Race Report
Team M4 Monster Energy Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas scored his fourth victory of the 2010 AMA Pro Road Racing season on Saturday at Infineon Raceway with yet another brilliant display of racecraft.
Coming off his remarkable double victory at Road Atlanta, the Colombian was back in top form again today, constantly tussling for position in a thrilling race-long contest for the win.
Once again proving capable of elevating his game in race conditions, Martin was on the pace from the start despite qualifying on the second row in sixth at 1:39.214. He systematically worked his way up from fourth early to ultimately move into the lead on lap 15 of 22.
At that point the race transformed from a four-rider dogfight to a two-man duel for the checkered flag. Cardenas ultimately won out in that match up with his trademark late-race excellence.
Martin Cardenas says:"This weekend we had a-not-so-good qualifying; it didn’t go as planned. We had a few problems and I made a lot of mistakes but I knew we had a good bike for the race and the pace was good."
"I got a good start. In the beginning I was struggling a little bit with the grip of the bike. I don’t know why. It was not great from the start so I was trying to hold onto the leading group but as the race went on it felt better and I started to try to pass them."
"As soon as I got to second, I was behind for a few laps and then I moved into first and he came past me right back and we switched positions a few times. But at the end I could hang on and take the win.
"It was a great race with a lot of passing and in the end it worked out for me. I hope tomorrow will be the same, and hopefully for me again, but you never know. Every race is different but I will try as hard as I can."
The win is the eleventh of Cardenas’ AMA Pro Road Racing career and moves him into second place in the 2010 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike title standings, just four points removed from the lead with 133 points.
Team M4 Monster Energy Suzuki’s American Superbike riders Jake Holden and Chris Ulrich picked up a pair of solid top-ten results for the squad on the day.
Holden, riding in place of the injured John Hopkins, backed up his seventh-place qualifying effort (1:36.646) by finishing in that same position in the race after running in a tight pack contending for second in the race’s early stages.
Ulrich, who qualified ninth at 1:37.864, improved to eighth in the race, claiming his sixth top ten in seven races this season aboard his GSX-R1000.
The Californian’s consistent form sees him ranked seventh in the season’s standings with 89 points towards his 2010 championship campaign.
On Sunday, Cardenas will look to complete his second consecutive double, both of the season and at Infineon Raceway, where he won both SportBike races in 2009.
