From a press release issued by Kawasaki: Attack Kawasaki’s Davies and Rapp Finish 1-2 in a Surprising Daytona 200 Daytona Beach, Fla. (March 10, 2008) Attack Kawasaki’s Chaz Davies and Steve Rapp made it a second consecutive one-two finish for the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R at the prestigious Daytona 200 at the Daytona International Speedway on Saturday. After originally finishing second and third, the team was awarded the top-two spots following a disqualification announcement by the AMA. In a rescheduled AMA Superbike race, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking earned fifth place, while teammate Roger Hayden finished eighth. Hard to Grasp When the race ended Saturday afternoon, the Attack boys were sitting with an impressive second and third-place finish. At about 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time, the team was notified by the AMA that the race winner was disqualified. This put Davies and Rapp on the top two steps of the podium. “I didn’t believe it at first,” said Davies. “I thought Richard was joking but then I started getting more and more phone calls and I kind of started thinking it was true. Its still hard to accept since the other team will most likely fight it, but once its official I think it will start settling in.” We Race to Race Rapp was obviously excited to move up a spot to second-place, but he expressed that he is a racer and would have loved to have been able to race to that finish. “It’s not exactly how I would want win or move up to a better spot,” said Rapp. “I’m a racer and generally racers want to go out there to try and finish their very best. Of course I’m happy to finish second. If we look past this race, it will definitely help us in the chase for the championship.” Two for Two For the second-straight year, Attack Kawasaki swept the top-two spots in the prestigious Daytona 200. “I know our team is capable of this as we showed last year,” said Team Manager Richard Stamboli. “This is obviously huge and shows we are just as talented and ready to win the championship this year.” Pit Stops The Daytona 200 is the only race on the AMA Superbike circuit that requires pit stops. With the exception of two people, the Attack Kawasaki crew was completely new. The crew could breathe a small sigh of relief since the team was under the experience of Team Manager Richard Stamboli. Delays When the teams arrived to the track on Saturday, they were met with incredibly high winds that eventually forced the rescheduling of the AMA Superbike race and caused a shortened time period between the practice session for the Daytona 200 and the race. Last Minute Repairs During the 20 minute warm-up before the Daytona 200, Rapp experienced a minor crash. Since the practice session was delayed, the crew had very little time to fix what they needed. In less than an hour, they had the bike ready to finish on the podium. Getting in the Zone Davies waits in the pit area for the start of the Daytona 200. He remains extremely calm and focused prior to one of the biggest motorcycle races in the world. Finally Racing Unlike last year and much of his career, Hacking is only racing in the AMA Superbike class. He had a great start and was able to hang on for a top-five finish. “I was really happy with my start,” said Hacking. “I’m not extremely happy with the result but it is definitely better than last year where I crashed out of the race, right out of the gate.” Nursing the Arm After crashing on Thursday during the superbike qualifying session, Hayden continued to race through the injury. Following a mid-pack start, he kept up the pace and finished in eighth. “It took me awhile to get going and once I did I was pretty far back,” said Hayden. “Once I got in a rhythm, I started picking people off. I actually followed my brother for most of the race and he was able to pull me along. I got a finish here which is more than I can say for the last two years, so that’s always good.” Late Start, Missed Flights The high winds that came in overnight to the Daytona International Speedway caused the postponement of the AMA Superbike race. Not only was the superbike race rescheduled, the Hayden family had to change their flights since they missed their evening flight back to Owensboro, Ky. For all the pictures, videos and most recent Kawasaki racing action, visit www.kawasaki.com/racing AMA Superbike Series Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, Fla. March 8, 2008 AMA Formula Xtreme Series 1. CHAZ DAVIES, KNIGHTON, UK, ATTACK KAWASAKI 2. STEVE RAPP, MANHATTAN BEACH, CALIF., ATTACK KAWASAKI 3. Larry Pegram, Pataskala, Ohio, Ducati 4. Martin Cardenas, Medellin, Columbia, Suzuki 5. Richard Cooper, BMW 6. Brian Parriott, Calistoga, Calif., BMW 7. Bobby Fong, Stockton, Calif., Suzuki 8. Bostjan Skubic, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Yamaha 9. Steve Atlas, Irvine, Calif., Honda 10. FERNANDO AMANTINI, CARACAS, KAWASAKI AMA Formula Xtreme Points Standings 1. CHAZ DAVIES, KNIGHTON, U.K., ATTACK KAWASAKI, 37 2. STEVE RAPP, MANHATTAN BEACH, CALIF., ATTACK KAWASAKI, 32 3. Larry Pegram, Pataskala, Ohio, Ducati, 29 4. Martin Cardenas, Medellin, Columbia, Suzuki, 27 5. Richard Cooper, BMW, 26 6. Brian Parriott, Calistoga, Calif., BMW, 25 7. Bobby Fong, Stockton, Calif., Suzuki, 24 8. Bostjan Skubic, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Yamaha, 23 9. Steve Atlas, Irvine, Calif., Honda, 22 10. FERNANDO AMANTINI, CARACAS, KAWASAKI, 21 AMA Superbike Class 1. Matthew Mladin, Henderson, Nev., Suzuki 2. Ben Spies, Longview, Texas, Suzuki 3. Jason Disalvo, Stafford, N.Y., Yamaha 4. Tommy Hayden, Owensboro, Ky., Suzuki 5. JAMIE HACKING, DENVER, N.C., MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI 6. Aaron Yates, Milledgeville, Ga., Suzuki 7. Neil Hodgson, Isle of Man, UK, Honda 8. ROGER HAYDEN, OWENSBORO, KY., MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI 9. Blake Young, Waunakee, Wisc., Suzuki 10. Geoff May, Gainesville, Ga., Suzuki AMA Superbike Points Standings 1. Matthew Mladin, Henderson, Nev., Suzuki, 38 2. Ben Spies, Longview, Texas, Suzuki, 32 3. Jason Disalvo, Stafford, N.Y., Yamaha, 29 4. Tommy Hayden, Owensboro, Ky., Suzuki, 27 5. JAMIE HACKING, DENVER, N.C., MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI, 26 6. Aaron Yates, Milledgeville, Ga., Suzuki, 25 7. Neil Hodgson, Isle of Man, UK, Honda, 24 8. ROGER HAYDEN, OWENSBORO, KY., MONSTER ENERGY KAWASAKI, 23 9. Blake Young, Waunakee, Wisc., Suzuki, 22 10. Geoff May, Gainesville, Ga., Suzuki, 21 More, from a press release issued by Corona Light Honda Racing: CORONA LIGHT HONDA RACING TAKES NINTH IN DAYTONA 200 The Corona Light Honda CBR600RR FX machine ridden by Cycle News Test editor Steve Atlas turned in an incredible ninth place finish in a field of 68 starters at the 67th Daytona 200 event. Riding the American Honda supplied and HRC equipped FX machine, Steve put in a sterling ride from a 25th place qualifying position, working his way through the field and taking advantage of attrition for the grueling event. The Joint Corona Racing and American Honda crew made sure his pit stops were short and uneventful as factory teams crashed out, blew up or otherwise suffered ignominy in this the biggest race of the year! Afterwards an elated Steve said, “It’s been a fantastic ride I can’t believe 9th. The crew was fantastic and the bike a rocket ship. I just hung on to it and rode steady!” Daytona was the first race with the team for new riders Jake Holden and Matt Lynn on the brand-new-for-2008 CBR1000RR. Teething problems were expected (and the team not disappointed) with bikes only received a mere three weeks before. In SuperStock, Holden qualified 10th on the grid and would have gone better but a baulky shift slowed him down. Holden started the race with a new engine but the problem reappeared and kept him just off the pace. He settled for thirteenth. In SuperBike, Matt Lynn struggled with lack of grip along with the factory Honda’s. This was mainly a set-up issue, the team having no testing with the new bikes on the high banks of Daytona and weather shortening practice before the race. He qualified seventeenth and in the race worked up as high as thirteenth but eventually finished fourteenth, citing big slides on the banking keeping him down the order. Dominic Jones took the Corona Light CBR600RR into the Supersport fray courtesy of Acronym Management Group. In his first race on the bike and class he started 23rd in the field of 48. He rode a steady race getting the hang of the 600 and finishing in the same position. More, from a press release issued by Millennium KWS Suzuki: Millennium/KWS Suzuki Finishes Eleventh at Daytona Daytona, FL March 2008 — Millennium/KWS Suzuki sponsored by Suzuki of Orangeburg finished eleventh in the AMA Superstock race Thursday at Daytona International Speedway with rider Ben Thompson. Thompson also finished seventeenth in the Superbike race on Saturday. Through out the weekend the team showed great speed but had some problems during the races that affected the end results. The AMA Superstock class is Millennium/KWS Suzuki’s focus for 2008. This was Thompson’s first visit to the Daytona International Speedway on a Superstock bike and he raised a lot of eyebrows by qualifying on the second row with time of 1:39.530. This was good enough for seventh position. In the race, Thompson got an excellent start and was circulating in sixth place with the lead group when he overshot the chicane. Thompson tried to battle his way back to the front but the bike developed a shifting problem that caused instability on the ultra-fast Daytona banking. Thompson rode a smart race to bring the Pit Bull sponsored Millennium/KWS Suzuki home in eleventh place and get valuable championship points. The Daytona Superbike race is traditionally a war of attrition so the team didn’t put a lot of emphasis on qualifying. Instead the team used the session to develop a race set up and Thompson was still able to qualify in nineteenth position with a time of 1:40.379. At the start of the race Thompson moved up to the twelfth position and was battling at the tail end of the factory riders. On lap two Thompson had suffered a small problem going into the new horseshoe and dropped back to the twentieth position. Thompson was able to fight back to finish in the seventeenth position. Ben Thompson “I was happy with our Superstock qualifying time and we had made good progress with the setup of the bike. When it came time to race, I got off to a good start and was right there with the lead pack. The Millennium Technologies/KWS Suzuki had a really good motor but I immediately started having some shifting problems in the race. I made a mistake on the second lap and missed the chicane which caused me to lose about seven positions. The mechanical issues got worse as the race went on and I rode as hard as I could while just trying to bring it home in one piece. The team did a great job this weekend, and put me on some very competitive bikes. I can’t thank them enough for all of their hard work. I really look forward to the next race and I think we will be able to run at the front of the pack at Barber. I would like to thank Bell, Fieldsheer, Puma, and K&N for all their support.” Kevin Hunt (Team Owner) “The team did really well this weekend and the results don’t show it. Ben rode really well and was fast enough all weekend to finish in the top five in Superstock and the top fifteen in Superbike. We had some problems and Ben did an excellent job adapting to those problems and bringing the bike home in one piece and getting some points. Both Ben and the team showed a lot of potential and I am very excited to go Barber Motorsports Park in April and show what we can do.” More, from a press release issued by Misti Hurst: Canadian roadracer Misti Hurst First Woman to Qualify and Race AMA 600 Supersport at Daytona International Speedway March 6th 2008, Daytona International Speedway- Canadian roadracer and California Superbike School coach Misti Hurst enjoyed an outstanding debut race at Daytona International Speedway last Thursday during the AMA 600 Supersport race. According to all available sources, Hurst made history during qualifying on Wednesday when aboard her Slednecks Racing, Etechphoto supported Kawasaki ZX6, she became the first and only woman to ever make an AMA 600 Supersport Grid at the famous Daytona International Speedway. After only an hour of practice on the track she qualified 44th out of 51 riders with a time of 1:48.93. “I’m so stoked that I qualified!” said an excited Hurst “With all that has gone wrong this week, this is amazing! Thank you to EVERYONE that helped out.” Hurst arrived at Daytona Feb 26th in order to get some practice time on the unfamiliar Daytona speedway during the local CCS races. Unfortunately, after only three sessions her connecting rod broke, pierced the starter, and destroyed her motor. She was on the banking doing approximately 160 mph With her spare bike still in Portland, Hurst called motor builder EDR Performance. “Within 4 hours they had the motor dropped, drained, wrapped, secured, delivered to Forward Air and en route to Daytona for me, complete with a “GO MISTI GO” note attached. Those guys rock!” said Hurst. Her spare EDR motor arrived Tuesday morning and fiancée/mechanic John Parker and Slednecks Racing teammate Josh Galster worked all day to prepare the bike and have it ready for Wednesday’s qualifying session. The 22-lap AMA 600 Supersport race on Thursday saw her move up from 44th position to finish a strong 41st. Teammate and fellow California Superbike School coach Josh Galster also enjoyed a great debut performance at Daytona. His first AMA pro race, Galster surprised many by qualifying a strong 37th aboard his Slednecks Racing Kawasaki ZX6 with an outstanding time of 1:47.26. During the race on Thursday Josh got a great start and continued to pick his way through the field, moving up 11 positions to finish a very impressive 26th place, with a personal best time of 1:45.69. “The banking was nuts at first, but once you got used to it, it was so much fun to use the famous Daytona drafting to help slingshot yourself along the straightaway. The race was incredible, and my Slednecks Kawasaki worked great! Thanks to all of my sponsors! See Misti and Josh race at the next AMA Supersport Race at Barber Motorsports Park April 18th-20th. For more information, results, and race reports please visit www.mistihurst.com More, from a press release issued by DGY.com Racing: DGY.com racers Dan Ortega and Scotty Ryan’s Daytona 200 Experience DGY.com racing came to Daytona International Speedway under the gun with a last minute decision to race with riders Scotty Ryan and Dan Ortega. While Dan chose to ride a ’08 Yamaha R6 Scotty selected a ’08 Kawasaki ZX-6R as his weapon of choice. A tight timeframe definitely increased the pressure of making the season opener. “We were at the Indy Dealer show when we made the decision to race” said racer/accessories manager Dan Ortega. Rob Baker the dealer principle at DGY made the call to race with a little more then two weeks till the green flag dropped. Basically we had to build a 2008 ZX-6R and a 2008 R6 in record time. MD Racing of Orion, IL. built a strong Yamaha motor for Dan Ortega and 4&6 racing of Arlington Heights, IL did the same for Scotty Ryan’s ZX-6R. “Both motors made really excellent power and ran flawlessly” said Dan Ortega. A huge thanks goes out to Dick at Full Spectrum Racing who stayed up all night allowing us to dyno tune both bikes Tuesday night. AMA Supersport race: Dan Ortega 36th After not racing professionally since breaking his leg (compound tib/fib fracture) at WERA Cycle Jam at Road Atlanta in ’06, Dan Ortega made his professional come back at Daytona 2008. After almost 18 months of extensive rehabilitation, 9 surgeries and several trips across the country Dan Ortega threw his leg over a race bike for basically the first time since his injury. “I was able to ride a hand full of laps in October 2007 around Mid America dodging the rain but I don’t really count that.” (laughs) Dan Ortega. So with almost no time to prepare a new race bike and ZERO testing Dan was able to qualify his DGY.com/MD Racing R6 39th on the SS grid. “Wednesday morning was really the first time I’ve been on a bike trying to go fast but with the help of Mike Fitzgerald (Thermosman suspension/Ohlins) we were able to establish a good base line setting. Dan did a fantastic job of racing during the Supersport race eventually finishing 36th. Fortunately Dan didn’t make any dumb mistakes like falling off or anything like that. “My mind wasn’t up to race pace yet, I just didn’t want to do anything stupid like balling up the bike.” “I really wasn’t aggressive racing but that will improve with time, I just have to get my mind back up to race speed” AMA Daytona 200 / FX: Dan Ortega 27th / Scotty Ryan 49th The Daytona 200 Formula Extreme race started off with some potentially serious issues. Scotty Ryan failed to return to the starting grid after the parade lap. He had a problem with the chain however quick thinking by the pit crew solved the difficulty and he was able to start the race. Scotty charged hard thru the field up to 12th place before tucking the front entering the chicane. “We were struggling with the bike set up all weekend” Explained Scotty Ryan. Despite the crash Scotty was able to limp his bike back to the pits where the pit crew repaired the damage allowing Scotty to re-enter the race. As a result of the crash Scotty suffered a broken finger and some cracked ribs but soldiered on to finish the race 49th. Dan Ortega sliced his way through the field by putting his head down and running consistent lap times after starting 55th on the grid. Aided by some good pit stops and excellent tire selection he was able to finish 27th. “The Michelin tires worked really well! The new front tire was awesome and lasted (as we planned) the entire race distance. Our pit stops were executed perfectly and we were able to change in rear tire in record time. Even after not racing for over 18 months Dan was slightly disappointed with his results. “I know I could have ridden harder for a better finish. I’ll just train and push forward for Barber next month.” Explained Dan Ortega DGY.com racing will be at Barber Motorsports Park next month fielding Dan Ortega in Supersport and Formula Extreme on Yamaha R6s and Scotty Ryan in Superbike and Formula Extreme on Kawasaki ZX6s and a ZX10s. More, from a press release issued by WMG: Chaz Davies Wins Daytona 200 Daytona, Florida Chaz Davies of Wales took first place at Saturday’s Daytona 200 AMA Formula Xtreme Series race at the Daytona International Speedway. It was an incredible showing for WMG athlete and Attack Performance’s Chaz Davies as he claimed victory at one of the most legendary races, the 67th Daytona 200. “It was a rough start and a lot of different things went wrong,” said Davies. “With a winning mind-set, we managed to overcome the problems and maintained a solid pace to take home first place”. After a successful year in 2007 for both Supersport and Formula Xtreme, Davies looks to improve on his AMA Superbike rankings in 2008. With a great start to the season, Chaz aims to continue his success as he heads to Barber Motorsports Parks in Birmingham, Alabama April 18th for the second race of the series at the Honda Superbike Classic.