Team Graves Yamaha's Josh Herrin won his fourth Daytona SportBike race of the season today in Race 1 at Mid-Ohio.
Multiple riders fought tooth-and-nail for the lead in Race 1 of the
Daytona Sport Bike class at Mid-Ohio today in a race that was decided on a late pass in the final lap. M4 Energy Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas headed into Lap 21 with a slim lead on Yamaha’s Josh Herrin before the Team Graves rider made an inside move to edge by the Colombian competitor and claim the victory. Immediately after Herrin’s pass, Cardenas made a slight mistake that allowed DNA Energy Drink CNR Motorsports Ducati's Bobby Fong to also slip by and capture the second spot on the podium. After running a strong race in which he lead for several laps, Cardenas would have to settle for third place.
Herrin started from the pole position but it was Geico Powersports/RMR Suzuki’s Danny Eslick that would power off to a strong start and take the early lead. Cardenas also got an early jump to move into second place. But by Lap 2, Herrin fought his way back into the second slot as Team Latus Motors Racing's Steve Rapp also slipped by Cardenas.
Eslick would lead the race until Lap 5, when both Cardenas and Herrin would overtake him. M4 Energy Suzuki’s Cardenas would open up a 0.304-second gap by Lap 12, a lap that saw Fong wrestle the second-position away from Herrin. The duo was able to close the gap on Cardenas though, with Herrin once again taking the lead on Lap 15.
Martin Cardenas was poised to take his sixth Daytona SportBike victory of the season in Race 1 at Mid-Ohio until Herrin made a gutsy move on the last lap to steal the victory.
From then on, it was a great battle between Herrin and Cardenas. At one point, Eslick was closing the gap while Fong persistently hung with the front pack. Cardenas would regain the lead on Lap 18 and looked to be on his way to victory until Herrin’s last lap heroics earned him his fourth Daytona SportBike victory of the season. Fong rode a strong race on the Ducati 848 and posted his best finish of the season when he passed Cardenas for second place. Eslick would cross the line in fourth place despite running into the grass on the last lap.
Team Latus Motors Steve Rapp and Team Graves Yamaha’s Tommy Aquino would dice it out for much of the race, swapping positions several times. Aquino made a pass stick on the penultimate lap to edge Rapp out for fifth place by 0.368-seconds.
In the mad scramble for the final four positions in the top ten, Vesrah Suzuki’s Chris Fillmore got the best of his teammate, Cory West, by 0.026 seconds to claim the seventh position. West would capture eighth place, just ahead of Project 1 Atlanta’s Clinton Seller, who in return edged out Four Feathers Racing Yamaha’s Josh Day by 0.043.
Geico Powersports/RMR Suzuki’s Dane Westby, who sits fifth overall in the point standings, crashed at the end of Lap 2. He would return to finish the race back in 23rd. MPH Racing’s Melissa Paris would not finish the race after crashing out on Lap 11.
2010 Daytona Sportbike Mid-Ohio Race 1 Results
1. Josh Herrin (Yamaha)
2. Bobby Fong (Ducati)
3. Martin Cardenas (Suzuki)
4. Danny Eslick (Suzuki)
5. Tommy Aquino (Yamaha)
6. Steve Rapp (Ducati)
7. Chris Fillmore (Suzuki)
8. Cory West (Suzuki)
9. Clinton Seller (Yamaha)
10. Josh Day (Yamaha)
11. P.J. Jacobsen (Suzuki)
12. Michael Barnes (Yamaha)
13. Michael Beck (Ducati)
14. David Anthony (Yamaha)
15. Paul Allison (Yamaha)
16. Kris Turner (Suzuki)
17. Russ Wikle (Suzuki)
18. Marcos Reichert (Yamaha)
19. Fernando Amantini (Kawasaki)
20. Kyle Wyman (Yamaha)
