AMA Pro SuperSport Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California July 24, 2010 Provisional Race Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Huntley Nash (Yam YZF-R6), 18 laps
2. Austin Dehaven (Yam YZF-R6), -3.540 seconds
3. Scott Gilbert (Yam YZF-R6), -5.077
4. Elena Myers (Suz GSX-R600), -10.996
5. James Rispoli (Suz GSX-R600), -11.000
6. David Gaviria (Kaw ZX-6R), -25.246
7. Bryce Prince (Kaw ZX-6R), -25.735
8. Matthew Sadowski (Yam YZF-R6), -25.974
9. Travis Ohge (Yam YZF-R6), -26.948
10. Michael Corbino (Yam YZF-R6), -41.433
11. Jose Flores (Suz GSX-R600), -42.143
12. Nicholas Hayman (Duc 848), -45.619
13. Sam Nash (Yam YZF-R6), -48.525
14. Roi Holster (Yam YZF-R6), -57.303
15. Vittorio Fabregas (Kaw ZX-6R), -57.601
16. Billy Dalu (Yam YZF-R6), -78.447
17. Cristian Olguin (Kaw ZX-6R), -80.272
18. Matthew Dom (Tri Daytona 675), -81.343
19. Bruce Bleecker (Yam YZF-R6), -92.352
20. Richard Cotton (Kaw ZX-6R), -98.397
21. Todd Grice (Yam YZF-R6), -98.440
22. Joey Pascarella (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap, crash
23. Luke Luciano (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap, -48.230 seconds
24. Tyler O’Hara (Yam YZF-R6), -4 laps, DNF, crash
25. Joy Higa (Yam YZF-R6), -11 laps, DNF, crash
26. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R6), -13 laps, DNF, crash
27. Tomas Puerta (Yam YZF-R6), -18 laps, DNF, crash
Final SuperSport West Championship Point Standings (after 11 of 11 races):
1. Pascarella, 172 points 2. Myers, 136 3. Gilbert, 88 4. Tinagero, 64 5. Dehaven, 59 6. Jake Gagne, 48 7. Sadowski, 41 8. Ohge, 40 9. Fabregas, 31 10. Prince, 14
More, from a press release issued by AMA Pro Racing:
Nash Takes Second AMA Pro SuperSport Victory in Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Puerta Earns Pole but Crashes on Lap One; Wild Day of Racing for SuperSport Regulars
MONTEREY, Calif. (July 24, 2010) – The AMA Pro SuperSport riders put on quite a show today in the action packed 18 lap race here at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca during the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix event. Riding his LTD Racing Yamaha with an engine that hadn’t turned a lap until the warm-up lap, Huntley Nash endured a red flag race stoppage and relentless pressure from Top Gun rider Tyler O’Hara and went on to take his second career AMA Pro SuperSport win.
O’Hara, riding his Radio Medics Yamaha, led the early stages of the race prior to the red flag and had an unfortunate fall in turn nine as he was working on lap 15, ending his day. But he wasn’t the only one to suffer an accident in today’s action packed race in front of a capacity crowd here at Laguna Seca.
The biggest heartbreak was for Pole Position winner Tomas Puerta. At the start, Puerta was beaten into turn two by O’Hara and as the field went into the right hand turn three, Puerta’s LTD Racing Yamaha took a big twitch, he tried to save it but to no avail. A number of riders took avoiding action including fourth starting Cameron Beaubier who was riding his own Mazda Technologies Rockwall Yamaha. As the field continued around to complete lap one, Joey Pascarella shot off the road in turn nine and although he was able to rejoin, he was well back.
The next rider to meet misfortune was Beaubier who slid down as he entered the famous corkscrew turn and although he was able to quickly get right up, his Yamaha was too badly damaged to continue. This brought out the red flag after five laps had been completed. Prior to the red flag, Elena Myers had a great start and shot up into third and although there was a number of riders right behind her including James Rispoli, Austin DeHaven and Scott Gilbert, Myers was unflappable as she held station in third despite the constant pressure.
At the restart, Huntley Nash took the lead as O’Hara ran inches behind Nash and looked for a way by. But Nash was up to the challenge and he used the knowledge gained earlier in the weekend when he and LTD Racing team chief Gary Medley went up to the Corkscrew and discussed where and how he should attack that vital part of the racetrack.
The battle came to an end when O’Harawent down and it was a disappointing end to another very strong AMA Pro SuperSport outing for the young rider who had taken a couple of podium finishes as a Top Gun entry earlier in the season. Finishing second and third today were DeHaven on his family run Yamaha and also Gilbert on his Team Graves Yamaha.
Both rider were part of the early battles up front and after the red flag, both ran smart races to take second and third respectively. DeHaven was delighted with his finish and enjoyed his experience racing with the AMA Pro SuperSport regulars. Gilbert also continued to impress, adding to his two podium finishes from earlier this year at Auto Club Speedway.
The highlight of the day was the intense battle between Elena Myers and James Rispoli. After the red flag, they battled back and forth with Myers on her Lucas Oil Roadracingworld.com Suzuki passing Rispoli, only to have the Rispoli re-pass her before the end of the lap on his Ant-Racing.com Yamaha. On the last turn of the last lap, the two came out of the hard left hand final corner and in a sensational launch to the line, Myers just was able to pass Rispoli for fourth place. Rispoli, who has been riding extremely well himself in both AMA Pro Road Racing and AMA Pro Flat Track competition, where he is currently third in the Pro Singles championship hunt, won the SunTrust Improve Your Position Award for his performance at the recent Mid-Ohio SuperSport race.
With so many of the frontrunners having problems, there was a host of worthy names in the top ten including David Gaviria on his Kawasaki, Bryce Prince on his Yamaha, Matthew Sadowski (Suzuki), Travis Ohge (Yamaha) and Michael Corbino, who rounded out the top ten. Towards the end of the race, Gaviria and Sadowski were battling hard and also were Prince and Ohge. All rode well on a difficult and action packed day.
Please visit www.amaproracing.com for the full finishing order from today’s race. AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com
More, from a press release issued by LTD Racing:
NASH IS CASH AT LAGUNA SECA, WINS SUPERSPORT FOR LTD RACING
Monterey, CA (July 24, 2010) — LTD Racing’s Huntley Nash won the AMA Pro SuperSport race at Laguna Seca, taking a hard-fought victory in a red-flagged contest. Nash earned his second AMA Pro SuperSport win in California during a support race at this weekend’s United States Grand Prix. Sam Nash finished a strong thirteenth as the team’s Top Gun entry. Polesitter Tomas Puerta crashed out fighting for the lead on the first lap.
Nash, winner at Elkhart Lake last month, earned another bitterly contested triumph in front of the world stage in Monterey. Huntley utilized his “back-it-in” style to stamp his authority on the event scheduled for 18 laps, but the Georgian also knew when to be conservative. He spent the opening laps of the race coaxing a brand new engine called into service after his last-lap qualifying crash and was able to protect lead from a relentless assault from Tyler O’Hara.
“It’s not as exciting as the first one but it’s great because doing it again gives you even more confidence,” said Huntley, 18 years old. “The weekend didn’t start out like I wanted but I put on my game face for the race. To leave with a win makes it all worth it. I started from fifth, on the second row. I wasn’t happy to be there but I got a good start. I was in second when the red flag came out and I thought I could have run down first place.”
In the second part of the contest, Nash managed to get away first. “On the restart, I got the holeshot and I tried to keep the lead the whole race,” Nash continued. “I wanted to make it uneventful but Tyler O’Hara was on me most of the time and he rode really well. I couldn’t really see much but my board told me he was right there. I tried to protect the lines and rode a little conservative but I was ready to push if I needed to.”
Nash led the final 13 laps of the race. The margin of victory was 3.540 seconds.
Sam Nash made another bid to become the World’s Fastest Law School Student at Laguna Seca. Sam was able to keep chopping his lap times all weekend and ran a solid race, finishing 13th. “It was good to come out here and to finish my personal season before going back to law school this fall. I’m lucky to be able to do race here. How many people get to race the same weekend as the MotoGP stars? I met my goals here in the race and I was able to be competitive,” said Sam. “Huntley did a great job, too, and congratulations to him and the rest of the team.”
Tomas Puerta crashed exiting turn three on the opening lap and his promising weekend that saw him win his first SuperSport pole ended. The Colombian highsided, putting an end to his race just as it had begun.
“We went through a lot this weekend, crashes and other dramas the type of stuff when you have back-to-back race weekends,” said Director of Competition Gary Medley. “It’s a lot of stress and when we have a young team like we have, it really pushes everyone. For Huntley to win, it means a lot to the entire team. I can’t say enough about him. He’s maturing and developing really well. Sam did great, too. I’m really disappointed for Tomy. He really had his head down all weekend. I thought it was going to be the race for him to break out. It was a shame he crashed but I’m sure he’ll be strong the next time.”
The next contest for LTD Racing is the Virginia International Raceway event, Aug 13-15.