Paul Carruthers | March 21, 2009
Danny Eslick gave Buell its biggest-ever victory today, the Oklahoman riding the Bruce Rossmeyers Daytona Racing/Geico Insurance-backed 1125R to a relatively easy yet historic Daytona SportBike victory at Auto Club Speedway.Eslick grabbed the lead on the front straight of the rolling start and was never headed from that point on, though there was a five- and six-rider pack on his heels for awhile. Eslick steadily pulled away from his pursuers, leading by as much 5.3 seconds with just a few laps to go. That gap was only 2.5 seconds at the finish, with Eslick slowing for a victory wheelie on the front straight of the banked oval.Second place ended up going to Monster Kawasaki’s Jamie Hacking, but it was a fight to the end with the veteran besting Team M4 Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas by just .2 of a second. Cardenas held on for third, some two seconds ahead of his teammate Jason DiSalvo, the New Yorker fading a bit at the end from second to an eventual fourth. He barely bested Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke.Yamaha’s Josh Herrin ended up sixth, riding mostly alone after falling off the back of the pursuing group. Still, he was some seven seconds clear of the battle for seventh that eventually went to Erion Honda’s Chris Peris over the Aprilia of Chaz Davies.The Yamahas of Steve Rapp and Tommy Aquino were next with Monster Kawasaki’s Luis Mercado rounding out the top 10.”That was the hardest race of my life,” Eslick said. “I was all by myself and I kept waiting for Jamie [Hacking] and these guys to come up and move me out of the way, but the Buell put me up there. It was unbelievable and I just want to say thanks to everyone on the team.”
Daytona SportBike
1. Danny Eslick (Buell)
2. Jamie Hacking (Kawasaki)
3. Martin Cardenas (Suzuki)
4. Jason DiSalvo (Suzuki)
5. Jake Zemke (Honda)
6. Chris Peris (Honda)
7. Chaz Davies (Aprilia)
8. Steve Rapp (Aprilia)
9. Tommy Aquino (Yamaha)
10. Luis Mercado (Kawasaki)
Paul Carruthers | Editor
Paul Carruthers took over as the editor of Cycle News in 1993 after serving as associate editor since starting his career at the publication in 1985. Carruthers has covered every facet of the sport in his near-28-year tenure at America's Daily Motorcycle News Source.
