Suzukis On The Podium In Daytona Sportbike At Mid-Ohio * Danny Eslick took the win during Sunday’s Daytona SportBike race with an impressive lead of nearly four and a half seconds. * Martin Cardenas was on the podium in Saturday’s Daytona SportBike race. * Danny Eslick is now a mere two points away from the championship lead, and Martin Cardenas is just 25 points away from Eslick. Brea, Calif. GEICO Powersports Suzuki’s Danny Eslick wowed the fans aboard his Suzuki GSX-R600 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio on Sunday with his convincing win in the afternoon’s eventful Daytona Sportbike race. Danny began the race with a solid start, and quickly turned that start into a sizable lead. Eslick’s lead was short-lived as he was soon challenged and eventually passed by two other riders, including M4 Monster Energy Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas. The three front-runners traded positions several times during the first half of the race, but it was Eslick who was in the lead on lap eleven when Cardenas low-sided in the carousel corner. The resulting chaos allowed Danny to pull away from the competition and finish with an almost four and a half second lead. Eslick had an excellent start in Saturday’s race as well, getting an early lead on his opponents thanks to the GSX-R’s quick acceleration, but at the finish line it was Martin Cardenas who was standing on the podium. Cardenas and his GSX-R600 started fourth on the grid, and by lap six had made it into the lead. Despite considerable pressure from his opponents behind him, Martin held on to the lead for the next ten laps. A few laps later Martin retook the lead, which he held for another two laps before being passed on the second to last lap. In all, Cardenas spent about half of the race in the lead, and finished with a solid third. With the sixth round of the 2010 AMA American SuperBike Championship completed, Danny Eslick stands a mere two points out of the championship lead, and Cardenas just 25 points behind him. Round 7 takes place this weekend at Laguna Seca. More, from a press release issued by Richie Morris Racing: ESLICK FIGHTS FOR TWO WINS AT MID-OHIO GEICO Powersports RMR Suzuki’s defending AMA Pro Daytona SportBike champion, Danny Eslick, made a major move in his bid to retain his crown in 2010 during a thrilling weekend of racing at Mid-Ohio. Entering the weekend trailing the current points leader by 18 points, Eslick drew to within two points at its conclusion on the strength of his second victory of the year, effecting resetting the championship fight down the homestretch. Danny rose to the top in the intense heat and slick conditions, standing as one of the few men capable of improving in the second qualifying session. His session-leading 1:29.065 was quick enough to earn him the second fastest time overall, slotting his GEICO Powersports and Lucas Oil-sponsored GSX-R600 in on the front row for the weekend’s anticipated twin SportBike showdowns. The races didn’t disappoint and true to SportBike fashion, multiple riders regularly swapped the lead as the class’ top riders traded haymakers at the front. Eslick was part of a tight four-man grouping in contention for the win right up until the race’s final few corners when a rival bumped him off course. Incredibly, Eslick managed to recover and keep his machine upright despite losing his front brakes in the incident, sailing around the final corners to hold on for a vital fourth-place result. Sunday’s race was equally dramatic, as six riders battled for the lead during the race’s opening half. Eslick made some skillful maneuvers to take over the lead at which point the pack was shuffled behind him due to a crash just inches behind his rear wheel. Danny took full advantage of the chaos and broke free to score his eighth career AMA Pro Daytona SportBike victory by a margin of 4.481 seconds. The Oklahoman’s title chances received a further boost when the title leader crashed on the final lap, blowing the title fight wide open at the top. Eslick, who has six SportBike podium results this season to go with his two victories, said of Sunday’s battle, “I had no idea what happened behind me but after getting picked on Saturday, I wanted no part of it! I figured I better just get away. “It was a tough race. We know week-in, week-out there’s going to be a handful of guys up there and you just never know who it’s going to be. It’s a knock-down, drag-out. It’s going to be like that all year long. “We knew we had a good bike; we had a few issues that we worked out overnight. We got a good start and pretty much the race played out just like it had on Saturday for the opening laps. Some guys were passing and moving around. Just before halfway I made a pretty good pass into the lead, and I guess that’s when everything went down behind me. I put my head down and never looked back until the white flag lap. I was watching my pit board and the gap kept growing and growing but I rode like it was getting smaller and smaller.” Asked how it felt to be within two points of the championship lead, Danny grinned and said, “Darn good. It seems like a long time since we won even though it really hasn’t. It’s nice to get a win and put the #1 GEICO Powersports RMR Suzuki out front.” In the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 class, the RMR Bruce Rossmeyer Daytona Racing team placed three riders in the top four once again, with Eslick winning just like he did at the Road America race. “Winning is going to make my drive to California that much more fun, looking at my two trophies all the way!” said Eslick after his victory. Danny led every lap of the contest on his Revolution Performance and Lucas Oil-sponsored Harley-Davidson XR1200 and won by a final margin of 1.727 seconds. Jake Holden earned third after scrapping near the front for much of the race. Kyle Wyman once again earned fourth place for RMR Bruce Rossmeyer Daytona Racing as the young rider solidified the position on the first lap and maintained it throughout the 17-lap race. The AMA Pro Daytona SportBike championship fight immediately picks back up this weekend as the series travels to Laguna Seca for the combined MotoGP/AMA Pro Road Racing round in Monterey, CA on July 23-25. The AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 series resumes at Virginia International Raceway August 13-16. More, from a press release issued by Rockwall Performance: BEACH AND BEAUBIER SWEEP MID-OHIO SUPERSPORT FOR ROCKWALL PERFORMANCE Lexington, Ohio (July 21, 2010) — Rockwall Performance Yamaha enjoyed a magnificent weekend of AMA Pro SuperSport racing at Mid-Ohio, stringing together a series of flawless performances. When the dust had settled, teammates J.D. Beach and Cameron Beaubier walked away with an amazing record of 1-2 results in qualifying and both races for the Top 1 Oil-sponsored team. Competing against the best the class has to offer in a combined East/West Division contest, Beach was the class of the field, claiming pole position and winning both races in dominating fashion. Lapping at 1:30.652 in qualifying, Beach went nearly a full second quicker in race-trim en route to his breakaway Saturday victory. Leaping right into the lead from pole, Beach piled it on throughout, ultimately taking the checkered flag with an incredible 20-second margin back to second. “From the first lap I just tried to push,” Beach said of his relentless approach. “My goal is to race in SportBike next year, so even though I’m racing the SuperSport guys, I feel like I’m racing the SportBike guys as well too, so I wanted to post some really fast laps.” Beaubier, who started second after qualifying at 1:30.849, got caught up in the group during the race’s early stages. He ultimately worked his way up into second but by the time he had a clear track in front of him, there was no catching J.D., so he settled into a secure runner-up ride. Beach’s only drama of the weekend came at the start of Sunday’s contest. Rolling a couple inches prior to the green light, he checked up momentarily in a heady decision, and purposely allowed the rest of the front row to launch in front of him in order to avoid a jump-start penalty. While he had a bit more work to do in Sunday’s race, Beach sliced up into first with relative ease. Cameron provided a stuff challenge during the race’s first half, pushing J.D. in the grueling condition as they pulled away from the rest of the pack aboard their distinctive yellow Yamaha YZF R6s. However, J.D.’s pace just proved too much and he slowly broke free to another one-sided, double-digit win. Beach, whose stunning form has seen him win five of the last races, said, “It’s a good thing that the rider’s meetings are mandatory because I found out about the rule this weekend where if you jump the start a little bit, if you let the row that you’re on get by you, you won’t be penalized. So I went back to fourth, waited two laps just to make sure I wasn’t going to get penalized after that I put my head down and started making passes. I finally got ahead of Cameron and into first and he was keeping right there with me, so I just kept pushing harder and harder. “My Rockwall Yamaha was working great and I’d just like to thank the team.” Beaubier said, “I got a really good start and was a little more aggressive than I was on Saturday so that really helped me on the first couple of laps. J.D. came through and passed me and I raced with him for about half the race and then I couldn’t hang anymore. I was sliding a lot and he just rode awesome.” Beach and Beaubier stand first and second in the AMA Pro SuperSport East Division championship first with Beach holding the advantage 202-167. Marcos Reichert, the team’s Daytona Sport Bike entrant, finished 18th in Saturday’s race, improving three spots from his qualifying position. Unfortunately, the Guatemalan racer did not finish Sunday’s event in the ultracompetitive class. Beach, Beaubier, and Reichert return to action this weekend at Laguna Seca.