Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, inc.

Yamaha’s Jason DiSalvo took his first-ever AMA Supersport race victory in grand fashion Saturday, winning a thrilling, twice-red-flagged drafting war at Daytona International Speedway.

DiSalvo, 20, fought the entire race distance with teammate Aaron Gobert, Kawasaki’s Tommy and Roger Lee Hayden and Prieto Racing’s Michael Barnes. Jamie Hacking put his factory Yamaha up into the mix in the closing stages, but the final draft to the line was between Gobert, DiSalvo and the Haydens.

DiSalvo came across the line first, with Roger Lee Hayden second in front of brother Tommy. Gobert was strong but fourth in front of Hacking and privateer Barnes.

Aaron Yates was literally riding around the outside of the other factory pilots in the infield corners but a lack of speed on the banking doomed him to seventh, one spot better than off-form Buckmaster. Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Steve Rapp finished ninth after passing Attack Kawasaki’s Tony Meiring in the late going.

Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies retired from the top-10 with mechanical problems on lap 16 of 18.

Provisional AMA Supersport Race Results:

1. Jason DiSalvo, Yamaha, 18 laps
2. Roger Lee Hayden, Kawasaki, -0.033 second
3. Tommy Hayden, Kawasaki, -0.093 second
4. Aaron Gobert, Yamaha, -0.137 second
5. Jamie Hacking, Yamaha, -0.183 second
6. Michael Barnes, Yamaha, -0.254 second
7. Aaron Yates, Suzuki, -6.079 seconds
8. Damon Buckmaster, Yamaha, -8.209 seconds
9. Steve Rapp, Suzuki, -23.138 seconds
10. Tony Meiring, Kawasaki, -23.209 seconds
11. Jason Perez, Yamaha, -51.382 seconds
12. Lee Acree, Suzuki, -51.435 seconds
13. Scott Greenwood, Yamaha
14. Pedro Valiente, Yamaha
15. John-O Bowman, Yamaha
16. Danny Eslick, Suzuki
17. Jason Smith, Yamaha
18. Nathan Hester, Yamaha
19. Giovanni Rojas, Yamaha
20. Darren Luck, Suzuki

More, from a press release issued by Dunlop’s advertising and public relations agency, Vreeke & Associates:

Dunlop applauds top AMA Supersport finishers

Daytona Beach, FL – Led by Team Yamaha’s Jason DiSalvo on his factory-prepped R6, Dunlop-supported riders captured eight of the top ten spots in the first race of the American Motorcyclist Association’s (AMA) Supersport series at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, March 6.

DiSalvo’s victory was his first-ever in the 600 Supersport series. “The race came down to who managed their tires the best,” he said, “and my Dunlops stuck early and were predictable for the whole race.” Second-place finisher Roger Lee Hayden echoed the thought, saying, “My Kawasaki 600 worked great and the Dunlop tires were excellent to the end.” DiSalvo and Hayden drafted around race leader Tommy Hayden on the last lap aboard his Kawasaki ZX-6RR.

Following two restarts, the 600cc Supersport race was a true spectator-special as the lead pack of riders matched their skills and drafting strategies, exchanging position on virtually every lap. The finish was only determined on the last lap as the top six finishers crossed the line with less than .3 seconds separating them. Dunlop also congratulates Team Yamaha’s Aaron Gobert, defending Supersport Champion Jamie Hacking and Damon Buckmaster, who finished fourth, fifth, and eight, respectively, Yoshimura Suzuki’s Aaron Yates, who finished seventh, and Kawasaki Racing’s Tony Meiring who finished tenth.

More, from a press release issued by Proforma:

DANNY ESLICK FINISHES 16TH IN DAYTONA SUPERSPORT FINAL

Millennium Technologies Suzuki rider Danny Eslick finished 16th in today’s AMA Pro Honda Oils Supersport final at Daytona International Raceway. Eslick got three good starts in the twice-red-flagged event, but ran the third leg of 14 laps mostly alone, not able to close on the riders ahead of him. This was 17-year-old Eslick’s first-ever entry in AMA Pro Honda Oils Supersport competition.

“The bike never felt like it did in practice or qualifying, I kind of struggled with the set-up for the race,” said Danny, who had qualified fifteenth. “We tried a bunch of different stuff, none of it seemed to work, so we tried to go back to what we had before, and that didn’t work either. I made it clean through the first lap, started picking a couple of guys off here and there, but rode around the whole race by myself. Now we can go to Fontana and really go racing!”

More, from a press release issued by Frank Angel:

BARNES FINISHES SIXTH IN DAYTONA SUPERSPORT

Daytona USA, March 6, 2004 – Michael Barnes rode to a sixth place finish in the first race of the 2004 AMA Pro Honda Oils Supersport Championship, finishing just 0.254 seconds off the lead and top privateer at the world famous Daytona International Speedway.

Mike qualified eighth for the race on the Prieto Racing Yamaha YZF-R6 provided by The Turning Wheel Sport Center of Leesburg, Florida. Getting a great start, Mike crossed the white stripe on lap one in second place and stayed with the lead pack of factory bikes for the entire race. The racing was very close, with Mike swapping positions within the top six places for the duration. After the second restart Mike ran as high as third place, finally being passed by defending Supersport champion Jamie Hacking on the next to last lap for a strong sixth place finish.

“I needed just a bit more power to make a move in the draft on the leaders”, said Mike. “I could stay with them on the banking, but I was unable to pull out of the draft and make a pass. The Pirelli tires were flawless, they performed perfectly and stuck everywhere”.

Thanks to tuner Tony Pogue, Prieto Racing, The Turning Wheel Sport Center, Pirelli and championsonline.com for making Michael’s race possible.