Great Clips West Coast Moto Jam/AMA Pro Road Racing GoPro Daytona SportBike Infineon Raceway Sonoma, California May 4, 2012 Provisional Qualifying Session One Results (all on Dunlop tires): 1. Jason DiSalvo (Tri Daytona 675R), 1:38.159 (new lap record) 2. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R6), 1:38.466 3. Martin Cardenas (Suz GSX-R600), 1:38.593 4. Jake Gagne (Yam YZF-R6), 1:39.325 5. Joey Pascarella (Yam YZF-R6), 1:39.864, crash 6. Tommy Hayden (Yam YZF-R6), 1:39.864 7. Dane Westby (Suz GSX-R600), 1:40.007 8. Jake Zemke (Duc 848EVO), 1:40.355 9. Bryce Prince (Yam YZF-R6), 1:40.523 10. Cory West (Suz GSX-R600), 1:40.610 11. J.D. Beach (Yam YZF-R6), 1:40.852 12. Bobby Fong (Yam YZF-R6), 1:40.912 13. Paul Allison (Yam YZF-R6), 1:41.075 14. Michael Beck (Yam YZF-R6), 1:41.759 15. Huntley Nash (Yam YZF-R6), 1:41.789 16. Austin DeHaven (Yam YZF-R6), 1:42.197 17. Benny Solis, Jr. (Suz GSX-R600), 1:42.254 18. Matthew Sadowski (Suz GSX-R600), 1:42.526 19. Eli Edwards (Yam YZF-R6), 1:43.397 20. Fernando Amantini (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:43.431 21. Josh Galster (Yam YZF-R6), 1:44.436 22. David Sadowski, Jr. (Suz GSX-R600), 1:44.898 23. Shaun Summers (Yam YZF-R6), 1:44.508 24. Frankie Garcia (Yam YZF-R6), 1:46.459 25. Melissa Paris (Yam YZF-R6), 1:47.303 26. Sahar Zvik (Yam YZF-R6), 1:47.737 27. Ted Rich (Yam YZF-R6), 1:47.760 28. Sam Rozynski (Yam YZF-R6), 1:49.198 29. Craig Mason (Yam YZF-R6), 1:49.265 30. David Gaviria (Yam YZF-R6), no time recorded More, from a press release issued by Geiger Media on behalf of GEICO: GEICO Suzuki rider Cardenas third-quickest in Sonoma’s opening qualifying session SONOMA, Calif. (May 4) — Championship points leader Martin Cardenas opened qualifying for this weekend’s Great Clips West Coast Moto Jam at Infineon Raceway with a best lap time of 1:38.593, slotting his GEICO Suzuki GSX-R600 third overall. It was a decent start for the 29-year-old Colombian, who entered this race fresh off consecutive AMA Pro Daytona SportBike victories at the tour’s last stop in Road Atlanta. “The GEICO bike continues to run well,” Cardenas said. “Qualifying went much better than this morning’s practice. We tried the soft tire and it gave us a lot more grip, but we don’t think it’s going to be able to run through a whole race. We have to keep working with the medium tire to find a little more grip in the rear.” Cardenas and crew will get another shot at the track in the second qualifying session, scheduled for 9:20 a.m. Saturday. Most expect Q2 to be much quicker as cooler ambient temperatures in the morning hours should add a shot of horsepower to everyone’s tune-up. “It’s looking good for us,” Cardenas said. “I think we will get pretty good speed from the bike tomorrow morning. I have to do some things better on the bike, but hopefully the things we have to fix are small things. It would be great to move up the grid but being on the front row in any position is good.” Jason DiSalvo (1:38.159) and Cameron Beaubier (1:38.466), eighth and 13th in the points, respectively, were the only two riders quicker than Cardenas in Q1. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha Rider Beaubier Returns & Qualifies Second In Daytona SportBike At Infineon Raceway; Teammate Hayden Sixth Sonoma, CA May 4, 2012 Well, that didn’t take long. Cameron Beaubier, who missed the Road Atlanta round of the AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike Championship due to fracturing his kneecap in a non-racing incident, made a remarkable comeback at his home track, Infineon Raceway. After just one morning practice session in which he ran in the top five, Beaubier put his Yamaha YZF-R6® in second position and on the provisional front row in the first DSB qualifying session at Infineon Raceway. Cameron said, “I’m really happy to get back to racing, especially here at my home track. My family’s with me, and I’m stoked to put my R6 on the front row today. I love being back on the bike and with my Yamaha team, and I can’t wait to get back out there for tomorrow’s final qualifying and the race.” Cameron’s Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha Daytona SportBike teammate Tommy Hayden, who is filling in for the injured Garrett Gerloff, qualified his #8 R6 in sixth place and is looking forward to moving up in tomorrow’s second DSB qualifying session. Final qualifying for Daytona SportBike is scheduled for tomorrow at 9:20 AM PST, and DSB Race 1 will go green later on Saturday at 2:00 PM PST. DSB Race 2 is set for Sunday at 2:15 PM PST. Check your local TV listings for Speed TV’s telecast of both races. More, from a press release issued by Team Hammer: WESTBY AND M4 SUZUKI LOOK TO BATTLE IN SONOMA Team M4 Suzuki’s Dane Westby has brought high expectations into this weekend’s AMA Pro Road Racing event at Infineon Raceway following his double podium effort last time out at Road Atlanta. Westby, who is second in the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike points chase trailing only GEICO Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas, opened the day with a strong fourth-place showing in the Friday free practice. ‘The Wolverine’ improved his time by nearly a half-second in provisional qualifying, hustling his GSX-R600 around the undulating Northern Californian circuit in 1:40.007. That time left Westby seventh at the conclusion of a windy day in Sonoma with Saturday morning’s second qualifying session still ahead to determine the doubleheaders grid positioning. Similarly, SuzukiScoopFans Sportbike TrackGear.com M4 Suzuki’s Elena Myers was fourth overall in the AMA Pro SuperSport free session. However, despite running considerably faster in qualifying, she dropped to 13th on the provisional order at the circuit where she scored her historic maiden AMA Pro victory in 2010. Myers’ best lap on the day was 1:44.069. Myers, a winner at Daytona in March, is still recovering from recent wrist surgery. Team Venezuela’s Robertino Pietri and M4 Suzuki’s Chris Ulrich ran 13th and 14th in a closely contested opening AMA Pro Superbike qualifying session. The Venezuelan’s fastest circulation was a 1:38.488 while the Californian managed a best mark of 1:39.119. “We made a big improvement from FP1 to qualifying,” Ulrich explained. “It was just a small change that allowed me to position the bike better that made a major difference. At the end of the session we made another change in the same direction but it was just a little too much and we weren’t able to fully capitalize on of the new tire. “But the big thing is that everything is starting to come around again and I’m having fun on the motorcycle, which is important. The bike is a lot more fun to ride and I can find a rhythm. We have room to improve but we’re making real progress. It was a close session and there are two factory bikes behind me, which is a positive thing. We’re getting everything back to where it should be.” On Saturday Westby, Myers, Pietri, and Ulrich will follow up final qualifying with the first-half of the Infineon Raceway weekend’s SportBike, SuperSport, and Superbike doubleheaders. In 2012, Team Hammer, Inc. is competing in its 32nd consecutive racing season and marks its sixth year of offering technical and logistical support through its Contract Services Department. The team has earned 48 AMA Pro National race wins; 114 AMA Pro National podium finishes; 4 AMA Pro Championships; 133 Overall National Endurance race wins; 13 National Endurance Championships and assorted other race wins and titles. More, from a press release issued by LTD Racing: LTD RACING’S NASH LOOKS TO KEEP MOMENTUM ROLLING AT INFINEON RACEWAY Sonoma, CA (May 4, 2012) After a good start to his 2012 AMA Pro racing season, Huntley Nash came into Sonoma’s Infineon Raceway round looking to keep up the form that has seen him inside the top 10 for most of this year’s sessions. The Georgian was 15th on the first day but felt confident that he could improve that mark set in very windy conditions in Sonoma that created havoc for all the riders on Friday. His best time was 1:41.789. “We never quite got the bike working exactly how we wanted,” said Nash. “Setup is very important here and we need to get a little closer, for sure. We made some changes and put on a soft tire with ten minutes to go. It felt pretty good and I was riding with Tommy Hayden but we couldn’t get one clear lap because of the traffic. That was when I set my best lap. I think if I can get some clean track on Saturday, I can do a mid- to low- 1:40. This is not my favorite place but we still should be doing a little better than we were today.” David Gaviria had a difficult day at the circuit. Machine issues left him looking to Saturday morning to set his time in qualifying. The first of two 22-lap Daytona SportBike races are set for Saturday as well.