Aprilia USA 2’s Federico Aliverti and Giancarlo DeMatteis, both of Italy, rode an Aprilia RSV1000R Tuono to win the SunTrust MOTO-ST Daytona USA 300 by 20 seconds over Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki’s Chris Ulrich and Lee Acree.

Aprilia USA and Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki were near the front during most of the race, along with Vallely Racing 32 (Michael Himmelsbach/Josh Day) and JC Racing/R&R Racing (Dave Estok/Mike Luke), but it was San Jose BMW (Brian Parriott/Nate Kern) that led the most during the race and looked to have the strongest package as the finish neared.

On lap 93 of 106, San Jose BMW was third, having just relinquished the lead during its last scheduled pit stop, when its R 1200 S, the same model it used to win the inaugural MOTO-ST Eight Hours At Daytona last October, lost power in the infield and failed to complete another lap.

This left Team Roadracingworld.com, with Acree on its SV1000S, leading by five seconds over Aprilia USA 2, which had Aliverti on its Tuono.

During the last round of pit stops, Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki had gambled in the interest of saving time in the pits and chose not to change its well-worn rear tire. Aprilia USA 2 had just installed a fresh rear tire at its last pit stop. As a result, Aliverti had the traction he needed to chase down, pass and pull away from Acree, who was struggling for grip, in the final 13 laps to win by 20 seconds.

Third place overall went to JC Racing/R&R Racing, which finished 26.790 seconds behind Aprilia USA 2 and only 6.590 seconds behind Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki on its Aprilia Tuono. After the race, JC Racing/R&R Racing was fined $500 and docked its Pirelli tire bonus for improper placement of Pirelli stickers on its motorcycle and for its riders not wearing Pirelli patches on their leathers.

Aprilia USA 2, which completed 106 laps or 312.70 miles in three hours, 19 minutes, 50.229 seconds at an average speed of 93.886 mph, was also credited with the victory in the Buell Motorcycle Company Super Sport Twins (SST) division.

Winning the Sport Twins class and taking 10th overall was Pair-A-Nines, which had Jay Springsteen, 48, and former AMA 250cc Grand Prix Champion Jimmy Filice, 44, riding a Kawasaki Ninja 650R.

One lap behind Pair-A-Nines and 11th overall at the finish was the BMW Grand Sport Twins class winner Richie Morris Racing/Daytona Harley-Davidson’s Shawn Higbee and Dan Bilansky, who rode a trouble-free race on a Buell XB12R.

Of the 41 teams entered in the race, 39 took the start.

There were no red flags or safety car periods during the race.

Weather conditions were nearly perfect with warm temperatures and sunny skies.

RESULTS: OVERALL:

1. Aprilia USA 2 (Fedrico Aliverti/Giancarlo DeMatteis), Apr RSV1000 Tuono, SST, 106 laps

2. Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki (Chris Ulrich/Lee Acree), Suz SV1000S, SST, -20.200 seconds

3. JC Racing/R&R Racing (Dave Estok/Mike Luke), Apr RSV1000 Tuono, SST, -26.790 seconds

4. Vallely Racing 32 (Michael Himmelsbach/Josh Day), Suz SV1000S, SST, -1 lap

5. Vallely Racing 33 (Mark Crozier/Joe Ribiero), Suz SV1000S, SST, -1 lap, 24.570 seconds

6. Longevity Racing (Barrett Long/Dario Marchetti/Rudolf Von Lignau), Duc 749R, SST, -2 laps

7. Team Motorrad (Frank Schockley/Ivan Messina), BMW R 1200 S, SST, -4 laps

8. Aprilia USA 1 (Ty Howard/Troy Green), Apr RSV1000 Tuono, SST, -4 laps, 31.771 seconds

9. Team Old Pros Racing (Paul Schwemmer/John Ashmead/Justin Filice), Suz SV1000S, SST, -5 laps

10. Pair-A-Nines (Jimmy Filice/Jay Springsteen), Kaw EX650, ST, -5 laps, 3.110 seconds

RESULTS: CLASS:

Buell Motorcycle Company Super Sport Twins: 1. Aprilia USA 2 (Federico Aliverti/Giancarlo DeMatteis), Apr RSV1000 Tuono, 106 laps

2. Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki (Chris Ulrich/Lee Acree), Suz SV1000S, 106 laps

3. JC Racing/R&R Racing (Dave Estok/Mike Luke), Apr RSV1000 Tuono, 106 laps

BMW Grand Sport Twins: 1. Richie Morris Racing (Shawn Higbee/Dan Bilansky), Buell XB12R, 100 laps

2. Touring Sport Ducati (Pete Friedland/Brad Phillips/Frank Shockley), Ducati 1000SS, 100 laps

3. James Gang Racing (Paul James/Greg Avello), Buell XB12R, 100 laps

Sport Twins: 1. Pair-A-Nines (Jimmy Filice/Jay Springsteen), Kaw EX650, 101 laps

2. Speedwerks.com (Melissa Berkoff/Brian Kcraget), Suz SV650, 100 laps

3. Go Big Racing (Ross Millson/Paul Glenn), Suz SV650, 100 laps

More, from a press release issued by Daytona International Speedway:

Italian Aprilia Team Takes Close Victory In DAYTONA USA 300 SunTrust MOTO-ST Series Race

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., — The SunTrust MOTO-ST Series season-opening DAYTONA USA 300 came down to the final laps on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.

The Italian team of Federico Aliverti and Giancarlo DeMatteis, riding aboard the No. 6 Aprilia Tuono, held off the RoadRacingWorld.com No. 18 Suzuki of Chris Ulrich and Lee Acree to win the 500-kilometer, 106-lap race.

The margin of victory was 20.2 seconds.

“Daytona is a very big name in Europe,” Aliverti said. “In Europe everybody will know we won at Daytona because Daytona is a big name. It is a historic name. All the magazines in Italy will write about this race.”

The No. 46 San Jose BMW R1200 team, which captured the inaugural 8 Hours At Daytona in October at DIS, appeared to be on their way to winning the DAYTONA USA 300 before a mechanical problem took them out on Lap 93 giving the lead to Ulrich and the No. 18 Suzuki.

“Our BMW was perfect,” said Brian Parriott, who co-rode the No. 46 bike with Nate Kern. “We had the race won. All I had to do was cruise around. It really is a bummer.”

The No. 6 Aprilia with Aliverti at the helm then overtook Ulrich on Lap 97 and cruised to the victory.

The Pair-A-Nines team with AMA Hall of Famers Jimmy Filice and Jay Springsteen took the ST class victory and a 10th-place overall finish.

“It’s unbelievable,” Filice said. “I have five 250 victories here. I’ve won in three different decades here so Daytona is a special place for me. To team up with one of my best friends here and do the job that we did, I couldn’t ask for anything else.”

Taking the GST class was locally sponsored team Richie Morris Racing and Dan Bilansky and Shawn Higbee.

“It was a terrific win today,” Bilansky said. “The Daytona Harley-Davidson/Richie Morris Racing Buell was on its A-game. We had our fair share of bobbles but nothing major. When we had a little bobble or a slow pit stop, things still went smoothly, people kept their calm and got it fixed.”

In earlier action on Sunday, M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Geoff May, who won Saturday’s ASRA Superstock race, captured two Championship Cup Series races the Unlimited SuperSport and Middleweight SuperSport.

Daytona 200 Week By Honda continues. For tickets and information, visit www.racetickets.com or call 1-800-PITSHOP.

Sunday’s results:

Unlimited SuperSport AM: 1. Christopher Mannino (Suzuki 1000), 2. Brian Sexton (Suzuki 998), 3. Maximilian Broniseusley (Kawasaki 1000)

Unlimited SuperSport EX: 1. Geoff May (Suzuki 1000), 2. Chris Ulrich (Suzuki 1000), 3. David Loikits (Suzuki 1000)

Middleweight SuperSport EX: 1. Geoff May (Suzuki 600), 2. Jeff Wood (Suzuki 600), 3. Cory West (Yamaha 600)

Middleweight SuperSport AM: 1. Robert Dougherty (Suzuki 500), 2. Larry Karpinsky, Jr. (Yamaha 600), 3. Ryan Meade (Suzuki 600)

Lightweight SuperSport EX: 1. Kyle Keese (Ducati 1000), 2. Steve Green (Suzuki 650), 3. Chris Parrise (Suzuki 650)

Lightweight SuperSport AM: 1. Chris Sullivan (Ducati 1000), 2. Alexander Lazo (Suzuki 650), 3. Leonard Roy (Suzuki 650)

Heavyweight SuperSport EX: 1. Michael Barnes (Suzuki 600), 2. Seane Narbonne (Suzuki 750), 3. Greg Melka (Yamaha 600)

Heavyweight SuperSport AM: 1. Robert Dougherty (Suzuki 750), 2. Larry Karpinsky Jr. (Yamaha 600), 3. Ryan Meade (Suzuki 600)

ThunderBike EX: 1. Brian Parriott (BMW 1200), 2. Nate Kern (BMW 1200), 3. Rick Breen (Suzuki 650)

ThunderBike AM: 1. Stephen Walker (BMW 1200), 2. Chris Sullivan (Ducati 1000), 3. Marcus Miller (Ducati 748)

Unlimited SuperBike EX: 1. Martin Cardenas (Kawasaki 1000), 2. Chris Ulrich (Suzuki 1000), 3. Santiago Villa (Yamaha 1000)

Unlimited SuperBike AM: 1. Christopher Mannino (Suzuki 1000), 2. Brian Sexton (Suzuki 998), 3. Maximilian Broniseusley (Kawasaki 1000)

Ultra Light Superbike: 1. Charles Burnett (Honda 650), 2. Andrew Millier (MZ 660), 3. Paul Conley (APR 250)

125 Grand Prix: 1. Steve Wenner (Honda 125), 2. Morton Frederiksen (Honda 125)

Late Saturday’s Results

Middleweight SuperBike Expert: 1. Cory West (Yamaha 600), 2. Eric Wood (Yamaha 600), 3. Scott Greenwood (Yamaha 600)

Middleweight GP Amateur: 1. Larry Karpinsky Jr. (Yamaha 600), 2. Jacguel Gonzalas Garcia (Honda 600), 3. Greg Bordeleau (Honda 600)

DAYTONA USA 300 SunTrust MOTO-ST Series Post-Race Quotes

ST class winners

Pair-A-Nines Kawasaki and riders Jay Springsteen and Jimmy Filice

Jimmy Filice “It’s unbelievable. I have five 250 victories here. I’ve won in three different decades here so Daytona is a special place for me. To team up with one of my best friends here and do the job that we did, I couldn’t ask for anything else. Jay started off riding the bike. We lost the lead there for a little bit and then I got on the bike. Our teammate crashed going into the first corner and I just kept the pace up really good. We were really doing some good lap time. We got over a lap lead and just kind of rolled on after that.

Jay Springsteen “It’s great. I worked on the pit crew when we were here in October. I was excited. I had never felt like that before. It’s been a long time since I felt that feeling you get just working on the pit crew after my breaking my back. This is really my first race back after that. I broke 11 ribs and my seventh vertebrae. I’ve got 12 screws and two steel rods holding me together. I’m a little stiff right now but I’m so excited right now.”

Overall Second Place

RoadRacingWorld.com and riders Chris Ulrich and Lee Acree

Chris Ulrich THIS WAS A LAST-MINUTE EFFORT. ARE YOU STILL SATISFIED WITH A 2ND PLACE WIN? “100% satisfied. What can you do? Those guys showed up with some top-notch machinery and we just kind of threw this deal together to get second and get on the podium again only 15-20 seconds off. It’s fine. You know, it looked pretty bleak at the start. I really didn’t know what we were up against. I knew those bikes would be quick I didn’t know how quick. They got some advantages over our Suzuki V-twin but, you know, we just have to go back to the drawing board and pump that thing up a little bit and come back swinging.”

GST class winners

Richie Morris Racing Buell XB12 and riders Dan Bilansky and Shawn Higbee

Dan Bilansky “It was a terrific win today. The Daytona Harley-Davidson/Richie Morris Racing Buell was on its A-game. We had our fair share of bobbles but nothing major. When we had a little bobble or a slow pit stop, things still went smoothly, people kept their calm and got it fixed. That’s what good teams are supposed to do. When you come across something that isn’t right, they fix it right away and they stay calm and things go smoothly and they did that. They made the right call at the end to have Shawn pit with just two laps left, and he stuck out there with just two laps left and brought home the win. It’s been a real great experience. Shawn’s a great teammate. He dialed in the chassis this weekend before I even got out. Today was the first time I was on the bike and it was spot-on – just the way I’d want it to be. So, a lot of credit to him. He started wrenching on it and tuning on the suspension since Tuesday. So, I would like to say “thank you” again to Daytona Harley-Davidson and Richie Racing.”

Shawn Higbee “It’s a fantastic win for us. We came down here and we looked at the competition. We felt confident and we felt that we had a very good shot at winning. You know, racing’s such a tough game – especially endurance racing. There’s so much that can go wrong and with so little preparation time for us that was a big concern. Making it to the finish; that was our number one priority.”

More, from a press release issued by MOTO-ST/Grand Am:

Aprilia USA Team Wins Daytona Opener

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. The No. 6 Aprilia USA 2 team of Italian riders Federico Aliverti and Giancarlo De Matteis scored a dramatic victory in Sunday’s DAYTONA USA 300, the opening round of the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series.

Aliverti put the team’s Aprilia Tuono 1000R into the lead for good with just eight laps remaining in the 106-lap race around the 2.950-mile Daytona International Speedway road course and pulled clear to a 20.200-sec. victory over the No. 18 Roadracingworld.com Suzuki SV1000S of Chris Ulrich and Lee Acree.

Third place overall and in the Buell Motorcycle Company SuperSport Twins (SST) class went to the JC Racing / R&R Racing Aprilia Tuono 1000R of Mike Luke and Dave Estok.

“It was a difficult race,” said the 32-year-old Aliverte. “I am not that experienced and this is a difficult track for me. In Europe everybody will know Daytona. Daytona is a very big name and NASCAR in Italy is becoming very famous.”

For most of the race it appeared the No. 46 San Jose BMW R1200 of Brian Parriott and Nate Kern would score a second straight SunTrust MOTO-ST victory at Daytona. The winners of last October’s inaugural 8 Hours At Daytona led 50 of the first 65 laps and looked to be cruising to the win before an engine problem took them out of the race with just 14 laps to go.

“We have no idea what happened,” said team owner Chris Hodgson. “We were out there running like a freight train, when all of a sudden the bike lost compression and just kept going downhill. There was no noise, it just got slower. We won’t know what happened until we can take a really good look. It could have been the exhaust, the cam or something else. Up until then it was really a good race.”

The retirement of the BMW left the No. 18 Roadracingworld.com Suzuki in the lead with Acree aboard, but the Greensboro, N.C. rider was unable to hold off the charging Aprilia and after a few laps of exciting side-by-side dicing gave up the lead on lap 98.

“You know, it looked pretty bleak at the start,” Ulrich said. “I really didn’t know what we were up against. I knew those bikes would be quick I didn’t know how quick. They got some advantages over our Suzuki V-twin but, you know, we just have to go back to the drawing board and pump that thing up a little bit and come back swinging.”

The Vallely Racing Suzuki SV1000s finished fourth and fifth in the overall results and in the SST class. The No. 32 machine of Mike Himmelsbach, Josh Day and Joe Ribeiro led home the bike shared between Mark Crozier, Ribeiro and Thomas Vallely.

In the BMW Grand Sport Twins (GST) class, the No. 8 Richie Morris Racing Buell XB12 of Dan Bilansky and Shawn Higbee scored the win after spending much of the race in a fierce battle with the No. 70 James Gang Racing Buell shared between Paul James and Greg Avello.

“It’s a fantastic win,” said Higbee. “Making it to the finish was our number one priority and we hit the set-up pretty well. It was tough because they [the James Gang Racing Buell] were pushing us pretty hard.”

Second in the GST class went to the No. 77 Touring Sport Ducati Monster SS1000 of Pete Friedland, Brad Phillips and Frank Shockley while the James Gang Racing Buell placed third.

The legendary tandem of Jay Springsteen and Jimmy Filice led virtually all the way to take the Sport Twins (ST) victory aboard their Pair-A-Nines Kawasaki EX650. The team finished a lap ahead of the SpeedWerks.com Suzuki SV650 of Brian Kcraget and Melissa Berkoff. Third in class was the GoBigRacing Suzuki SV650 of Canadian riders Ross Millson and Paul Glenn.

“It’s great,” Springsteen said. “I worked on the pit crew when we were here in October. I was excited. I had never felt like that before. This is really my first race back after I broke 11 ribs and my seventh vertebrae. I’ve got 12 screws and two steel rods holding me together. I’m a little stiff right now but I’m so excited right now.”

Following this weekend’s event, this year’s SunTrust MOTO-ST Series continues with the Homestead 500K, April 13-14 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the VIR 500K, April 27-29 at Virginia International Raceway, the Road America 500K, July 7-8 at Road America, the Iowa Speedway 500K at Iowa Speedway July 12-13, and the 8 Hours At Daytona Finale, October 19-20 at Daytona International Speedway.

MOTO-ST is organized and sanctioned by Professional Motorsports Productions (PMP) of Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the Grand American Road Racing Association, based in Daytona Beach, Fla., provides the series with administrative and commercial support. The MOTO-ST advisory board features some of the most respected individuals in the world of motorsports, including Hall of Fame members, respected motorcycle racing journalists and renowned officials from various forms of road racing. Learn more about MOTO-ST at www.moto-st.com.

More, from another press release issued by MOTO-ST/Grand-Am:

Third Place Finishers Penalized

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. Following today’s DAYTONA USA 300, SunTrust MOTO-ST Series officials have announced that the third place overall finishers, the No. 58 JC Racing / R&R Racing Aprilia team of riders Mike Luke and Dave Estok have been fined $500 for improper placement of Pirelli logos on their bike and lack of logos on their leathers.

The $500 will be donated to the Roadracing World Action Fund.

As a further penalty, the series-specified Pirelli Tire Bonus will not be awarded to the team.

Future infractions in this area will be subject to stiffer penalties.