THE DUCATI 848 TAKES FIVE OF THE TOP TWENTY SPOTS IN DAYTONA Cupertino, Calif. Ducati is proud to announce that in its AMA Pro Racing debut, the Ducati 848 Superbike proved to be an extremely fast and reliable contender. In yesterday’s Daytona 200, a new era in Ducati competition began. For the first time in AMA Pro Racing’s Daytona Sportbike class, the Ducati 848 turned its wheels around the historic Daytona circuit. Of the six bikes entered, the results were staggering: not a single mechanical problem and a podium for the bike in its first time out. The 848 has proven to be an exceptional weapon for this class- especially considering many of the bikes were entered with little modification. This is a true testament to the 848’s race-readiness right off the showroom floor. The podium finish in the prestigious Daytona 200 went to 2007 winner and Team Latus Motors rider Steve Rapp. Rapp put in an excellent performance at the front of the pack, and led home the group of five 848’s which finished in the top twenty positions. “The race was pretty easy and non-eventful, which is good,” Said Rapp “We had good pit stops too. They probably weren’t the fastest but we didn’t make any mistakes and that’s all I can ask. I’m looking forward to the next race!” In the Superbike class, rider Larry Pegram began his season with an impressive performance. Pegram fought all the way to the checkered flag and finished on the podium. It was a great start to the Foremost Insurance rider’s 2010 Superbike campaign, and he is looking forward to the next race at California’s Auto Club Speedway – a favorite track of his. “It was a great start to the season for us!” Said Pegram. “The bikes ran great and we were right there on speed. Daytona is always tough on tires so we lost a bit there, but otherwise things are perfect.” The next race for the 848 and 1198R will be March 27th in Fontana, CA. For more information on the 848 and 1198R Superbikes, please visit www.ducatiusa.com. More, from a press release issued by Vesrah Suzuki: Vesrah Suzuki began its first AMA Pro racing season by competing in the Daytona 200 and finished the race with a great result for #57 Cory West ending up in 6th place. #75 Jeff Wood had a Daytona to forget with a crash in the chicane after a competitor lost an engine in front of him covering his bike and visor with oil resulting in a DNF. With only 10 days to prepare the motorcycles before the truck had to leave for Daytona, the team showed the dedication of its crewmembers and sponsors by making the grid. The short preparation time combined with the switch to Dunlop tires after a decade spent competing on a different tire brand makes a top ten result all the more satisfying. The team now has 3 weeks to refine the set up on the team’s Suzuki GSX-R 600’s before competing in the next round at Auto Club Speedway at the end of March Mark Junge Team Owner Vesrah Suzuki “We got the bikes on February 17th and the truck left on the 27th. Quick change, dry break tanks, engines built, in the dyno, mapped, body on and left for Florida – It’s crazy that we made it at all. I have to give special thanks to Tony Pogue for all the hours he put in to build the bikes. With the new tires to learn and all of the normal first race of the season issues I’m happy with Cory’s 6th place finish while Jeff ran into difficulties during the race caused by another competitor. I’m looking forward to the next round and trying to get both bikes to the front of the field” Cory West #57 Vesrah Suzuki “Daytona went pretty well for us from the get go. I got up to speed pretty quickly and my crew helped me get the bike working well with the new spec Dunlops. The race started great and I was in the lead draft before the first pit stop. Our bike seemed to be a little down on top speed and I finally lost touch with the lead group and ran a pretty uneventful race to finish 6th. I’m a little disappointed that I couldn’t hold on to the lead pack, but to come out of Daytona with a solid finish and no crashes or mechanical issues is great. We’ll take good points and momentum to the next round at Auto Club Speedway and try again to fight at the front! I have to thank the whole Vesrah Suzuki team for their hard work getting our bikes prepped with such limited time. It was an amazing effort on their part and I’m very happy I could reward them with a solid finish in the Daytona 200!” Jeff Wood – #75 Vesrah Suzuki “Well the race didn’t quite go to plan and that’s a shame as we were on pace for a solid Top 10” said Wood. “The Vesrah Suzuki team worked hard on the bike all week helping to get me comfy on the new machine and going into the 200 we finally had a bit of a breakthrough on setup. Unfortunately in the race a motorcycle in front of me blew up while entering the chicane and I was immediately covered head to toe in oil! As I flipped right it immediately fired me onto the ground and that was that. That’s racing sometimes and we now focus on the upcoming round at Auto Club Speedway and look forward to moving on towards the rest of the season. Congrats to my teammate Cory for his 6th place finish and thanks to the Vesrah team, Waterbridge Investments, and especially my crew James, Leif, and Jackie for all their hard work.” Vesrah Suzuki wants to thank all of their sponsors for their support for the 2010 season Vesrah, American Suzuki, Rockstar Energy Drink, Nielsen Enterprises Suzuki, Waterbridge Investments, Traxxion Dynamics Fork Components, Dainese Leathers, Boots and Gloves, AGV Helmets, Graves Motorsports, Hotbodies Racing Bodywork, Sudco Int., Bazzaz, Factory Pro, Maxima Racing Oils, Vortex, DID Chain, Penske Racing Shocks, GPR Stabilizers, Trek Bicycles, GP Tech, Active & Road Rage Designs. More, from a press release issued by Rockwall Performance Yamaha: WINNING DAYTONA SUPERSPORT EVENT FOR CAMERON BEAUBIER AND ROCKWALL PERFORMANCE Daytona, Florida — Rockwall Performance Yamaha’s Cameron Beaubier and J.D. Beach kicked off their 2010 AMA Pro racing seasons in tremendous fashion at Daytona International Speedway, including scoring one of the most thrilling races in recent memory in the very first contest of the new season. Both Rockwall Performance Yamaha racers left Daytona with victories — Beaubier in SuperSport and Beach in dirt track. The former Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup standouts were immediately up to speed around the intimidating high banks as evidenced by their front row grid positions for the AMA Pro SuperSport East doubleheader. Beaubier, despite his inexperience on a 600cc four-stroke, qualified second fastest at 1:44.067. Beach was right on his heels, third quickest at 1:44.165. Beaubier, Beach, and the Rockwall Performance team are backed by Top 1 Oils and Red Bull. In Thursday’s 12-lap final, the two found themselves embroiled in a tight, multi-rider tilt for the victory. Beaubier displayed remarkable racecraft in the final run to the checkered flag. He dipped right back into the draft of fastest qualifier Joey Pascarella after being displaced from first and stormed back into the lead at the stripe for the win. Beaubier’s victory, with a miniscule 0.001-second margin, was confirmed by AMA Pro’s photo finish equipment in what was one of the closest races ever at Daytona International Speedway. Beach finished fourth even though he was only 0.0247 seconds off the victory himself in the ultra-close battle. After winning what was his first-ever AMA Pro race, Beaubier said, “At the beginning of the race I struggled off the start and I went to fourth but fought back up to second. I struggled a little bit midway through the race and went back to the like sixth and was like, ‘Oh no!’ I didn’t know what was going on but I kept my head together and started moving back up. I was battling with Joey (Pascarella) until the last lap. It was all about trying to be second going onto the banking to get a slipstream to the finish but I wound up going first onto the banking and he passed me. But he pulled out of the slipstream too early and I got right back in it and barely beat him.” Friday’s contest looked to be shaping up to be a repeat of Thursday’s scrap but unfortunately Beach was forced out of the contest with a mechanical issue on lap 8. Beaubier battled at the front throughout but the final lap didn’t work out as well for him the second time around as he got dropped from second to fourth at the very last moment in what was another promising outing for the rising star. In addition to his impressive SuperSport speed, Beach also competed in AMA Pro Flat Track during the week, claiming a victory in the Pro Singles class Thursday evening. “The weekend was great,” Beach remarked. “We learned a lot about the bike for the new season. I didn’t get the finishes we wanted in SuperSport but we’ll come back to the next race and be ready to go. This weekend I was doing double duty roadracing and dirt tracking and I was able to get the win in the dirt. I was hoping to the do the double but it didn’t work out. I guess I’ll have to wait until next year for that.” Rockwall Performance Yamaha will be back in action at the second round of the AMA Pro SuperSport East Championship, which takes place at Road Atlanta in Braselton, GA on April 16-18.