KurveyGirl.com brings you the results of this weekend’s events.
Tyler Scott earned pole position for the 82nd Daytona 200 during MotoAmerica Time Attack qualifying Friday at Daytona International Speedway, in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Riding his Dunlop-shod Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R750 without the aid of a drafting partner, the 18-year-old Pennsylvania lapped the 3.51-mile infield road course in 1:48.047. What made Scott’s performance more remarkable was that it did it less than 24 hours after separating his right shoulder in a crash during Qualifying One (Q1) on Thursday.
Stefano Mesa was second-best with a 1:48.147 on his Pirelli-equipped Boulder Motor Sport Ducati Panigale V2. Although this isn’t Mesa’s first entry in the Daytona 200, it is his first in six years.
Veteran Bobby Fong claimed the third and final spot on the front row with a lap of 1:48.697 on his Dunlop-fitted Wrench Motorcycles Suzuki GSX-R750 while working together with Mesa early in the short 15-minute session.
Hayden Gillim qualified fourth with a 1:48.850 on his Vesrah Racing Suzuki GSX-R750.
2023 Daytona 200 race winner Josh Herrin was fifth in the Time Attack with a 1:48.886 on his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati.
Xavi Fores, the 2023 MotoAmerica Supersport Champion, got the sixth grid spot, the final spot on row two, via a 1:48.911 on his Attack Performance Progressive Yamaha YZF-R6.
Row Three qualifiers included N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha’s Blake Davis (1:49.021), PHR Performance Triumph’s Richard Cooper (1:49.034), and Scott’s teammate Richie Escalante (1:49.053).
CSU One Cure/J4orce Racing Yamaha’s Josh Hayes (1:49.068), the third of Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s four riders Brandon Paasch (1:49.439), and Cooper’s Isle of Man TT-winning teammate/team owner Peter Hickman (1:51.685) rounded out the top 12 qualifiers.
The 57-lap 82nd Daytona 200 is scheduled to start at 1:10 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday.
It can be watched live on MotoAmerica Live+, ESPN Latin America, and Star+ or via a delayed broadcast at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time Sunday, March 10 on MAVTV.
More, from a press release issued by CSBK:
Nine Bridgestone CSBK riders qualify for Daytona 200 after Friday improvements
Daytona Beach, FL – The 82nd running of the historic Daytona 200 will feature nine Canadians on Saturday, as a pair of rapid Friday morning qualifying sessions determined the grid spots for each Bridgestone Canadian Superbike Championship rider in attendance.
Ben Young continued his upward trajectory from Thursday afternoon, quickly entering the 1:51 territory to begin Q2 aboard his Team BATTLAX Suzuki. That left the two-time defending CSBK champion just outside a crucial Top-12 Time Attack spot in 14th, but the pace continued to increase throughout the 30-minute session.
That was also true for Warhorse HSBK Ducati debutant Trevor Dion, who jumped to 17th just before the halfway mark and less than two seconds behind his reigning Daytona 200 winning teammate Josh Herrin.
The second half of the session was a far different story, however, as Dion parked his V2 Panigale in pitlane for most of the final 15 minutes while Young continued to hammer out consistent 1:51 lap times aboard his GSX-R750.
That would end with a last-minute flyer of 1:50.329 for Young, about a quarter-second faster than any time he put together a year ago, but that was still not enough against one of the most loaded Daytona 200 fields in history as he slipped to 19th in Q2.
A blazing time from Group B leader Maximilian Gerardo would later bump Young down to 20th, where he will start the race on Saturday as the top Canadian – albeit just 0.9 seconds off a spot in the crucial Time Attack.
Dion would settle for 30th overall and one spot ahead of Young’s Team BATTLAX Suzuki teammate Trevor Daley, though both riders dipped into the 1:51 mark and actually went faster than the 21st best qualifier from a year ago – an indicator of the immense talent on this year’s 66-rider grid.
With the trio of Group A riders done for the day, the other six Canadians in the field took to the track in Group B for their Q2 session. That notably didn’t include Alex Coelho, who suffered a leg injury in Q1 on Thursday and will fail to qualify for the event.
The biggest storyline in Group B was Sebastien Tremblay, who sat provisionally in the top-35 on Thursday but was disqualified from Q1 after failing to go to Parc Ferme. The Turcotte Performance Kawasaki rider made up for it in Q2, registering a best time of 1:53.667 to lead the CSBK riders in the group and put himself 36th overall.
Just behind him in the session was another pair of Canadians in Sam Guerin and teenager Mavrick Cyr, who will slot in 38th and 39th, respectively, and one place ahead of Brad Macrae, who couldn’t improve his time in Q2 amidst mechanical issues.
The biggest benefactor of the secondary session was Matt Simpson, who found more than two seconds of improvement to jump up to 46th overall and just a half-second from the top-40 aboard his Evans Racing Yamaha.
Concluding the Canadian contingent was Alex Michel, who found some extra pace of his own in the morning session to put his SpeedFactory67 into 53rd on the grid out of 66 competitors.
The Bridgestone CSBK riders will now await the 57-lap feature Daytona 200 race on Saturday, with only the morning warm-up left to make any last-minute changes before the event kicks off at roughly 2 pm ET.
Meanwhile, the Top-12 Time Attack shootout saw 18-year-old Tyler Scott take pole position for the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki team, beating out Stefano Mesa and Bobby Fong in a surprising front row.
Full coverage of Saturday’s Daytona 200 race can be found on the series’ official website, and can be watched live on MotoAmerica Live+.
More, from a press release issued by Rahal Ducati Moto:
DAYTONA 200
FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2024 | QUALIFYING 2
The field has been set for the 82nd Running of the Daytona 200, and the trio of Rahal Ducati Moto Riders have officially made the field for the first race of the new program’s Supersport campaign.
The team worked hard overnight to identify modifications to the race machines that allowed each rider to improve their times significantly and get more comfortable with their bikes.
Tomorrow’s Daytona 200 race day schedule will begin with a warm-up session, allowing the crews to fine-tune the Ducatis once more before the first race of the season. The 200-lap event will begin at 1:10 p.m. ET with coverage broadcast live on MotoAmericaLivePlus.com.
KAYLA YAAKOV
No. 19 XPEL DUCATI PANIGALE V2
QUALIFYING: P17 (1:50.227) – GROUP A
NOTES: Will take the green flag from P18 // Gained a significant amount of confidence with the modifications made to the No. 19 bike overnight
WHAT SHE’S SAYING: “Today was a pretty decent day, I made some huge steps with the bike and overall performance. I feel much more comfortable on the bike as they put a really good package under us. I recorded my qualifying time without a draft, and I believe we still have a lot of time that can be gained in the slipstream, but overall I’m pretty happy with the #19 XPEL Ducati. We’re going to keep improving this weekend, hopefully resulting in a top 10 or top 15 tomorrow, which will get us more confident going into Atlanta. Overall, we’ve made a huge step, and big thanks to the team for all their hard work over the weekend so far.
COREY ALEXANDER
No. 23 ROLLER DIE + FORMING DUCATI PANIGALE V2
QUALIFYING: P18 (1:50.258) – GROUP A
NOTES: Will take the green flag from P19 // Found solid speed during Qualifying 2 to build on for the race tomorrow
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “Today is like Day 1 for us. We’ve taken a big step forward from Qualifying 1, and we want to chalk yesterday up as a loss. The bike has been a lot better, and we found some issues that our team worked out overnight, making us around 4.5 seconds faster during Qualifying 2. The bike itself is not great at that speed so we have to catch up with the setup. My size isn’t the easiest either, so we will see what happens in the race, but if we can make another step like we did today we’ll be good for tomorrow. If we can get in the pack and get a draft, who knows what will happen and we could deliver the Roller Die + Forming team a great result.”
PJ JACOBSEN
No. 15 XPEL DUCATI PANIGALE V2
QUALIFYING: P26 (1:51.131) – GROUP A
NOTES: Will take the green flag from P27 // Experiences more electronics issues during qualifying – the team has made significant changes to the electronics of the bike in order to correct the issue and ensure no challenges are faced for the race tomorrow
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “Today was pretty rough again for me and my crew. I think that we didn’t sort some things out that are quite tricky, and it’s been unlucky for the team itself with electronics. We are replacing everything on the bike today so we can come out in the morning for the warm-up before the race with all the problems solved. I hope tomorrow is a more positive day and the XPEL bike can be where we know it can be, and we can run at the front, not at the grid position of 27. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a lot better and we can fix all these issues tonight.”
BEN SPIES
RAHAL DUCATI MOTO TEAM PRINCIPAL
WHAT HE’S SAYING: “Today wasn’t an easy day but it was much better than yesterday. We are headed in a better direction. We had a couple small issues with PJ’s bike that we believe we can fix for tomorrow. The Daytona 200 is a very long race and we hope we can give him the package he needs to work his way to the front. For the other two riders, they did a good job and their pace was good. It’s a long race and we are trying to get good pit stops, let them draft up, and try to get some good results”.
More, from a press release issued by Suzuki Motor USA:
TY SCOTT PUTS VISION WHEEL M4 ECSTAR SUZUKI ON POLE FOR 82ND DAYTONA 200
Suzuki GSX-8R Finishes Strong In Twins Cup Racing Debut
Brea, CA, March 9, 2024 — Suzuki Motor USA (Suzuki) and Team Hammer enter Saturday’s 82nd Daytona 200 with a full complement of potential race winners, a crew spearheaded by Vision Wheel M4 Suzuki’s Tyler Scott, who earned pole position for the prestigious race in Friday’s Time Attack. The day also saw the all-new Suzuki GSX-8R make a promising race debut in Twins Cup competition.
Race Highlights:
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki
Supersport
Tyler Scott posted the fastest time in the 12-rider Time Attack to secure pole position for the 82nd Daytona 200.
Richie Escalante qualified ninth in Time Attack despite setting the pace during the Combined Qualifying sessions.
Brandon Paasch joins Escalante on Row 3 after clocking the 11th fastest time in Time Attack.
Teagg Hobbs will look to battle through the field after qualifying 22nd.
Twins Cup
Rossi Moor finished seventh in his Twins Cup debut.
RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines Suzuki Twins Cup
Rocco Landers grabbed the holeshot on the GSX-8R before claiming a top-five finish in the GSX-8R’s maiden race effort.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott (70) left Daytona International Speedway on Friday with pole position after the fastest time in the day’s decisive Time Attack session. Scott showed remarkable promise for Saturday’s 82nd Daytona 200. The Supersport ace led the way with a pole-winning time of 1:48.047 aboard his Suzuki GSX-R750.
“I crashed in Q1 and dislocated my shoulder,” said Scott. “I rode in Q2 to make sure everything was OK. For Time Attack, the team and all the riders decided on a strategy. I wanted to go alone and see what I could do by myself rather than try to organize a good draft, and I was able to get a low ’48. I am feeling better after the crash and I’m ready to go. I’m excited and looking forward to a strong race with a strong team.”
Scott’s Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki teammates, Richie Escalante (54) starting 9th, qualifying at 1:49.053, Brandon Paasch (96) starting 11th, 1:49.439, and Teagg Hobbs (79) starting 22nd, 1:50.348 expect to be major factors in Saturday’s 200-miler on their GSX-R750s as well. Escalante was fastest in the pre-Time Attack combined qualifying sessions, while Paasch is a two-time winner of the fabled Daytona event.
Meanwhile, Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Rossi Moor (92) and RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines’ Rocco Landers (97) demonstrated the vast potential of the all-new Suzuki GSX-8R sportbike’s parallel-twin platform in the Twins Cup season opener.
Landers grabbed the holeshot before settling in with a pack that also included Moor disputing the podium positions early in the contest. Ultimately former class champion Landers won a battle for fifth while 16-year-old Twins Cup rookie Moor finished fractions of a second back in seventh.
“It’s my first race at Daytona and my first time racing at a track with banking. It’s also the first time we have raced this new Suzuki, so we wanted to find out where we stood,” said Moor. “We struggled some at the beginning of the weekend, but we made a lot of progress and took a bit of a risk with more changes for the race. It paid off and we made a big step forward. We have some more room to improve our race pace to get to the front. I made it up to fourth but couldn’t move forward or hold the other guys behind me. That’s what it is going to take but we are steadily heading in the right direction. It was fun finishing my first race at Daytona, and will go out there with guns blazing tomorrow.”
RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines’s Rocco Landers said, “It is always good to lead the first turn of the first race. We have made strong progress but we’re not at the point where we know we can be. I made a few mistakes and lost the lead pack, plus this is a brand-new bike for us. The GSX-8R is an awesome platform. We’ve been focusing on the handling this weekend, and everything has been going in one direction for us, and that is forward.”
Suzuki and Team Hammer now turn all their combined attention to this year’s edition of the arduous, unpredictable, and thrilling Daytona 200, which will race Saturday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway.
For Suzuki road racing news, results, and team updates, visit https://suzukicycles.com/racing/road-racing. For more information and updates on Team Hammer, visit https://teamhammer.com.
ABOUT TEAM HAMMER
The 2024 season marks Team Hammer’s consecutive year of operating as a professional road racing team. Racebikes built and fielded by Team Hammer have won 133 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National races, have finished on AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National podiums 361 times, and have won 11 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National Championships, as well as two FIM South American Championships (in Superbike and Supersport). The team has also won 137 endurance races overall (including seven 24-hour races) and 13 Overall WERA National Endurance Championships with Suzuki motorcycles, and holds the U.S. record for mileage covered in a 24-hour race. The team also competed in the televised 1990s Formula USA National Championship, famously running “Methanol Monster” GSX-R1100 Superbikes fueled by methanol, and won four F-USA Championships.
ABOUT VISION WHEEL
Founded in 1976, Vision Wheel is one of the nation’s leading providers of custom wheels for cars and trucks, and one of the first manufacturers of custom wheels and tires for ATVs, UTVs, and golf carts. Vision Wheel looks beyond the current trends and to the future in developing, manufacturing, and distributing its wheels. Vision’s lines of street, race, off-road, American Muscle, and Milanni wheels are distributed nationally and internationally through a trusted network of distributors. Vision Wheel also produces the Vision It AR app to allow users to see how their wheel of choice will look on their vehicle before purchase and installation. For more information on Vision Wheel, visit www.visionwheel.com.
