Garrett Gerloff posted the fastest time during the second AMA Pro Daytona SportBike practice session Thursday, ahead of the running of the 73rd Daytona 200 at Daytona International Speedway in spite of getting just six laps on his one and only Y.E.S./Monster Energy/Graves Yamaha YZF-R6.
“This morning was a little bit of a weird start to Daytona,” said 18-year-old Gerloff, who led the second practice session with a lap time of 1:51.513 around the 3.5-mile infield road course. “I wasn’t really feeling great. I was feeling kind of tight and just riding around. I tried to work my way into the session, and I ended up P2, which was great.
“Then coming out into this second session I was feeling really good. The bike was feeling awesome, and I got in six OK laps. That 1:51.5 [is] definitely not the fastest any of us can go. The track felt really good to me. I was expecting everyone to go a little bit faster, but I only made it six laps before my bike kind of slowed down and I had to come in. With the one-bike rule, we couldn’t jump on the back-up bike.”
In spite of losing most of the 45-minute practice session to his mechanical misfortune and the lack of a back-up bike, Gerloff endorsed the new-for-2014 rule limiting Daytona SportBike, SuperSport and Harley-Davidson class racers to only one racebike.
“It’s different. It’s just something that we’re going to have to get used to,” Gerloff told reporters. “Obviously, it was nice to be able to jump on the other bike last year when the first bike broke or I crashed or something, but I think it really brings a different dynamic to the racing. We really have to be a lot smarter this year with how we use our spare parts and things like that. And I also have to be maybe a little more cautious with how hard I’m riding and when just so I don’t have a stupid crash or anything like that. I think it’s actually a pretty cool deal. It can really have some teams rise up that may have struggled last year when it was just easy to jump on a second bike. I think if you look at it from a different angle it’s actually a pretty cool rule.”
Jason DiSalvo, the leader of the first Daytona SportBike practice, was the runner-up in the second practice with a best effort of 1:51.541 on his Castrol/Apex Manufacturing Triumph Daytona 675R. DiSalvo was unable to match his time from earlier in the day, a 1:51.016.
Motosport.com/Meen Yamaha’s Jake Lewis was seventh in the morning practice but shaved over two seconds from his time and moved up to third in the afternoon session with a 1:51.568 on his YZF-R6.
Jake Gagne went 1.6 seconds faster in the second practice, posting a lap at 1:51.603 on his RoadRace Factory Yamaha YZF-R6 and finishing the session fourth.
Yamalube Westby Racing’s Dane Westby lowered his best lap time to 1:51.682 in Free Practice Two and ended up fifth on his YZF-R6.
Danny Eslick also went faster (1:51.773 vs. 1:52.334) on his Riders Discount Triumph Daytona 675R in the second practice, but he actually slipped three positions on the time sheet from third to sixth.
Gagne’s teammate Tomas Puerta, the 2013 AMA Pro SuperSport West Champion and a Daytona SportBike class rookie, finished the afternoon practice session in seventh with a time of 1:52.336.
Two-time AMA Pro Superbike Championship runner-up Blake Young was sixth-quickest in the first practice with a 1:53.636 and eighth in the second session with a 1:52.552 in spite of very little pre-season testing on his new GN Gonzales Racing Yamaha YZF-R6.
Gerloff’s new teammate J.D. Beach improved from 15th in the first practice to ninth in the second session thanks to a time of 1:53.147 on his Yamaha.
Barrett Long, who is racing in the Superbike, Daytona SportBike and Harley-Davidson classes this weekend, rounded out the top 10 riders in the session, clocking a 1:53.356 on his Longevity Racing Ducati 848EVO.
AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike Championship
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida
March 13, 2014
Provisional Free Practice Two Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Garrett Gerloff (Yam YZF-R6), 1:51.513
2. Jason DiSalvo (Tri Daytona 675R), 1:51.541
3. Jake Lewis (Yam YZF-R6), 1:51.568
4. Jake Gagne (Yam YZF-R6), 1:51.603
5. Dane Westby (Yam YZF-R6), 1:51.682
6. Danny Eslick (Tri Daytona 675R), 1:51.773
7. Tomas Puerta (Yam YZF-R6), 1:52.336
8. Blake Young (Yam YZF-R6), 1:52.552
9. JD Beach (Yam YZF-R6), 1:53.147
10. Barrett Long (Duc 848), 1:53.356
11. Kyle Wyman (Yam YZF-R6), 1:53.436
12. Luke Stapleford (Tri Daytona 675), 1:53.731
13. Joey Pascarella (Yam YZF-R6), 1:53.816
14. Bostjan Skubic (Yam YZF-R6), 1:54.091
15. Fernando Amantini (Yam YZF-R6), 1:54.143
16. Kenny Riedmann (Tri Daytona 675R), 1:54.189
17. Shane Narbonne (Yam YZF-R6), 1:54.295
18. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR600RR), 1:54.688
19. Luke Mossey (Yam YZF-R6), 1:54.757
20. Steve Rapp (Tri Daytona 675R), 1:54.899
21. Elena Myers (Tri Daytona 675R), 1:54.901
22. Benny Solis (Hon CBR600RR), 1:54.916
23. Bryce Prince (Yam YZF-R6), 1:55.217
24. Joe Roberts (Hon CBR600RR), 1:55.900
25. Tucker Lancaster (Yam YZF-R6), 1:56.464
26. Melissa Paris (Hon CBR600RR), 1:56.548
27. Bobby Fong (Tri Daytona 675R), 1:56.873
28. Anthony Fania (Yam YZF-R6), 1:57.244
29. Garrett Willis (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:58.043
30. Ricky Orlando (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:59.197
31. Roberto Vargas (Yam YZF-R6), 1:59.362
32. Dustin Apgar (Yam YZF-R6), 2:01.176
33. Eric Pinson (Yam YZF-R6), 2:02.453
34. Lee Farmer (Tri Daytona 675), 2:02.529
35. Roi Holster (Yam YZF-R6), 2:02.726
36. Chad Lewin (Yam YZF-R6), 2:03.199
37. Shaun Summers (Tri Daytona 675), 2:03.650
38. Donny Wright (Suz GSX-R600), 2:05.107
39. Shane Horton (Suz GSX-R600), 2:05.499
40. Frank Babuska (Suz GSX-R600), no time recorded
41. John Ashmead (Kaw ZX-6R), no time recorded
More, from a press release issued by Yamalube Westby Racing:
THE GOLD STANDARD: YAMALUBE/WESTBY RACING CHALLENGE IN PRACTICE FOR 73RD DAYTONA 200
Daytona Beach, FL (March 13, 2014) – Dane Westby and Yamalube/Westby Racing opened the 2014 racing season with a flourish, setting a time of 1:51.682 in the afternoon session in the AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike class. Dane’s time was less than 0.2 behind the fastest of the session and put him firmly in the group expected to contend for the prestigious Daytona 200 on Saturday.
“The first group of guys are all right there, and I feel like I have a good bit left,” said Westby. “After last year, I’m sneaking up on really pushing hard through the chicane. To have that in reserve and be so close, I feel really good about our pace so far. The team has worked great and the Yamalube machine has been exactly what I needed. We are going to work with the gearing just a bit to have a little more RPM coming out of the first chicane and still be good on the banking.”
Westby will qualify twice on Saturday, with the afternoon session expected to be more ideal for setting quick times at the 3.51-mile Daytona Long Course.
“The top seven bikes were really close,” said Yamalube/Westby Racing’s Jerry Reeves. “We have a good direction and we’re pleased to be in the lead group. Dane’s been riding by himself, except for a handful of laps. We’re in a good position for tomorrow’s qualifying.”
The afternoon session begins at 1:10PM local time on Saturday.
More, from a press release issued by Triumph North America:
TRIUMPH RIDERS JASON DiSALVO AND DANNY ESLICK
AMONG THE FASTEST AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 13, 2014) – Jason DiSalvo, the 2011 Daytona 200 winner, and Danny Eslick, the 2009 and 2011 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike series champion, were at the top of the leaderboard on the first day of practice for the 2014 Daytona 200.
After trading the lead for the entire session, DiSalvo, riding the #40 Sportbike Track Time/Castrol/Triumph Daytona 675R, was fastest in the first practice session and for the day with a time of 1:51.016.
“Both sessions today went 100% according to our plans,” said DiSalvo. “I wanted to lead the first session and then work on some things in the second session. The bike’s handling incredibly well and hopefully we’ll be at the top of the chart tomorrow when it counts.”
The always aggressive riding Eslick took to the high banks of Daytona International Speedway during Daytona SportBike Practice #1 and posted the third fastest time of 1:52.334. During Practice #2, Eslick was also trying different strategies and posted the sixth fastest time of the day.
Eslick, riding the # 69 Riders Discount Triumph Daytona 675R, said “It’s a lot of fun riding this Triumph 675 here at Daytona where we’re doing 175 mph. The Riders Discount team is running at the top of the chart and that’s not a bad place to be. We’re looking forward to a good solid weekend and scoring some points here at Daytona.”
Bobby Fong and the #50 Latus Motors/Castrol/Triumph team posted the 10th fastest time in Practice #1 with a time of 1:54.342 while Profile Racing’s Luke Stapleford traveled from England and was 12th fastest in each session, turning a best time of 1:53.731.
The AMA Pro Daytona SportBike riders start Friday with an 8:45am EST qualifying session. The field for the 73rd running of the Daytona 200 will then be set with a 20 minute final qualifying session at 1:10pm EST. For the first time, fans will be able to watch all of the Daytona 200 action live online at the newly launched fanschoice.tv
About Triumph
Triumph Motorcycles is the British motorcycle marque that produces a wide range of sport, cruiser, adventure and touring motorcycles. From the storied Bonneville to the class-leading Speed Triple and Daytona 675R, Triumph offers a blend of design, character and performance that result in truly distinctive motorcycles. First established in 1902 and now located in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England, Triumph has always set the pace for category-winning machines. The company is solely owned by Bloor Holdings Ltd., and its North American operations are based in Atlanta. To see the full range of Triumph motorcycles visit TriumphMotorcycles.com.