On a windy but sunny day, the Daytona Sportbike riders took to the Road America track in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin for the first qualifying session of the weekend. It was a familiar pair at the top, as Jason DiSalvo and Josh Herrin battled for the top spot on the time sheets.
DiSalvo, who won the first three races of the Daytona Sportbike season, lost in a hotly contested race to Herrin last weekend at Miller Motorsports Park. But DiSalvo got the best of his Yamaha rival by setting a 2’20.356 lap time.
Still, DiSalvo knows that he can go faster. DiSalvo holds the track record at Road America, and will be trying to match his record 2’20.138 lap time this weekend.
“This was one of the only places where the guys didn’t go faster last year, so it’s cool to still have the record,” DiSalvo said. “I’d like to beat it tomorrow, get down to the 2’19s.”
Behind the battling duo of DiSalvo and Herrin came Danny Eslick. Eslick was just about a second off of DiSalvo’s pace, but should be riding toward the front this weekend.
PJ Jacobsen, Dane Westby, Tommy Aquino, and Cameron Beabuir also had a solid qualifying, putting the top 8 riders below the 2’22 mark. Jake Holden and Taylor Knapp rounded out the top 10.
The Daytona Sportbike riders will have their final qualifying session tomorrow morning before for the first race of the weekend on Saturday afternoon.
Daytona Sportbike Results - 1st Qualifying - Road America
- DiSalvo - 2’20.356
- Herrin - 2’20.543
- Eslick - 2’21.346
- Jacobsen - 2’21.381
- Westby - 2’21.555
- Aquino - 2’21.920
- West - 2’21.953
- Baubier - 2’21.959
- Holden - 2’22.010
- Knapp - 2’22.277
