Daytona SportBike Fontana Race 1 Results

Rossmeyers/RMR Buell's Danny Eslick would put his Daytona disappointments behind him after bringing his Buell 1125R home in first place in the Daytona SportBike race at Fontana. Eslick used the power of the big Buell to motor to the front, boosted by his best lap time of1:27.832 on Lap 5. Eslick had battled for the lead in the Daytona 200 before loose bodywork caused him to pit on Lap 11. The bodywork on the Buell would not be a factor today and Eslick was able to put the American manufacturer on the podium for the first time in Daytona SportBikes.

The real battle would be waged for second place between Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking, factory Yamaha rider Jason DiSalvo and Team M4 Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas. On Lap 14, DiSalvo and Cardenas would both push past Hacking, dropping the ZX-6 rider from second to fourth place. By the next lap, Cardenas would make a move on DiSalvo, capping an amazing run from his 10th-place starting position. But on Lap 19, Hacking powered back into second place, a position he would hold on to at the checkers. Cardenas would finish his impressive run in third place.
 
Erion Honda Racing’s Jake Zemke would duel with DiSalvo for the fourth-fastest finish, passing the Suzuki rider on Lap 19. But DiSalvo would not go down quietly and fought his way past Zemke on the next lap, making it stick and crossing the line in fourth. Zemke rounded out the top five finishers.

RPR Racing’s Ricky Parker would not see the end of the first lap. Others who did not see the finish line either include Alan Schmidt on his Buell 1125R, Ben Thompson on his Aprilia RSV1000R, and Chris Clark on his Bazzaz Yamaha.

Daytona Sportbike Fontana Results:
1. D. Eslick (Buell 1125R)
2. J. Hacking (Kawasaki ZX-6) + 2.510
3. M. Cardenas (Suzuki) + 2.795
4. J. DiSalvo (Suzuki) +4.554
5. J. Zemke (Honda) 1 lap
6. J. Herrin (Yamaha)
7. C. Davies (Aprilia RSV1000R)
8. C. Peris (Honda)
9. S. Rapp (Yamaha)
10. T. Aquino (Yamaha)
11. L. Mercado (Kawasaki ZX-6)
12. M. Barnes (Buell 1125R)
13. B. Long (Yamaha)
14. S. Higbee (Buell 1125R)
15. C. Fillmore (Yamaha)

Daytona SportBike Championship Points:
1 Jamie Hacking 44
2 Josh Herrin 40
3 Jason DiSalvo , NV 39
4 Martin Cardenas 33
5 Ben Bostrom 31
6 Chaz Davies 27
7 Daniel Eslick 26
8 Jake Zemke 26
9 Barrett Long 23
10 Shawn Higbee 22

Daytona SportBike Race 1 Rider Quotes (from press release)

Danny Eslick - Rossmeyer/RMR Buell - 1st:
"Three weeks before Daytona I got a phone call asking if I wanted to ride it and I said 'Hell yeah! I want to ride it. From here on out it's been good and it's the first win for Buell and Bruce Rossmeyer's/RMR Buell team and everybody involved. All we can do is go forward from here."

Jamie Hacking - Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki - 2nd:
"I had a blast, it was unbelievable. My race was pretty much uneventful, just battling back there with everybody and trying to finish as high as possible as we could. Toward the end, the guys ahead of me got in there and bumped each other around and I just snuck up the inside, managed to put in some good laps and finished second."

Martin Cardenas - M4EMGO Suzuki - 3rd:
"It was a good race, very tough. I started in 10th and began working my way up and it was tough passing all those guys, then they would pass me back again. I thought that I could finish second but two laps from the end Hacking passed me again and I couldn't do anything from then on. I tried my hardest, but it wasn't possible today so we'll see tomorrow."