Knapp Scores First Career Daytona SportBike Superpole
ALTON, Va. (August 14, 2009) -
An AMA Pro Daytona SportBike presented by AMSOIL
Superpole qualifying session that was as notable for those who were not in it
as the 10 riders who were saw Taylor Knapp (No. 54 Latus Motors Racing Buell 1125R) break through for his first career top
qualifying effort. Knapp clocked in with
a lap time of 1:28.233 (92.210 mph) and will share the two-rider front row with
Jake Zemke (No. 1x Erion Racing Honda CBR600RR) who lapped at 1:28.663 (91.764
mph) Friday at
the 10th Anniversary Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals at Virginia
International Raceway.
"It's
not only my first pole, but the first time I've ever been in a press
conference," said Knapp, who finished a career-high fifth in the Sunday
American Superbike final at the Tornado Nationals on the No. 44 Taylor Knapp
Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000. "It's really
cool. I had a little spin coming out of Turn 2 or 3, the left hander, the track
crowns off on the edge and I got a little wide. It spun up and I bounced
off the curb and I didn't know if that was going to hurt me too much. I just kept stringing the lap together the
best I could and ended up on top. Totally cool, I'm looking forward to
the races."
Zemke joined teammate Chris Peris (No. 10 Erion
Racing Honda CBR600RR) in giving Erion Honda its best starting positions as a
team this year.
"I
actually messed up the lap right at the very beginning going into Turn 1," Zemke
said. "I went in there and my foot slipped off the shifter. I was
thinking, 'I don't think that thing went into gear.' I hit the shifter
again and it went into gear, but it was the wrong one. It was first
gear. I lost a ton of time in the first segment. I just kept my
head down and got through the rest of the lap and it turned out okay for
us. Congratulations to Taylor
on his first pole and it should be a good race tomorrow."
Peris qualified third at 1:28.676 (91.764 mph) and
was the only 2009 race winner participating in Daytona SportBike Superpole
Friday.
"My
lap was basically the same as I did in practice this morning," said Peris, who
won the Saturday final at Road America
in June. "It was nothing too hairball. Nothing really out of the
ordinary, but I wasn't expecting to move up this far. Everyone went a
little bit slower so maybe it was a little bit better. The bike's working
awesome, the team's been great. It just all worked out."
Roger
Hayden (No. 95 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R) was also in season-best
form Friday and qualified fourth at 1:28.682 (91.743 mph).
"The
bike is definitely working pretty good this weekend," Hayden said. "My lap was okay. When I came across the
start-finish line I didn't expect it to be a 28.7, I felt like I left a lot of
time out there. I think it's going to be a good race. We've been
going pretty good all weekend, we just have to get a little bit better.
I'm looking forward to it. I'm definitely a lot closer to the front than
I've been all year. It makes the race weekend a lot more fun."
Notable by their Superpole absence were Daytona
SportBike championship leaders Danny Eslick (No. 9 GEICO Powersports/RMR Buell
1125R) and Martin Cardenas (No. 36 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600). Eslick laid the bike down in the downhill
section during the group session and qualified 12th, missing the
Superpole round, while Cardenas suffered a lowside incident in morning practice
that resulted in a fractured right hand.
After receiving medical treatment onsite at VIR, Cardenas rallied to participate in group
qualifying and did well to clock in 13th quickest.
"I broke a bone in
my hand," said Cardenas, who crashed in the downhill run at Turn 15. "I made a
mistake and hit a curb going downhill.
It was a big mistake, I crashed and I hurt my hand. Off the bike, it feels okay and if I don't
move the hand, it doesn't hurt. On the
bike the hardest thing is changing direction, and a little bit under braking,
especially turning to the right side. I
will just try to deal with it, race tomorrow and do a good job. There is not much you can do, only put ice on
it. That's it, I think."
Also enduring a tough day was Daytona SportBike
Superpole leader Jason DiSalvo (No. 40 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600) who was
uninjured when he went off course during his Superpole run. DiSalvo, who has a class-leading five Superpoles
in 2009, will start ninth on the grid in this weekend's dual races. Chaz Davies (No. 57 Factory Aprilia Millennium
Technologies Team Aprilia RSV1000R) , who struggled with mechanical problems in
the morning practice session and Superpole run, will start 10th.
Josh Herrin (No.
8 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6) rounded out the Daytona SportBike top five
qualifiers.
Saturday's first Daytona SportBike race of the weekend
is scheduled to start at 4:10 p.m. local time for 23 laps/50 miles. The
Big Kahuna races will be featured in a pair of same-day telecasts on
SPEED. Saturday's American Superbike and
Daytona SportBike finals will be shown that night in a two-hour show at 8 p.m.
ET (5 p.m. PT) while Sunday's premier class races and other highlights will air
in a two-hour show that evening at Midnight ET (9 p.m. PT).
Click here for the American Superbike Qualifying story.
SuperSport Practice Day
Josh Day (No.
4 Team E.S.P. Yamaha YZF-R6) could clinch the AMA Pro SuperSport presented by
Shoei East division title this weekend and was the fastest rider in Friday's
opening practice. Day, who won the races
at Topeka and Mid-Ohio, turned a top lap time of 1:29.707 (90.695 mph).
"We ended up fastest and we still have some work to do on the
front end, but I was pretty happy with that time," Day said. "The E.S.P. guys have been working really
hard and we have just been able to carry the setup that we found since Mid-Ohio
and it has pretty much worked at every racetrack so far. We have just had to change and fine tune a
few things. I am really not thinking
about the championship, and trying not to.
I don't want it to mess me up and I am just going to come out here and
try and do my best and just try to stay on top."
Day has a 45-point lead over Leandro Mercado (No. 92
Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R), 126 - 81. That equates to more
than a full-race lead and guarantees he will leave the Big Kahuna on top of the
standings even if he fails to clinch the crown.
Even if Mercado scores all 32 available points at VIR, Day only needs to
finish third or better to leave Virginia
with the East title. Mercado was 10th
fastest Friday.
Sunday's SuperSport
final is18-laps for 40 miles and is scheduled to start at 3:10 p.m.
Westby Rolls In SunTrust Moto-GT Qualifying
Westby Racing riders
Dane Westby and Dustin Meador (No. 13 Westby Racing Yamaha
YZF-R6) continued their roll in AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT and won the pole for
tomorrow's two-hour team race at 11 a.m.
Meador turned a quick lap of 1:31.439 (88.977 mph) to qualify first overall
and in the GT1 class.
"This is a good team," Meador said. "We are just going to keep working hard and
racing har
