ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (June 3) — GEICO Suzuki superstar Martin Cardenas continued his dominance of the GoPro Daytona SportBike class with his second victory of the weekend Sunday at the Subway SuperBike Doubleheader at Road America. Cardenas has now won six of eight races this season and leads the championship chase by 47 points over Jason DiSalvo, who finished second.
“Today was another great race,” Cardenas said. “I had a much better start than yesterday and was able to gain the No. 1 position by the second lap. I just tried to push and get into a good rhythm and see if anyone else would come with me. It turned out a rather large group came along so we had quite a race.”
Cardenas led by less than a second for nine laps before Cameron Beaubier was able to get past him with three to go. Cardenas regained the top spot a few corners later and the race to the finish was on from there.
“As close as everyone was the last few laps I knew I needed to be perfect,” Cardenas said. “Cameron was very close, I could hear his bike, and I took a few looks back to see where the others were. I knew any mistake would be trouble so I concentrated very hard on hitting my spots.”
Beaubier made one last attempt to pass Cardenas in the final turn but overran the apex, went off the racing surface, and tumbled to the ground, giving Cardenas the cushion he needed to win. Beaubier’s accident allowed DiSalvo to jump up to second, with J.D. Beach filing out the podium. Beaubier, the only other rider to lead laps in this race (he led two), ended up 20th.
“I suppose Cameron was very close around the last turn but I raced the same line I had raced all day,” Cardenas said. “I didn’t know he wrecked until later. I think I would have had the bike to win either way. I was prepared for any move he was going to make and I stayed very aggressive in the braking zones to maintain my position.
“I had my fastest lap the final time around because I knew they were right on my tail. The GEICO Suzuki was very fast all weekend and the team has done everything they can to give me the best bike. The whole team has improved and the new Suzuki is good for me. With everyone getting along the pieces are all there to win.”
The tour takes two weekend’s off before the Triumph SuperBike Classic, which runs June 22-24 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala.
