Martin Cardenas & Yoshimura Suzuki Win At Fontana
[caption id="attachment_31725" align="alignright"
width="300"] Martin Cardenas[/caption]
Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing tasted victory at the weekend as
Martin
Cardenas won the inaugural 2014 Superbike Shootout at Fontana,
California's Auto Club Speedway on Sunday afternoon.
And following the victorious Cardenas, team-mates Roger Hayden
and Chris Clark
raced their Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000s to fourth and seventh
places, respectively.
With more than two months between the season-opening round of AMA
Pro Superbike at Daytona International Speedway in March and the
upcoming second round, the Yoshimura Suzuki team participated in
this new three-race series that combines the Pros with WERA's
semi-pro and amateur events. Because the events are unaffiliated
with the AMA Pro Racing series the team usually contests, the
Yoshimura Suzuki squad treated this event as something of a
large-scale test.
[caption id="attachment_31729" align="alignleft"
width="300"] Martin Cardenas[/caption]
In Sunday's race, Cardenas got a good start on his Yoshimura
Suzuki
GSX-R1000 and was with the front-runners right off the bat. He
battled for the lead for much of the race and made the most of the
lapped riders. Towards the end of the 20 laps, he charged into the
lead and held on to take the win.
"It was a good race," said Cardenas. "I got a good start on the
Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000
and I made a move with two laps to go and I was able to hold the
position until the end. It was a very fine weekend and it was nice
to race at Fontana again after several years."
[caption id="attachment_31727" align="alignright"
width="300"] Roger Hayden[/caption]
Hayden started the weekend off by setting the fastest lap time and
capturing pole position. In the 20-lap race, he got a good start
and battled up-front before bringing home a fourth-place
finish.
"I got a really good start and had a great first half of the race,"
said Hayden. "I felt really good, the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 was
working great; and it was a really fun battle - going back and
forth and passing each other. During the second part of the race,
and especially on the last few laps, I had some issues and had to
slow down so I ended up fourth. Overall, it was a great weekend; it
was a fun event, the atmosphere was great and there were tons of
fans there. It was good to work with the Yoshimura Suzuki team in a
race environment and I can't wait for Sonoma next weekend."
[caption id="attachment_31726" align="alignleft"
width="300"] Chris Clark[/caption]
Yoshimura Suzuki's Clark, meanwhile, focused his efforts on getting
more comfortable on the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 and finding the
right setup. Clark got a top-10 start in the race and slotted into
seventh position and stayed put for all 20 laps.
"It was a good weekend all around, teaming up with the amateur
series," said Clark. "It was unique and a lot of fun. We used this
event as a test to work on some stuff that should really help us
down the road with the AMA rounds. We made some good progress and
now I'm looking forward to Sonoma next weekend and getting ready
for Road America."
Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing will also participate in the second
round of the 2014 Superbike Shootout events on May 3rd - 4th at
Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California.
[caption id="attachment_31728" align="alignright"
width="200"] Martin Cardenas[/caption]
2014 Auto Club Speedway Superbike Shootout Results
- Martin Cardenas (Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000)
- Cameron Beaubier
- Josh Hayes
- Roger Hayden (Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000)
- David Anthony
- Chris Fillmore
- Chris Clark (Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000)
- Chris Ulrich
- Daytona Anderson
- Mathew Orange
2014 Auto Club Speedway Superbike Shootout Image Gallery
(Click for full size images)
Source: Team Suzuki