Sixth SportBike win for Cardenas

From AMA Pro Racing

MONTEREY, CA - When the dust cleared it was Martin Cardenas and his M4 Monster Energy Suzuki that rode to his sixth and maybe best win of the 2010 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike season. Certainly for Cardenas, winning Sunday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca had special meaning but it is the way that he won that also made for another thrilling day of racing in this competitive series.

After starting eighth, the irrepressible Steve Rapp and his small but effective Team Latus Motors Ducati team took yet another podium finish with a very determined second place. Finishing third was Project 1 Atlanta Yamaha rider Clinton Seller, who mixed it up with the frontrunners from the drop of the flag and in the process posted his best finish of the season.

These results alone don't tell the story of the race and it was DNA Energy Drink Ducati rider Bobby Fong that really put on an impressive show. Fong fought his way quickly to the front, passing polesitter Tommy Aquino before the end of lap one and at one point building a lead of over two seconds on the usually close Daytona SportBike field.

And close it was behind Fong with at least five riders grouped together battling for every inch on the 11-turn flowing 2.238-mile natural road course. Aquino and his Team Graves Yamaha teammate Josh Herrin were in the mix as was Seller and also Danny Eslick, who actually grabbed second and led the six bike train for a while. Eslick, Herrin, Seller, Aquino, Cardenas and Rapp all made up this group but as the race went on Eslick dropped back and Cardenas started his march to the front. Try as he might, Herrin could not shake off Seller, Aquino and Cardenas. Rapp fell back a little and battled with Eslick. 

On lap 11 Cardenas passed Aquino and in the famous Corkscrew at the top of the circuit, Herrin ran off the track and did a great job staying upright as he rejoined but now back in seventh. At the end of this lap, Cardenas made a solid pass on Seller at the last turn and set sail for Fong. 

"Bobby was two or three seconds clear and I was a little bit worried because I saw that Herrin wasn't gaining on him," said Cardenas. "I thought maybe today the best finish was going to be second but I pushed very hard for two or three laps and I caught him." 

At that point Fong caught some slower riders and Cardenas was able to get right up to him quicker than even he expected.

"I caught him and stayed with him and unfortunately for him, he lost the front under braking. From then on it became a little bit difficult to maintain concentration but I was able to break through here and win," said a pleased Cardenas after the race. "I always wanted to win here, ever since I first came here in 2007, it is my favourite track but for some reason, I was always fast but like last year, when I had pole, I crashed. Fortunately for me this time I could do it, I am very happy."

Fong had his mishap on lap 15 and even thought he quickly picked up his Ducati and rejoined, there was too much damage to continue and he retired.

It looked like Aquino was going to lead Seller home for the other two podium spots but on lap 21 of 23, Rapp pulled a double pass and went from fourth to second in one move in turn two.

Seller tried to fight back at turn 11 but Rapp's Ducati was running better and better and he was able to pull away and take his fifth podium finish and his third second place finish of the season. 

Aquino was disappointed in fourth and Eslick was OK with his fifth. Herrin took a subdued sixth and maintains the points lead by one point over Eslick (264-263) with Cardenas closing with 252. 

Cory West and Chris Fillmore took seventh and eighth on their Vesrah Suzukis and Michael Beck did post a result for the DNA Energy Drink Ducati team in ninth. Fernando Amantini took another good result with 10th on his Kawasaki, following up from his ninth place finish last week at Mid-Ohio. 

The AMA Pro Daytona SportBike championship chase resumes Aug. 13-15 at Virgina International Raceway in Alton, VA.

Race Results (Top 15 plus Canadians)
1. Martin Cardenas (M4 Monster Energy Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R600 23 Laps
2. Steve Rapp (Team Latus Motors Racing) Ducati 848 +1.590
3. Clinton Seller (Project 1 Atlanta) Yamaha YZF-R6 +2.108
4. Tommy Aquino (Team Graves Yamaha) Yamaha YZF-R6 +2.157
5. Danny Eslick (GEICO Powersports ·RMR ·Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R600 +7.373
6. Josh Herrin (Team Graves Yamaha) Yamaha YZF-R6 +9.063
7. Cory West (Vesrah Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R600 +29.228
8. Chris Fillmore (Vesrah Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R600 +33.585
9. Michael Beck (DNA Energy Drink CNR Motorsports Ducati) Ducati 848 +34.980
10. Fernando Amantini (Team Amantini) Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R +48.414
11. Tyler Odom (Erion Racing) Honda CBR600RR ABS +1:02.789
12. Shawn Higbee (Higbee-Racing.com) Buell 1125R +1:03.832
13. Russ Wikle (Wikle Racing) Suzuki GSX-R600 +1:07.785
14. Jimmy Wood (Aussie Dave Racing) Kawasaki ZX-6R +1:11.687
15. Santiago Villa (RoadRacingWorld.com Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R600 +1:22.412
30. Kevin Boisvert (Bayside Performance) Suzuki GSX-R600 21 Laps

Point Standings (Top 15 plus Canadians)
1. Josh Herrin 264
2. Danny Eslick 263
3. Martin Cardenas 252
4. Steve Rapp 215
5. Cory West 178
6. Dane Westby 157
7. Tommy Aquino 156
8. Clinton Seller 134
9. Chris Fillmore 128
10. Bobby Fong 123
11. P. J. Jacobsen 88
12. Fernando Amantini 88
13. Lenny Hale 54
14. Michael Beck 48
15. Tyler Odom 46
56. Marie-Josee Boucher 3