M4 Suzuki's Martin Cardenas won both Daytona SportBike motorcycle races at Barber Motorsports Park.
M4 Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas won Sunday’s shortened and wet 16-lap Daytona SportBike motorcycle race at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. Today’s win would be his second this weekend (after winning Daytona SportBike Race 1) and his third of this season.
Sunday’s Daytona SportBike race got off to a late start after after severe thunderstorms moved into the area temporarily halting the day's schedule. When the race finally got underway, it was Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking out in front.
Cardenas chased Hacking for much of the race, with the two riders well ahead of the rest of the field. On the final lap Cardenas moved his GSX-R600 past Hacking for the lead and immediately opened up a gap eventually taking the checkered flag over 2 seconds ahead of Hacking.
"The conditions were not great so it was a tough race. I caught up to the leader after about four laps but because it was so wet I didn’t want to pass him and risk crashing trying to get away," stated Cardenas. "I was going to wait to the end and try to make a good pass and then make a good lap and try to finish the race in first position."
Erion Honda’s Chris Peris ran in third place for much of the race before crashing along with Dane Westby on the last lap.
This made it that much easier for Richie Morris Racing’s Danny Eslick to secure the final podium position after a race long battle with Aprilia’s Chaz Davies and Eslick’s teammate Michael Barnes with Eslick acing them both by less than a second at the line.
The Daytona Sportbike Race 2 podium (left to right): Buell's Dani Eslick in third, Suzuki's Martin Cardenas with the win, and Kawasaki's Jamie Hacking in second.
1. Martin Cardenas, Suzuki GSX-R600
2. Jamie Hacking, Kawasaki ZX-6R
3. Danny Eslick, Buell 1125R
4. Chaz Davies, Aprilia RSV1000R
5. Michael Barnes, Buell 1125R
6. Ben Thompson, Aprilia RSV1000R
7. Jason DiSalvo, Suzuki GSX-R600
8. Damian Cudlin, Yamaha YZF-R6
9. Russ Wikle, Suzuki GSX-R600
10. Dane Westby, Yamaha YZF-R6
11. Chris Fillmore, Yamaha YZF-R6
12. Robertino Pietri, Yamaha YZF-R6
13. Tommy Aquino, Yamaha YZF-R6
14. Steve Rapp, Yamaha YZF-R6
15. Alan Schmidt, Buell 1125R
