In spite of tornado threats and torrential downpours, M4 Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas celebrated an impressive race weekend at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, over the past few days. The Colombian rider swept his first double-header race weekend by winning both Saturday’s and Sunday’s AMA Daytona SportBike races. This double victory means that Cardenas now has three AMA Daytona SportBike victories under his belt. M4 Suzuki teammate Jason DiSalvo also had a strong showing over the weekend. DiSalvo started the weekend by capturing pole position for both races and then finished up in second place behind his teammate in Saturday’s race. DiSalvo went on to finish in seventh place on Sunday.
1st (Race 1 & Race 2) Martin Cardenas Speaks…
"I think Saturday’s win was really tough because the track here at Barber is very demanding physically. I had a huge battle with Jason for 10 laps or maybe more. At the beginning I tried to get a gap but I could see I wasn’t doing much, so I just tried to keep a good rhythm. Then, he passed me and I tried to look at where he was stronger than I was, and at the end, I was able to make a move on him. Then, I just put my head down and tried to ride as fast as I could. I got a little bit of a gap and was able to hold onto it until the end.
"On Sunday, the conditions were not great so it was a tough race. I caught up to the leader after about four laps but because it was so wet I didn’t want to pass him and risk crashing trying to get away. Or maybe he would get behind me and try to do to me what I was trying to do to him. I was going to wait to the end and try to make a good pass and then make a good lap and try to finish the race in first position. That’s what I did and this time it worked out so I am happy with the outcome of the race. But it was pretty tough, like I said, because of the conditions."
2nd – (Race 1) Jason DiSalvo Speaks…
"Martin and I had such a fantastic race. He led for a bit and I think was trying to pull a gap and then he settled into a rhythm. Then I made a move on him and I put my head down for a lap or two but I don’t think there was anything I could do because we’re so close in speed. All I could do was sit in front and try to figure out where he was going to come by me and ride defensively once he did. When he passed me, it was a great pass and I didn’t think he was going to be able to make it stick but he did. We hung in there pretty good for the last lap, but there was just nothing we could do. Tomorrow we’ve just got to get out in the lead and stay there."
Next race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, over the weekend of May 15-17, 2009.
