MONTEREY, Calif. (July 26) – With just seven races spread across four events left in the AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SuperBike Series, Martin Cardenas knows every good finish will take him one step closer to clinching the 2012 championship for the GEICO Suzuki team.
“It’s difficult to win in the class because the competition is so tough,” Cardenas said. “But I think we’ll be able to get a good result this weekend and earn more points toward that championship.”
On Sunday, Cardenas is looking to register win No. 7 on the season during the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway.
“I hope we’ll be fighting for the top spot again this weekend,” Cardenas said. “The team has been giving me good bikes to ride and Sunday should be no different.”
Cardenas, who has six wins on the season, leads second-place rider Dane Westby by 40 points going into this weekend’s race. With Tommy Hayden in third, 34 points behind Westby, the championship fight is shaping up to be a two-man duel.
Laguna Seca is one of the tracks Cardenas looks most forward to racing. He holds the SportBike class track record for the event when he conquered the 11-turn, 2.238-mile course in 2010. This year’s main event will be 20 laps, Cardenas’ record came during a 23-lap main that finished in record 34 minutes, 4.080 seconds.
“It would say it is one of my favorite places to race,” Cardenas said. “So I’m very excited to race here. The layout has a lot of fast corners and is very flowing. I’ve had many good results here in the past.”
Practice for the AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBikes gets under way at 12:20 p.m. PDT Friday from Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway. The first qualifying session gets under way at 8 a.m. Saturday with the second session at around noon. The race will be at 11:15 a.m. Sunday. SPEED will broadcast the race at 11 p.m. EDT Sunday.
