The part I am impressed with the most is how the team pulled together. We got a motor swap completed very quickly in the morning, and the Yamalube/Westby Racing bike ran perfectly when Dane needed it. The Wolverine really came through, too. The pole may have been more of a surprise than the win. It was a special day for the team and we still have one more to go tomorrow. A dry race would be great, and we’re looking forward to it.”
Sunday’s race begins at 2 PM local time.
More, from a press release issued by GEICO Motorcycle:
GEICO Honda rider Zemke reaches podium; Ulrich scores top-10 finish
MILLVILLE, N.J. (Sept. 13) — A soggy day at New Jersey Motorsports Park resulted in two top-10 finishes for the GEICO Honda Motorcycle team with rider Jake Zemke finishing third in the GoPro Daytona SportBike race and Chris Ulrich recording a ninth-place effort in the American SuperBike race. It was Zemke’s first podium of the season.
“Today was great for the team,” Zemke said. “These guys put in so much effort week in and week out to put these bikes on the track for us. It doesn’t matter if we’re finishing 10th or up on the podium, they put in the same amount of work or sometimes even more, so it’s rewarding for me to do it for them.”
The wet weather at the season-ending Devil’s Showdown evened the playing field and allowed Zemke to capitalize on the conditions.
“It’s the first rain race we’ve had all year and they always say rain is a great equalizer, and today we were able to put it up on the podium,” Zemke said. “The conditions were pretty treacherous at times. At the beginning of the race, the track was fairly wet, then it started to dry through the middle and everybody’s times started coming down and everybody was going faster and faster.
“Then right there at the end in the last four or five laps, it just started downpouring and the track got really slippery. Even in a straight line, straight up and down, you could get on the gas and the tires would just spin. They weren’t getting any traction at all. So it was a bit of being very patient trying to get around those last four or five laps to the finish.”
Ulrich finished ninth in his race, which was also contested under wet conditions, moving him into the top 10 in the points standings.
“It’s for sure difficult,” Ulrich said. “In qualifying when the rain came, we had just turned our best lap, so that put us back pretty far on the grid, not being able to capitalize on a full dry session today and get the settings.
“The wet is the wet. It’s very interesting. This is first time I’ve had a proper wet race on a Honda. We changed some things around on the map, and as soon as I’d get more than 50 percent throttle, a lot of the electronics would cut out and cause some traction problems for me. That’s what put me behind early.”
Early in the race, Ulrich had a treacherous moment on the track but was able to regain control.
“I had a big moment in Turn 7 on the first or second lap,” Ulrich said. “We rebounded from that and got into the top 10, so ninth today in those conditions and this situation and to be there realistically for sixth right there at the end with those three guys ahead of me, I was happy with that considering how those first two laps went. We’ll learn from this on the wet map setting and move on.”
Ulrich expects to improve in the dry conditions forecast for Sunday’s events.
“Tomorrow is going to be the day to improve some stuff,” Ulrich said. “We can move up. I do well at this track. At least it will be dry. We’ll just try to finish off the season and have a fun time and just enjoy the day tomorrow because we’ve got a long break for the winter. We fought hard today and made some mistakes and came back from them, so I’m happy with my performance.”
Both Zemke and Ulrich will race again Sunday during the second races of the Devil’s Showdown. SportBike kicks off at 2 p.m. and SuperBike at 3 p.m. Live coverage can be seen at FansChoice.TV.