ULRICH, VILLA, AND GUEVARA EARN VALUABLE POINTS AT DAYTONA Roadracingworld.com Suzuki leaves the AMA Pro Road Racing season opener at Daytona International Speedway with strong results in all three classes and excited about their prospects for the remainder of the 2010 season. After his sterling sixth-place ride in Thursday’s AMA Pro American Superbike opener, Chris Ulrich found himself fighting an uphill battle in Friday’s outing after getting pulled into the draft and running wide in the opening corner of the race. However, Ulrich sliced his way from outside the top 15 to ninth place before the spec tire spun on the rim and forced him to back off his charge in the closing moments of the race. Ultimately coming home in twelfth on his Monster Energy Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R1000, the Californian was encouraged with his race pace, which he improved upon significantly from his impressive ride the day before. Following Friday’s Superbike final Ulrich said, “I made a mistake right away and that put us behind. I’ve been racing Daytona long enough to know there’s going to be a big draft but I hadn’t been that close to a big group all weekend. I really thought I was going to crash. The front started going and going and going and it was either bin it or run off, so I ran off. It messed my race up but the positives are that my race pace was over a second a lap faster and I rode well. I went through a lot of guys in a really short time. But I spun a tire on the rim and it started bouncing and kicking me out of the seat on all the left-handed turns. I had no drive and it was trying to crash me everywhere so I did what I had to do to finish the race.” “It bodes well for the season. If we wouldn’t have had the issues, I think we could have been good for another top six today. We got a lot of positives out of the weekend including my best Superbike qualifying performance ever and my best Superbike finish ever. We’re going to be up there this year.” The never-say-die attitude of Santiago Villa makes him an ideal competitor for the grueling Daytona 200 and the Colombian proved that to be the case on Friday night under the lights. After qualifying 27th at 1:55.303, Villa methodically worked his way up in the 69th running of the prestigious 200-mile contest despite a broken collarbone, eventually securing a 15-place result at the checkered flag. Meanwhile, team newcomer Daniel Guevara kicked off his AMA Pro career by claiming an 8th place finish in the AMA Pro SuperSport East opener on Thursday after qualifying eighth at 1:46.288. The rapidly developing 20-year-old Venezuelan saved his best for last, edging rivals Huntley Nash and Elena Myers at the flag by just fractions of a second to scoop a fifth-place finish in Friday’s final. Ulrich said, “Daniel and Santiago both did a really nice job too and they’re continually improving and that’s what we really want to see. I know what the potential is for the team for the rest of the season and I’m excited.” Roadracingworld.com Suzuki will next head to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA for round two of the 2010 AMA Pro Road Racing season on March 26-28. More, from a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing: Herrin Wins the 69th Running of the AMA Pro Road Racing Daytona 200 DAYTONA BEACH, FL – After losing out on the Daytona 200 victory in 2009, No. 8 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6 rider Josh Herrin secured his name in the history books by becoming the 69th winner of the Daytona Beach classic. Held for the second year in a row under the lights, Herrin battled a number of riders before pulling away after a super quick pit stop on lap 39. After that, he rode with tremendous composure and skill to take the checkered flag with a 7.964 second margin of victory on the historic 3.55 mile Daytona International Speedway. Dane Westby and his No. 2 Project 1 Yamaha YZF-R6 took a well deserved second place and up until the last pit stop, it was a two man race. Westby showed his skill by running up front all night, trading the lead with Herrin several times over the course of the 57 lap race. Finishing third was 2007 Daytona 200 winner Steve Rapp on his No. 15 Team Latus Motors Racing Ducati 848. Rapp also ran up front all night and was one of five riders to lead during the race. Leading the field off the line was pole winner Danny Eslick on the No. 1 GEICO Powersports RMR Suzuki GSX-R600 and as the field took the green flag from the standing start, fellow front row rider Martin Cardenas, riding the No. 36 Team M4 Monster Energy Suzuki GSX-R600, shot into the lead and led the field through turns one and two. In a heartbreaking moment, Cardenas had the front end slide out on him going into turn three and down he went, his race over. It was a devastating moment for what was clearly a big pre-race favorite. Further back in the lineup, a number of riders came together in the next turn, necessitating a red flag and immediate race stoppage and full restart from the original grid. One rider, P.J. Jacobson, was transported from the scene to Halifax Hospital but was later released. Four other riders were examined at the infield care center and released and one rider, Bostjan Skubic, later complained of dizziness, was taken to Halifax for precautionary evaluation and was later released. After a brief delay, the race was restarted and this time the field had three riders go off in turn one but with no impact on the race. A tight group of 10 riders were drafting and swapping positions, with many changes every lap. Rapp, Herrin, Eslick, Team Graves Yamaha teammate Tommy Aquino, Kev Coghlan riding the Aussie Dave Racing Yamaha, Westby and more were all part of the action. Another front-runner was Brett McCormick on his No. 61 Picotte Racing Suzuki GSX-R600. He was slowed early by an excursion though the chicane but regained his momentum and began another race at the back of the lead group, fighting with Cory West aboard the No. 57 Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R600, Bobby Fong on the No. 30 Crozier Robinson Motorsports Ducati 848 and Jeff Wood on the No. 75 Vesrah Suzuki. The leaders were lapping in the one minute and fifty second range, which was just off the fastest qualifying times. Meanwhile, making strong but steady progress up from her 22nd starting position was Melissa Paris aboard the No. 13 MPH Racing Yamaha YZF-R6. The first round of pit stops began on lap 17 and Aquino suffered a malfunction with his fueling apparatus, which caused fuel to spill all over the bike and led to his retirement from the race. Herrin stopped one lap later and had a flawless stop. Eslick also had a good stop and the lead was now held by Coghlan, ahead of Eslick, Westby, Herrin, Rapp, and Taylor Knapp riding the Ducshop Racing Ducati 848. Coghlan then stopped on lap 21 and Herrin and Westby regained the lead battle with Rapp and the rest. As things settled down, a three bike breakaway with Westby, Herrin and Eslick kept the pressure on each other, each pulling the occasional wheelie out of the chicane lap after lap. By lap 25 it really became a two bike race, Herrin and Westby really now extending their lead over the field. Melissa Paris continued her strong run, now up to 13th. Brett McCormick’s promising run came to an end as he was involved in a multi-bike accident in the International Horseshoe on lap 32. By lap 34 there were seven riders on the lead lap, the second round of pit stops began and the race to the checkers was on. Herrin and Westby came down pit lane side by side on lap 39 and each wouldn’t give an inch until they stopped in their respective pit boxes. The Team Graves Yamaha team really excelled and sent Herrin off before Westby, giving Herrin the gap he needed to break away. Westby rode as hard as could, but the gap to Herrin slowly grew as the race wound down. In another moment of heartbreak, Melissa Paris’ excellent race came to a premature end when she lost front wheel traction while running in 11th place entering the chicane on lap 49. She had run as high as 10th place and was also treated and released from Halifax Hospital. Later commenting that he was in nearly perfect rhythm, Herrin put his name in the record books as the second youngest winner of the Daytona 200 and the youngest at the races held at the Daytona International Speedway. At 19 years and 10 months, he is only preceded by Brad Andres who, when winning the 200 in 1955, was 18 years and 11 months old. Eslick survived a late race coming together with a slower competitor to finish fourth, Coghlan took fifth, West was sixth, Geoff May riding his No. 99 GMR Racing Suzuki GSX-R600 finished seventh, Shawn Higbee finished eighth on his Higbee-Racing.com Buell followed by the tenacious Taylor Knapp and Eric Wood rounded out the top ten on his Honda CBR600RR. AMA Pro Road Racing will be at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California from March 26 – 28 for round two of the 10 event schedule. AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com. More, from another press release issued by AMA Pro Racing: Zemke Doubles at Daytona International Speedway in AMA Pro National Guard American SuperBike DAYTONA BEACH, FL – The National Guard Jordan Suzuki team got their season off to a dream start in the second race in a set of doubleheader AMA Pro National Guard American SuperBike races on the famous 2.9 mile short course at Daytona International Speedway. In an absolute last gasp pass at the line, Jake Zemke’s No. 54 Suzuki GSX-R1000 passed No. 22 Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 rider Tommy Hayden and won by 0.009 of a second for the second win in as many days. Fighting back from a disappointing first race yesterday, Ben Bostrom’s No. 155 Pat Clark Racing Palms Hotel/Las Vegas Motor Speedway Yamaha YZF-R1 finished in a solid third place. Starting under clear and sunny skies, the field was led again by Aaron Yates’s No. 23 Brand Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000 from pole position but Hayden and his Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate Blake Young made a mighty move on Aaron into turn one and took over at the front. Once again the field fought furiously on the Daytona banking. Larry Pegram, aboard the No. 72 Foremost Insurance Ducati 1098R and Zemke picked up a big draft in the tri-oval and shot up into second and third places on lap two as Hayden built up a one second lead over the pack behind him. Josh Hayes on his No. 4 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R1 and Ben Bostrom made good starts and joined the group behind Yates and Young. Another rider making his first appearance among the front runners this year was Brett McCormick and the No. 6 Picotte Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000. McCormick, Hayes and Bostrom had their own battles just behind the leaders. Chris Ulrich on his No. 18 Monster Energy Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R1000 recovered nicely from a lap one, turn one overshoot and was back up to 11th following up from yesterday’s impressive run. Young was the next to encounter trouble as he ran wide at turn one on lap nine. Meanwhile, back up front the following group caught back up to Hayden and the race was back up for grabs. Zemke had fought his way back to the lead and many times the leader at the stripe wasn’t necessarily the leader into turn one. Zemke was fighting his handling but everyone was on the absolute limit and the bikes were all moving around in and out of the corners and especially on the banking. Meanwhile, Bostrom was making a nice move to the front, passing Hayes on lap 11. Yates joined his teammate back at the front and when Hayden ran wide at turn one, it looked like a Michael Jordan Motorsports one-two finish might be in the cards. On lap 13, Hayden came back by Yates and Bostrom continued his well-measured march to the front by passing an always strong Larry Pegram into turn one. Hayden then made a sensational pass on Zemke in the International hairpin and began to put a nice gap on Zemke. Hayden got a great launch out of the chicane on the back straight and as he came around to the flag, it looked like Zemke had too much ground to make up before the finish line. But with Bostrom looking on with what he described as an amazing view from his Yamaha, Zemke passed Hayden at the line and won by just 0.009 of a second and later said he was trying to see the scoreboards on the cool down lap to see who won. Yates took a fighting third, followed by Pegram, Hayes, Young and McCormick finished in a fine eighth place. Rounding out the top ten was David Anthony on his Aussie Dave Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 and Taylor Knapp on his RidersDiscount.com Suzuki GSX-R1000. All in all, it was a dream start to the season for AMA Pro National Guard American SuperBike and again under the watchful eyes of team owner Michael Jordan, Jake Zemke is proving to be a very wise choice for the Jordan organization. With the strong runs by Hayden and Bostrom, this year is shaping up to be one of the best in this exciting premier class of motorcycle racing. Both rounds of AMA Pro American SuperBike can be seen in back-to-back broadcasts Saturday night on SPEED starting at 10:30 p.m. ET. Next on the schedule for AMA Pro Road Racing is Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California over the March 26 – 28 weekend. More, from another press release issued by AMA Pro Racing: Pascarella Victor of AMA Pro SuperSport Race Two at Daytona International Speedway DAYTONA BEACH, FL – After Thursday’s unbelievable AMA Pro SuperSport race, where Joey Pascarella lost by 0.001 of a second, Pascarella, on his No. 25 LTD Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 came back to take a well judged victory in the second of two 2010 AMA Pro Racing SuperSport races held at the legendary Daytona International Speedway, this time winning by over a second at the flag. In a podium sweep, Pascarella’s LTD Yamaha YZF-R6 teammates No. 32 Jake Gagne and No. 12 Tomas Puerta took second and third after battling the entire 12 lap race with yesterday’s winner No. 16 Cameron Beaubier and his teammate No. 73 J.D. Beach on their Rockwall Yamaha YZF-R6’s. Beach, who looked like a likely winner yesterday was again denied victory when he encountered a mechanical problem forcing him out of the race on lap seven. That left Beaubier alone at the front against the LTD Yamaha teammates. Lap after lap, they all took shots at Pascarella, but he was very strong under braking for turn one and fought off every charge. Behind the lead group, No. 75 Huntley Nash on his Yamaha YZF-R6, No. 82 Daniel Guevara riding a Suzuki GSX-R600 and the again impressive Elena Myers on her No. 21 Suzuki GSX-R600 enjoyed a furious battle lap after lap, with Guevara eventually getting by Huntley Nash and Myers to finish fifth, sixth and seventh respectively. Pulling wheelies out of the chicane onto the back banking, Gagne, Puerta and Beaubier got close to Pascarella, but only Puerta was able to head Pascarella, when he officially led lap six. Going into the last lap, it looked like another photo finish but this time for second, as Joey Pascarella took a well deserved first place. Beaubier was second with Gagne and Puerta right behind and after another big drafting move, Gagne ended up second over Puerta, with Beaubier finishing fourth. Guevara finished a fine fifth followed by Myers. Sam Nash, racing in the Top Gun class, finished eighth on his No. 44 Yamaha YZF-R6, No. 77 Honda CBR600RR Top Gun rider Eric Stump II finished ninth and Ryan Kerr took tenth on his No. 28 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R. This year’s AMA Pro SuperSport season got off to a unbelievable start Thursday and Friday’s race showed that the LTD and Rockwall Yamaha teams will be tough to beat. With the impressive Myers, Guevara and Huntley Nash close behind, the championship is wide open. Highlights from each round of AMA Pro SuperSport can be seen in back-to-back broadcasts of the week’s AMA Pro National Guard American SuperBike races Saturday night on SPEED starting at 10:30 p.m. ET. Next on the schedule for AMA Pro Road Racing is Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California over the March 26 – 28 weekend. More, from a press release issued by Acorn Woods Communications: Suzuki Makes Its Mark In Daytona SuperBike Brea, Calif. March 6, 2010 Suzuki continued their tradition of owning the racetrack at the opening round of AMA American SuperBike series in Daytona Beach, Fla., on March 4 and 5. The inaugural event of the 2010 season was a winner for Suzuki, in which their championship-winning GSX-R1000 took 7 of the top 10 spots in overall points after two days of racing. The unbeatable GSX-R1000 is on course to take it all again, with many talented racers piloting the rocket ship bike on the track. Jake Zemke of the National Guard Jordan Suzuki team took first place in both races. His machine worked flawlessly throughout both 44-mile, 15-lap races. Tommy Hayden steered his Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 to second place in both races. On Friday, he and Zemke were only .009 seconds separated as they crossed the finish line. Aaron Yates of Jordan Suzuki won the pole position after nabbing the quickest qualifying lap in the day leading up to the double header. Yates ended up fourth overall at the end of the Daytona event. Blake Young, in his second year on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000, took fifth overall after grabbing the holeshot in Thursday’s race and leading for a few laps. The RoadRacingWorld.com Suzuki, with Chris Ulrich aboard, took sixth overall. Taylor Knapp and his RidersDiscount.com Suzuki took seventh, and Shane Narbonne finished ninth on his DASPerformance.com GSX-R1000. Suzuki’s race-winning GSX-R1000 is equipped to keep on winning in 2010. Expect Suzuki to continue to dominate the track throughout the SuperBike season with its unparalleled power and performance. In the 69th running of the legendary Daytona 200, Geico Powersports RMR Suzuki’s Danny Eslick took his GSX-R600 to the pole position and won the Rolex award for fastest qualifier. Eslick battled through the cold and challenging 200-mile race and took fourth. Vesrah Suzuki’s Cory West took sixth overall. Daytona SuperBike Race 1 Results 1. Jake Zemke (Suzuki) 2. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) +0.238 3. Larry Pegram (Ducati) +0.259 4. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) +0.291 5. Blake Young (Suzuki) +0.307 6. Chris Ulrich (Suzuki) +27.398 7. Taylor Knapp (Suzuki) +27.43 8. Shawn Higbee (Ducati) +1 lap 9. Shane Narbonne (Suzuki) +9.078 10. Barrett Long (Ducati) +16.377 11. Chris Clark (Yamaha) +16.427 12. Eric Haugo (Suzuki) +16.989 13. Josh Hayes (Yamaha) +01:14.2 14. Johnny Rock Page (Suzuki) +01:23.2 15. Eric Pinson (BMW) +01:43.2 16. Trent Gibson (Suzuki) +01:43.3 17. Skip Salenius (Suzuki) +1 lap 18. Ben Bostrom (Yamaha) 19. Jeffrey Tigert (Honda) +6 laps 20. Brett McCormick (Suzuki) +10 laps Daytona SuperBike Race 2 Results 1. Jake Zemke (Suzuki) 2. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) +0.009 3. Ben Bostrom (Yamaha) +0.081
 4. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) +0.212 5. Larry Pegram (Ducati) +0.858 6. Josh Hayes (Yamaha) +1.838 7. Blake Young (Suzuki) +22.383 8. Brett McCormick (Suzuki) +29.235 9. David Anothony (Suzuki) +34.124 10. Taylor Knapp (Suzuki) +34.404 11. Jeffrey Tigert (Honda) +46.244 12. Chris Ulrich (Suzuki) +46.486 13. Shane Narbonne (Suzuki) +48.176 14. Eric Haugo (Suzuki) +1:18.778 15. Scott Jensen (Suzuki) +1:18.890 16. Chris Clark (Yamaha) +1:19.303 17. Johnny Rock Page (Suzuki) +1:20.553 18. Trent Gibson (Suzuki) +1:26.921 19. Eric Pinson (BMW) +1:28.530 20. Skip Salenius (Suzuki) +1:50.336 Top 10 Points Standings 1. Jake Zemke 62 2. Tommy Hayden 50 3. Larry Pegram 37 4. Aaron Yates 37 5. Blake Young 30 6. Taylor Knapp 25 7. Ben Bostrom 24 8. Chris Ulrich 24 9. Josh Hayes 23 10. Shane Narbonne 20