The Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki team completed the opening weekend of the 2012 AMA Pro Racing Series at Daytona International Speedway March 15th – 17th with a pole position, a victory, and a podium position.
Kyle Wyman in the AMA Pro XR1200 class claimed pole position and took the win after a 4 bike drafting contest on the final lap. Kyle now leads the points in his quest for the 2012 class championship.
Jake Lewis, in his first ever AMA Pro Road Race, captured a podium position by finishing in 2nd place in the AMA Pro SuperSport race #1. Race # 2 was not as kind with a mechanical issue sidelining Jake before the finish. Jake is now in 4th place in the SuperSport East points going into the next round.
In the AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike class running the Daytona 200 the team was not able to repeat it’s podium performance from last year. Cory West gathered a 10th place finish while Benny Solis suffered a mechanical and did not complete the race. Both Cory and Benny are looking forward to moving up in the point’s standings after the Road Atlanta round. Bostjan Skubic finished 19th in the 2012 Daytona 200 in a one-off appearance with the team.
Taylor Knapp had a Daytona to forget in the AMA Pro SuperBike class with issues in almost every session out on the track. Taylor was able to pull things together and finish 13th in Superbike race #2.
Kyle Wyman – Kyle Wyman Racing / Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki #33
“It was an awesome race. I had so much fun out there dicing with the guys up front and I felt in control. I was very happy with the bike from the get go and could ride at a fast pace very comfortably. I can’t say enough about the Vesrah/Kuryakyn crew and the support from Spyke’s H-D and Riders Discount for the help this weekend. I am really looking forward to working this week at Homestead to find an even better setting for Road Atlanta”
Jake Lewis – Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki #85
“Daytona is in the books and it was a good start to my first AMA pro season! In the first race, I ended up second, which was awesome. It was pretty neat in the Daytona victory circle and it was definitely an experience! In the second race, I had the fastest lap of the race but unfortunately had a little mechanical issue. It was a good weekend overall and I felt good on the Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R 600. I can’t thank my crew enough and all our team sponsors who made the weekend a success. I’m now looking forward to the Homestead Miami test and the next race at Road Atlanta!”
Cory West – Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki #57
“I was a little bummed after qualifying because I thought we had a solid second row starting position, but a few riders had gone faster in the first session so I went from 8th to 11th. Off the start of the race, I tried a move around the outside in turn one and it kind of hung me out and didn’t work out too well. That led to me not getting the jump with the lead group and I ended up battling at the front of the second big group of riders through out the first stint.”
“Our first pit stop was spot on and I think me made up some ground and advanced a few positions. I think I went from 10th or so to around 6th. My second stint was pretty uneventful; I just tried to stay as consistent with my times as possible. Our second pit stop went well and I got out about 2 or 3 seconds ahead of the guys I had been riding close to during my second stint.”
“I felt fresh and was still holding down 6th position for my last stint but as soon as I got out of the pits, I had a bad pulse coming from my front brake lever. With that issue, I was having a really hard time getting slowed down for turn one and the chicane. I could see 5th place about 4 seconds ahead and I was pushing hard to catch him, but I ended up getting caught by a pack of four riders that were drafting together.”
“I fought hard to stay with that group to the finish of the race but the draft ended up sucking me into turn one deeper than I could go with my braking issue and I had to stand the bike up and run wide. I managed to almost catch back up to the group and then I ran wide again in turn one and that pretty much ended my hopes for a finish better than 10th.
I’m a little bummed that I had that braking issue in the final stint because a top 5 finish wasn’t too far out of reach. But I’m happy that we got out of the 200 with a top ten finish and no injuries or damage to our bikes. Huge thanks to my Crew Chief Tony Pogue and Team Owner Mark Junge for building me an awesome bike for the 200, and the rest of the Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki crew for all their hard work during the weekend! I can’t wait to return to Atlanta where we’ve had great success in the past!”
Benny Solis – Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki #35
“For me, Daytona was difficult but in the end it wasn’t so bad since I learned quite a lot. It was difficult for me because we started off in the first practice with a set up that was a bit off and I was struggling to get a fast lap, mainly because I couldn’t run it hard in the infield and I was losing time there. But we were progressing as the weekend went on, I was feeling better every time I was on track since the set up was changing in the right direction. And, I was also still getting used to working with my new crew and we were all getting used to working with each other.”
“Once it was race time, I was feeling good and my lap times were pretty good. My team did all they could to provide me with the best bike and I was having lots of fun. It was just unfortunate that we had a mechanical because we all were working so hard and I was in a decent position during the race. But it wasn’t anyone’s fault, it was just one of those things that happens during racing. I’m ready for some testing at Homestead Miami Speedway and definitely looking forward to the next race, Road Atlanta is a lot of fun! Big thanks to the Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki Team and all our team sponsors for helping out with our program!”
Riders Discount Vesrah Suzuki would like to thank their sponsors for the 2012 season: Vesrah, Riders Discount, MCJ Motorsports, American Suzuki, Nielsen Enterprises Suzuki, Parts Unlimited, Penske Racing Shocks, Traxxion Dynamics Fork Components, Yoshimura, Catalyst Racing Composites, Shoei, Cortech, Sidi, Held, Motion Pro, Sudco Int., Bazzaz, Factory Pro, Maxima Racing Oils, Adjustable-levers, Vicci, Vortex, DID Chain, Zero Gravity, GPR Stabilizers, Trek Bicycles, Suzuka Tire Warmers, K&N Filters, Redbull (Benny), Oakley (Benny & Jake), Roclun (Jake), Progressive Trail Design (Cory), 509 sunglasses (Cory and team), Andrew Swenson Designs and Drippinwet.
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