Photography by Larry Lawrence
MILLVILLE, NJ (Sept. 13, 2014) – Dane Westby was the standout in the rain today in Daytona SportBike race one at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Westby sprint to a big lead in the drenched 16-lap contest and backed off in the closing laps to win by an 8.998-second margin of victory. An even bigger story was the fact that second-place Jake Gagne, clinched the Daytona SportBike title, helped by tough luck experienced by his closest rival Jake Lewis. Jake Zemke took third on the Geico Honda, earning him his first podium of the season.
The soggy race was red flagged on the first try and declared a complete restart. Surprisingly some riders elected not to race in the restart.
The championship race took a dramatic turn when second-ranked Jake Lewis was sidelined with electrical issues on his machine. Many riders fell in the early going on the wet racing surface, including Elena Myers and Tomas Puerta, JD Beach and Jason DiSalvo.
Westby sprinted out to a huge lead as Jake Zemke emerged in second followed by Danny Eslick.
On lap nine Gagne, who’d passed Eslick earlier, moved around Zemke to take second, giving him enough points to clinch the championship.
In the end it was Westby taking the closing laps cautiously, with plenty of a lead in hand. Gagne held on for second from Zemke and Garrett Gerloff and Danny Eslick rounded out the top five.
Only nine riders finished the race.
“I’m over the moon,” Westby said of earning his third win of the season. “To be able to win this in the rain was a great feeling. It was so tough out there. It could get you at any moment. At the end I felt like I was going so slow, but I still almost lost it”
For Gagne the championship was a sweet reward after playing second fiddle to Cameron Beaubier in last year’s series.
“It’s incredible,” Gagne said. “The last thing I thought today is that I would wrap it up. I feel for Jake Lewis. He rode his butt off and was really, really fast all year. On the grid I looked back and saw that he wasn’t there. I had no idea. I’m just stoked for my team. This is my third year with these guys. Last year we had a good year and to pull off the championship with all those guys I’m just so grateful for all the support.”
AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike Results – Sept. 13, 2014
1 00 Dane Westby Tulsa, OK Yamaha YZF-R6 16 Laps
2 32 Jake Gagne San Diego, CA Yamaha YZF-R6 +08.998
3 98 Jake Zemke Paso Robles, CA Honda CBR600RR +17.792
4 8 Garrett Gerloff Spring, TX Yamaha YZF-R6 +27.874
5 69 Danny Eslick Broken Arrow, OK Triumph Daytona 675 +44.895
6 3 Joe Roberts Los Angeles, CA Honda CBR600RR +45.141
7 72 Miles Thornton West Point, GA Triumph Daytona 675 +45.287
8 6 JD Beach Philpot, KY Yamaha YZF-R6 +1:08.119
9 97 Tucker Lancaster Lincoln, Ca Yamaha YZF-R6 15 Laps
10 33 Kyle Wyman Macedon, NY Yamaha YZF-R6 7 Laps
