DAYTONA ANDERSON CONTINUES WITH TEAM HAMMER FOR 2018
Daytona Anderson will continue to ride for Team Hammer in the 2018 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North America Supersport Championship, aboard an M4 RiCK! Suzuki GSX-R600 sponsored by Rickdiculous Racing, or RiCK! for short.
Team Hammer signed the 21-year-old Anderson as a replacement rider mid-season in 2017, with a contract extending through the 2018 season. Anderson immediately impressed by scoring a runner-up result in only his second weekend aboard the team’s Supersport-spec Suzuki GSX-R600. Anderson tallied four top-fives during the 2017 season en route to a 10th-place ranking in the championship despite missing races due to injuries and illness. The Riverside, California, native joined the MotoAmerica series in 2016.
“I’m really excited about the upcoming season,” said Anderson. “Last year was a big learning year for me in getting to go to the east coast tracks since I hadn’t been to those circuits before. This year, I’m excited to be building off that.
“We have some momentum and we are in a good spot to continue progressing. The GSX-R600 platform is also very good. It’s solid,” Anderson continued. “Working with the same crew is also a major plus. I had an off-season injury but that’s all behind us now and we’re into the full swing of training. We got our first podium last year and now we’re looking to get some more and hopefully stand on top of it. This is a huge opportunity and I am putting in the work.”
While Anderson’s first two seasons at the national level have been sharply limited as a result of suffering multiple injuries, he’s shown enormous potential and the sort of grit and determination required to compete against the best racers in the United States.
“Daytona joined up with us midway through last year and he was able to score his best finish yet at Utah Motorsports Campus,” said Chris Ulrich, Team Hammer Vice President of Operations/Talent Scout. “We think he’s making good progress. He’s training hard and following our program for young riders. We’re looking forward to seeing how he continues to develop during the coming season.”
Anderson will benefit from the guidance of his experienced Team Hammer crew along with coaching from Rickdiculous Racing’s Ken Hill and the Rick Rider Development Camp (RDC) program.
Hill said, “Rickdiculous Racing offers world class rider coaching, training riders from all levels of riding experience, from brand new to the sport to MotoAmerica champions. Rickdiculous Racing has built a training methodology via our ‘Order of The Sport’ that has resulted in over 50 MotoAmerica podiums the last two years.”
Rickdiculous Racing principal Adam Bronfman added,”The Rick mission is to have the highest level of motorcycle training available anywhere in the world. With the Team Hammer partnership, the results showcase how building complete athletes works.”
About Team Hammer
The 2018 season marks Team Hammer’s 38th consecutive year of operating as a professional road racing team. Racebikes built and fielded by Team Hammer have won 68 AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National races, have finished on AMA Pro and MotoAmerica National podiums 190 times and have won five AMA Pro National Championships, as well as two FIM South American Championships. The team has also won 135 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.