DiSalvo: Controversial Daytona 200 Win

2011 Daytona 200 Results

Much criticism has surfaced over the results of the 70th running of the Daytona 200, but after an intense race that included two restarts, AMA officially awarded the win to Jason DiSalvo on the Team Latus Ducati 848EVO.

For the first 27 laps, DiSalvo swapped the lead with last year’s winner Josh Herrin on the Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6 and Saturday’s pole sitter Jake Zemke on the Project One Yamaha R6.

But on lap 28, DiSalvo lost a cylinder on the Ducati, which would have immediately ended his day in a standard race. On the following lap, though, the race was red flagged because AMA officials demanded that every bike must have a new tire installed, a first in Daytona 200 history.

The tire issue derived from a one-rider crash involving GEICO RMR Suzuki rider Danny Eslick. Twenty-five laps into the race, the 2009 Daytona SportBike champion went down at over 160 mph on Daytona’s NASCAR Turn 4.

Eslick tucked the front end, an accident caused from issues with the front tire. Once other riders began reporting the same issues with the spec-Dunlop tires, the race was stopped.

But it wasn’t a short break; AMA and Dunlop officials convened for two and a half hours before the race was re-started. All riders would have new front tires installed, and the 2011 Daytona 200 would end in a 15-lap sprint (a total of 42 laps instead of 57).

Al Ludington (AMA Technical Director) says: "The most important aspect of this race is rider safety. We seen some things we didn’t like due to the high track temperatures which we didn’t experience all weekend…so in the interest of safety we are demanding a front tire change.

During this extended downtime, Team Latus was able to swap out the bad motor on the 848 EVO, replacing it with the team’s B bike motor. It was questionable if the AMA would allow DiSalvo to restart, but because the bike expired just before the Red Flag came out, he was allowed to rejoin the grid.

Many thought DiSalvo would start from the back of the grid, but he lined up in third, his position before blowing the engine. Joining him on the front-row restart was Zemke (First), Herrin (second) and JD Beach (fourth) on the Cycle World Attack Kawasaki ZX-6R.

But then there was yet another incident; upon restarting, the second red flag of race came out due to a huge crash involving three riders heading into Turn 1.

The riders lined up for the third time, and race finally got underway for the 15-lap sprint. DiSalvo got out front quickly, and the race became an eight-rider shootout between Zemke, Herrin, DiSalvo, Dane Wesbty (M4 Suzuki), JD Beach, Corey West (Vesrah Suzuki), Jake Holden (DNA Roberson Motorsports Ducati) and Taylor Knapp (Vesrah Suzuki).

On the final lap, DiSalvo would hold off West by 0.030 of a second, with 2006 Daytona 200 winner Zemke taking third. As these three crossed the line, Herrin and Westby had some contact, and Westby crashed, taking Knapp down with him; both riders walked away uninjured.

DiSalvo’s Ducati was one of eight on the Daytona 200 grid, the most Ducati motorcycles in the race in over 10 years. His victory, which will surely be a controversial one in the history of the Daytona 200, also brought Ducati its first road-race win for the 848EVO. It was also DiSalvo’s first win since 2006.

Jason DiSalvo (Team Latus Ducati 848EVO) says: "It’s really unbelievable after what the team went through today with everything with the engine. Those guys worked so hard, it was probably the biggest thrash in all of motorcycling history to get that bike put back together and ready to rock in time for the start.

"It’s just amazing. I’m almost a little bit speechless. As to how I feel about winning this race, I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. I have to thank a couple of people, one is the AMA Pro officials for letting us restart the race. I know there was some question about it, and then we were given the go-ahead, so I want to thank them for that, and then of course my crew. It’s just unbelievable-I watched that bike go back together in 20 minutes."

Corey West (Versah Suzuki GSX-R600): "We got in and out of the pits pretty quick on the one pitstop we had, then the red flag came out and it just kind of changed the whole ballgame, because once they said it was going to be a sprint race, I knew what I had to do-and there was no being conservative, that’s for sure.

"I just wanted to get out front because there are so many guys in our class who can win it. I saw the white flag, came around the outside of everybody in Turn 1, and then Westby and Jason came by me going really fast on the brakes-a little too fast, so I checked up and then squeaked back under them.

"I know you’re not supposed to lead out here, but I saw one lapper I thought I could catch a tow off. Jason dropped low and caught me off guard a little bit…. Maybe I could have won it, but I’m just glad I kept my nose clean and brought it home. Man that was fun, getting second in the 200."

Jake Zemke (Project One Yamaha R6) says: To come back third was the best we could do. My hat’s off to these guys; they rode a great race. One time I got shuffled back to fourth or fifth and I didn’t really like being back there-too much action for me. This place can bite you, and as you can see there at the finish, it bit a couple of them.

"You have to really use your head out there. It’s a long race, and we all want to come home in one piece. For the most part the boys all rode really good, but I want to commend JD Beach-for a rookie kid coming in here, I think he did a really good job. There were a couple of times we were five-riders-wide on the banking and he was down low, and I was kind of watching him. He could have pulled something that wouldn’t have been very nice, so I just want to congratulate him for being a smart one out with the big boys."

2011 Daytona 200 Results:

Pos No. Rider(s) Team Bike Interval Gap Best Lap Points
1. 40 Jason DiSalvo Team Latus Motors Racing Ducati 848 42 Laps WINNER 1:50.130 30
2. 57 Cory West Vesrah Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R600 0.029 0.029 1:51.106 25
3. 98 Jake Zemke Project 1 Atlanta Yamaha YZF-R6 0.154 0.125 1:50.630 23
4. 73 JD Beach Cycle World Attack Performance Kawasaki ZX-6R 0.219 0.064 1:50.847 18
5. 8 Josh Herrin Monster Energy Graves Yamaha Yamaha YZF-R6 0.364 0.145 1:50.687 16
6. 6 Tommy Aquino Yamaha Extended Service, Pat Clark Sports, Graves, Yamaha Yamaha YZF-R6 41 Laps 1 Lap 1:51.045 13
7. 7 Fernando Amantini Team Amantini Kawasaki ZX-6R 13.890 13.890 1:53.058 12
8. 15 Cameron Beaubier Crozier Motorsports Yamaha YZF-R6 13.924 0.034 1:52.791 11
9. 32 Santiago Villa RoadRacingWorld.com Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R600 13.959 0.035 1:52.999 10
10. 20 Paul Allison Triple Crown Industries Yamaha YZF-R6 15.144 1.184 1:52.881 9
11. 38 Kris Turner Turner`s Cycle Racing Suzuki GSX-R600 25.724 10.580 1:52.957 8
12. 75 Huntley Nash LTD Racing Y.E.S Yamaha Yamaha YZF-R6 25.836 0.112 1:53.632 7
13. 5 Dane Westby M4 Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R600 25.836 0.000 1:51.255 15
14. 44 Taylor Knapp Vesrah Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R600 25.837 0.000 1:50.744 14
15. 825 Joey Pascarella Run 1 Racing Motorsports Yamaha YZF-R6 40 Laps 1 Lap 1:53.000 6
16. 22 Jason Farrell Martinez Motorsports Kawasaki ZX-6R 10.619 10.619 1:53.830 5
17. 129 Tyler OHara GP Bike Parts Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 11.287 0.668 1:54.065 4
18. 13 Melissa Paris HT Moto Yamaha Yamaha YZF-R6 40.984 29.696 1:55.358 3
19. 45 David Sadowski, Jr. Top Shelf Motorcycles Racing Ducati 848 41.017 0.033 1:55.715 2
20. 12 Ricky Orlando Orlando Racing Kawasaki ZX-6R 41.124 0.106 1:55.733 1
21. 78 Reese Wacker Wacker Racing LLC Suzuki GSX-R600 41.793 0.668 1:55.993 0
22. 41 Pat Mooney Pat Mooney Racing Buell 1125R 43.966 2.173 1:55.777 0
23. 84 Anthony Fania KSW Racing Suzuki GSX-R600 59.589 15.623 1:56.551 0
24. 144 Luiz Cerciari Cerciari Racing School Suzuki GSX-R600 59.952 0.362 1:57.025 0
25. 175 Sam Rozynski Triple Crown Industries Yamaha YZF-R6 1:14.107 14.155 1:58.186 0
26. 594 David McPherson McNology Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 1:15.069 0.962 1:56.848 0
27. 150 Lyles Sanders Sanders Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 39 Laps 1 Lap 1:57.086 0
28. 240 Giuseppe Messina Metric Devil Moto Yamaha YZF-R6 14.338 14.338 1:58.107 0
29. 291 Scott Decker Phantom Freightlines Racing Suzuki GSX-R600 22.845 8.506 1:57.605 0
30. 71 Ray Hofman RayBren Racing Honda CBR600RR 38 Laps 1 Lap 1:58.593 0
31. 59 Jake Holden Roberson Motorsports Ducati 848 37 Laps 1 Lap 1:51.053 0
32. 16 Russ Wikle Wikle Racing Suzuki GSX-R600 27 Laps 10 Laps 1:55.703 0
33. 77 Matthew Sadowski Top Shelf Motorcycles Racing Ducati 848 2:30:31.349 2:30:31.349 1:57.308 0
34. 29 Barrett Long Longevity Racing Ducati 848 25 Laps 2 Laps 1:53.247 0
35. 69 Danny Eslick Richie Morris Racing Suzuki GSX-R600 24 Laps 1 Lap 1:50.327 0
36. 9 PJ Jacobsen Celtic Racing Ducati 848 18 Laps 6 Laps 1:51.254 0
37. 56 Les Moscariello Desmomaniacs Ducati Ducati 848 10 Laps 8 Laps 1:59.877 0
38. 10 Eric Bostrom Cycle World Attack Performance Kawasaki ZX-6R 2 Laps 8 Laps 3:03.490 0

 

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