AMA Pro Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport Championship Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida March 11, 2011 Provisional Race One Results (3.5-mile course, all on Dunlop tires): 1. Tomas Puerta (Yam YZF-R6), 10 laps 2. Stefano Mesa (Duc 848EVO), -7.624 seconds 3. David Gaviria (Yam YZF-R6), -7.633 4. Benny Solis, Jr. (Hon CBR600RR), -7.670 5. Dustin Dominguez (Duc 848), -15.234 6. Elena Myers (Suz GSX-R600), -16.811 7. James Rispoli (Suz GSX-R600), -16.868 8. Eric Stump III (Yam YZF-R6), -16.930 9. Ricky Parker (Yam YZF-R6), -16.999 10. Hayden Gillim (Yam YZF-R6), -17.314, ran off track 11. Miles Thornton (Yam YZF-R6), -23.943 12. Ryan Kerr (Kaw ZX-6R), -33.003 13. Sam Nash (Yam YZF-R6), -33.018 14. Charlie Long (Suz GSX-R600), -33.046 15. Travis Ohge (Yam YZF-R6), -33.094 16. Sabastiao Ferreira (Yam YZF-R6), -33.198 17. Ben Young (Yam YZF-R6), -36.090 18. Jeff Wrobel (Yam YZF-R6), -75.435 19. Jett Chandler (Hon CBR600RR), -77.574 20. Zared Leon (Yam YZF-R6), -77.699 21. Roi Holster (Yam YZF-R6), -97.443 22. Russell Proctor (Yam YZF-R6), -97.486 23. Cristian Olguin (Kaw ZX-6R), -115.713 24. Jose Flores (Duc 848), -121.031 25. Nicholas Hayman (Duc 848), -121.158 26. Brad Graham (Duc 848), -1 lap 27. Emerson Connor (Duc 848EVO), -3 laps 28. Brent Lyskawa (Duc 848), -10 laps, DNF, crash 29. Corey Alexander (Suz GSX-R600), -10 laps, DNF, crash 30. Nicholas Hansen (Suz GSX-R600), -10 laps, DNF, crash 31. Jake Morman (Yam YZF-R6), DNS 32. Morgan Murphy (Suz GSX-R600), DNS More, from a press release issued by Run 1 Racing: Slow Start Drops Run 1 Racing’s Miles Thorton to 11th in SuperSport Race DAYTONA BEACH, FL (March 11, 2011) Miles Thorton will get a second chance Saturday to capitalize on being the fastest qualifier in AMA Pro Racing Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport competition at Daytona International Speedway when he again starts from the pole position in the second race of the 2011 season. Friday’s first race was best quickly forgotten. A slow start doomed Thorton to an 11th place finish aboard his #72 Yamaha YZF-R6 Run 1 Racing team entry. After turning in an incredible qualifying lap of 1:54.888 Thursday, the 16-year-old high school student from West Point, Ga., was simply late off the starting line Friday. He fell back to 12th place on the first lap around the 3.51-mile Daytona International Speedway long course. Thorton quickly lost the draft of the leaders, especially Thomas Puerta of Columbia, who had started fourth directly behind Thorton but jumped around Thorton into the lead before the field cleared pit lane and went into turn one. “I was late!” said an obviously disappointed and furious Thorton. “Once I lost the draft, I was doomed. I don’t want to do anything right now.” Thorton wound up finishing 23.9 seconds behind Puerta’s Yamaha. He made up only one position during the 10-lap sprint race, when another rider went down on lap seven. Thorton will need to regroup and rein in his emotions before Saturday’s second SuperSport race. Under AMA Pro Racing rules, Thorton will again start from the pole position Saturday. Injured Salenius Withdraws from SuperBike Race Run 1 Racing’s Skip Salenius voluntarily dropped out of Friday’s AMA Pro Racing National Guard SuperBike race at Daytona International Speedway after just four laps due to an injury suffered during qualifying earlier Friday. “There is no pain, but I don’t have any movement in my wrist and that made using the throttle difficult,” he said. “I was just in the way and didn’t want to be the guy causing problems for other riders. “I will ice it down tonight and see how it feels for tomorrow’s race.” Salenius got hit and went down hard near the end of qualifying earlier Friday. His #63 Yamaha R1, sponsored by Karma Tequila, was easily repairable, but his right wrist was swollen. He used a power drill to drill a hole in his right thumb nail to relieve the pressure and drain some blood. “I might have a hairline fracture and there’s something wrong with my thumb, but it’s nothing serious,” Salenius said. “I just don’t have any movement.” Salenius had qualified 21st and if he is able, that’s where he will start again Saturday in race two. Pascarella Ends Up 16th in Daytona 200 Qualifying Run 1 Racing’s other 16-year-old rider, Joey Pascarella of Vacaville, CA, improved his best lap by more than two seconds during qualifying Friday to earn the 16th starting position for Saturday’s Daytona 200 feature race, which will be televised live on Speed TV at 1:15 pm. Pascarella posted a best lap of 1:53.546 = 91.945 mph aboard the #825 Run 1 Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 Friday. “The bike is getting better and better every lap,” Pascarella said. “I am excited about the race. It’s going to be a long race, and I’ve never done an endurance race or made a pit stop during a race, so that’ll be interesting. “I figure I will need to go hard in the beginning, ride smart during the middle (of the race) and then go for it at the end. ” Richards DNQ for SuperSport Race Friday was another disappointing day for Run 1 Racing’s Antoine Richards of Bermuda. He failed to qualify for the SuperSport race after a terminal mechanical problem with his Suzuki GSX-R600 forced him to withdraw after only two laps of qualifying. On Thursday, Richards was hampered by a broken throttle cable and only got in two laps. More, from a press release issued by LTD Racing: PUERTA WINS DAYTONA SUPERSPORT FOR LTD RACING AND YAMAHA EXTENDED SERVICE Daytona Beach, FL (March 11, 2011) — LTD Racing’s Tomas Puerta won his first AMA Pro SuperSport race at Daytona on Friday, winning by 7.624 seconds on his Y.E.S.-backed Yamaha. Teammate David Gaviria battled for the podium and finished third in his first-ever race for LTD. He was just 0.008 short of second place. Sam Nash earned 13th place in the race, an impressive result for the part-time racer. Puerta, who finished third in the East division points last year for LTD Racing, marched away from the field at his favorite racetrack on Friday. Puerta had earned the podium at Daytona before, but the 18 year-old saved his best AMA Pro race for the 2011 season opener. He led all 10 laps to become the third race winner for in the third season of LTD Racing. “I’m really excited about it and really happy for my first win,” said Puerta. “I was wanting it bad. Last year, I was happy to just be at the front at times but this year I am really trying for the championship. In this race, I pushed hard for the first four laps and then I saw I had a gap. I tried to build up the gap because it is so hard to win here.” Puerta is the third rider to win a SuperSport race for LTD Racing, joining Joey Pascarella and Huntley Nash. It was the seventh SuperSport race win for LTD Racing, which is now backed by Yamaha Extended Service. Gaviria battled with the four-rider group for second place. He led the battle with two laps to go and mounted a strong challenge on the final lap. His first race for LTD Racing was memorable, as he became the fifth racer to earn a podium placing for the team. “I think I made a good decision at the end with my strategy but I came up just short of second place,” said Gaviria. “I’m learning a lot about racing here at Daytona and the draft in this race. I need to learn more about this and I am happy with bike and the team. It should be fun to get to race again tomorrow and I am expecting another good result.” After the first race of the year, Puerta leads East division points while Gaviria leads the West division. Sam Nash took 13th place, coming up just short in a battle for 12th by 0.015 seconds. Nash, who clocked the third-highest trap speed in the race, said, “That was great fun. I had a good battle with Ryan Kerr and I can’t wait to get out there again tomorrow.” Huntley Nash qualified 21st for the 70th Daytona 200. Nash, in his first weekend as a DSB regular, has worked hard but found things tough on the banking. “We have some issues we’re working on with the bike,” said Nash. “I picked up the pace quite a bit and it was better but we need more speed. This is a tough class and it’s a real challenge, which is why we joined this class. It’s a long race and we’re looking to improve the bike and then get a decent finish tomorrow.” Saturday’s action includes a second AMA Pro SuperSport race and the 70th Daytona 200.