Photography by Larry Lawrence
DAYTONA BEACH, FL, MARCH 15 – Mark it down: On March 15, 2014 at 11:25 a.m. Cameron Beaubier won the first AMA Superbike race of his career. It won’t be the last.
Beaubier won a typical drafting battle at Daytona International Speedway on his Monster Graves Motorsports Yamaha R1 to beat the Yoshimura Suzuki of Roger Lee Hayden by just .090 of a second after 15 laps of Superbike racing. Hayden’s teammate Martin Cardenas, who crashed in yesterday’s season opener and finished 12th, bounced back today to finish a shadow third – just .135 from the lead.
For Beaubier it was win number one in what promises to be a spectacular career. For Hayden it was a second straight defeat at Daytona, the Kentuckian losing both races here by a combined .115 of a second. Yes, .115 of a second. In two races.
The big loser in today’s race was yesterday’s winner Josh Hayes. The Monster Graves Motorsports Yamaha rider was in the mix for victory when his R1 suffered a mechanical failure that knocked him out of the race. After two non-finishes last year here, Hayes was credited with 21st today after yesterday’s victory.
The battle for fourth place – like yesterday’s – again went to the line and again it was fought out among the same three riders. And, again, it was Chris Clark who came out on top, the Yoshimura Suzuki rider besting ADR Motorsports David Anthony by just .440 of a second with KTM/HMC’s Chris Fillmore only .263 of a second behind in sixth place.
Seventh place, 11.4 seconds behind the battle for fourth, went to Argentina’s Diego Pierluigi for the second straight day. Again, Pierluigi beat TOBC Racing’s Taylor Knapp – this time by just .091 of a second. Cory West rode his Team AMSOIL EBR to ninth, a second behind the duo ahead of him and 9.4 seconds clear of 10th placed Chris Ulrich on the GEICO Honda.
“I just have to give it up to my crew for giving me a really fast motorcycle,” Beaubier said from Victory Lane. “Thanks to everyone and I’m looking forward to getting to some road courses and seeing what I have for Josh [Hayes].”
Beaubier leaves Daytona with a one-point lead over Hayden, 51-50. Clark is third with 36 points, four ahead of Anthony and six ahead of a three-way tie between Hayes, Cardenas and Fillmore. Hayes leaves Daytona 21 points behind his teammate Beaubier.
Daytona Superbike Race 2 Results
Daytona International Speedway
1. Cameron Beaubier (Yamaha)
2. Roger Lee Hayden (Suzuki)
3. Martin Cardenas (Suzuki)
4. Chris Clark (Suzuki)
5. David Anthony (Suzuki)
6. Chris Fillmore (KTM)
7. Diego Pierluigi (Suzuki)
8. Taylor Knapp (Suzuki)
9. Cory West (EBR)
10. Chris Ulrich (Honda)
