The Daytona Sportbike riders are about to take to the grid for their first race of the weekend. Danny Eslick will lead the way from the pole position, followed by PJ Jacobsen, Josh Herrin, and Jason DiSalvo.
Herrin or DiSalvo have taken every win so far this season. But the Daytona Sportbike grid is so competitive, any number of riders could find themselves on the top of the podium at the end of the day.
The Daytona Sportbike riders are off on their warm-up lap. We'll be racing here shortly.
Daytona Sportbike Grid
- Row 1: Eslick - Jacobsen - Herrin - DiSalvo
- Row 2: Aquino - Beaubier - West - Knapp
- Row 3: Westby - Allison - Turner - Amantini
And they're off!
We've got one rider down. We have two riders down.
Cameron Beaubier is up and ok.
Santiago Villa is also down.
Danny Eslick leads Jason DiSalvo and Corey West around the track.
Herrin is out! Josh Herrin is riding his bike slowly back to the pits, allowing other riders to pass him by.
Sanches, Jacobsen, Allison, Beaubier, Hall and Herrin are all out of the race.
Lap 5: Eslick - West - Westby - Aquino - DiSalvo
The top 5 riders are all lapping in the 1'31s.
The top 4 riders are all within a second of the leader.
Eslick - West - Aquino - DiSalvo come across the line. The top 4 riders are seperated by just a few bike lengths.
DiSalvo jumps up into second place, but Eslick still looks comfortable at the front.
Eslick crosses the line 1.5 seconds ahead of West.
Lap 9: Eslick - West - DiSalvo - Aquino - Westby - Amantini - Knapp - Turner
Eslick leads by more than two seconds at the front. DiSalvo has 10 laps remaining to close the gap.
DiSalvo has the quickest lap of the day, a 1'30.845, but hasn't been able to drop into the 1'30s for the last few laps. He'll need to pick up the pace if he wants to catch Eslick.
Aquino takes second from DiSalvo as Eslick continues to spread the gap. Eslick now has three seconds ahead of the rest of the pack.
Lap 13: Eslick - Aquino - Westby - DiSalvo - West
Eslick has more than 3.5 secnds at the front. It looks like we're in for a battle for second. Aquino, Westby, and DiSalvo are racing within .3 seconds of eachother.
Westby, Aquino, and West are now fighting for the final spots on the podium. DiSalvo has dropped a little further back.
Three laps to go. Eslick now has more than a 4 second lead. Aquino and Westby cross the line nearly side by side and Corey West is just another half second back.
One lap to go. No one's going to catch Eslick but the final spots on the podium are up for grab. Aquino, Westby, West and DiSalvo all have a chance to step up to the winner's circle.
And that's it. Eslick take the win by three seconds ahead of Dane Westby and Corey West. Tommy Aquino takes fourth ahead of Jason DiSalvo.
AMA Daytona Sportbike Results
- Eslick
- Westby
- West
- Aquino
- DiSalvo
- Knapp
- Turner
- Ohara
- Nash
- Corey
Full report to follow.
