Martin Cardenas

#36 GEICO Suzuki GSX-R600

AMA Pro Daytona SportBike

Martin (pronounced Mar-teen) Cardenas grew up outside of Medellin, Colombia, and started racing motocross when he was 11 years old. He started winning races right away on 80cc machinery. Two years later, in 1995, he wanted to race a 125, but he was not old enough according to the regulations. So he took his 80, bored it out to 105, beat everyone in the 125cc class and won the championship!

Cardenas repeated as champion the following year on a real 125cc machine. He continued to win championships in motocross over the next few years, and in 2000 came to the U.S. and raced selected rounds of the AMA Pro Motocross series.

In 2001, Martin traveled to Spain for a road race tryout in the competitive CEV Spanish National Series, and with a good result landed a ride for the 2002 season. For 2003, Martin earned a ride with the Luis d’Antin Yamaha team in the Spanish series, finishing 7th, while also winning the Latin American Supersport Championship in Colombia. He earned the Spanish National Supersport Championship the following year in the CEV series with the Promo Racing team. 

Cardenas made his debut in the MotoGP 250cc World Championship class in 2005 on the Aprilia Germany team, scoring points in enough events to be offered a ride on one of the top Spanish teams. The 2006 250cc Grand Prix season saw Martin start with the private Wurth Honda BQR team, but he was offered a ride with the factory Repsol Honda team when fellow South American Sebastian Porto retired. Unfortunately, Cardenas crashed during the first race weekend and broke his collarbone. He raced several more events, but the collarbone never healed correctly and he was unable to ride at full strength. 

In 2007, Martin moved to the U.S. when a friend of his offered him a ride on a Kawasaki ZX-10R in the AMA Pro Superstock Series. He competed on it in the first three events, but switched to a 600 at the Infineon Raceway event, and was offered a ride with M4 Suzuki to fill in for Michael Barnes when Barnes crashed and broke his wrist on Saturday of that event. 

In 2008 Martin raced with M4 Suzuki in AMA Pro 600cc Supersport and Formula Xtreme and scored five podium finishes, but missed three events after breaking his femur in an early-season crash.

AMA Pro classes and rules were realigned for the 2009 season, with the introduction of new rules and spec tires. The access to equal tires proved to be the missing ingredient for Cardenas and 2009 proved to be a breakthrough year for him: He won seven AMA Pro Daytona SportBike races – more than anyone else in the class. Martin won at Road Atlanta, both rounds of the doubleheader at Barber Motorsports Park and backed that up by winning both rounds at Infineon Raceway. Cardenas won again at Road America, put the M4 Suzuki on pole at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in front of the MotoGP crowd, and then won again at Heartland Park Topeka.Cardenas added three more podium finishes, and ended up third in the point standings after a broken hand forced him to sit out the final round of the season.

The 2010 AMA Pro Racing season was even better for Martin, who won the 2010 AMA Pro Racing Daytona SportBike Championship with a record nine victories in 18 races, along with a total of 13 podium finishes. 

In 2011, Cardenas received a new challenge, the AMA Pro Superbike class. Quickly adapting to the 1000cc formula, the Colombian quickly became one of the contenders for race wins. Regarded as one of the paddock's best riders, it was no surprise when Cardenas made the podium but to do it by the third race of the year at Infineon Raceway was a testament to his abilities and determination. He then topped that with a victory at Barber Motorsports Park. That win was a tough fight in difficult, wet-but-drying conditions. After he made it to the front, Martin fought off a challenge in the closing laps and managed to take the victory. 

Cardenas earned a remarkable fourth place in the 2011 Superbike points on the basis of his nine top-5 results in 13 races, and was named Most Outstanding AMA Pro Road Racing Rookie by Speedtv.com. But that success was tempered by economic realities, manifested by the team failing to find the sponsor support needed for another Superbike campaign in 2012. Facing reality, Cardenas agreed to return to the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike class and accepted a fully funded ride with GEICO Suzuki, which contracted Team Hammer to provide technical and logistical support for the 2012 AMA Pro season.

Road Racing Career Highlights

2010: Won a record nine of 18 races and the 2010 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Championship.Scored a total of 13 podium (top-3) finishes during the season.

2009: Won seven AMA races - more than anyone else in the class and finished the season third in the points standings after an injury forced him to sit out the final round. 

2008: Earned five AMA Podiums, and finished 4th in the Daytona 200. Ended 2008 7th in Formula Extreme and 11th in Supersport after missing four rounds due to injury.

2006: Started his second season in the 250cc World Championship, but a broken collarbone eventually ended his season early, creating the opportunity that brought him to the U.S. in 2007, when he attracted the attention of Team Hammer.

2005: Earned a ride in the MotoGP 250cc World Championship, and several strong rides in the super-competitive series tallied enough points for many teams to consider him for the following season.

2004: Won the CEV Spanish National Supersport Championship.

2003: Earned a ride with a Yamaha team in the CEV Spanish National Series, finishing 7th overall while also winning the Latin American Supersport Championship in Colombia.

2002: His first full season of road racing was a successful learning year, and earned him a sponsored ride for the following year.

2001: Martin traveled to Spain for a road race tryout at the end of the season, and with a good result landed a ride for the 2002 season.

Personal Stats

Born: 1982

Personal Status: Single

Hometown: Medellin, Colombia