It was a pretty good race day at the Mid-Ohio Sport Cars Course track in Lexington, OH for the AGV Dainese riders. Mid-Ohio is a very fun track set in the beautiful green Ohio countryside, and the racing today, both in Daytona Sportbike and AMA Superbike was excellent. Especially in the superbike race where we saw a train of 9 riders racing it out all race long, all withing 1 second for a while.
Daytona Sportbike:
Our star rider in this class, Steve "The Rapper" Rapp had another great performance, battling all race long with Aprilia's Chaz Davies. Despite being in Davies' wheel most of the race, Steve didn't manage to pass the liter bike and settle for 6th, equaling his Laguna Seca results. Let's keep in mind that this is a class with 41 riders.
AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Presented by AMSOIL - Race 1 Mid-Ohio
1. Danny Eslick (Buell 1125R), 21 laps
2. Josh Herrin (Yam YZF-R6), -2.317 seconds
3. Tommy Aquino (Yam YZF-R6), -2.365
4. Jake Zemke (Hon CBR600RR), -4.744
5. Chaz Davies (Apr RSV1000R), -7.653
6. Steve Rapp (Yam YZF-R6), -8.421
7. Taylor Knapp (Buell 1125R), -18.154
8. Chris Peris (Hon CBR600RR), -18.284
9. Jason DiSalvo (Suz GSX-R600), -20.303
10. Shawn Higbee (Buell 1125R), -39.115
16. Barret Long (Duc 848), -61.727
20. Santiago Villa (Suz GSX-R600), -63.480
26. Russ Wikle (Suz GSX-R600), -97.155
AMA Superbike:
What a race we got (don't miss the broadcast on Speed TV!). From Superpole where Dainese riders scored 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 10th to today's thrilling race, the fans were treated to some exciting racing.
the first laps saw Yamaha's Josh Hayes and Tommy Hayden lead the pack while Dainese riders Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Blake Young and Jordan Suzuki's aaron Yates were battling it for 4th. Very quickly Young and Yates passed Hayden and pushed towards Hayes. Aaron passed Blake towards the mid-point while behind them Matt Mladin was working his way up the field. With 6 laps to go Aaron Yates was about to make a pass on Josh Hayes when they both got slowed down by a lapper who didn't move out of the way and held Yates back. The #23 charged in the last two laps, trying to catch back the time lost on Hayes but could get there on time before the checkered flag. Josh Hayes won the race 0.183 seconds ahead of the Yates. Exciting race and best results for aaron after two 3rd place finishes at Road America and Laguna Seca.
Blake Young, who had suffered a big crash in qualifiers on Friday, finished in 7th, ahead of National Guard Jordan Suzuki's Geoff May and Corona Extra Honda Jake Holden.
Finishing 11th was AGV's Neil Hodgson who is still not physically 100%, especially on a track like Mid-Ohio where his shoulder is working hard.
AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike Presented by Parts Unlimited - Race 1 Mid-Ohio
1. Josh Hayes (Yam YZF-R1), 21 laps
2. Aaron Yates (Suz GSX-R1000 K9), -0.183 second
3. Mat Mladin (Suz GSX-R1000 K9), -3.055 seconds
4. Ben Bostrom (Yam YZF-R1), -3.251
5. Larry Pegram (Duc 1098R), -5.300
6. Tommy Hayden (Suz GSX-R1000 K9), -6.792
7. Blake Young (Suz GSX-R1000 K9), -7.746
8. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000 K9), -16.261
9. Jake Holden (Hon CBR1000RR), -31.205
10. Michael Laverty (Suz GSX-R1000 K9), -22.997
11. Neil Hodgson (Hon CBR1000RR), -31.205
12. Taylor Knapp (Buell 1125RR), -47.247
13. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R1000 K9), -55.379
14. Scott Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000 K8), -80.927
15. Shane Narbonne (Suz GSX-R1000 K8), -81.021
16. Russell Holland (Yam YZF-R1), -81.496
17. Barrett Long (Duc 1098R), -82.090
