The following is from Yamaha…
Attack Performance Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha’s Cameron Petersen came just shy of the MotoAmerica Supersport win in a photo finish at today’s Daytona 200 at the Daytona International Speedway. Jake Gagne had a crash during the morning warm-up and tried to race but ultimately withdrew.
It was a lot of firsts for Petersen at the 80th running of the Daytona 200 – his first race with the new team, first time racing at the legendary speedway, first endurance race, and the first time racing a Yamaha R6 – but the South African impressed straight away. He set provisional pole on Thursday and had a solid overall qualifying result in sixth with limited track time.
Petersen got a good start from the second row of the grid and was in the mix with the lead group. He was third when the red flag was drawn on Lap 7, so he lined up on the front row for the restart. Petersen got another good start, put in some consistently fast laps, and kept his cool as riders jostled for position and exchanged the lead multiple times. After a quick second pit stop, he found himself with an over four-second lead, but in the final laps, the competition closed the gap. It came down to the wire with an exciting drafting battle to the finish line, with Petersen crossing the line .007 of a second shy of the win.
His teammate Gagne had a good qualifying effort in third to put the Attack Performance Yamaha R6 on the front row of the grid. Unfortunately, it was a rough start to the day for the defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion, who crashed during the practice session after his pit stop. He lined up for the race to try for a good result but was just too sore and withdrew before the red flag.
The team now has its eyes set on another Superbike crown as they head to the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, on April 8-10, for the MotoAmerica season opener during the Grand Prix of the Americas.
Richard Stanboli – Attack Performance Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing Team Manager
“This was kind of a shop project to show how good the R6 is, even with the new rules, and to see if it’s really competitive. It turned out pretty good. The Yamaha was very, very competitive; I think it was one of the fastest bikes on the racetrack. It led almost every lap until the end, and we just got nipped at the line. So, we’re pretty satisfied with the way the whole thing went down.
“It was definitely a very rough weekend with very limited track time and a schedule that was constantly changing with the weather, but we adjusted really well. Our team did a great job, and Cameron had a great ride. It was his first time racing here and racing an R6, so with what little track time we had and finishing second at the Daytona 200 is impressive. We are really looking forward to starting the Superbike season and expect great things.”
Cameron Petersen – Attack Performance Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing
“Honestly, that’s the most fun I’ve ever had on a motorcycle. I didn’t know what to expect in my first endurance race, but I didn’t expect it to be like that. The first little bit of the race was like a sprint race. There were some do-or-die moves going on, but it made it so much fun.
“The team absolutely crushed the second pit stop and put us in a really good position to win the race. Then it was just a little bit unfortunate; I got stuck in no man’s land and didn’t have a tow or a draft or anybody to really work with, and then a couple of lappers got in my way. At that point, I knew that they (Sheridan Morais, Josh Hayes, and Brandon Paasch) were going to be there at the end of the race so I might as well just roll off a little bit, play it safe, and start working on my strategy to see where I wanted to put myself on the last lap so I could get that tow to the line. I honestly thought I timed it to perfection, and at the last second, Brandon got a two-rider draft and just got me at the line. I think I’m going to lose a little bit of sleep thinking about this one for a while, but I’m super stoked to get on the podium at my first Daytona 200. I’m already thinking about next year.”
Jake Gagne – Attack Performance Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing
“It was a tough end to the weekend because we were feeling better every session, and it was nice to qualify well. This morning in the warm-up, we were just practicing pit stops and I ran off in there, didn’t have the brakes, and hit the wall pretty hard. I was just feeling beat up in a couple of different areas of my body and knew it would be tough to get back out there and race, but I wanted to at least try. I just didn’t have the strength to fight up front and didn’t really want to ride around 57 laps in the back of the pack or anything like that. We’re ready to go superbike racing, and luckily we’re in good shape for that. I’m excited to get the season started at CoTA.”
The following is from Suzuki…
Richie Escalante registered a top-five effort for Suzuki and Team Hammer in Saturday’s 80th running of the legendary Daytona 200. Aboard his Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki GSX-R600, Escalante opened the 2022 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM North American Road Racing Championship season in encouraging fashion.
Escalante led the race at times and carded a solid fifth. Fellow Team Hammer pilot Geoff May earned eighth with a strong and steady performance over the 200 miles. Sam Lochoff showed potential for a good result before a long pit stop dashed his shot at victory before ultimately finishing a disappointing 19th.
The 57-lap event is a quest for both speed and endurance and this year’s running was no different. 2020 MotoAmerica Supersport champion Escalante demonstrated the poise to challenge for the win early in his first attempt at the Daytona 200, battling for the lead prior to, and after, an early-race red flag.
Measured, calm, and lightning-quick during his time at the front, Escalante’s form provided early optimism for a trophy-winning finish. He was joined in offering that hope by Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki teammate, Samuel Lochoff, as well as VisionWheel.com/Discount Tire/KWS Motorsports Suzuki’s Geoff May, the two running together near the lead pack.
Escalante lost touch with the front after the first round of pit stops and turned impressive lap times, but was unable to catch the lead pack again.
“I’m super happy to finish – that’s most important,” Escalante said. “It was my first time to work with the team over a full race weekend, and I was excited to work with my new crew.
“The race was not easy. I did my best. I made a couple of mistakes, and we had a couple of delays in the pit stops. After that, I was just looking for a rhythm lap by lap and to finish the race. I’m pleased to have had this experience… it’s a historic race, and I’m happy to have more time with the team. Now we’ll focus on the future, training, and racing in Superbike.”
Meanwhile, the cagey May kept his head down throughout the race and added an eighth-place result to the tally. May took on fuel only during his final pit stop as the veteran improved his position throughout the race.
The Daytona 200 is notorious for the obstacles and chaos it presents to its challengers, and those often-inevitable variables negatively impacted Sam Lochoff’s bid for a stellar result.
Just before the race, a Team Hammer crew member experienced a medical emergency. His transport to the medical center and subsequent absence contributed to confusion and a mechanical issue during Lochoff’s stop following his first stint.
The following is from Ducati…
Josh Herrin and the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC team suffered the wrath of the Daytona 200 in a trying Saturday in Florida, sealing a 10th place finish in the 80th running of the Great Race.
Herrin qualified the stunning Ducati Panigale V2 on pole position, sending the hopes of the international Ducatisti sky high as the machine made its competitive American debut.
The 2022 Daytona 200 resembled a sprint race for the first half of the event, with times under a second slower than Herrin’s pole time from Saturday’s Time Attack of 1:50.088.
Unfortunately, the battle or Ducati was over before the first pit stop, as a misjudgment on fuel mileage saw Herrin lose nearly a lap in the pits getting a top up. Herrin and the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC team powered on, clocking fast laps over and over but it was not enough to close the gaps to the leaders.
It was nonetheless an excellent performance from the Californian as he and the Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC team prepare for the 2022 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship, with the first round scheduled for Road Atlanta on April 22-24.
Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC – Ducati #2) : “The race was going really well,” Herrin said. “We decided to go with a harder compound tire at the beginning of the race, which we decided as a team. We were able to keep the pace, so it was a good choice, but I was uncomfortable on the harder compound and hadn’t tested a lot of laps on it. So we decided during the red flag that we were going to switch to the softer compound when we came in for the first pit stop. Also, the tire pressure dropped a few pounds and that might have been the reason why the tire didn’t feel great before the red flag but we corrected it. We were able to lead most of the time after the red flag but we stayed out a little bit too long and ran out of fuel. Luckily it was enough to coast back in but we lost was too much time. We mounted up the softer tires, so it basically turned into a 40-lap sprint race for me, which was difficult, but we could do the same lap time as the leader even without the draft, so that was positive,” Herrin continued. “Obviously we wanted to come here and win as there’s a lot of effort for one race but it’s a good test for the season. We’ll leave here with our heads held high knowing we had the pace to win.”
The following is from Ducati…
In what was her first experience with the Ducati Hypermotard 950 SP in Super Hooligan competition, Shelina Moreda put in a brilliant ride at Daytona for the opening round of the 2022 Super Hooligan National Championship.
Despite the second race of the weekend being canceled due to the persistent rain, Moreda qualified the Nowaskey Extreme Performance She’z Racing Ducati Hypermotard 950 SP in eighth place and raced to the same position in Saturday’s Race One.
The result sees Moreda in eighth heading into round two at Road Atlanta on April 22-24.
Shelina Moreda (Nowaskey Extreme Performance She’z Racing – Ducati #93): “What a weekend!” Shelina enthused. “Even though the second race was cancelled I feel like I got to know the Ducati Hypermotard 950 SP really quickly and managed to put it to work quite well. I was nervous taking that bike on the banking because we had pretty limited testing, but it handled the demands of this track really well. We had to make a few aero adjustments over the course of the weekend, which is to be expected for such a high-speed course, and then I was able to drop the lap times pretty quickly for the race. This is a unique place for any motorcycle, so to see how well the Hypermotard did was really encouraging. I had a blast on it and am really looking forward to the next race.”
The following is from Hayden Schultz…
The Cycle Tech team came to Daytona with high hopes after a promising winter developing their Yamaha YZF-R7 machines. Their hard work would be rewarded with the teams first MotoAmerica victory after Hayden Schultz crossed the line first in Race 2.
Hayden Schultz would show promising pace from the opening practice session as the 2022 MotoAmerica season kicked off on the high banks of Daytona. The team would only get two shortened sessions to set up the bike before gridding up for race 1. After qualifying 5th on the grid, Hayden would go on to lead laps in race 1. While a potential podium or victory looked to be possible, a crash on lap 6 would derail hopes for a maiden victory on Friday
Heavy rains on Saturday morning would result in a rescheduled race 2 to start at nearly 6:00pm. The long wait would prove worth it. Schultz would utilize his experience and a strong Yamaha power plant to take the lead coming off of the banking and lead to the checkered flag. The victory at Daytona would be the first for Hayden and the Cycle Tech team.
Hayden Schultz:
“I’m so happy to get redemption after the incident in race 1. I knew from practice 1 that we had a strong bike and had a great shot at coming away with a win. My team is incredible, and Gene Burcham, Ron “Dink” Glidden, and Gary Jeffries have spent countless hours preparing for the season. They did such a great job preparing our Yamaha R7 and making sure we had the power to be competitive. I made a mistake that cost us a shot at the win in race 1. When race 2 came around I knew I needed to just make it to the final lap so I could use the draft and power of the Cycle Tech Yamaha R7. My plan was to come out of the final chicane in 4th and it worked out perfectly. I’m thrilled to get my first MotoAmerica win, and I’m determined to keep this momentum going further into the season.”
The following is from Robem Engineering…
They say first impressions are everything, and Robem Engineering Aprilia’s two full-time riders for the 2022 season — Teagg Hobbs and Ben Gloddy — had stellar debuts with their new team March 10-12 at the MotoAmerica season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
Gloddy — who finished runner up in the 2021 MotoAmerica Junior Cup — claimed the class’ first-ever pole position at the historic Daytona track in his first weekend racing in Twins Cup. Hobbs scored a hard-fought second-place finish in the first Twins Cup race of 2022 and ended the event in first place in the Twins Cup points standings.
Hobbs also narrowly missed out on a second podium of the weekend but finished 0.01 second behind the team’s third rider — Aprilia test rider Tomasso Marcon — for third place in Saturday’s Race 2.
All three of the team’s riders were near the top of the time sheets aboard their Aprilia RS 660s in Thursday practice — the first time Twins Cup machines took to Daytona’s 3.56-mile road course. Marcon led the trio, finishing the session in fourth place with a lap time of 2:00.476. Hobbs was fifth fastest — less than a tenth of a second off Marcon’s time — and Gloddy was 10th.
When qualifying wrapped up on Friday morning, it was Gloddy who’d secured the first MotoAmerica Twins Cup pole position at Daytona International Speedway with a 1:59.015. Marcon qualified in second, about a quarter of a second off Gloddy’s time. Hobbs finished qualifying in seventh, giving the team three riders within the first three rows of the starting grid.
Later Friday, the first Twins Cup race at Daytona saw Robem score a podium and come a few corners shy of having three riders in the top 10 or better. Gloddy took the holeshot, and — in a wild race that saw many lead changes among a large group at the front — all three Robem riders led the field at some point during the race. On the last lap, all three bikes were running in the top five, but a mistake by Marcon while navigating the backstraight chicane unfortunately caused Marcon and Gloddy to crash out. Hobbs — who was running in second as the frontrunners entered the chicane — narrowly missed out on the win and put a Robem Engineering Aprilia on the first Twins Cup podium at Daytona.
A rainstorm Saturday morning postponed the day’s Twins Cup race until after the Daytona 200, and Gloddy nabbed his second holeshot of the weekend on the initial start. Gloddy and Marcon were running first and fourth as the field entered the backstraight chicane on Lap 1, but a series of crashes at the chicane caused the race to be stopped. On the restart, Gloddy was again leading the field into Turn 1, and Hobbs and Marcon were running in second and third at the end of Lap 1. That pair also led the field over the line on Lap 2 and were part of an eight-rider pack vying for the lead in the closing laps. As the pack approached the finish line, the Marcon and Hobbs had a couple riders draft past them but held on to secure third- and fourth-place finishes. Gloddy fell back from the leading group in the early laps but managed to finish in seventh.
The Robem Engineering Aprilia team has a six-week break before the next MotoAmerica Twins Cup round, which takes place April 22-24 at the Road Atlanta circuit in Braselton, Ga.
Teagg Hobbs / No. 79
“The weekend in Daytona as a whole was great. Working with the Robem team was awesome and we quickly established a good rapport. The Aprilia RS 660 is a new bike for me, but the team had my bike dialed in quickly. I think I’m going to really enjoy racing the Aprilia this year. The unpredictable weather made for a rough start to the weekend, but things came together pretty easily once we got out on track. I knew Race 1 would probably come down to the last lap, and I came up a little short of the win when I made my move for the lead on the run to the checkers. The shortened Race 2 was a little more of the same, as I got pinched out of the draft as the leaders were coming to the finish line. I was hoping for better results but am happy I’m leaving Daytona with the championship points lead. This was a great first outing with the team and I’m looking forward to continuing my championship hunt at Road Atlanta.”
Ben Gloddy / No. 72
“It was a good weekend overall. We only got half the on-track sessions we were supposed to due to the weather, and I was doing my best to learn the track quickly. I struggled a bit in the first session but got a good draft at the end of qualifying to get pole position. Race 1 went well until the last lap, but I was feeling pretty good for Race 2 despite the crash. I had a good warm-up session on Saturday but got shuffled back a little bit at the end of the race thanks to the draft. But it was great running with the frontrunners in my first Twins Cup race.”
Tommaso Marcon / No. 70
“Daytona was great! It was amazing getting to race at the Speed Capital of the World, and it was a pleasure getting to race in the United States again. The track was super fun, and the banking was amazing. I’d never rode anything like that. I apologized to Ben about the ending of Race 1 but am happy about my result in Race 2. We struggled a little bit with the engine, but we will work very hard to be faster next time out. I’m hoping to be back later this year for the rounds at New Jersey and Barber and want to thank Robem Engineering and my crew who came with me to Daytona.”
The following is from Pure Attitude Racing…
The Pure Attitude Racing team kickstarted their 2022 MotoAmerica season in Daytona this past weekend, securing a double top twenty finish despite their limitations of competing with an underpowered machine due to essential parts not being delivered on time.
Despite the clear power deficit, it was decided that the team would still compete at the iconic Daytona International Speedway in Florida to give riders Trevor Standish and Liam MacDonald valuable seat time ahead of the team’s home race at Road Atlanta in April.
Both riders rode a solid weekend providing feedback that should enable them to race with the front group from Round 2 onwards, the team leaving Daytona more than satisfied with their efforts.
Trevor Standish: “I was running by myself for the whole of qualifying, but I didn’t want to pull in as I knew we needed data and as many laps as possible. I improved my time over what I had achieved in FP1 but knew it would be a tough weekend, races wise. I got boxed in a bit at the start of Race 1 but at the flag finished inside the top twenty, which given the circumstances I’m happy with. Race 2 was a five-lap sprint, and I was able to make a better start but just like in Race 1 I was unable to do anything more as the bike was just too slow, for the reasons we all knew before coming to Daytona. The positive thing is the bike handles great. I know we have a lot more potential in the bike and in myself and I am excited to show our true pace when we move to Atlanta.”
Liam MacDonald: “I wasn’t overly stoked with Race 1, there are things I wish I had done differently but it was impossible with the speed deficit we had. I was trying so hard to make up the time in the corners but would lose it all on the banks. I rode the last couple of laps in a smart way, and just tried to learn as much as I could. I was really frustrated before the race started and thought that the number of laps we were given because of the rain delays was a bit of joke. Overall though I am happy with how I rode, and how the team and I were able to improve my feeling during the weekend which enabled me to finish inside the top twenty even though we were losing over 15mph – which is a straight-line speed disadvantage that nobody would have been able to overcome. Leaving Daytona, I feel a lot better with how I am riding compared to last year and I am confident then we get our full spec engines for Round 2 that I will be able to achieve some good results.”
