Triumph Big Kahuna New Orleans/GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike NOLA Motorsports Park Avondale, Louisiana October 7, 2012 Provisional Race Two Results (all on Dunlop tires): 1. Martin Cardenas (Suz GSX-R600), 18 laps 2. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R6), -0.208 second 3. Tommy Aquino (Yam YZF-R6), -14.857 seconds 4. Dane Westby (Suz GSX-R600), -15.052 5. JD Beach (Yam YZF-R6), -23.860 6. Jason DiSalvo (Tri Daytona 675R), -24.175 7. Tommy Hayden (Yam YZF-R6), -44.411 8. Michael Beck (Yam YZF-R6), -48.833 9. David Gaviria (Yam YZF-R6), -55.022 10. Kris Turner (Tri Daytona 675R), -63.243 11. Josh Galster (Yam YZF-R6), -67.492 12. Kenny Riedmann (Tri Daytona 675R), -68.276 13. Chris Peris (Yam YZF-R6), -72.175 14. Huntley Nash (Yam YZF-R6), -72.235 15. Danny Kelsey (Yam YZF-R6), -72.424 16. Joey Pascarella (Suz GSX-R600), -72.511 17. Ben Young (Yam YZF-R6), -73.774 18. Bryce Prince (Yam YZF-R6), -81.233 19. Nicollas Ferreira (Yam YZF-R6), -101.794 20. Fernando Amantini (Kaw ZX-6R), -102.005 21. Derek Wagnon (Duc 848EVO), -107.111 22. Austin Dehaven (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap, DNF, crash 23. Melissa Paris (Suz GSX-R600), -1 lap, 16.125 seconds 24. Jeff Wrobel (Yam YZF-R6), -1 lap, 16.355 25. Scott Ryan (Yam YZF-R6), -3 laps 26. Cory West (Suz GSX-R600), -12 lap, DNF, mechanical 27. Bobby Fong (Yam YZF-R6), -15 laps, DNF, crash 28. Jake Zemke (Duc 848), -15 laps, DNF, crash 29. Shane Narbonne (Yam YZF-R6), -18 laps, DNF 30. Jake Gagne (Yam YZF-R6), DNS 31. Benny Solis (Yam YZF-R6), DNS 32. Michael Barnes (Yam YZF-R6), DNS 33. Garrett Willis (Yam YZF-R6), DNS Championship Point Standings (after 19 of 19 races): 1. Cardenas, 447 points 2. Westby, 382 3. Beaubier, 372 4. Tommy Hayden, 275 5. DiSalvo, 255 6. Beach, 252 7. Zemke, 229 8. Fong, 222 9. Pascarella, 201 10. West, 194 11. Gagne, 178 12. Nash, 137 13. Beck, 135 14. Aquino/Gaviria, 111 16. Amantini, 108 17. DeHaven, 105 18. Solis, 101 19. Prince, 97 20. Narbonne, 59 More, from a press release issued by Geiger Media on behalf of GEICO: Cardenas ends championship-winning season with thrilling victory on GEICO Suzuki NEW ORLEANS (Oct. 7) — Martin Cardenas capped his second championship season Sunday with a thrilling victory over hard-charging Cameron Beaubier at NOLA Motorsports Park to push his 2012 total to eight wins and the all-time class record to 24. In a repeat of Saturday’s slugfest between the two, Cardenas got the early lead and help it for 14 laps until Beaubier finally caught up and made a pass for the lead. The two swapped the No. 1 spot back and forth a few times down the stretch and were pushing each other and their motorcycles to the absolute limit. Slipping and sliding their way through the final lap, the two appeared to get together in the final turn with Cardenas coming out on top and crossing the finish line first. “I wanted this win very much,” Cardenas said. “Cameron has been so good and won a lot of races lately but today I pushed with everything I had to get this win. It is a great way to end this incredible season. I know I have the best team in the sport and having GEICO on board has been wonderful. The big bosses are here today so it’s nice to give them a big show. “I don’t know if we touched or not. It was very close. I had passed him in the same spot he passed me earlier and I knew he would try something at the end. He wanted to win as much as we did. It’s really been a remarkable year racing with Cameron and the others. It made the championship so much better knowing we beat such great riders to get it.” Cardenas captured the 2010 title in the GoPro Daytona SportBike category on the strength of nine wins. He then switched to Superbike in 2011 before returning to Daytona SportBike this season. Although he was asked about a possible return to Superbike in 2013, Cardenas said that’s something he’ll worry about later. “Right now, I want to enjoy this time with my teammates and friends,” Cardenas said. “Lots of things have been discussed and I’m sure we’ll figure something out soon. I can tell you the competition is just as tough here as in Superbike. The skill level of the top riders in this class is exceptional, as we all saw today.” The GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing awards banquet competes the year Monday night at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Cameron Beaubier Hangs Ten On His Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha R6 And Is The “Big Kahuna” In New Orleans New Orleans, LA October 7, 2012 Sunday’s AMA Pro GoPro Daytona SportBike Race Two at NOLA Motorsports Park was a battle royale between Yamaha Extended Service/Graves/Yamaha rider Cameron Beaubier and DSB series points champ Martin Cardenas. Cameron diced with the veteran rider several times during the race, and especially on the final lap where the lead changed hands a few times. At the stripe, Cameron narrowly missed earning his second win of the weekend, and he finished a close second. Based on his win in Saturday’s Race One and his second-place finish on Sunday, Cameron was awarded the surfboard trophy as the “Big Kahuna” in New Orleans, which will sit alongside the other surfboard that he won just two weeks ago as the “Big Kahuna” in Miami. After the race, Cameron said, “I had a little better start today, but I got shuffled back early in the race. I managed to get myself back up to the front, and I worked hard to stay there. The last lap was a battle. I don’t know if we touched, but it was definitely close racing, and I did everything I could to get the win. The surfboard is awesome, and I guess I’ll have to add surfing to my off-season training program!” Cameron’s teammate Tommy Hayden soldiered through Sunday’s DSB race aboard his #22 Y.E.S./Graves/Yamaha R6 and finished in a very respectable seventh place. It was a gutsy effort for Tommy in New Orleans after coming back so soon from the multiple injuries he incurred in his crash at New Jersey Motorsports Park just a month ago. For more news, results, and other team info, be sure to check out Yamaha’s Facebook page. More, from a press release issued by LTD Racing: NASH AND LTD RACING CHARGE UP TO ELEVENTH ON TRACK IN NEW ORLEANS FINALE New Orleans, LA (October 7, 2012) Huntley Nash won a tough battle for eleventh place on the track in the season-ending race in New Orleans, even though the 20-year-old was penalized five seconds for crossing a white line and classified 14th. Nash struggled early in the weekend with no prior testing at the track and then he faced a mechanical DNF on Saturday. The young racer rebounded with a gritty performance to turn the weekend around for the season finale. “It was decent and a lot better than the rest of the weekend went. Today, we turned the bike upside down with our setting and made some progress. We didn’t go a lot faster but we were more consistent, and we were able to control a battle for position in the race and come out on top. I wanted to be a lot higher in the order, but it went a lot better than the way it was going. Now it’s time to figure out what we are going to do next year.” Nash closes out the 2012 season 12th in Daytona SportBike points. More, from a press release issued by Team Hammer: WESTBY EARNS SECOND IN 2012 AMA PRO DAYTONA SPORTBIKE POINTS Team Hammer wrapped up an outstanding 2012 AMA Pro Road Racing season in fine fashion on Sunday at New Orleans Motorsports Park. M4 Suzuki’s Dane Westby waged one last thrilling battle at the front for the season in the day’s AMA Pro Daytona SportBike finale. While he ultimately came up just 0.196 seconds short of adding to his tally of ten podium results at the checkered flag, his fourth-place finish was more than enough to secure the runner-up ranking in the season’s standings. ‘The Wolverine’ ended the season placed second with 382 points, ten podiums, and a second career victory. “We got to dicing and I changed up my lines and the leaders were able to get away at that point,” Westby explained. “I was just trying to ride a defensive line and another rider and I came together. I didn’t really like it but that’s racing. “I’m really glad that we wrapped up the championship in second. That’s amazing in this class. I’m really happy — it’s not easy against this field. I was there consistently in the last half of the season. I’ve been trying to put more tools in the toolbox all the time. There was a certain point where all of our hard work to improve paid off. I became better with my starts and was more confident when I was up there that the guys aren’t going away from me. “I thought that maybe this year was going to be my year but there can only be one number one. I’m really looking forward to next year, compiling all our knowledge and coming back even stronger.” M4 Suzuki’s Chris Ulrich and Team Venezuela’s Robertino Pietri also concluded the ’12 AMA Pro Superbike season with excellent efforts. For the second time in as many race weekends, Ulrich matched his career-best Superbike result with a sixth-place finish on Sunday. He was followed to the flag by Pietri, who took seventh. The two turned it on late in the season as Ulrich was in the top ten six times over the season’s second half while Pietri finished the year with a run of sixth, fifth, and seventh-place finishes. Californian Ulrich ended the season ranked tenth in Superbike with 186 points. Suzuki SportBikeTrackGear.com’s Elena Myers finished out the AMA Pro SuperSport season with a ninth-place result. She concluded the season highlighted by a spectacular Daytona victory ranked third in the West Region standings.