Bruce Rossmeyer’s Daytona Racing/RMR/GEICO rider Danny Eslick jumped into the championship points lead in AMA Pro Racing’s Daytona SportBike class with a come-from-behind third season win and a third place finish at Road Atlanta April 4-5, leap-frogging Attack Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking to take a 10-point championship lead into the next round at Barber Motorsports Park the weekend of May 1-3.
Eslick rebounded from a ninth place qualifying position in Friday’s Superpole shootout to finish third in Saturday’s Race 1, which was cut short on lap 16 by a red flag caused by two separate late-race crashes. Eslick worked his Buell 1125R into the middle of a tight, multi-rider battle for the lead after a restart erased the early lead of Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke. The race was won by Team M4 Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas, with Attack Kawasaki’s Roger Lee Hayden in second. Taylor Knapp finished tenth on his Latus Motors Buell 1125R in his Daytona SportBike debut, while Eslick’s GEICO Powersports/RMR teammate Michael Barnes finished 11th.
“Before the pace car came out, Jake [Zemke] was gone,” Eslick said. “I don't think anybody had anything for Jake that first little bit. The safety car came out and sucked him back in right there, so that was kind of nice for me. I got a big draft down the back straightaway and got by, and we went back and forth for a few laps. It's just good to be on the podium. I'll definitely take it, because the guys that [were] ahead of me in the points were behind me (in the race), so I'll take it.”
In Sunday’s second round of the double-header, Eslick took an early lead from polesitter Jason DiSalvo (Team M4 Suzuki), battled briefly with Zemke, who later crashed out, and closed out the race in thrilling fashion with a wheel-to-wheel run to the checkered flag with Graves Yamaha’s Josh Herrin through lapped traffic.
“When we first got in the lappers, I don't think they knew we were there,” said Eslick. “When we were coming around for the white flag, those guys definitely moved out of the way and let us race. I took a peek over and there he [Herrin] was. Out of Turn 10, driving up out of the right-hander, I got a good drive and we were both on the gas. I wasn’t going to let out to not make a little contact, but it was driving out towards him. It was a great race. He tried as hard he could and it was great. It was an awesome race for Bruce Rossmeyer and RMR Buell.”
Knapp finished a close fourth, just 0.065-second behind Erion Honda’s Chris Peris, who made a last-lap pass for the position. Barnes finished eight to make it three Buells in the top ten.
Both weekend races displayed close, multi-brand racing action, with six different brands of motorcycles finishing in the top eight positions of each race, and after the first five rounds of the 2009 season Eslick leads the Daytona SportBike class with 109 points, followed by Hacking (99), Herrin (96), Cardenas, (81) and DiSalvo (77).
SunTrust Moto-GT
The No. 41 Liberty Waves Racing Buell 1125R of Eric Pinson and Eric Haugo finished second in the two-hour SunTrust Moto-GT race on Saturday to take the lead in the GT1 championship standings after placing third in the season opener in Daytona. The riders, who led 10 laps of the race, passed the leading No. 4 machine of Hawk Mazzota and Ryan Ellerby when their Aprilia ran out of fuel on the final lap. The GT1 class and overall win went to the Team Hurtbyaccident.com Suzuki of Armando Ferrer and Rodolfo Ramirez.
The James Gang/Hoban Brothers Racing/H-D/Buell of Appleton No. 70 1125R finished sixth in the GT1 class after a crash on lap 39. The Moto-GT debut of the Old Glory H-D/Buell XB12R in the GT2 class was marred by problems with a broken aftermarket exhaust pipe header that ended their race after 15 laps.
Founded by visionary motorcycle designer and former privateer racer Erik Buell in 1983, Buell Motorcycle Company, a subsidiary of Harley-Davidson, Inc., produces sport motorcycles, motorcycle parts, accessories and apparel, including the 1125R superbike and air-cooled XB-series Ulysses, Firebolt, and Lightning. To learn more about Buell motorcycles, or to locate the dealer nearest you, log onto www.buell.com.