From the drop of the flag in Saturday’s Daytona Sportbike race number 1, Jason DiSalvo led. Although he went on to win in convincing fashion aboard the Team Latus Motors Racing Ducati 848, he did get a bit of good luck when Jake Holden, also Ducati mounted, riding the Roberson Motorsports 848, over shot turn four while hounding DiSalvo for the lead.
The mishap allowed Danny Eslick, on the Geico/Richie Morris Racing Suzuki GSX-R600 sportbike, to slot into second, followed by PJ Jacobson, on another Ducati 848, and Tommy Aquino on the Pat Clark Yamaha.
However, following the off-course excursion, Holden re-entered in sixth place and went on to put on a truly awesome display of riding. Holden put his head down and started clicking off one fast lap after another, going to work picking off AMA SportBike riders in front of him. After getting past Aquino and Jacobson, there was a pretty good gap to Eslick.
That said, Holden steadily reeled the Suzuki rider in and in a matter of a few laps was on Eslick’s rear fender, getting past coming over the hill and dropping into turn five to, amazingly, reclaim second place in Infineon SportBike.
DiSalvo got the message on his pit board and picked up the pace to ensure he brought the Ducati home in first. Jake Holden, riding as the ultimate privateer this weekend due some upheavals with the team, gave a very entertaining and impressive preview of what’s in store for tomorrow’s DSB race number 2.
At the checkered Jason DiSalvo was leading, taking the win and stretching his point lead. Four seconds back (pretty close considering he went off track) Jake Holden brought the privateer Ducati across the line for second. Danny Eslick was the all-Italian podium spoiler putting his Suzuki in the final spot on the rostrum.
PJ Jacobson, who looked like he might give Danny a run for the third spot (which would have made it a Ducati sweep) faded back to finish fourth, followed by Tommy Aquino, Corey West, Cameron Beaubier, Paul Allison, Tyler Odom, and Tyler O’Hara.
The win for DiSalvo was a strong comeback figuring he was disqualified from Friday qualifying for non-compliance with fuel. With rain expected tonight and the forecast uncertain for
Sunday’s AMA Daytona SportBike race number 2 is next; it promises to be an interesting day.
2011 AMA Daytona SportBike Results: Race 1
Pos | No. | Rider(s) | Team | Bike | Interval | Gap | Best Lap | Points |
1. | 40 | Jason DiSalvo | Team Latus Motors Racing | Ducati 848 | 22 Laps | WINNER | 1:39.271 | 32 |
2. | 59 | Jake Holden | Roberson Motorsports | Ducati 848 | 7.622 | 7.622 | 1:39.317 | 25 |
3. | 69 | Danny Eslick | Richie Morris Racing | Suzuki GSX-R600 | 23.255 | 15.632 | 1:40.516 | 21 |
4. | 9 | PJ Jacobsen | Celtic Racing | Ducati 848 | 25.173 | 1.918 | 1:40.593 | 18 |
5. | 6 | Tommy Aquino | Yamaha Extended Service, Pat Clark Sports, Graves, Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 31.152 | 5.979 | 1:40.397 | 16 |
6. | 57 | Cory West | Vesrah Suzuki | Suzuki GSX-R600 | 40.063 | 8.910 | 1:40.615 | 15 |
7. | 116 | Cameron Beaubier | GP Bike Parts Racing | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 40.348 | 0.284 | 1:40.595 | 14 |
8. | 20 | Paul Allison | Triple Crown Industries | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 56.267 | 15.919 | 1:41.919 | 13 |
9. | 46 | Tyler Odom | Don Odom Racing | Honda CBR600RR | 57.639 | 1.372 | 1:41.913 | 12 |
10. | 129 | Tyler OHara | GP Bike Parts Racing | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 1:06.628 | 8.988 | 1:42.024 | 11 |
11. | 44 | Taylor Knapp | Vesrah Suzuki | Suzuki GSX-R600 | 1:12.164 | 5.535 | 1:41.538 | 10 |
12. | 72 | Bryce Prince | Bryce Prince Racing | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 1:21.329 | 9.165 | 1:42.638 | 9 |
13. | 7 | Fernando Amantini | Team Amantini | Kawasaki ZX-6R | 1:33.885 | 12.556 | 1:42.668 | 8 |
14. | 174 | Josh Galster | Josh Galster Racing | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 21 Laps | 1 Lap | 1:44.357 | 7 |
15. | 75 | Huntley Nash | LTD Racing Y.E.S Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 7.817 | 7.817 | 1:44.327 | 6 |
16. | 77 | Matthew Sadowski | Top Shelf Motorcycles Racing | Ducati 848 | 43.012 | 35.194 | 1:45.896 | 5 |
17. | 181 | Craig Mason | Team TDS Guns/Fast50s.com/Defense Industries | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 43.833 | 0.821 | 1:45.969 | 4 |
18. | 45 | David Sadowski, Jr. | Top Shelf Motorcycles Racing | Ducati 848 | 50.307 | 6.473 | 1:46.258 | 3 |
19. | 13 | Melissa Paris | HT Moto Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-R6 | 54.151 | 3.844 | 1:45.820 | 2 |
20. | 444 | Oscar Covarrubias | Get Some Racing | Kawasaki ZX-6R | 1:08.295 | 14.144 | 1:46.316 | 1 |
21. | 28 | Kevin Boisvert | Bayside Performance | Suzuki GSX-R600 | 1:26.237 | 17.941 | 1:47.296 | 0 |
22. | 32 | Santiago Villa | M4 Suzuki | Suzuki GSX-R600 | 19 Laps | 2 Laps | 1:42.491 | 0 |
23. | 300 | Patrick McCord | Peak Performance Racing | Kawasaki ZX-6R | 8 Laps | 11 Laps | 1:46.593 | 0 |
24. | 5 | Dane Westby | M4 Suzuki | Suzuki GSX-R600 | DNF | DNF | -no times- | 0 |
25. | 8 | Josh Herrin | Monster Energy Graves Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-R6 | DNS | DNS | -no times- | 0 |