Motourage

AMA Pro has announced its preliminary 2011 Road Racing schedule.

New this year is the change of the fabled Daytona 200 event back to its more traditional daytime running time, a return to Miller Motorsports Park over the Memorial Day weekend and some small date changes for some of the traditional events.

The 2011 AMA Pro Road Racing season will kick off at the famed Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. with the biggest motorcycling event of the year, Daytona 200 Week.  Activities will begin this year on Saturday night, March 5th with the longest continuous running Supercross event in America, the Daytona Supercross.  The opening rounds of AMA Pro Flat Track kick off Thursday, March 10 and Friday, March 11, 2011 to mark the second running of the Grand Nationals at the new DAYTONA Flat Track.

The Road Racing activities also begin on Thursday, March 10th with practice and qualifying for the four main classes of AMA Pro Road Racing.  The AMA Pro National Guard Superbike series will again race two times during the Daytona 200 Week activities on Friday, March 11th and Saturday, March 12th.  New this year will be the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series, making its debut at Daytona. The AMA Pro Supersport division will also race on Friday and Saturday.  The Daytona 200 will once again be run as a day race on Saturday, March 12th and will be the closing event of the 2011 Daytona 200 Week activities.  2010 Daytona 200 winner, Josh Herrin will lead the field in the namesake AMA Pro Daytona SportBike class for the 70th running of the famous event.

The series will then travel to Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. for the West Coast Moto Jam, May 13 – 15, 2011.  The popular Infineon Raceway provides a full slate of activities throughout the weekend and this year the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series will make its debut at the 2.32-mile natural road course.

Next on the schedule for AMA Pro Road Racing is a return to Miller Motorsports Park on Memorial Day weekend, May 28 – 30, 2011 in conjunction with the HANNspree Superbike World Championship event. AMA Pro previously raced at the picturesque facility in Tooele, Utah from 2006 to 2008.

Elkhart Lake’s Road America will once again feature the full complement of AMA Pro Road Racing as the series travels to the legendary 4.0-mile road course through the Kettle Moraine countryside in Wisconsin, June 3 – 5, 2011.

Celebrating its 50th Anniversary Season, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course will host AMA Pro Road Racing one week earlier than usual, the race taking place July 8 – 10, 2011.  The Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire will once again bring the eyes of the motorcycle racing world to the gentle hills in Lexington, Ohio.

The series will then travel to Northern California to join the activities at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix weekend at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, July 22 – 24, 2011.  This weekend will feature single races for National Guard Superbike, Daytona SportBike and Supersport in addition to the first stop in the USA for MotoGP.

The next event will be in August at another great facility for motorcycle racing, Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va.  The August 12 – 14, 2011 weekend will once again see all Road Racing classes competing at the 2.25-mile country-club-like natural road course.

AMA Pro Road Racing will then travel to southern New Jersey for the Labor Day weekend at the New Jersey Motorsports Park event in Millville, N.J.  Very popular with fans and competitors alike, the impressive Thunderbolt circuit will host the series, September 2 – 4, 2011.

A return to Barber Motorsports Park, located in Birmingham, Ala., is still being negotiated and the June date and confirmation are to be determined.

One additional season-ending event is also under consideration and will be announced at a later date.

Preliminary 2011 AMA Pro Road Racing Schedule

Eleven Points Between Hayes and Hayden

After 15 rounds of racing, from Daytona Beach to the last race in Virginia, only 11 points separate AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike points leader Josh Hayes and his Team Graves Yamaha team from his challenger Tommy Hayden aboard his Rockstar Makita Suzuki.  At every turn, when one of these world class riders would look to have the upper hand, the other would just as quickly strike back and even things out.  That was the case at the most recent race in Virginia when in race one of the traditional doubleheader weekend, Tommy Hayden took a well judged victory.  But, the very next day Josh Hayes reasserted himself with a dominant win of his own to counter Hayden once again.  Heading into this weekend’s AMA Pro Racing SuperBike Weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park it will be must-see racing as these two continue the fight for the overall AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike title.

The 2.5 mile, 14 turn Thunderbolt course will be the scene for the continuing battle between these two racers and their very capable teams.  After Tommy Hayden took his career first AMA Pro SuperBike win at Auto Club Speedway back in March, he has added three more wins to his total.  And once Josh Hayes started putting wins up on the board, he and Tommy have virtually traded victories, keeping the other in check as they both compiled valuable points towards the championship. It began at Road America when Hayes won on Saturday and Hayden won on Sunday.  The pattern repeated itself again at the next race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and again at the latest race at VIR with Hayden winning first and then Hayes fighting back on Sunday.

Last year at NJMP, Josh Hayes took both race wins but in race one, it was Tommy Hayden who finished second so we can certainly expect these two to be right at the front  this coming weekend.  One factor that may come into play this year is a couple of other riders that have wins this year and may influence the outcome of the championship. Ben Bostrom won recently at Laguna Seca and featured prominently during the VIR races.  His Pat Clark Motorsports team with valuable support from Palms Casino and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway have continued to develop their Yamaha motorcycles into regular front runners, joining Hayes’ Yamaha in setting the pace. Hayden might have his Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate, Blake Young back to support his efforts this coming weekend. Blake has been sidelined since a testing accident back in June.  The plan is for Blake to test at NJMP and if he is declared fit enough to compete, he will rejoin the team and add one more element to the championship battle. Blake won his career first AMA SuperBike races earlier this year.

Jake Zemke and his National Guard Jordan Suzuki can also impact the proceedings at NJMP.  Jake won the opening races of the season and remains in third place overall in the points.  He will have to raise his game if he wants to stay in third with Ben Bostrom coming on so strongly.  Another rider who posted a win this year is the popular Larry Pegram and his Foremost Insurance Ducati.  Larry won at Auto Club Speedway and has posted four second place finishes as well.

But the real action will be at the front.  Years ago, Josh Hayes and Tommy Hayden battled for the AMA Pro SuperStock championship and history is repeating itself once again as these two champions go head to head for the AMA Pro SuperBike title.  The quality of the competition has never been better and the character and respect between the key participants is also outstanding which will most certainly provide some of the best racing seen in many a year in AMA Pro Road Racing.

The action starts on Friday, September 3rd with practice and first round qualifying. Saturday, September 4th will have final qualifying in SuperBike and then race one of two of the AMA Pro Racing SuperBike Championship Weekend doubleheader weekend.  Race two will be on Sunday, September 5th. Don’t miss the Pit Lane Fan Walk and Autograph session on both Saturday and Sunday, featuring all riders and teams. SPEED TV will be broadcasting the SuperBike race one on Saturday night, September 4th at 11:00 PM EDT and the second AMA Pro SuperBike race on Sunday, September 5th at 10:00 PM EDT.  Please visit www.njmp.com for further information.

Sunday’s AMA Pro Road Racing finals at the 2.25-mile Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va. to close out the the Suzuki White Lightning AMA Pro Nationals Presented by Foremost Insurance event weekend provided redemption for a couple of riders and also brought a divisional championship to another very deserving rider.

SuperBike points leader Josh Hayes reasserted himself at the top of the tables in every way. After what was for him a disappointing third-place result in Saturday’s race, where his main championship rival Tommy Hayden took a well-measured victory, Hayes came back to dominate the 23-lap Superbike race 2.

Josh Hayes celebrates after Sunday's Superbike race 2 win

“I just feel like I woke up, I didn’t like to get beat yesterday,” said Hayes.  “Somewhere along the way I feel like I kind of got lost a little bit, just in my riding.  I wasn’t riding my full potential and I was still capable of racing for the wins.  I think our motorcycle has a lot to do with that, we have a really good motorcycle.  I was just thinking about, what was my mindset last year?  I was racing myself a lot more last year.  These guys ride great, but I put an awful lot of pressure on myself to perform, so that’s what I tried to get back to this morning and today’s race was a race against myself.”

Hayes led every lap on his way to a series high fifth win in the SuperBike class.  Pole position winner Ben Bostrom duplicated his second place from yesterday to round out a solid weekend.

Tommy Hayden battled first with Hayes and then fought Bostrom for second before he finished third to stay close to Hayes in the points chase. Hayden is only 11 points adrift of Hayes with two double header race weekends to go.

“I felt pretty good about stepping up and going faster than I had all weekend there for the first five or six laps,” said Hayden.  “But in the end we didn’t have the pace to go that fast, or cooked the tire a little bit and couldn’t keep up.  That’s the biggest part of it really, we just weren’t fast enough.”

Riding to fourth place was Jordan Suzuki rookie Brett McCormick who easily had the best race of his season in relief of injured teammate Aaron Yates.  Yates did make an appearance at VIR this weekend and quickly showed his mettle with an excellent qualifying effort, but he decided not to race until he was fully confident that he was in race distance shape after his lengthy lay off.

Another rider having a good day was Taylor Knapp who rode to a fifth place-finish after dueling with Jake Zemke and Erik Buell Racing’s Geoff May. Chris Ulrich also ran well today and took seventh aboard his M4 Monster Energy Suzuki.  Zemke ran in fifth place in the early stages of the race but fell to eighth after battling hard to hold onto every position.

Larry Pegram fell from sixth at the start down to 15th on lap two but made his way back to ninth at the flag. Canadian Superbike Champion Jordan Szoke made his second AMA Pro SuperBike appearance of the year after racing at Mid-Ohio and impressed once again with a tenth place finish after a battle with Shane Narbone.

Daytona SportBike

In the Daytona SportBike class, Josh Herrin was able to bounce back from the disappointment of Saturday’s race that ended for him almost as soon as it started.

Read more…

Saturday saw three thrilling AMA Pro Road Racing races at the 2.25-mile Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va., in the opening day of competition for the Suzuki White Lightning AMA Pro Nationals presented by Foremost Insurance.  One was a runaway, one was a photo finish and the last was almost as close as the second one.

In the National Guard SuperBike race, it was Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider Tommy Hayden who took his fourth AMA Pro SuperBike win of the season by 0.005 of a second over pole position winner Ben Bostrom.  Bostrom led on his Pat Clark Motorsports Yamaha coming down to the line but in a mighty move, Hayden pulled out and crossed the line inches ahead of Bostrom.  The fun wasn’t over for Hayden who, in his successful attempt to win the race, was out of position at that very high speed part of the track, and he used all of his considerable skills to wrestle his Suzuki under control after he found himself running wide off the track onto the grass.  He brought it back under control and took a critical victory in his pursuit of Josh Hayes and his Team Graves Yamaha team.

John Hopkins walks back to the paddock after crashing out of Superbike race 1 on Saturday

“We started coming to the finish and I had huge momentum when I pulled out,” Hayden commented on his pass for the win.  “The way I was pointing too, when I pulled out, I never even got pointed towards turn one I don’t think.  I started leaning a little and I just had the biggest front slide I think you can have without crashing.  I pretty much thought I was down and somehow I just stayed in the throttle and steered it back up and pointed out in the grass and hoped there was nothing out there I couldn’t see, any ditches or nothing coming up and just tried to ride it out.  It feels good, I really feel like I needed this one today.”

Hayes, by virtue of leading the most laps in today’s race, has a one point lead over Hayden in their close battle for the National Guard SuperBike Championship.  Hayes had led early in the race after taking the lead from a fast starting Hayden. Hayes took the lead on lap four and led until lap 10 when Ben Bostrom asserted himself into the mix by grabbing the lead from Hayes in turn one.  Hayes responded and took the lead right back the next lap and he led for the next nine laps until Bostrom moved ahead on lap 21 which enabled Hayden to get by Hayes as well. Bostrom led as the last lap began but Hayden made a big late braking move into turn one and took the lead but Bostrom was able to fight right back and retook the lead two corners later and looked a likely winner until Hayden made his great move heading down to the flag to take the win.

Behind the riveting battle for the win, Larry Pegram finished fourth after dueling with Jake Zemke, Zemke’s Jordan Suzuki teammate Brett McCormick, Taylor Knapp and a front-row starting Eric Bostrom.  Knapp eventually finished fifth ahead of McCormick, Bostrom and Zemke.

John Hopkins made his return to the series today, and he rode his M4 Monster Energy Suzuki extremely well, running in a solid fourth place for most of the race until he went down in turn four near the end of the race.  Another rider making a comeback this weekend was Jordan Suzuki rider Aaron Yates, and he qualified on the outside of the second row; however, Yates elected not to start the race. His recovery is going well, but he wasn’t absolutely sure he would bring his best to the race, which was run in very hot and humid conditions.  Overall, it was another exciting race in a season that has seen five different winners in SuperBike.

Daytona SportBike Photo Finish

The AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL race was even more exciting and came down to an even closer finish.  After seeing Danny Eslick take the pole position, Eslick was joined on the front row by his championship rival Josh Herrin along with six-time 2010 Daytona SportBike winner Martin Cardenas and Tommy Aquino.

Read more…

The close-fought AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike Championship battle will be rejoined at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, VA this weekend, August 13-15, 2010.  The 2.25 mile, 18-turn road course will be the site of the Suzuki White Lightning AMA Pro Nationals Presented by Foremost Insurance where championship contenders Josh Hayes, Tommy Hayden, Jake Zemke and Larry Pegram will take to the track for the doubleheader race weekend.

Leading the charge will be four-time 2010 race winner Josh Hayes on his Team Graves Yamaha.  Hayes won both ends of the doubleheader at VIR in 2009 and is coming off a close second-place finish at the recent Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca round.  Hayes has notched up wins at Infineon Raceway, Road America and Mid-Ohio, and he is excited about returning to the track where he ran so well last year.  “I like my chances at VIR, I won there last year and with the way my Yamaha is running this year, I feel pretty good about the upcoming weekend.”

Right on Hayes’ tail is Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider Tommy Hayden.  Hayden took his first-ever AMA Pro Superbike win earlier this year at Auto Club Speedway and he added two more wins to his growing career total, one at Road America and another at Mid-Ohio.  In the case of the last two wins, Hayden was able to match Hayes’ victories at Road America and Mid-Ohio, preventing Hayes from extending his slim points lead. Right now, the difference is only nine points, 311 for Hayes and 302 for Hayden.

After winning the first two races of the 2010 season, Jake Zemke has consistently added to his points total with a series of strong results.  Zemke took second place at Auto Club Speedway and added a pair of third-place finishes, three fourth-place finishes, a fifth and four sixth-place finishes to keep his National Guard Jordan Suzuki in the thick of the championship fight.  Zemke started on the front row and finished fourth at VIR last year when he ran in the Daytona Sportbike class.  Now he is a force to be reckoned with every time the Superbikes take to the track.

Another rider with a victory this year is Foremost Insurance Ducati rider Larry Pegram who took a popular win at Auto Club Speedway earlier this year.  And Pegram was leading in the second race when he suffered an unfortunate fall while headed for what could have been a weekend sweep of the Auto Club Speedway races.  After a couple of results that didn’t meet his expectations, Pegram got back on track when he returned to California with two strong third-place finishes at Infineon Raceway and then he took a couple of fourth place finishes at Road America followed by a fourth and a third place finish at his home track in Ohio. At the most recent race, Pegram rode another typically solid race to fourth place at Laguna Seca.  Pegram’s longtime sponsor Foremost Insurance is the Presenting Sponsor at this weekend’s VIR event and you can count on Pegram racing in his usual determined manner with his unique and popular Foremost Insurance Ducati.

Due to his steadily improving form, which culminated with a win at the most recent race at Laguna Seca, Ben Bostrom and the new Pat Clark Motorsports Yamaha team have put themselves into the championship frame.  Bostrom, the 2009 Daytona 200 race winner and the brother of Eric Bostrom, will be ready to resume his steady march to the front after strong showings at Infineon (two seconds), a second and a fourth at Mid-Ohio and his win at Laguna.  Bostrom had surgery on his left thumb after Laguna, but he doesn’t anticipate any problems this weekend.

Two riders making welcome returns to the AMA Pro National Guard Superbike series this weekend at VIR are M4 Monster Energy Suzuki rider John Hopkins and Rockstar Makita Suzuki rider Blake Young.  Hopkins underwent surgery earlier this year and is back for his first race since Road Atlanta in April.  Hopkins has been ably represented by Jake Holden who posted a number of good results while substituting on the GSX-R1000.  Young took his first two Superbike wins this year at Road Atlanta.  That was a special weekend for Young as he took pole position and won both races on the demanding Georgia track.  Young was at the recent race at Laguna and was raring to get back on his lightning fast Suzuki.

Seventh and eighth in the AMA Pro SuperBike points this year are two riders that are having nice solid years and are both quietly riding well and showing excellent form.  M4 Monster Energy Suzuki rider Chris Ulrich has put together a very solid year.  Ulrich has shown excellent consistency and has posted a solid run of results with only one finish outside the top ten until the last race at Laguna Seca where he uncharacteristically went out after two laps.  Ulrich is seventh in points with 150.  Right behind Ulrich in the points with 141 is Taylor Knapp on his RidersDiscount.com Suzuki.  Knapp and his close knit team have done a nice, steady job and Knapp has responded by taking seven finishes of tenth or better.

The action at the Suzuki White Lightning AMA Pro Nationals Presented by Foremost Insurance begins on Friday, August 13th with practice and first round qualifying. Round one of the doubleheader race weekend will be on Saturday, August 14th and more races including the AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 race will be on Sunday, August 15th. Check all the weekend activities at the beautiful Virginia International Raceway including the popular Pit Lane Fan Walk and AMA Pro Autograph sessions as well as the Second Annual MRO VIR Food Drive to Benefit God’s Storehouse in Danville, VA.  For more info contact gracingfuelministry@yahoo.com. God’s Storehouse can be contacted via their website godsstorehouse.org or by calling 434-793-3663. Motor Racing Outreach’s website is go2mro.com.  Please visit www.virclub.com for ticket and event information and www.amaproracing.com for series information.

Suzuki White Lightning AMA Pro Nationals presented by Foremost Insurance
Virginia International Raceway, Alton, VA
August 13-15, 2010

Thursday, August 12
10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Move-In & Set-Up, Big Rig Transporters Only
Noon – 5 p.m. Move-In & Set-Up, All Transporters/Service Providers
3 p.m. Pit Lane Assignments

Friday, August 13
10 a.m. Mandatory Riders, Entrants & Crew Chiefs Meeting
10:30 – 10:50 a.m. Track Inspection
11 a.m. Top Gun Post Entry Closed
11 a.m. – Noon Lunch Break (National Guard Two-Up Rides)
Noon – 12:50 p.m. Practice 50 min Daytona SportBike
1 – 1:50 p.m. Practice 50 min American SuperBike
2 – 2:40 p.m. Practice 40 min SuperSport
2:50 – 3:30 p.m. Qualifying 1 40 min Daytona SportBike
3:40 – 4:20 p.m. Qualifying 1 40 min American SuperBike
4:30 – 5:10 p.m. Qualifying 1 40 min SuperSport
5:15 – 5:45 p.m. Practice 30 min TTXGP

Saturday, August 14
7:20 – 7:50 a.m. Track Inspection
8 – 8:30 a.m. Qualifying 2 30 min SuperSport 8:40 a.m. – 9:20 a.m. Qualifying 2 40 min Daytona SportBike
9:30 – 10:10 a.m. Qualifying 2 40 min American SuperBike
10:20 – 10:50 a.m. Practice 30 min XR1200
10:50 a.m. – Noon Lunch Break (Fan Lap/National Guard Two-Up’s/Stunt Show)
Noon – 12:45 p.m. Fan Walk – All Classes, Hot Pit Lane / Ceremonies
1 p.m. SuperSport Race 1 18 Laps – 40 Mi/65 Km
2 p.m. Daytona SportBike Race 1 23 Laps – 50 Mi/80 Km
3:15 p.m. American SuperBike Race 1 23 Laps – 50 Mi/80 Km
4:15 – 5 p.m. Qualifying 45 min XR1200
5:05 – 5:35 p.m. Qualifying 30 min TTXGP

Sunday, August 15
7:20 – 7:50 a.m. Track Inspection
8 – 8:20 a.m. Warm-Up 20 min TTXGP
8:30 – 8:50 a.m. Warm–Up 20 min SuperSport
9 – 9:20 a.m. Warm–Up 20 min Daytona SportBike
9:30 – 9:50 a.m. Warm–Up 20 min American SuperBike
10 – 10:20 a.m. Warm–Up 20 min XR1200
10:30 – 11:30 a.m. Lunch Break (National Guard Two-Up Rides/Fan Lap)
10:50 – 11:30 a.m. Autograph Session – ASB, DSB, SS Mandatory
11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Fan Walk – All Classes, Hot Pit Lane / Ceremonies
12:30 p.m. SuperSport Race 2 18 Laps – 40 Mi/65 Km
1:30 p.m. Daytona SportBike Race 2 23 Laps – 50 Mi/80 Km
2:45 p.m. American SuperBike Race 2 23 Laps – 50 Mi/80 Km
3:45 p.m. XR1200 Race 18 Laps – 40 Mi/65 Km
4:15 p.m. TTXGP Race 11 Laps – 25 Mi/40 Km

Course Length – 2.25 Mi (3.62 Km)

AMA Pro Road Racing Weekend Preview – Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Quick Links
Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix Event Page
SPEED Schedule

Series:
AMA Pro Road Racing

Event:
Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix Event Page

Track:
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – 2.238 Mile – 11 Turn Natural Road Course

Classes:

• AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike (Entry List)
• AMA Pro Daytona SportBike by AMSOIL (Entry List)
• AMA Pro SuperSport (Entry List)

Schedule (PDF Schedule):
Friday, July 23rd Practice:

• SuperSport 12:30 – 1:20 PM
• Daytona SportBike 3:10 – 4:00 PM
• National Guard SuperBike 4:10 – 5:00 PM

Saturday, July 24th Qualifying:

• Daytona SportBike by AMSOIL 8:00 – 8:40 AM Qualifying 1
• SuperSport 8:45 – 9:20 AM Final Qualifying
• National Guard SuperBike 11:05 – 11:50 AM Qualifying 1
• Daytona SportBik by AMSOIL 12:00 Noon – 12:45 PM Final Qualifying
• National Guard SuperBike 3:50 – 4:40 PM Final Qualifying

Saturday July 24th Race:

• SuperSport Race 18 Laps/40 Miles – 5:30 PM

Sunday, June 6th Races:

• Daytona SportBike by AMSOIL Race 23 Laps/50 Miles – 10:25 AM
• National Guard SuperBike race 23 Laps/50 Miles – 3:45 PM

TV Schedule (SPEEDTV.com):

• Late Sunday/Early Monday, July 26, 2010 at 12:00 a.m. midnight ET – Daytona SportBike Race
• Late Sunday/Early Monday, July 26, 2010 at 1:00 a.m. ET – American SuperBike Race and SuperSport Highlights
• Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 3:00AM ET – Daytona SportBike Race (RERUN)
• Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 4:00AM ET – American SuperBike Race and SuperSport Highlights (RERUN)

2009 Race Records & Results:

Fastest Qualifiers:

• National Guard SuperBike Pole Position – Mat Mladin – Rockstar Makita Suzuki -1:24.592/95.243 MPH
• Daytona SportBike by AMSOIL Pole Position – Martin Cardenas – M4 Suzuki – 1:27.585/91.988 MPH
• SuperSport Pole Position – Ricky Parker – Graves Yamaha – 1:30.213/89.308 MPH

Race Winners:

• National Guard SuperBike Race Winner – Mat Mladin – Rockstar Makita Suzuki
• Daytona SportBike by AMSOIL Race Winner – Ben Bostrom – Team Graves Yamaha
• SuperSport Race Winner – Ricky Parker – Team Graves Yamaha

Former Suzuka 8 Hours winner and AMA, FIM Endurance and Word Superbike champion Doug Polen will make his return to AMA Pro Road Racing this weekend at the Honda Super Cycle Weekend at Mid-Ohio. Polen will pilot Ducshop Racing’s Ducati 848 in the AMA Pro Daytona Sportbike class. The 29-time AMA race winner will fill in for Jake Holden who has picked up rider duties at Monster M4 Suzuki for the injured John Hopkins. Polen currently conducts riders schools for Ducati North America.

Doug Polen won his second of four World Superbike championships in 1992 and also finished third in AMA Superbikes

“Mid-Ohio fans are in for a real treat,” said David Atlas, COO of AMA Pro Racing. “Seeing a champion like Doug Polen back in AMA Pro with Ducati will reunite one of the greatest combinations the sport has ever seen.  As a fan, I’m looking forward to it myself!”

The Honda Super Cycle Weekend Presented by Dunlop Tire at the famous Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course begins on Friday, July 16th with practice and qualifying in three of the four AMA Pro classes.  Fans will have a chance to meet Polen and all of the other riders on Saturday and Sunday during the AMA Pro Fan Grid Walk and Dunlop Autograph session on Sunday.  Final qualifying and the first of two weekend races will begin on Saturday, July 17th with more races including the Vance & Hines XR1200 series on Sunday, July 18th.

Team M4 Monster Energy Suzuki had a mixed Sunday to round out the AMA Pro Road Racing weekend at Infineon Raceway, as the squad picked up two more strong Superbike results but suffered a stinging disappointment in the Daytona Sportbike final.

Martin Cardenas pulled off a win on Saturday, but a DNF in Sunday's Sportbike race leaves him third in points

Coming off Saturday’s thrilling victory, Martin Cardenas had aspirations of pulling off yet another doubleheader sweep aboard his GSX-R600 at Infineon Raceway, but those hopes were dashed early when the Colombian crashed out of the race on the second lap. Martin made contact with another rider and ended up in the dirt. Despite his difficult day, Cardenas leaves Infineon Raceway third in the Daytona SportBike title race with 133 points.

Jake Holden and Chris Ulrich put together similar outings compared with Saturday, the two once again claiming the checkered flag while running in seventh and eighth positions, respectively.

Holden, riding in place of the injured John Hopkins, stuck with the front pack during the contest’s early stages again before accepting a relatively lonely seventh. Ulrich, meanwhile, upped his pace aboard his GSX-R1000 and kept the lead group in sight for an extended period as well before securing his seventh top-ten result of the season.

Ulrich, who retains his seventh-place ranking in the American Superbike championship standings, said, “Today’s race was similar to yesterday’s but our split was better today. I held onto the lead group a lot longer today. We made some small changes to the front and I went faster today than I qualified. It was key to get in a strong first lap and cling onto the lead group and they pulled me into the ’37s and I stayed there as long as I could. I was at my limit and I feel good about my race. It was a big improvement from last year where we could ride at a good pace for half-distance or so where now I’m able to push at the limit for the entire race.
The bike is getting better every week and so am I. Let’s be honest, we struggled at Atlanta, but we got down to business here and went pretty good. We have Road America coming up and I’m looking forward to going there.”

Team M4 Monster Energy Crew Chief Keith Perry remarked, “It seems like in SportBike we’re either going to be on top of the podium or throwing it down, one or the other. Martin is such a competitor and such a hard runner there’s no doubt he’s going to bounce back and be running for the front again at Road America. We’ll just go into the next one and see how it shakes out.
We had very solid Superbike results today,” added Perry. “I know both of them would like to be a couple positions higher than that, but we worked some things out that will allow us to make some progress with the big bikes and we’re looking forward to Elkhart Lake for sure.”

Team M4 Monster Energy Suzuki will be back in action on June 4-6 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI.

This year’s AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL action could not have been more exciting and competitive.  With two winners in three races and one more rider who could have, or should have, won a race or two himself, today’s first of two weekend AMA Pro Daytona SportBike races was another chapter in what has been a series of races that just keep on delivering one wild and crazy race after another!

After a rocking early morning qualifying session where any number of riders topped the time sheets, it was Friday’s pole sitter Tommy Aquino on his Team Graves Yamaha that reclaimed the top spot when it looked like he would be beaten by his own Team Graves Yamaha teammate Josh Herrin and also Daytona pole position winner and reigning AMA Pro Daytona SportBike champion Danny Eslick on his bright yellow GEICO Powersports Suzuki and also M4 Monster Energy Suzuki rider Martin Cardenas. Aquino came through at the end of qualifying and he looked very strong for the race.

Under bright blue skies and warm temperatures, the standing start went off without a hitch and it was Cardenas who led the field into the uphill turn one. Aquino was in second, Herrin third, a strong starting Cory West, riding his Vesrah Suzuki was up to fourth ahead of Eslick, who was already starting his usual charge to the front.

It didn’t take long for the action to start as Herrin moved up and passed Cardenas and Aquino in one move and as the front six broke away from the rest of the field, Eslick jumped up to first on lap three. These three now put on their usual show with pass after pass lap after lap; this after it was thought there weren’t too many places to pass on the challenging and scenic Road Atlanta track. That theory was completely put to rest as the riders continuously made major passing moves at the top of the track at turns six and seven and also at the run down into the turn ten complex.

The man on the move in this race was West, who worked his way past Cardenas, Herrin and was all over Eslick, each passing the other and West really riding hard each and every lap. Herrin, indicative of just how hard everyone was running, just slid wide at the final turn and found himself in the gravel but in an excellent move kept his bike moving and was able to escape the gravel and rejoin the race, unfortunately back from the lead group.

Aquino was still part of the mix and Dane Westby, riding for local team Project 1 Atlanta Yamaha, also took a turn leading the race. At one point, Eslick got slowed by another of the many passing moves into and out of the turn ten complex that leads up to the bridge turn coming down the hill onto the front straight and it looked as if it was now between West and Cardenas.

Cardenas was able get by West on the penultimate lap and he rode very hard to make sure no one could pass him at turn ten. West tried as hard as he could, backing up the good form he really has shown all year by finishing second, followed by Eslick, who had a light touch with Aquino on the front straight with two laps left. Westby took fourth ahead of Aquino with Steve Rapp on his Team Latus Motors Racing Ducati who, while well back from the lead group, had a good race with Clinton Seller on the other Project 1 Atlanta Yamaha who finished just behind Rapp.

Herrin was a disappointed eighth, followed by Chris Fillmore on the second Vesrah Suzuki in ninth, rounding out a good day for the Vesrah Team. Taking tenth place was local Georgia rider Geoff May who, on his own team’s GMR Suzuki, ran a strong race at his home track in front of friends and family.

Another rider who showed extreme courage and heart was Alex Lazo who, on his TriangleCycles.com Yamaha, rode today’s race with a broken left foot. It’s his second year in AMA Pro competition and he soldered through to take a worthy twenty-third place.

Race two of the double header Suzuki SuperBike Showdown at Road Atlanta will be tomorrow and if the first four races are anything to go by, it will be another chapter of must see AMA Pro Road Racing motorcycle competition.