CARDENAS AND SUZUKI WIN AT DAYTONA SBK

Mar 18, 2013, 02:47PM. By Bikeland Staff

The Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing's new signing Martin Cardenas raced to his first victory aboard the GSX-R1000 at the opening round of the 2013 AMA Pro Superbike Championship at Daytona Beach, Florida at the weekend as team mate Chris Clark picked up the best result of his AMA Pro Superbike career.

For Yoshimura Suzuki's Cardenas, the weekend was a successful one from the start: The Colombian rider kicked-off the weekend by qualifying on the front row of the grid and getting good starts in both Superbike races. In the first 15-lap race, Cardenas pushed hard on every lap and was there to capitalise on other riders' mistakes and finish second. In the weekend's second race, Cardenas redoubled his successful efforts from the day before, turned in a flawlessly aggressive ride; and captured the win.

Said Cardenas: "I'm very happy and I want to thank the Yoshimura Suzuki team for giving me the opportunity to race for them. The weekend was good for us. In Friday's race, I got a good start on the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 and got into second. I planned to make the pass for the win on the last lap but I made a mistake and that didn't work out for me. On Saturday, I was able to get into the lead and I tried to keep a good pace and not make mistakes. We ended up winning and now I'm looking forward to Road America."

Likewise, Clark left the famous Daytona banking on a high note. In the weekend's first race, Clark turned in 15 solid laps to pick up his first-ever top-five AMA Pro Superbike result. The next day, he followed up that performance with another respectable race to bring home a sixth-place finish.

"It was good to get the first race out of the way," admitted Clark. "I was able to get the best finish of my career with fifth, so I was really happy about that. It was a little tough the first few laps because I didn't get a good start but I was able to get around some guys. I made a few little mistakes in the middle of the race but overall I was happy. In the second race, I finished sixth and we wound up fifth in the points so this was the best race weekend I've ever had. Now I'm just excited to get to Road America."

The Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing team's next event of the 2013 AMA Pro Superbike Championship series is at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on May 31-June 2nd.

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Daytona Superbike Results, Race 1: 1. Josh Herrin (Yamaha), 2. Martin Cardenas (Yoshimura Suzuki), 3. Larry Pegram (Yamaha), 4. Danny Eslick (Jordan Suzuki), 5. Chris Clark (Yoshimura Suzuki), 6. Robertino Pietri (Kawasaki), 7. Geoff May (EBR), 8. David Anthony (Suzuki), 9. Taylor Knapp (KTM), 10. Chris Fillmore (KTM).

Daytona Superbike Results, Race 2: 1. Martin Cardenas (Yoshimura Suzuki), 2. Josh Herrin (Yamaha), 3. Larry Pegram (Yamaha), 4. Roger Hayden (Jordan Suzuki), 5. Danny Eslick (Jordan Suzuki), 6. Chris Clark (Yoshimura Suzuki), 7. Robertino Pietri (Kawasaki), 8. Chris Fillmore (KTM), 9. Chris Ulrich (Honda), 10. Bernat Martinez (Suzuki).

Source: Team Suzuki Press Office