Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Blake Young lights 'em up after winning Race 2 at Barber. Young trails Josh Hayes in the American SuperBike standings by a mere two points.
Competition is tight as the AMA Pro Racing paddock gets ready to invade Mid-Ohio this weekend for the sixth round of motorcycle road racing action. The contest at the 15-turn, 2.4-mile racetrack will help kick-off Mid-Ohio’s Bike Month which celebrates 50 years of racing at the venue. The relationship between AMA Pro Road Racing and the racetrack goes back nearly 30 years.
AMA Pro National Guard American SuperBike
The American SuperBike series is closer than ever after Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Blake Young whittled Josh Hayes’ championship point lead down to two at Barber. Young bested Hayes in both races in the last round, edging him out for third in Race 1 while winning Race 2. Young has won five races this season and has only finished off the podium once. Hayes, meanwhile, has won only two races, but has four second place finishes to his credit. His fourth place showing at Barber was Hayes’ worst outing of the American SuperBike season.
Young’s
Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate Tommy Hayden entered the last round solidly in third, but a 7th place finish in Race 1 followed by a DNF in Race 2 after his bike caught on fire while he was leading the race prevented him from gaining any ground on the leaders. On the other hand, M4 Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas was able to post his first American SuperBike win in Race 1 at Barber and backed it up with a third place podium finish in Race 2. With his effort, Cardenas trimmed Hayden’s 65-point advantage for third place down to 27.
Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing’s Larry Pegram is another rider to keep an eye on this weekend. Being an Ohio native should benefit Pegram, both in fan support and familiarity with the course. Pegram is still coming to grips with the demands of the BMW S1000RR after switching from Ducati last year but has the skills to compete for the podium.
Mid-Ohio will see the leader of the AMA Pro
Vance & Hines XR1200 Class competing in the American SuperBike class as Chris Fillmore makes the jump to liter bikes. Fillmore will be competing aboard KTM’s 1190 RC8 R Race Spec motorcycle, the first time the Austrian company will compete in the American SuperBike series. Fillmore first raced for the HMC/KTM Supermoto Team at the age of 16 in 2003 and again in 2008 where he competed in the AMA Pro Supermoto Championship.
Ben Bostrom, a former winner at Mid-Ohio, is another rider to watch this weekend. B-Boz sits in fifth place in the championship point standings and had his best race of the season at Barber in the first contest where he finished second.
Daytona SportBike
Monster Yamaha's Josh Herrin made a pass on the final lap to edge Geico Suzuki's Danny Eslick for the victory in Race 2 at Barber. Eslick would have the last laugh, though, as he took the lead in the overall point standings.
Geico Suzuki’s Danny Eslick rocketed up the championship point standings in the Daytona SportBike class after winning his first race of the season at Barber in Race 1 and losing the second race to Josh Herrin by a hair. Eslick started the weekend in fourth place but shot up to first courtesy of his 1-2 byline. He is the fifth rider to hold the top spot in Daytona Sportbike in a topsy-turvy season.
Monster Yamaha’s Josh Herrin came to Barber leading the pack by 12 points but left trailing Eslick by four. Herrin has the most Daytona SportBike wins this season at four but a mechanical failure in Race 1 at Barber cost him dearly. Herrin fought back with a gutsy win in the second race but still relinquished his grip on the overall lead.
Latus Ducati Racing’s Jason DiSalvo looked primed to ride away with the Daytona SportBike title after winning the first three races of the season, but a horrible Road America weekend dropped him back to third. DiSalvo regrouped to finish 5-6 at Barber and is still in the championship hunt in third place, 20 points back of Eslick.
Vesrah Suzuki’s Cory West continues to have a stellar season, finding the podium steps three times already. West suffered a setback in Race 2 at Barber where he finished out of the top ten for the first time this season. The Vesrah Suzuki rider dropped a couple spots in the standings as a result but trails DiSalvo for third by only four points.
Other Daytona SportBike podium finishers to keep a watch out for this weekend include JHR/RidersDiscount.com rider Cameron Beaubier, M4 Suzuki’s Dane Westby and Celtic Racing’s PJ Jacobsen.
Motorcycle-Superstore.com AMA Pro SuperSport
The big question in the AMA Pro SuperSport class is which rider will win the $25,000 year-end points fund put up by sponsor
Motorcycle-Superstore.com. Six different riders have won races this year, leaving the outcome very much in the air.
James Rispoli got his first win of the season at Barber and leads the AMA Pro SuperSport East Division.
ANT-Racing Suzuki’s James Rispoli made his case for the top prize with a 2-1 byline at Barber. Rispoli won his first race of the season at Barber in Race 2 and crossed the line in second place during the first contest. Rispoli has a comfortable lead in the AMA Pro SuperSport East standings with 92 and Mid-Ohio is an East Division SuperSport event.
In the AMA Pro SuperSport West division, LTD Racing Y.E.S. Yamaha rider David Gaviria has a spirited battle going on with Roadracingworld.com’s Benny Solis. Both riders have won a pair of races this season, but Gaviria has ridden more consistently which has helped him amass a 21-point advantage over Solis. This weekend should be interesting as Gaviria is scheduled to compete in the East Division’s SuperSport event at Mid-Ohio.
His LTD Racing Y.E.S. Yamaha teammate, Tomas Puerta, sits currently in second place in the AMA Pro SuperSport East Standings. Puerta won the first contest of the season at Daytona. Another potential contender is Harv’s Harley-Davidson/Yamaha rider Travis Wyman who won the AMA Pro SuperSport Race 2 at Road America.
Mid-Ohio is going all-out in celebration of their 50th year of racing. Highlighting special activities planned for this weekend is a Team FMX Stunt Show presented by Gorman-Rupp, a fireworks display Saturday night, the 21st Annual Mid-Ohio Dealer Ride, and the AMA Pro Grid Walk and Autograph Sessions scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday.
