Road America SportBike: Race 1 Results

2012 AMA GoPro Daytona SportBike

Spoiler Alert: 2012 AMA Daytona SportBike results from Road America listed below

GEICO Suzuki rider Martin Cardenas found another way to win a GoPro Daytona SportBike race Saturday at Road America, playing it safe early before riding through the top half of the field from a mid-pack position to take his fifth victory of the season and class-record 21st of his career.

Cardenas had qualified third but encountered problems at the launch, which allowed a large group of trailing riders to pull alongside heading into Turn 1, a sweeping right-hander that is almost as wide as the straightaway. Rather than trying to make back all of his lost ground at once, he fell into line, eventually anchoring the lead group in 12th place.

Martin Cardenas (GEICO Suzuki GSX-R600 SportBike) says: “My start was not good. Actually, it was pretty bad. It felt like it took a moment for it to engage when I released the clutch so I fell back a little bit. The first turn it seemed as if there were 100 bikes around me. I decided to be cautious and wait for the field to thin out a little bit. Then I had to get to work.”

The 29-year-old Colombian found his groove by Lap 3 and started picking off riders in front of him, sometimes in large groupings. By Lap 5 he had moved into third place, where he realized he needed to bridge a fairly sizable gap on leaders Jason DiSalvo (Team Latus Triumph) and Cameron Beaubier (Graves Y.E.S. Yamaha), the two riders that had qualified ahead of him.

Martin Cardenas says: “I tucked in as tight as I could to move towards the leaders and (Dane) Westby came with me. I pushed very hard because I was looking at the skies and I thought the rain may start at any moment. I wanted to be in the lead position if that happened.

“The GEICO Suzuki guys gave me a great bike once again. It was very, very fast and I was able to take the lead position on Lap 6. I didn’t want to give it up after that because I was still worried about the rain. I guess someone (Beaubier) made a little mistake and from there I was able to open a small gap with about 3 laps to go and that was all I needed.”

Cardenas’ weather predictions weren’t far off as rain began falling almost as soon as he crossed the finish line, ahead of Beaubier and DiSalvo. Eventually, everyone made it back to pit row safely, with Cardenas pulling into the winner’s circle for a raucous welcome from his crew.

With the win, Cardenas extended his championship points lead to 41 over DiSalvo. The total includes the bonus point he earned for leading the most laps in Saturday’s race. The GEICO Suzuki crew also was honored as the No. 1 Team of the race, an award that was accepted by crew chief Frank Aragaki on behalf of team owner Chris Ulrich.

The Subway Superbike Doubleheader schedule now turns to Sunday with Cardenas going for another trophy at 2:15 p.m.

2012 Road America AMA Daytona SportBike Results:

os	No.	Rider(s)	Team	Bike	Interval	Gap	Best Lap	Points
1.	36	Martin Cardenas	Geico Suzuki	Suzuki GSX-R600	13 Laps	WINNER	2:19.980	0
2.	6	Cameron Beaubier	Yamaha Extended Service, Graves, Yamaha	Yamaha YZF-R6	1.368	1.368	2:20.084	0
3.	40	Jason DiSalvo	Team Latus Motors Racing	Triumph Daytona 675	2.373	1.005	2:20.004	0
4.	5	Dane Westby	M4 Suzuki	Suzuki GSX-R600	2.475	0.101	2:20.198	0
5.	50	Bobby Fong	Meen Motorsports Racing	Yamaha YZF-R6	10.567	8.092	2:19.629	0
6.	98	Jake Zemke	Ducshop Racing	Ducati 848	16.204	5.636	2:20.741	0
7.	57	Cory West	Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki Team	Suzuki GSX-R600	18.144	1.940	2:20.939	0
8.	132	Jake Gagne	Road Race Factory/Red Bull	Yamaha YZF-R6	18.169	0.025	2:20.924	0
9.	95	JD Beach	Road Race Factory/Red Bull	Yamaha YZF-R6	18.369	0.199	2:20.702	0
10.	75	Huntley Nash	LTD Racing	Yamaha YZF-R6	18.381	0.011	2:20.802	0
11.	7	Fernando Amantini	Team Amantini	Kawasaki ZX-6R	23.841	5.460	2:21.427	0
12.	8	Tommy Hayden	Yamaha Extended Service, Graves, Yamaha	Yamaha YZF-R6	34.139	10.298	2:22.760	0
13.	20	Benny Solis	Kneedraggers.com/Triple Crown Industries	Yamaha YZF-R6	37.485	3.345	2:22.349	0
14.	52	Joey Pascarella	Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki Team	Suzuki GSX-R600	37.822	0.337	2:22.506	0
15.	56	Austin Dehaven	Kneedraggers.com/Triple Crown Industries	Yamaha YZF-R6	50.270	12.447	2:23.694	0
16.	86	Ben Young	BYR/Fogi Racing	Yamaha YZF-R6	59.694	9.424	2:24.419	0
17.	38	Kris Turner	Turner`s Cycle Racing	Triumph Daytona 675	1:06.603	6.908	2:23.313	0
18.	42	Kenny Riedmann	Sturgess Cycle Triumph	Triumph Daytona 675	1:10.031	3.428	2:25.118	0
19.	46	Shane Narbonne	MOB Racing	Yamaha YZF-R6	1:10.691	0.660	2:25.104	0
20.	11	Michael Morgan	RIM Racing	Suzuki GSX-R600	1:11.091	0.400	2:25.044	0
21.	24	Scott Ryan	Stiles Racing	Yamaha YZF-R6	1:15.485	4.393	2:25.129	0
22.	72	Bryce Prince	Rotobox/Nexx	Yamaha YZF-R6	1:33.268	17.783	2:23.908	0
23.	13	Melissa Paris	Sea Miracle Yamaha Racing	Yamaha YZF-R6	1:45.483	12.215	2:27.158	0
24.	966	Daniel Ortega	Dan Ortega Racing.com	Suzuki GSX-R600	2:09.746	24.262	2:29.481	0
25.	94	Dave Ebben	Ebben Racing	Kawasaki ZX-6R	2:30.893	21.146	2:30.352	0
26.	175	Sam Rozynski	Kneedraggers.com/Triple Crown Industries	Yamaha YZF-R6	12 Laps	1 Lap	2:31.444	0
27.	127	Ron Mears	Tornado Bait Racing	Honda CBR600RR	10 Laps	2 Laps	2:30.725	0
28.	63	Jeff Wrobel	Wrobel Racing	Yamaha YZF-R6	9 Laps	1 Lap	2:28.530	0
29.	74	Josh Galster	Josh Galster Racing	Yamaha YZF-R6	1 Lap	8 Laps	2:31.586	0