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1-2 Daytona Supersport Win for YZF-R6
Category: Racing News
Date: 12 Mar 2008
Time: 19:15:39 -0500
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The opening round of the 2008 AMA Superbike Championship was a great one for Yamaha as Ben Bostrom and Josh Herrin swept the top two positions in the highly competitive Supersport class aboard their Graves Motorsports YZF-6Rs on Thursday, Mar. 6. To make the weekend even better, on Saturday Jason DiSalvo scored his first Superbike podium on a Yamaha Factory Racing YZF-R1. Then on Sunday, halfway around the world, Jorge Lorenzo scored an impressive second at the Grand Prix of Qatar in his MotoGP debut for Fiat Yamaha. Bostrom and Herrin’s Supersport race was textbook perfect. After the pair qualified first and second, respectively, Herrin grabbed the holeshot with Bostrom sandwiched in third between Josh Hayes and Blake Young. Bostrom soon worked up to second, gave his teammate the thumbs-up, and the pair starting working together, with Bostrom leading in the infield and Herrin slipstreaming past on the banking. The race came down to the 22nd and final lap as Herrin dogged Bostrom through the infield, waiting for his chance on the final banking. But the wily “B Boz” chose a defensive line and beat Herrin by just 0.012 sec. for his first Daytona win. “The kid had me outsmarted but I thought, ‘I’ll try to show him something anyway,’” Ben said later. “Fortunately it worked.” Herrin added, “Thanks to Yamaha and Graves Motorsports for having such a great program for me the last three years. I’m going to try my hardest to get them a championship.” The 15-lap Superbike race looked nearly as promising, with DiSalvo and Eric Bostrom qualifying fourth and fifth on their R1s. While “E Boz” overcooked his clutch at the start, DiSalvo jumped quickly into third and then moved into second behind Mat Mladin as Tommy Hayden ran wide in turn two. Although Ben Spies soon drafted by on the banking, DiSalvo used his Daytona experience to turn in some blistering laps, ultimately finishing third. “It was pretty much a flat-out sprint,” he said afterwards. “To have such a great result in the first race is really rewarding.” Team manager Tom Halverson added, “This is our first year with a new package, and it’s already faster, easier to ride and easier on tires. It’s really a state-of-the-art R1.”