Dustin Dominguez (#68) posted the first victory for Triumph in the 2011 SuperSport Championship during Race 1 at Mid Ohio.
Latus Motors Racing’s Dustin Dominguez recorded the first win of the season for
Triumph during the opening
Motorcycle-Superstore.com SuperSport race at Mid Ohio. The 21-year-old passed Ant-Racing Suzuki’s James Rispoli during the early half of the contest, crossing the line with a sizeable lead after dominating all pre-race sessions in Lexington, Ohio. RM Racing’s Hayden Gillim earned the final podium position in third after overcoming a tense three-way battle with LTD Racing’s Tomas Puerta and David Gaviria.
Rispoli had the quickest reflexes off the line to take the lead at the start of the first race of the weekend. Dominguez followed closely behind with Puerta, Gaviria, Gillim and
SuzukiScoopFans’ Elena Myers rounding out the top-six in the first few laps. As Rispoli continued to lead, a major battle erupted for third between Puerta, Gaviria and Gillim. On Lap 2 Gaviria got around Puerta for third as Dominguez closed to within half a second of Rispoli.
"I just put my head down and said, 'I gotta catch (Rispoli),'" said Dominguez. “I knew it was a pretty big gap, but I just started creeping up a little bit and started to set him up."
Meanwhile, a gap was growing behind Dominguez and the rest of the field as the two frontrunners ran more than five seconds ahead. Despite getting a decent start, Miles Thornton was down to 11th on Lap 4 as Vesrah Suzuki’s Corey Alexander cracked his way into the top-10.
James Rispoli (#43) led the field at the start of the race but couldn't match Dominguez's (#68) pace to the finish line.
On Lap 5 Dominguez swept by Rispoli for the lead, and shortly after posted the fastest lap of the day. Gaviria still held onto third, but pressure was picking up behind him from Puerta, Gillim and Myers. After making the pass for the lead, Dominguez continued recording fast laps to gain breathing room ahead of Rispoli.
"I led the first four laps, and I thought I was running pretty good,” said Rispoli. “I looked back once and saw (Dominguez) right on my butt, and I pretty much thought it was going to be a nice, clean race between me and him. He made a good move and for a couple laps there, I was able to hang. Then I had a little moment going through the Keyhole and tucked the front."
With seven laps remaining, the Triumph rider was more than four seconds ahead of the field. The battle for third continued between Gaviria and Gillim, and this time Gillim nudged his way ahead for the podium position. Alexander turned a poor start into a terrific comeback as he climbed up to fifth ahead of Myers, the two trading positions multiple times in the final half of the contest.
The white flag came out with Dominguez, Rispoli, Gillim and Gaviria continuing to hold first through fourth, respectively. But another battle for fifth was taking shape between Myers, Alexander and Puerta. In the end Dominguez took the checkers more than eight seconds ahead of Rispoli for his first win of the season. Rispoli, Gillim and Gaviria followed, as Alexander made a final lap pass for fifth just 0.184 seconds ahead of Myers.
AMA SuperSport Mid Ohio Race 1 Results:
1. Dustin Dominguez (Triumph)
2011 AMA SuperSport Mid Ohio Race 1 podium (from left to right): James Rispoli, Dustin Dominguez and Hayden Gillim.
2. James Rispoli (Suzuki)
3. Hayden Gillim (Yamaha)
4. David Gaviria (Yamaha)
5. Corey Alexander (Suzuki)
6. Elena Myers (Suzuki)
7. Tomas Puerta (Yamaha)
8. Miles Thornton (Yamaha)
9. Ryan Kerr (Kawasaki)
10. Cassidy Heiser (Yamaha)
11. Eric Stump (Yamaha)
12. James Delinger (Suzuki)
13. Brad Graham (Ducati)
14. Jeff Wrobel (Yamaha)
15. Frank Babuska (Suzuki)
