Team Wisconsin Wins SunTrust MotoGT-1

Henny Ray Abrams | March 6, 2009

Team Wisconsin’s Jeffrey Purk and Calvin Martinez rode their Ducati 848 to victory in the two-hour opening round of the AMA Pro SunTrust MotoGT1 race at Daytona International Speedway.”I’m really happy,” Purk said. “My first victory here at Daytona. It’s a long time coming.” Added Martinez, “It really feels good. The Ducati ran great.”Purk took the lead on the 49th of 58 laps when the Crozier Motorsports Triumph 675 of Roger Crozier began to sputter while the team was holding a 48 second lead. Crozier came to a stop just before the exit of the infield, but was able to get the motorcycle back to the paddock to re-fuel. The team finished fifth.Old Pros Racing’s JP Tache and Paul Schwemmer rode their Kawasaki ZX-6R to second place, 1:33.814 mins. behind the winner.Third place overall, and first in SunTrust MotoGP-2, went to the Pair-of-Nines Kawasaki Ninja 650R of former Grand National Champion Jay Springsteen and Nicky Cummings. The Michigan riders finished a lap down, but had a lap on the second in class Touring Sport Ducati of Frank Shockley and Brad Phillips.Fourth overall, and third in the MotoGT-2 class, went to the Liberty Waves Racing’s Eric Haugo and Eric Pinson. Haugo was running third with less than three minutes to go when he ran out of gas. With the help of a mechanic, who had to keep stopping to pull up his pants, Haugo pushed the bike half the length of the pit straight for a splash-and-go.

SunTrust MotoGT-11. Team Wisconsin (Ducati)2. Old Pros Racing (Kawasaki)3. Liberty Waves Racing (Buell)4. V Vargas Racing (Kawasaki)5. Crozier Motorsports (Triumph)SunTrust MotoGT2:1.Pair-of-Nines (Kawasaki)2. Touring Sport (Ducati)3. Cycle Dynamics (Kawasaki)4. HurtByAccident.com (Suzuki)5. Mid-Illini Motorsports (Kawasaki)