MILLVILLE, N.J. (Sept. 15) – Dane Westby guided the GEICO Motorcycle Honda to a sixth-place finish in Sunday’s GoPro Daytona SportBike race, the second half of the New Jersey Lottery Devil’s Showdown doubleheader in the GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing Series.
Westby raced strong all weekend and showed the ability to work his way through the pack in both races at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
“It’s not easy starting back on the third row,” Westby said. “It helps you get a fire under you, but then there’s a lot of guys to pass and the front guys are gone by the time you get around them all. Not being able to catch up with the front group is what I dealt with both days. We’ve got to qualify better, that will solve that issue right there.”
Westby had two starts on Sunday. After the initial start of the race, he had worked his way forward to the eighth spot when another rider went down causing a red-flag situation while AMA officials checked the track for oil and debris.
After the second restart, Westby rode smart and took advantage of some attrition to work his way up to a four-way battle for fourth with Honda teammate Benny Solis, Jason DiSalvo, and Jake Zemke, a situation similar to Saturday’s race.
Westby and Solis fought back and forth for several laps, which mimicked Sunday’s warm-up session.
“We went around a few laps together in practice just to exchange notes,” Westby said. “It really made a difference. When the race came we were riding along, having a great time. I just had a little problem with the bike at the end and wasn’t able to give them anything for the last lap.”
On the last lap, Solis and DiSalvo were able to use the draft to get around Westby before the finish.
“We’ve got one more race to go,” Westby said. “Laguna Seca is a fun track and the crowd is good. I’m looking forward to the chance to ride this GEICO Motorcycle Honda one more time.”
Westby leaves New Jersey Motorsports Park in seventh place in the points. He is 10 points behind James Rispoli and Jake Lewis, who are tied for fifth.
Up next is the season finale for the GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing Series on Sept. 29 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif.