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Drane, Lewis, And Herfoss Claim Race Two Victories At Daytona
Story and photos from motoamerica.com
Yamaha BLU CRU Estenson Racing’s Sam Drane took the win in a photo finish during an abbreviated Twins Cup Race 2 at Daytona. The race was halted on lap one after a crash in the infield brought out a red flag making it a six-lap sprint to the finish.
After the restart, the 15-year-old Australian finished atop a four-way drafting battle to the checkered flag. The top four crossed the finish line close enough to cover them all with a blanket. Just .01 of a second separated Drane from M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Matthew Chapin in second. Robem Engineering Aprilia’s Hank Vossberg finished third (.058 of a second behind Drane), and Bodie Paige on another M4 ECSTAR Suzuki was a mere .376 of a second behind race winner Drane.
M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider Michel Agazzi started strong behind his teammate Paige and hung with the lead group until lap three when the frontrunners built a gap of 1.3 seconds, separating the lead group from the rest of the riders for the remainder of the race. Agazzi, who is from Italy, finished fifth in his wild-card appearance, which was awarded to him for winning the GSX-8R Cup in Europe.
Karns/TST Industries Suzuki rider Kevin Olmedo finished sixth followed by the Weyh Racing Aprilia tandem of Eli Block and Andrew Weyh, who finished seventh and eighth, respectively.
TAB Performance’s Kyle Ohnsorg was ninth aboard his Suzuki. Hoban Brothers Racing/Darkhorse Motor Co. Suzuki rider Seth Dahmer, who was involved in the incident that brought out the red flag at the beginning of the race, was able to re-mount, and he made it back for the restart to finish 10th.
Yamaha BLU CRU Estenson Racing’s Sam Drane commented, “The Estenson bike is definitely a rocketship, and I felt it here. I had some work to do in the infield section. I finally figured that out by the end of the weekend and had some good pace in that last race. I’m looking forward to Atlanta.”
Saddlemen Race Development Harley-Davidson Sweeps The Podium At Daytona International Speedway
Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
The Saddlemen Race Development Harley-Davidson team was part of another photo finish today in their sweep of the podium at Daytona. All three riders were separated by just .06 of a second at the checkered flag. The order of finish was an exact inversion of the Race 1 results with Jake Lewis winning, Cory West repeating his second-place finish, and James Rispoli dropping back to the third step of the podium.
The lead group developed into a pack of five riders towards the end of the race and came across the line just .296 of a second apart as a squad. Andy DiBrino brought his BPR Racing Yamaha across the line in fourth just .01 of a second behind the Saddlemen Race Development team. DiBrino looked solid in Race 2 and stayed attached to the lead group for the entire race, even leading a lap early on. Behind him, Rodio Racing’s Gus Rodio brought his Ducati Streetfighter V2 to the checkered flag in fifth.
Slightly behind the lead group of five was Travis Wyman in sixth on his Saddlemen Race Development Harley-Davidson FXR. Wyman was followed by BPR Racing Yamaha’s Bryce Kornbau in seventh and TopPro Motorsports/Edge Racing’s Jason Waters on a Ducati in eighth.
Completing the Top 10 in Race 2 were COATZYMOTO-LATIN WE Yamaha’s Robertino Pietri and Trackhouse/Hawk Mazzotta Moto Camp/BLU CRU Racing’s Hawk Mazzotta, who was also on a Yamaha.
The competition in the class throughout the first two races has been phenomenal with more lead changes than one can track, and it required a high-resolution camera at the finish line to determine the winner.
“Today’s race was unbelievable, and this is the best Daytona round I’ve had in Super Hooligan,” Lewis said. “Especially today. It’s always better to win the second race and leave the weekend on a high confidence-wise, but in Super Hooligan, you never know. It’s so unpredictable, so crazy and wild, and you’ve just got to play your cards right and play the draft right. The Saddlemen race team, you know, locking out the podium both days. It shows how hard they’ve worked and, with the rule changes in Super Hooligan, too, I mean, all nine of us or however many it was in the pack today, it just shows how competitive it’s going to be this year.”
Herfoss Holds Off The Field For His First Daytona Win
J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Factory Indian rider Troy Herfoss took the Mission King Of The Baggers Race 2 win at Daytona aboard his Indian Challenger. The three-time Australian Superbike Champion held a slight lead over teammate Rocco Landers and notched his first victory at the “World Center of Racing.” Herfoss’ teammate Rocco Landers, who suffered a mechanical in Race 1, bounced back for his first podium of the season to make it a J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Factory Indian one-two punch.
Landers was part of a three-rider group to cross the line just .1 of a second apart with the Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing Road Glides of Kyle Wyman and Bradley Smith in third and fourth, respectively.
The lead group was in a race of their own as the remainder of the field was, at minimum, 14 seconds behind. Big Diehl x Harley-Davidson Factory Racing’s James Rispoli finished fifth, followed by SDI Racing’s Tyler O’Hara on an Indian Challenger in sixth.
Saddlemen Race Development teammates Jake Lewis and Cory West were seventh and eighth, with Hayden Gillim’s J&P Cycles/Motul/Vance & Hines Factory Indian Challenger in ninth. Gillim, who won Race 1 by over eight seconds, was leading by over two seconds in Race 2. The Kentuckian had a mechanical issue with just two laps to go. Exiting the first part of the international horseshoe, Gillim threw his hand up and fell off the pace. There were no obvios signs of damage to the motorcycle and, after a few turns, he was back up to speed, but he had dropped all the way to ninth, which is where he finished.
Rounding out the top 10 was M3/Tobacco Road Harley-Davidson’s Max Flinders.
The next round of the Mission King Of The Baggers Championship will be at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on April 17-19.
“It’s a big honor to get a race win at Daytona,” Herfoss said. “It’s definitely a special feeling crossing that stripe, in that stadium sort of atmosphere. Big, big props to Hayden (Gillim). He was just riding incredible today and this weekend, and I feel heartbroken for him to go out like that because he had broken us, and he had the race sewn up. But, it’s a credit to the Vance & Hines racing team, and the Indian Challenger is just working better than I’ve ever seen, I can’t believe the amount of power it’s got. The way I was coming down off that banking, it was almost scaring me sometimes. I’m looking forward to heading into COTA for a test first and then over to Road Atlanta and a more traditional track to see if I can make a push at Hayden, speed-wise.”
Day Three Results: