DiSalvo Doubles in Sonoma SportBike

Henny Ray Abrams | May 15, 2011

SONOMA, CA, MAY 15 – Latus Motors Racing Ducati’s Jason DiSalvo powered to another victory in the rain-interrupted back half of the West Coast Moto Jam’s Daytona SportBike double-header at Infineon Raceway.Riding his Ducati 848EVO, DiSalvo was in second when race officials took notice that he and several others had their hands in the air, signaling their intention to stop the race on the sixth of 22 laps. The re-start was scheduled for 17 laps.The race was restarted after only a brief delay, with Monster Energy Graves Yamaha’s Josh Herrin getting the jump after sitting out Saturday’s race due to his one race suspensin, but not for long. DiSalvo took the lead early in the lap and was in the lead when he ran wide in turn seven, going from first to fifth.Ending the opening lap Herrin held the point from Geico Powersports/Richie Morris Racing’s Danny Eslick (Suz), Vesrah Suzuki’s Cory West, GP Bike Parts Racing’s Cameron Beaubier (Yam), and DiSalvo. Then began the DiSalvo resurgence.

He was up to fourth on the second lap and third on the third. Next came an inside move in turn seven to take Eslick for second on the fourth lap and on the next lap he passed Herrin going down the turn six Carousel. The lap would be the fastest of the race to that point, though DiSalvo would repeatedly lower it.The next lap DiSalvo started to pull away and never really stopped. Once he broke the draft of Herrin and Eslick he laid down one fast lap after another. The only moment he had was entering turn nine on the final lap when he “brain farted a little bit” and ran off the track. “We made it home, made it across the stripe, and a big thanks to all the sponsors that helped us out,” he said, adding that it was the first time he’d ever won three AMA races in a row.The margin of victory was 4.534 seconds.On the eighth lap Eslick took second from Herrin, also down into the Carousel. Herrin tried to retaliate in the turn seven double rights, but Eslick held on.Eventually Eslick would drop Herrin, who admitted that missing Saturday’s race had hurt his Sunday performance.Celtic Racing/Fast by Ferracci’s PJ Jacobsen equaled his Saturday finish by taking fourth.The battle for fifth was the most spirited of the day. Vesrah Racing’s Cory West would win it narrowly from Cameron Beaubier, who had a career best sixth place finish on the GP Bike Parts Racing Yamaha. Yamaha Extended Service/Pat Clark Motorsport’s Tommy Aquino was a close seventh, with Dane Westby eighth on the M4 Suzuki.

With three wins in a row, along with extra points for a pole and laps led, DiSalvo leads the championship with 93 points to 56 for Cory West. Eslick moves into third with 46.

Daytona SportBike Results:

1. Jason DiSalvo (Ducati)

2. Danny Eslick (Suzuki)

3. Josh Herrin (Yamaha)

4. PJ Jacobsen (Ducati)

5. Cory West (Suzuki)

6. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)

7. Tommy Aquino (Yamaha)

8. Dane Westby (Suzuki)

9. Taylor Knapp (Suzuki)

10. Paul Allison (Yamaha)