M4 SportbikeTrackGear.com Racing’s Joe Roberts will open Sunday’s AMA Pro Daytona SportBike from the middle of the field following a difficult final qualifying session on Saturday at Laguna Seca.
The Team Hammer teenaged racing prodigy was unable to better yesterday’s mark of 1:29.555 — circulating with a Saturday best of 1:29.932 — and slipped to 19th out of 36 on the final qualifying order.
As a result, the 17-year-old will open tomorrow’s DSB final from the inside of Row 7.
“I don’t know — we just didn’t have it today,” Roberts admitted. “We thought we found something with the bike but I think we just found the limit of the set-up. “
Roberts won at Laguna Seca one year ago in dramatic fashion en route to his perfect debut season in AMA Pro competition. He’ll attempt to tap back into that Monterey magic on Sunday and fight his way to a strong result.
“Obviously, we’re going to try to get this bike going as quick as we can tomorrow. I’m just going to out and give it everything I have. I’ve started from the back before. I think I can get a good start and I’m hoping to get a good finish.”
Sunday’s 20-lap Daytona SportBike race is scheduled to get underway at 1:25 pm local time.
