Friday Recap: MotoAmerica Gets The Season Started At Daytona

2022-03-11 08:24
Cameron Petersen had never seen Daytona International Speedway and he hasn’t raced a 600cc middleweight motorcycle in seven years, but it didn’t stop him from emerging from a day of ever-changing weather to record the fastest lap on Thursday in preparation for Saturday’s 80th running of the Daytona 200.

Attack Performance Yamaha’s Petersen lapped the 3.56-mile road course in 1:50.544 to nab provisional pole position for Saturday’s 200 on his Yamaha YZF-R6. Petersen led a South African one-two on Thursday with SYNTAINICS Racing Team’s Sheridan Morais ending the session in second, just .310 of a second behind. Squid Hunter Yamaha’s Josh Hayes was the last rider in the 1:50s as he completed the provisional front row with a 1:50.956.

“It’s a trip, honestly,” Petersen said of his first time lapping the high banks of Daytona International Speedway. “My first session out, I left the pits with all the fast guys and the first thing they did was go to the top of the bank, so I went up there with them. It took me a good two laps to hold it wide open through there. It’s a bit of a trip. Honestly, it’s just so fun. I’m having so much fun around this place. It’s a very easy track but so much fun.”

Petersen was obviously surprised at taking provisional pole on his first day at the Speedway.

“I came in and I know that they’ve had some issues with timing and scoring and stuff today, so I came in and saw my number at the top of the board,” Petersen said. “I was just like… something’s wrong, Even Richard (team owner, Stanboli) said, ‘There’s no way, there’s no way you’re quickest.’ They confirmed it and I still can’t believe it. I just put myself in the right place and got the perfect lap and the perfect tow behind Shez (Morais). It was good and I’m looking forward to the rest of it.”

Josh Herrin made his Warhorse HSBK Ducati NYC debut at the Speedway today and ended the qualifying session in fourth just ahead of the defending Daytona 200 Champion Brandon Paasch and his TOBC Triumph teammate Danny Eslick, with the four-time Daytona 200 winner ending the day in sixth.

BobbleHeadMoto/N2 Racing’s Kevin Olmedo, Attack Performance Yamaha’s Jake Gagne, and Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki teammates Geoff May and Samuel Lochoff rounded out the top 10.

The Mission King Of The Baggers class was rained out of its first qualifying session, but that was after defending series champion Kyle Wyman led morning practice over his H-D Screamin’ Eagle factory teammate and brother, Travis Wyman. Kyle Wyman lapped at a best of 1:57.814, .846 of a second faster than Travis.

Vance & Hines Racing’s James Rispoli was third-fastest followed by Mission Foods/S&S Cycle/Indian Challenger Team’s Jeremy McWilliams and Roland Sands Design’s Bobby Fong.


Daytona 200 Q1

Cameron Petersen (Yamaha) 1:50.544
Sheridan Morais (Yamaha) 1:50.854
Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 1:50.956
Josh Herrin (Ducati) 1:51.048
Brandon Paasch (Triumph) 1:51.313
Danny Eslick (Triumph) 1:51.472
Kevin Olmedo (Yamaha) 1:51.632
Jake Gagne (Yamaha) 1:52.121
Geoff May (Suzuki) 1:52.344
Samuel Lochoff (Suzuki) 1:52.391


Cameron Petersen made his Daytona International Speedway debut a good one as he earned provisional pole position for Saturday's Daytona 200. Photo by Brian J. Nelson
Defending Mission King Of The Baggers Champion Kyle Wyman set the pace on Thursday at Daytona International Speedway. Photo by Brian J. Nelson
Friday photos and video are available HERE

Friday results by class:

Daytona 200

Mission King Of The Baggers

Twins Cup

Complete practice, qualifying and race results are available HERE

For complete 2021 MotoAmerica Media Resources please visit - 2022 MotoAmerica Media

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About MotoAmerica
MotoAmerica is the new North American road racing series created in 2014. MotoAmerica is an affiliate of KRAVE Group LLC, a partnership that includes three-time 500cc World Champion, two-time AMA Superbike Champion, and AMA Hall of Famer Wayne Rainey, ex-racer and former manager of Team Roberts Chuck Aksland, motorsports marketing executive Terry Karges, and businessman Richard Varner. For more information on MotoAmerica, visit www.MotoAmerica.com. Also make sure to follow MotoAmerica on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Source: MotoAmerica

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