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Daytona FX & Superbike Results & Quotes |
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Written by Moto Hero
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Sunday, 11 March 2007 |
Daytona 200 - Formula Extreme
1 15 Steve Rapp Kawasaki ZX-6R
2 12 Ben Attard Kawasaki ZX-6R
3 34 Michael F Barnes Suzuki GSX-R600
4 157 Chaz Davies Yamaha YZF-R6
5 40 Jason Disalvo Yamaha YZF-R6
6 1 Joshua Hayes Honda CBR600RR
7 21 Pascal Picotte Suzuki GSX-R600
8 85 Ryan D Elleby Honda CBR600RR
9 464 Joshua Day Yamaha YZF-R6
10 319 Bostjan Pintar Yamaha YZF-R6
Superbike Results
1 1 Ben Spies Suzuki
2 17 Miguel Duhamel American Honda Motor Co
3 98 Jake P Zemke American Honda
4 187 Akira Yanagawa Kawasaki
5 99 Geoff May M4 EMGO Suzuk
6 40 Jason Disalvo Yamaha Motor Corp USA
7 59 Jake Holden Jordan Suzuki
8 22 Tommy Hayden Suzuki
9 77 James Ellison Corona Extra Honda
10 66 Mathew Mladin Suzuki
Daytona 200 was actually pretty exciting. Me being a Kawi fan, it was nice to see them ruling the FX. I hope it continues, the Attack team offered a lot of promise last year. I guess those 600's just plain old rock. Congrats to Steve Rapp, its been a long time in the works.
Superbike, there were a fair bit of crashes, it was good to see the all the manufacturers are very competitive. Ben Spies did good and came back with lots of momentum. But with Mladin, Hayden, Bostrom and Hacking all falling or having mechanical problems. The season is really up in the air!!
From Various sources:
SPIES AND GSX-R1000 WIN DAYTONA
Yoshimura Suzuki's Ben Spies started the 2007 AMA Superbike year with a bang by winning the AMA Superbike race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida today.
This victory is the defending AMA Superbike Champion's 12th AMA Superbike career victory and Suzuki's 11th Daytona AMA Superbike win. Team mates Tommy Hayden and Mat Mladin both had troubles but made impressive recoveries to finish in eighth and 10th positions respectively.
"Winning at Daytona was a great way to start out the season," said Spies of his first-ever Daytona Superbike victory. "It's nice to show up with the number-one plate and get the pole position, lead the most laps and win the race."
The Texan picked up the pole position by posting a fastest lap time of 1:37.546. Overall, this is Spies' eighth career pole. Mladin was hot on his heels with a lap time of 1:37.581 while Hayden followed up with a 1:38.931.
In Saturday's 15-lap AMA Superbike race, Spies got a good start and was running up front with Mladin. The duo swapped spots a few times and then Spies took over the lead. The 22-year-old went on to create a gap and take the win.
"It was a good race," said Spies. "We got off to a pretty good start and the race played out as good as it could. Everybody knows that Daytona is a place where you can lose a lot of points quick and you can't win the championship here. We made good progress with the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 here. The team did great, the bike was awesome. I had to ride hard, but the bike's working good. We just did what we could and tried to stay consistent."
Hayden also got a good start but had an off-road excursion when riders in front of him crashed and forced him into the grass. But the two-time AMA Supersport Champion remounted, put his head down and reeled in as many competitors as possible for an eighth-place finish.
"I was on the outside when two riders tangled up and forced me off the track," said Hayden. "I got back on the track in about 23rd and it was an uphill battle from there. I tried to get as many spots as I could and salvage as many points as possible. It was a little frustrating but we got enough points to start the season out pretty good. The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 felt good. I just need to work on qualifying a little better and get on the front row and away from that mess in the back."
Similarly, six-time AMA Superbike Champion Mladin got a good start on his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 and had taken the lead when, unfortunately, he went down. In true championship-winning form, however, he recovered and finished in 10th position.
"We just didn't get it done today," said Mladin. "It's a little disappointing but this is only the first race and it's a long season. The Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 was working good and I just tried to pick up as many points as I could."
Yoshimura Suzuki will return for round two of the AMA Superbike Series at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama on April 20 - 22.
BARNES EARNS PODIUM IN 2007 DAYTONA 200
Team M4 EMGO Suzuki enjoyed an outstanding conclusion to the 2007 season-opening AMA weekend at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday. Following up on Geoff May's Thursday third-place ride in the AMA Superstock race, Michael Barnes finished on the podium in the 66th running of the Daytona 200 while May picked up a top-five in the AMA Superbike final.
Barnes got a terrific start from the second row in the famed 68-lap contest, leading the opening lap before settling into a heated battle with the lead group as they worked towards the first pitstop.
After working through both pit stops without a hitch, Barnes and his Pirelli-shod GSX-R600 proved their durability by taking the checkered flag in third place.
It was 'Barney's' best Daytona 200 performance in ten attempts.
"I'm pretty stoked," Barnes remarked. "We've been working hard and the FX class is getting really competitive. To podium in the Daytona 200 is quite a thrill.
"I've been on the Daytona podium a few times before in a few different classes, but this is the first time in the FX class and in the 200. It's just a blast to be up here and the M4 EMGO Suzuki team is great. Pirelli tires have shown their commitment and their hard work. I've been with them for about seven years now and it's exciting to see their progress. It's fantastic to see them sweep the podium here at Daytona."
Barnes summed his feelings up, commenting, "It was just meant to be. I was supposed to be up here this weekend. This is for Vincent Haskovec."
Having already raced in both of his regular classes earlier in the week, May was free to compete in the premier AMA Superbike class aboard his Superstock-spec GSX-R1000. Just as he had done all week long, May got the better of a number of the categories' factory stars, pushing to a fifth place finish in the 15-lap race.
"I'm happy with that," the Georgian said. "I just wanted to go out there and show what Team M4 EMGO Suzuki and Pirelli could do and just go have some fun. My race weekend was over on Thursday and I got to hang out and watch some Supercross last night. For me there was no pressure. I rode my own race and ended up top five. It was a good day."
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