The AMA Daytona Sportbike riders will be hitting the Road America track soon for their first race of the weekend. Jason DiSalvo claimed his third consecutive pole position this morning and is surely the man to beat this afternoon.
DiSalvo will have a big challenge from Josh Herrin, however. Herrin was able to fend off DiSalvo at Miller Motorsports Park for a fantastic race win. Herrin also took a win at Road America in 2010.
Herrin will be starting from the second spot on the grid, after qualifying behind DiSalvo by .2 seconds. DiSalvo and Herrin will be joined by PJ Jacobsen and Danny Eslick on the front row.
Daytona Sportbike Grid - Road America
Row 1: DiSalvo - Herrin - Jacobsen - Eslick
Row 2: Beaubier - Westby - Aquino - West
Row 3: Knapp - Holden - Odom - Villa
The Daytona Sportbike riders will be hitting the track soon. (Hit refresh to get the latest information.)
The Daytona Sportbike riders are on the grid. The horns are sounding for photographers, grid girls, and mechanics to clear the way for racing. It's a sunny day in Elkhart, Wisconsin, and the Daytona Sportbike riders are ready to race.
The DSB riders take off on their warm up lap.
And They're Off!
Jason DiSalvo and Josh Herrin lead the way around the Road America circuit. DiSalvo completes lap 1 with a 2'24.484 lap time.
Lap 1 - DiSalvo - Jacobsen - Herrin - Beaubier - Eslick - West - Aquino - Westby - Knapp - Holden
DiSalvo is down!
DiSalvo was leading up front but lost control. DiSalvo hans the lead over to Josh Herrin.
Lap 3: Herrin puts in the quickest lap of the day. Herrin crosses the line with a 2'20.416 lap time.
Herrin leads Jacobsen and Beaubier. Danny Eslick heads the second group, inching out West, Aquino, Westby, and Knapp.
Lap 4: The top three riders are just a few bike lengths apart. Herrin has .29 seconds on Jacobson, who has .3 seconds on Beaubier.
West, Aquino, and Eslick are swapping spots for fourth place.
Herrin, Jacobsen, and Beaubier are starting to separate from the rest of the pack.
Jacobsen goes inside and passes Herrin. Jacobsen gets it back on the straight and crosses the line .004 seconds ahead of the Ducati.
Jacobsen takes the lead, Herrin moves to the side on the straight. Herrin doesn't have enough this time and Jacobseon holds onto the lead by .047 seconds.
The top 9 riders are all lapping in the low 2'21s.
Beaubier steals the lead, but runs wide on the next corner and gets taken over by Jacobsen. We have a three an battle at the front.
Lap 8: Jacobsen crosses the line .015 seconds ahead of Herrin.
Behind the top three, Corey West and Tommy Aquino are battling for fifth Danny Eslick and Taylor Knapp could also make their way into the top five.
Lap 9: Jacobsen still holds the lead, but can't break away from Herrin or beaubier. The top three riders are riding in eachother's shadows.
Lap 10: Jacobsen crosses the line with his biggest lead of the day. Jacobsen has .5 seconds ahead of Herrin.
Beaubier falls behind, leaving a two man battle up at the front. West also has a hance at the podium, but he might not have enough laps left to close the gap.
One lap to go. Jacobsen and Herrin start to encounter slower riders. Jacobsen gets blocked and drops down to a full second behind Herrin.
It looks like Herrin has this one in the bag now.
And Beaubier is off. Beaubier gets pushed wide and drops back down to fourth.
West is now in second and is trying to chase down Herrin. Herrin might have too big of a gap though.
Herrin wins!
Herrin flys across the line to claim his second consecutive victory.
AMA Daytona Sportbike Race 1 Results
- Herrin
- West
- Jacobsen
- Eslick
- Aquino
- Knapp
- beaubier
- Westby
- Farrell
- Amantini
Full race report to follow.
