DAYTONA BEACH, FL, DEC 6: Yamaha’s Ben Bostrom continued his mastery of the R6 by lowering his class-leading Daytona SportBike time by 1.4 secs. during the second night session at Daytona International Speedway.
The 2008 AMA Supersport champion lapped the 3.51-mile full road course in 1:49.198, well below the 1:50.630 he ran on Friday night.
The time, which came on the 34th of his 37 laps, was one of five in the 49’s, a barrier that only he was able to break. Even more impressive was that he did it while clocking only the seventh fastest top speed. Graves Motorsports Yamaha’s Josh Herrin, who finished the day seventh fastest, had the quickest Daytona SportBike at 175.50 mph. Herrin’s teammate Tommy Aquino had the second highest top speed at 174.19. Bostrom topped out at 172.63 mph.
The three-hour evening session included pace car practice and a red flag, both of which kept the riders off the pace for several laps. Buell rider Michael Barnes brought out the red flag when he crashed in the second horseshoe. Barnes said a transmission problem exiting the dogleg put him on the ground.
M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas was second to Bostrom, with Erion Honda’s Jake Zemke third fastest. Zemke was sharing a very stock Honda CBR600RR with teammate Chris Peris, the Canadian finishing the session sixth fastest.
Privateer Dane Westby finished a surprising fourth. The Oklahoman won the Ironman award by putting in 49 laps, the fastest of which, a 1:50.945, came with a tow on lap 43. It was his only lap in the 50’s.
After enduring criticism of dark patches in the lighting, especially on the back stretch, track and AMA officials reacted quickly. The lights on the inside of the back straight bathed the track in light. One of the mobile units was redeployed to the dogleg, another problem area on the first night.
Saturday Evening Times:
1. Ben Bostrom (Yamaha) 1:49.198
2. Martin Cardenas (Suzuki) 1:50.264
3. Jake Zemke (Honda) 1:50.573
4. Dane Westby (Yamaha) 1:50.945
5. Cory West (Suzuki) 1:51.098
6. Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 1:51.135
7. Josh Herrin (Yamaha) 1:51.480
8. Shawn Higbee (Buell) 1:51.803
9. Tommy Aquino (Yamaha) 1:51.925
10. Michael Barnes (Buell) 1:52.037
11. Chris Peris (Honda) 1:52.437
