Peris scores first AMA Pro win

From AMA Pro Racing

ELKHART LAKE, WI - In a cool and rainy day at Road America, Chris Peris took his first AMA Pro Daytona SportBike victory in the first day of the Suzuki Superbike Doubleheader on Saturday. The 13-lap race was run under the most difficult weather conditions of the day with a persistent rain falling throughout.

The conditions contributed to several crashes and off-track excursions for many riders, but Calgary's Peris rose to the occasion on the No. 10 Erion Honda CBR600RR. Peris took the lead from Taylor Knapp on the No. 54 Latus Motors Racing Buell 1125R in turn five on the fourth lap of the race and pulled out to a healthy advantage before the race's second and final full-course caution period bunched the field on lap nine.

When the green flag dropped again with two laps remaining, Peris found himself in a dogfight for the lead with Roger Hayden on the No. 95 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R. Hayden passed Peris to take the lead in turn five on lap 11 but Peris fought back to regain the top spot in turn seven. From there, Peris pulled away to score his first career victory in AMA Pro competition.

"I couldn't be happier, the team worked really hard and it was good to finally put it on top of the box for them," said Peris. "When the pace car came out at first, I was behind Knapp and I felt like I could get past him. I was kind of bummed to lose the two laps because we had a pretty decent gap on the people behind us so I was hoping to try to take off from there. I got by him once the car came back in, and it all seemed fairly easy and smooth. I just kept running a decent pace and I could see the gap getting bigger and bigger and was feeling pretty comfortable. 

"When I saw the second pace car come out I was like 'Oh man, I just lost the 20 seconds that I had.' I knew it was going to be two laps once the pace car pulled on. It got really, really wet and slippery so it was going to be conditions that we hadn't ridden in yet. Part of it was pretty stressful, seeing what was going to happen. When Rog came by me, I was like 'Oh man, I've got to really put my head down now,' because after leading for that long, it would have been a shame to lose. I tried to get by him as early as I could and just pulled away and was able to pull it off."

Hayden came home second for his best result since a second-place run in the first race of the doubleheader at Road Atlanta in early April. He missed the first three races of the season due to injury.

"It was an interesting race for me because I didn't do very good in qualifying," said Hayden, who started from 17th. "I just was getting comfortable and catching people, trying to be smooth and pick them off one at a time. Then, the last pace car came out and I got to catch back up to fourth. I tried to pass Chris going into [turn] five, and I thought maybe since it was raining so hard, I might be able to stay there and get lucky at the end. But he came by and he was pretty fast so I tried to bring it home in second." 

Colombia's Martin Cardenas filled out the top three aboard the No. 36 Team M4 Suzuki GSX-R600. It was Cardenas' seventh podium result in his last nine Daytona SportBike starts, allowing him to extend his lead in the championship standings to 32 points, 224-192, over No. 88 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R rider Jamie Hacking, who finished eighth.

"Today's race was good for the championship," said Cardenas. "It was very tough to race in these conditions. In the warm up, I had two times where I almost crashed, so I was a little bit scared in the race. The track was very slippery. At the beginning, some guys came by me and I tried to stay with them. Some guys I could stay with, and some others went away like Peris. I tried to stay in that rhythm and not lose as many positions. After the second yellow flag, I tried to concentrate and do two laps as fast as I could to try to gain some positions. That worked and I ended up on the podium. I'm happy with that result."

Knapp, who charged from fifth on the starting grid to lead the first three laps of the race, came home fourth for his best result since a third-place run in Race Two of the Road Atlanta doubleheader. Damian Cudlin completed the top five on the No. 51 Paradigm Racing Yamaha YZF-R6. It was Cudlin's best Daytona SportBike result to date.

The second Daytona SportBike race of the Suzuki Superbike Doubleheader takes the green flag at 2:00 p.m. local time Sunday. It is schedule for 13 laps (50 miles).

For the first time in AMA Pro SunTrust Moto-GT history, a GT2 class bike claimed the overall race victory, as co-riders Frank Shockley and Ryan Elleby combined to win the two-hour race at Road America on the No. 77 Touring Sport Ducshop Ducati PS1000LE.

Although a hard rain never fell during the event, off-and-on sprinkles and cool temperatures combined to make the race an adventure for all involved. In fact, Armando Ferrer crashed in turn eight while leading the race overall on the No. 69 TeamHurtByAccident.com Suzuki GSX-R600 and Jimmy Filice crashed the No. 64 TeamHurtByAccident.com Ducati PS1000LE in turn 12 while leading the GT2 race inside of the last hour. Neither rider was seriously injured.

The race finished under full-course caution with Elleby and Shockley taking overall and GT2 class honours. It was the second class victory of the season for the No. 77 Ducati team, which has also finished no worse than second in class through four races of nine races this season. Even more impressive was the fact that the No. 77 won after starting from last place.

Finishing second overall and first in the GT1 class were co-riders Paul James and Jeff Johnson on the No. 70 James Gang/Hoban Bros. Racing Buell 1125R. It was the team's first victory in SunTrust Moto-GT competition.

In a chilly AMA Pro SuperSport qualifying session on Saturday morning, Leandro Mercado took his second consecutive SuperSport pole on the No. 92 Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R.

The 17-year-old Argentine, who was also quickest in both of Friday's practice sessions, posted a best lap of 2:24.157 (101.090 mph) in the 20-minute qualifying session to secure the pole. Mercado also started from pole last month at Infineon Raceway. He is currently 13 points behind SuperSport East leader Joey Pascarella, who is not competing this weekend at Road America due to injury, and is looking for his second SuperSport win in Sunday's race.

Starting second will be Josh Day on the No. 4 Team E.S.P. Yamaha YZF-R6 following a best qualifying lap at 2:26.227 (99.659 mph). Day has started from the front row in every SuperSport race in which he has competed this season, but is still looking for his first win.

Ricky Parker, who won at Infineon Raceway, will start third on the No. 96 Graves Motorsports Yamaha YZF-R6 at 2:26.289 (99.617 mph). Russ Wikle completes the front row on the No. 5 Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R600. Wikle's best qualifying lap was a 2:26.596 (99.408 mph).

The 10-lap (40-mile) SuperSport race concludes the race weekend at the Suzuki Superbike Doubleheader. It goes off from a standing start at 4:00 p.m. local time on Sunday afternoon.

Daytona SportBike Race Results (Top 20)
1. Chris Peris (Erion Racing) Honda CBR600RR 13 Laps
2. Roger Hayden (Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki) Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R +7.556
3. Martin Cardenas (M4 Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R600 +7.560
4. Taylor Knapp (Latus Motors Racing) Buell 1125R +9.568
5. Damian Cudlin (Paradigm Racing) Yamaha YZF-R6 +9.667
6. Daniel Eslick (Rossmeyer Geico Powersports RMR Buell) Buell 1125R +11.942
7. Shawn Higbee (Higbee-Racing.com) Buell 1125R +11.948
8. Jamie Hacking (Monster Energy Attack Kawasaki) Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R +12.619
9. Michael Barnes (GEICO Powersports · RMR · Buell Racing) Buell 1125R +18.292
10. Fernando Amantini (Amantini Racing) Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R +19.970
11. Santiago Villa (Roadracingworld.com · Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R600 +20.694
12. Jason DiSalvo (M4 Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R600 +21.213
13. Josh Herrin (Team Graves Yamaha) Yamaha YZF-R6 +22.526
14. Tommy Aquino (Team Graves Yamaha) Yamaha YZF-R6 +22.552
15. Dane Westby (Westby Racing · Kneedraggers.com) Yamaha YZF-R6 +23.657
16. Alex Lazo (Alex Lazo Racing) Yamaha YZF-R6 +24.323
17. Tyler Odom (Don Odom Racing) Honda CBR600RR +25.987
18. Simon Kowalski (Dynamic Motorsports) Yamaha YZF-R6 +36.032
19. Jonathan Lawrence (JHK Motorsports) Yamaha YZF-R6 +41.369
20. Charles Sipp (Walt Sipp Racing) Buell 1125R +42.243
Race Time: 41:33.788
Margin of Victory: 7.556
Best Race Lap: Chris Peris (2:37.777)