It’s a hot and sunny day in Alabama. Wet weather has plagued the AMA Pro Road Racing event at Barber Motorsports Park this weekend, but the AMA Superbike, Daytona Sportbike, AMA Supersport, and XR1200 series will head out to the track this afternoon for the final races of the weekend on a dry, but hot track.
XR1200
The XR1200 series had the early morning warm-up session today. Michael Beck was the fastest during warm-ups, but it will be Steve Rapp who will start from the pole position. Rapp earned the front spot on the grid with a 1’36.715 lap time during the XR1200 qualifying session.
XR1200 Grid
- Rapp - Beck - Higbee - Filmore
- Barnes - K. Wyman - T. Wyman - Ohara
- Sassaman - McFarland - Estok - Morgan
AMA SUPERSPORT
The AMA Supersport riders were the next to take the track. James Rispoli was the fastest during the warm-up session. Rispoli also claimed the pole position after the final qualifying session, but the young Ant Racing rider lost race 1 to Benny Solis. Rispoli has the pace to take the second race of the weekend, but he’ll have to do it against a pretty competitive field.
Solis, David Gaviria, Tomas Puerta, Stefano Mesa, and Corey Alexander have all shown that they are capable of race wins. Elena Myers has also shown some great speed in the last few races.
The AMA Supersport riders will have their second race of the weekend at 1:15 today.
DAYTONA SPORTBIKE
In the Daytona Sportbike series, we saw an extremely exciting race 1. Danny Eslick took his first win of the 2011 DSB season, and Corey West took over the points standings from Josh Herrin. Eslick was able to pull out a comfortable victory, while West battled for the podium with Dane Westby, Tommy Aquino, and Jason DiSalvo.
Josh Herrin, who was the points leader heading into Barber, had to retire from the race with a mechanical problem. Herrin was up at the front when his bike quit on him during race 1. Herrin will be eager to take the race win this afternoon, and hopefully the points lead.
The Daytona Sportbike race starts at 2:15.
AMA SUPERBIKE
The Superbike riders will be excited to race on a dry track today. The Superbike riders started race 1 on a dry Alabama circuit, but the race was red flagged after the fifth lap due to rain. The Superbike riders put on some wet tires and hit the track in the rain. Martin Cardenas took his first ever AMA Superbike win, but it could be a different story this afternoon on a dry track.
The Hayden brothers led the dry warm-up session ahead of Josh Hayes and Blake Young.
Both Tommy Hayden and Josh Hayes missed the podium during race 1 for the first time this season.
The AMA Superbike race starts at 3:30.
(You can get live updates from Barber Motorsports Park here.)
