Josh Herrin was able to make his pass on Steve Rapp stick for the Daytona Sportbike win at Road America on Saturday.
In the Daytona Sportbike contest it was Team Graves
Yamaha’s Josh Herrin with the victory over Team Latus Motors Racing
Ducati’s Steve Rapp. Herrin started the race out front and was ultimately able to take the win despite pressure from Rapp toward the finish.
In the opening lap Herrin and Rapp were up front while the Suzuki's of Danny Eslick and Cory West made chase. M4 Monster Energy Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas started back in seventh, but by Lap 2 he had pushed all the way to second-place behind Herrin, just ahead of Vesrah Suzuki’s Chris Fillmore.
After only a few short minutes on the track West suffered a mechanical issue that brought an early end to his day. Chris Fillmore was also dealt a setback when he crashed out on Lap 3 from his seventh-place position.
Cardenas continued to push his GSX-R600 Suzuki around the circuit, and by the beginning of Lap 3 he was within a hundredth of a second behind Herrin.
While Cardenas and Herrin diced for the lead, Rapp rocketed past the duo to move into first place.
Meanwhile, Dane Westby of Project 1 Atlanta Yamaha was In sixth-place, just one-tenth of a second behind Eslick when he crashed out on Lap 6.
Halfway through the event Herrin was able to retake the lead from Rapp with Cardenas and Clinton Seller in the hunt for the final podium spot. During the last quarter of the race the top-three riders were packed in tight, with Rapp and Cardenas separated by just 0.223 seconds.
Cardenas was able to overtake Rapp on Lap 9, and shortly afterward Seller made his move and passed both Rapp and Cardenas for second-place. As the race neared its end the top-three riders turned-up the speed and were separated by just over a tenth of a second. Rapp made a
Ducati rider Steve Rapp (#15) was able to make a final push from fourth to first late in the race, but was unable to fend off Josh Herrin and settled for the second spot on the podium.
push to the front for the lead again on Lap 11, but it was ultimately Herrin who made the final pass stick and crossed the finish line first.
Daytona SportBike Road America Race 1 Results:
1. Josh Herrin (Yamaha)
2. Steve Rapp (Ducati)
3. Martin Cardenas (Suzuki)
4. Clinton Seller (Yamaha)
5. Danny Eslick (Suzuki)
6. P. J. Jacobsen (Suzuki)
7. Fernando Amantini (Kawasaki)
8. Kris Turner (Suzuki)
9. Dane Westby (Yamaha)
10. Jimmy Wood (Kawasaki)
11. Michael Beck (Ducati)
12. Lenny Hale (Yamaha)
13. Marcos Reichert (Yamaha)
14. Paul Allison (Yamaha)
15. Santiago Villa (Suzuki)
Daytona SportBike Championship Standings:
1. Josh Herrin, 216
2. Danny Eslick, 198
3. Maetin Cardenas, 184
4. Dane Westby, 157
5. Steve Rapp, 150
