CARDENAS VICTORIOUS IN KANSAS FOR TEAM M4 SUZUKI Team M4 Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas put in a heroic effort on Sunday at Heartland Park Topeka in Topeka, KS to score a thrilling final-lap victory and reclaim a piece of the 2009 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike championship lead. The Colombian was once again embroiled in an intense battle with his championship rival, Danny Eslick, at the head of a four and five-man lead group disputing Sunday’s win. Facing an obvious straight-line deficit, Cardenas looked to fighting an uphill battle in his hopes to climb back to the top spot on the podium. However, he leveraged the strengths of his sweet-handling Suzuki GSX-R600 and timed his assault for the dramatic triumph perfectly. Martin made a pair of slick maneuvers to take control of first on the 50-mile race’s final lap and held on to claim the checkered flag in first position by 0.245 seconds. The former Spanish Supersport champ’s title hopes got an additional boost when Josh Herrin slotted between Cardenas and Eslick on the final lap, leaving the two tied with 318 points apiece and four races remaining on the 2009 schedule. Cardenas, ecstatic with his hard-earned triumph and relieved to get his seventh victory on the season after a few disappointing outings recently, said, “The race was very tough. I knew it was going to be very difficult to win here today because of the power of the Buell in a straight line but today I noticed the pace wasn’t as good as yesterday and Danny was struggling a little bit in the first part of the circuit. I made a move three or four laps from the end and tried to get a little bit of a gap where I saw that he was struggling but he came right back by me again so I decided to wait for the last lap and try to maintain the position and just hope he didn’t come by in a straight line before the finish line. “In the end it worked out. It was a very good race. My Suzuki worked awesome and thanks to the team for doing such a great job and believing in me.” Teammate Jason DiSalvo put in a strong ride of his own, joining Cardenas in the race’s top four after leading several laps at the beginning of the contest after starting from pole. The New Yorker was a factor with the lead group throughout the stunning affair and ultimately crossed the strip less than 1.5 seconds off the win. DiSalvo remains ranked fifth in the Daytona SportBike title hunt with 235, just six points removed from fourth. Team M4 Suzuki will look to add to their victory tally with an eye on taking the next step towards the 2009 Daytona SportBike championship in two weeks time at Virginia International Raceway on August 14-16. More, from a press release issued by American Suzuki: Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Hayden Brings Home Second at Topeka Superbike Race on Sunday Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Young eighth after off-track excursion Round 9 AMA Superbike Series, Race 2 Topeka, Kansas Heartland Park Topeka July 31 August 2, 2009 Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden celebrated an impressive second-place finish in Sunday’s AMA Superbike race at Heartland Park Topeka in Topeka, Kansas. After finishing fourth in Saturday’s race, Hayden was particularly pleased with Sunday’s results. The Kentucky rider got a good start on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 and was moving into position to battle for second place with his teammate Blake Young. Young, however, went into a turn a little too fast at this point and ran off the track. The result was that Hayden moved into the second-place position that his teammate had vacated. Hayden then followed the race leader closely and hoped to make a pass for the win but was unable to do so. In the end, he came away with second place. This is Hayden’s eighth Superbike podium finish this year. Meanwhile, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Young re-entered the field in 10th place after going off-track and worked his way into eighth place before the 20-lap race’s end. Finally, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Mat Mladin opted to sit out the Kansas race. In spite of this, six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mladin still leads the overall championship points standings in the premier class. Tommy Hayden: “This was a good race but at the same time, it’s kind of frustrating to keep getting this close and not get a win. But I feel like I’m learning a lot in the races and so if I just keep on doing what I’m doing, it can’t be that far away”¦ I feel like I’m trying hard and I’m putting all I can into it, and I am learning a lot. Today, though, I knew that some guys were beginning to catch me in the points over the last few races. So I wasn’t quite as unafraid as I would’ve been if I hadn’t had that to worry about also.” Blake Young: “I have to admit this wasn’t one of my better races. At first, I got a great start on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 but then I made a misjudged a turn and went in a little hot and I ran off the track. When I came back out, I was too far back to catch anybody and I just rode around by myself. I’m pretty disappointed because I felt like we got the set-up pretty good for today and I think we could have run a good pace. Now, I’m just going to focus on doing my best at the next race at Virginia.” Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing will race next at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia, the weekend of August 14 16, 2009. AMA Superbike Top 10 Finishers: 1. Larry Pegram, Ducati 2. Tommy Hayden, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing 3. Josh Hayes, Yamaha 4. Jake Holden, Honda 5. Taylor Knapp, Suzuki 6. Neil Hodgson, Honda 7. Michael Laverty, Suzuki 8. Blake Young, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing 9. Chris Ulrich, Roadracingworld.com Suzuki 10. Scott Charlton, Suzuki AMA Superbike Points Standings: 1. Mat Mladin, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing 2. Tommy Hayden, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing 3. Larry Pegram, Ducati 4. Josh Hayes, Yamaha 5. Ben Bostrom, Yamaha 6. Blake Young, Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing 7. Aaron Yates, Jordan Suzuki 8. Geoff May, National Guard Jordan Suzuki 9. Taylor Knapp, Suzuki 10. Jake Holden, Honda More, from a press release issued by LTD Racing: PUERTA SEVENTH IN TOPEKA SUPERSPORT FOR LTD RACING Topeka, Kansas LTD Racing’s Tomas Puerta took seventh place in the AMA Pro SuperSport event at Heartland Park Topeka in Kansas. The Colombian racer earned another top ten finish for the team even though he had a wrist injury that made racing painful. Puerta’s teammate Huntley Nash had a tough end to a winning weekend when he crashed in Sunday’s SuperSport race. Puerta showed poise in the 16-lap race, balancing his performance along the way.. “It was a really hard race for me because I had the wrist injury,” said Tomas. “I wanted to charge harder but I knew I needed to conserve a bit for late in the race. Seventh place is a good result considering how I came into the weekend not knowing if I would be able to race. I’m looking forward to healing up and going to VIR. I was on pole in the Rookies Cup race there last year and it is one of my favorite tracks.” After winning the Moto-GT2 race on Saturday, Huntley Nash had a disappointing SuperSport contest. Huntley, looking to charge hard and contend, unfortunately crashed out on lap one. “I’m frustrated,” said Nash. “I was pushing. We had some of the same problems we had in practice, so I knew we needed more speed. I was pushing hard and it started spinning and then it flipped me. I’ll get over it and we’ll get ’em next time but I really wanted to do well today.” Despite the crash, Huntley is still tied with LTD Racing teammate Joey Pascarella for fourth in SuperSport East points. Joey raced at the X-games Supermoto this weekend and did not attend Heartland Park. The VIR AMA Pro Road Racing event is August 14-16. More, from a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing: Ducati’s Pegram Sweeps; M4 Suzuki’s Cardenas Gets Seventh AMA Pro Win in Topeka Cardenas and Eslick in Points Tie; Parker SuperSport West Champ Crowned at Heartland Park TOPEKA, Kan. – Larry Pegram (No. 72 Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing Ducati 1098R) scored his first career weekend sweep in AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike presented by Parts Unlimited competition and Martin Cardenas (No. 36 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600) won a class-leading seventh AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL race Sunday in the Tornado Nationals presented by BriggsAuto.com at Heartland Park Topeka. All of Sunday’s action from Topeka can be seen in a two-hour show on SPEED tonight at Midnight ET (9 p.m. PT). As he did in Saturday’s final, Pegram led every lap from the start for a convincing win that was his third victory of the season. Unlike yesterday’s race when the Ducati was the clear class of the field, a persistent Tommy Hayden (No. 22 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000) chased Pegram to the finish on Sunday. “I was sweating and Tommy was all over me, he was an animal,” Pegram said. “I could hear him back there, I could feel him. The last three laps I was riding fairly defensive. I was still trying to set a good pace but in the places where I knew there were opportunities to pass, I wasn’t giving any room there. My hats off to him, I rode as hard as I possibly could and he was there the whole race.” Hayden crossed the finish line .333 of a second behind Pegram and he has now been on the podium for half of this year’s 16 races. Josh Hayes (No. 4 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) finished third for his third podium in the last four races after scoring a weekend victory sweep of his own one race ago at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. “I was a lot stronger than Larry through two of the corners,” Hayden said. “I didn’t want to try a move until I thought I was close enough to make it. I tried the one spot and he got back by and I never really got close enough again through that area. He picked it up a bit there. It’s kind of frustrating to keep getting this close and not get a win, but I feel like I’m learning a lot in the races. I have to keep doing what I’m doing, it can’t be too far away.” Hayes kept in touch with the leaders in third for the entire race and joined several other riders in giving high praise to Heartland Park Topeka owner Raymond Irwin and his staff for implementing a series of safety improvements to the 2.5-mile circuit in preparation for the first major motorcycle event in Topeka in nearly 20 years. “The track put in a lot of effort to help us out and I’m very thankful for the work that they did,” said Hayes. “The bike actually worked really well. Somewhere in Lap 5 or 6 I made a go at the guys and kind of closed everything up and I got close. Even if I caught them I didn’t know if I could make any moves. They were pretty strong everywhere that I could pass. I knew both of these guys want the wins really bad, just like I do. I just didn’t have the pace to run with them there at the end. I’m up here on the podium. I think this is my first Superbike podium where I didn’t win a race, so I hope we’re making some in roads. Hopefully we’ll be good at Virginia.” Pegram also showed some appreciation for the Heartland Park officials. “Personally, I love this place now,” Pegram said. “I think Heartland Park has the potential to be a really, really good race track as far as safety goes.” The top five was completed by a pair of riders that turned in career-best results. Jake Holden (No. 59 Holden Racing Honda CBR1000RR) finished a solid fourth and was followed across the line by an equally impressive Taylor Knapp (No. 44 Taylor Knapp Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000) who finished fifth. Several regular American Superbike front runners encountered a variety of problems Sunday. Ben Bostrom (No. 2 Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Yamaha R1) was running fourth with less than two laps to go when he pulled off course with apparent mechanical problems. Blake Young (No. 79 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000) was in second place at the end of the opening lap but fell to an eventual eighth place finish after contact with Aaron Yates (No. 23 Brand Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000). In the same incident, Yates lowsided in Turn 8, the same corner where his Jordan Motorsports teammate Geoff May (No. 54 National Guard Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000) later took a spill 10 laps later. Neither rider was injured. Mat Mladin (No. 7 Rockstar/Makita Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000) continues to lead the American Superbike championship standings with 390 points, Hayden remains second with 307 points while Pegram has jumped from fifth to third in the standings after the Tornado Nationals with 286 points. Next up for American Superbike is the Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals at Virginia International Raceway (VIR), August 14 – 16. The races will be featured in a pair of same-day, two-hour telecasts on SPEED on Saturday, August 15 at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) and Sunday, August 16 at Midnight ET (9 p.m. PT). Daytona SportBike Thriller In the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL Sunday final, Cardenas passed Danny Eslick (No. 9 GEICO Powersports/RMR Buell 1125R) twice on the final lap for his series-leading seventh victory of 2009. Cardenas and Eslick are now tied for first with 318 points apiece in the Daytona SportBike championship standings with just two double-header weekends of racing left this season. “The race was very tough,” Cardenas said. “I noticed that the pace wasn’t as good as yesterday and Danny was struggling in the first part of the track. I made a move three or four laps from the end and put a little bit of a gap in the parts that I saw he was struggling. He came right by me again so I just waited for the last lap to make a move and it worked out. It was a very good race. The bike worked awesome.” Eslick was leading at the start of the final lap but Cardenas was in hot pursuit along with Josh Herrin (No. 8 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6), who had recovered from a mid-race trip off course to race back into contention. Cardenas and Eslick traded the lead twice while working the Turn 6 and 7 section of the course before the Colombian took the lead for the final time out of the backstretch chicane with just half a lap to go. Eslick then had his hands full with Herrin, who made a late-breaking pass for second stick just two corners from the finish. “It was just an awesome race,” Eslick said. “I got away for a little while just past halfway and tried to lead as many laps as I could and hopefully get that point for the most laps led. Both these guys ran an awesome race and it was a lot of fun. I almost crashed on that last lap trying to chase Martin down in the chicane. I don’t know if I hit the body work or what I did, but I was down, no saving it, and somehow it stood back up. I figured from there I’d go with second, then Josh came sliding by me. We’ll take a third today, tied for the championship. It’s a good weekend.” Herrin is now third in the Daytona SportBike standings with 261 points behind the two leaders. “That was really scary,” said Herrin, who fell to seventh after his off-course incident. “I ran it in really hard, and I was going to try to make a move on Danny going on the outside. I think I hit his exhaust or something with my fist and it just jabbed it, cut my hand actually. I ran off into the grass, made a couple of jumps through there and charged back. That was definitely the furthest I’ve had to work to catch back up to the leaders. The pass on Danny on the last lap was just full lock, sliding the bike on the last corner. Taking a second after charging that long is just as good as a win to me.” As he did on Saturday, Eslick spent the opening part of the race methodically charging through the field. He took the lead for the first time with a first-to-third pass of Cardenas and then-leader Herrin in the fast run through Heartland Park’s Alpha and Turn 1 section on Lap 10. Eslick led the next nine race laps at the line before the white flag battle and was one of four riders to set the pace in the 20-lap race. Superpole winner Jason DiSalvo (No. 40 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600) led the first six laps, Herrin led Laps 7 through 9 and Cardenas officially led just the final lap. DiSalvo finished fourth while Tommy Aquino (No. 6 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6) continued his recent run of strong performances to round out the top five. Next up for Daytona SportBike is the Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals at Virginia International Raceway (VIR), August 14 – 16. The races will be featured in a pair of same-day, two-hour telecasts on SPEED on Saturday, August 15 at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) and Sunday, August 16 at Midnight ET (9 p.m. PT). Day Wins, SuperSport West Wrap In AMA Pro SuperSport presented by Shoei action, one champion was crowned and another rider took a giant step toward clinching a title of his own with a convincing victory in Sunday’s 16-lap final at Heartland Park Topeka. Josh Day (No. 4 Kerker Racing Yamaha YZF-R6) led every lap from the pole for his second straight SuperSport victory. He crossed the finish line a comfortable 18.553 seconds ahead of runner up Dustin Dominguez (No. 44 House of Kawasaki/Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) and J.D. Beach (No. 73 Honda/Red Bull Honda CBR600RR) finished third. Day has increased his SuperSport East championship lead to 126 points with two races remaining on the 2009 schedule. His title bid was given a boost in Topeka when nearest challenger Leandro Mercado (No. 92 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) was unable to participate in the Tornado Nationals. Mercado is second in the East standings with 81 points. Russ Wikle (No. 5 Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R600), who finished fifth Sunday, is third with 79 points. “It was a really good weekend,” Day said. “It’s been one of those picture-perfect weekends for us. The track was a little demanding today. I just kept my head down and ended up with a win. It’s really a shame Leandro hasn’t been here. I know he’d be up front battling with us all but I’m sure he’ll be back at VIR so that race should be really good for everybody.” Ricky Parker (No. 96 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6) overcame a spill in the earlier Daytona SportBike race to finish fourth and clinch the SuperSport West title. Despite missing the year’s opening pair of races at Daytona and Auto Club Speedway, Parker sealed the crown with a strong record of two victories, one second-place finish and the fourth-place showing in Topeka. “I had a good day,” Parker said. “The bike’s working good, it’s working better everyday. I want to thank my family for coming here this weekend for the support and for these guys racing with me for doing a good job today. They were pretty fast. They kicked my butt again so let’s just say they spanked me.” Bryce Prince (No. 74 Clawson Motorsports Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) finished second in the SuperSport West championship with 85 points and crossed the line in sixth place on Sunday. Clint Shobert (No. 26 American Honda/Pro Honda Oils & Chemicals Honda CBR600RR) finished 10th at Topeka and locked down third in the final West standings with 82 points. Next up for AMA Pro SuperSport East is the Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals at Virginia International Raceway (VIR), August 14 – 16. 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. From its Daytona Beach headquarters, the organization operates and manages AMA Pro Road Racing, which includes AMA Pro American Superbike, AMA Pro Daytona SportBike, AMA Pro SuperSport and AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT. AMA Pro Racing also manages and works closely with the day-to-day operational organizations of the AMA Pro Flat Track Championship and the AMA Pro Supermoto Championship Series in addition to other two-wheel and ATV series. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com. More, from a press release issued by Ducati North America: PEGRAM AND DUCATI SWEEP DOUBLEHEADER IN KANSAS Topeka, KS — Foremost Insurance Pegram Ducati’s Larry Pegram completed the doubleheader sweep on Sunday, earning another victory at Heartland Park Topeka in Kansas. Larry dominated the American Superbike race on Saturday, but Sunday’s event was a close fight with Tommy Hayden that left the race win in jeopardy until the checkered flag. Pegram, mounted on the Ducati 1098R, was able to earn victory by just 0.333 after the two traded the lead in the late laps. “Does it look like I had a harder time of it today? I’m pretty beat and Tommy really gave me all we could handle out there,” said Pegram. “It was a really good race, exciting for the fans and us competitors too. Looking at the timing sheet, I didn’t have a lead over three tenths of a second after the race got past the first couple of laps. Tommy made a move with a few laps to go and I tried to go right back after him and we were able to get the lead back. The Ducati 1098R is a fantastic bike and really proved a lot this weekend. Winning both races here at a new facility is great for our team. Needless to say, I love this track!” The victory was the third one of the season for Larry and the Ducati 1098R in their first year back in AMA Pro Racing American Superbike. Pegram is now third in American Superbike points with just Virginia and New Jersey remaining. The VIR event is August 14-16. For more information on Team Foremost Pegram Racing please visit www.pegramracing.com. To learn more about Ducati’s line of racing inspired motorcycles; and the 1098R that Larry piloted to victory please visit www.ducatiusa.com. More, from a press release issued by Honda: Results Heartland Park Topeka AMA Pro Road Race Superbike at Heartland Park Topeka Saturday, Sunday, August 1, 2 2009 Weather: Sunny, warm Temperature: 33C Corona Extra Honda’s Neil Hodgson came within half a second of improving on his best finish since his return to racing from a motocross injury early in the season, on a sun-blessed weekend at Heartland Park Topeka, the newest venue on the AMA Pro Road Race calendar in the American breadbasket of Kansas. With racing now at two week intervals, Hodgson hasn’t seen significant recovery in the shoulder that he separated back in March. There was progress, but the 4.3-kms, 14-turn circuit is predominantly left-handed, which put added stress on his left shoulder. This was the first AMA race at the facility since 1991, well before Hodgson or any of the other riders started racing Superbikes and the 2003 World Superbike Champion knew from the minute he took to the track for Thursday promoter practice that the weekend would be a challenge. Eight of the 14 turns are left-handed, including the fastest and longest of the turns, both of which come early in the lap. Of the two days, Sunday was the more rewarding. He finished almost twice as close to the winner and lowered his lap times by a full two seconds. Hodgson made a crucial tire decision, opting for the softer of the two control rear Dunlops. The transformation was immediate and sustained and he was able to lap comfortably in a much quicker zone. By the midpoint of Sunday’s race, Hodgson was in with two other riders, including Irishman Michael Laverty, who races a Suzuki part-time in the U.S. Hodgson had never raced Laverty, despite both hailing from the same part of the world. Tenth on the opening lap, Hodgson worked his way through the field to seventh before making the pass on Laverty on the 18th of 20 laps. The Honda rider quickly gapped Laverty and came within half a second of taking fifth place. Saturday had been less satisfying. Tenth on the opening lap, Hodgson improved one spot before dropping back to tenth, where he’d finish. Both races were won by Larry Pegram (Ducati). On Saturday he beat Ben Bostrom (Yamaha) and Blake Young (Suzuki). Sunday he finished in front of Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) and Josh Hayes (Yamaha). Hodgson and the Corona Extra Honda team now have a weekend off before heading to Virginia International Raceway for the penultimate round of the championship. Neil Hodgson 10th, 6th I knew straight away that it was going to be hard, because the change of direction was bad here. There was lots of change of direction and all lefts and I found it very, very difficult. Actually, the second race was a lot better. We made the bike better, easier to turn in and we chose the right tire. The soft was so much better than the hard we’d used on Saturday. We’d used the soft on the Thursday two different times and it tore badly, really badly. Because the track’s obviously not a new track, and it wasn’t freezing cold, and you just think, ‘That’s not even going to be a player.’ So we never even really looked at it again, because we knew it was going to fall off. Sunday was enjoyable. I’d never raced with Michael Laverty before, because he’s younger than me. I was off doing World Championship racing when he was coming through the ranks. He’s a very safe rider. You can tell he’s got a quite economic riding style, so no problems at all. Our machines were well matched, though I think mine had a little bit more horsepower than his and I just wasn’t as strong as him to change direction and then I’d work to get it back. I finally got him just into the chicane. I got the drive out of the corner before and then almost leveled him, which made it easier for the pass. Tim Saunders, Team Principal We always want to be racing at the front, but we were definitely encouraged by the progress Neil made over the weekend on a track we knew would be difficult. As soon as he saw the layout he realized it would be taxing on his shoulder, and it was. But you can see from his results that he improved his lap time by two seconds and that he was twice as close to the winner on Sunday, so well done. Now he has two weeks’ time to recover before the next race in Virginia, which is mostly right-handed, so we’re hoping for the best. Sunday Superbike: 1. Larry Pegram (Ducati) 2. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) 3. Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 4. Jake Holden (Honda) 5. Taylor Knapp (Suzuki) 6. Neil Hodgson (Honda) 7. Michael Laverty (Suzuki) 8. Blake Young (Suzuki) 9. Chris Ulrich (Suzuki) 10. Scott Charlton (Suzuki) Saturday Superbike: 1. Larry Pegram (Ducati) 2. Ben Bostrom (Yamaha) 3. Blake Young (Suzuki) 4. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) 5. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 6. Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 7. Jake Holden (Honda) 8. Geoff May (Suzuki) 9. Taylor Knapp (Suzuki) 10. Neil Hodgson (Honda) Championship Standings: 1. Mat Mladin (Suzuki) 390 2. Tommy Hayden (Suzuki) 307 3. Larry Pegram (Ducati) 286 4. Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 281 5. Ben Bostrom (Yamaha) 273 6. Blake Young (Suzuki) 235 7. Aaron Yates (Suzuki) 214 8. Geoff May (Suzuki) 212 9. Taylor Knapp (Suzuki) 155 10. Jake Holden (Honda) 145 12. Neil Hodgson (Honda) 120 More, from a press release issued by American Suzuki: M4 Suzuki’s Cardenas Wins Daytona SportBike Race at Heartland Park Topeka Round 9 AMA Daytona SportBike Topeka, Kansas Heartland Park Topeka July 31 August 2, 2009 Team M4 Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas finished off the Heartland Park Topeka double-header weekend strong by winning the second of two AMA Daytona SportBike races on Sunday in Topeka, Kansas. The Colombian rider got a good start on his M4 Suzuki GSX-R600 and rode an almost flawless 20-lap race, in spite of having to go through a restart after a red flag sidelined the race early on. In the restart, Cardenas was running in third place for multiple laps before moving into second place. He paced the leader for a while and then put on a charge toward the end. On the last lap, Cardenas battled hard for the lead before taking the win at the checkers. Winning this race was a confidence boost for Cardenas, who crashed out of Saturday’s race while battling for the lead. Additionally, this victory marks Cardenas’ seventh win of the season and also means he is currently tied for the lead in the overall championship points standings. Martin Cardenas 1st place, Race 2 (Sunday): “It was a very good race. I had a good battle with Danny (Eslick, yesterday’s winner) after the halfway point and at the beginning with my teammate Jason (DiSalvo). It was very difficult today. I knew it was going to be very difficult because Danny was very strong on the straights and I was catching him in some places but when we got to the front straight, he would get me a little bit there. I noticed today he was struggling more than yesterday in some places. So I decided to give it a go and with three or four laps from the end, I tried to pass him. My original plan was to try and gap him a little bit and try to maintain the lead when we get to the start/finish line. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out but at the end I waited for the last lap and tried to make a pass on the back section of the track and stay in front and hope that I’ll be first on the finish line. It did work that time and I’m very happy with this race and thanks to M4 Suzuki and the GSX-R600.” M4 Suzuki will race next at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia, the weekend of August 14 16, 2009.