Former AMA Daytona Sportbike racer Tommy Aquino is coming back to the U.S. to compete as a wild card entry in the Moto2 race at the 2012 Indianapolis Grand Prix.

The California native has been racing in Spain’s CEV Moto2 class this season for Canadian-owned FOGI Racing this year. Aquino has been riding a Moto2 bike with a chassis by FTR, a combination he’ll repeat Aug. 19 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“It has been a lot of hard work over the past nine months to get the team where it is today. We worked tirelessly to get the proper rider, equipment and infrastructure together to put us in a position where we could take advantage of an opportunity such as this,” says Andrew Murray of FOGI Racing. “We still have a lot of work to do to find a team sponsor for this event, but we are confident this opportunity will open up new organizations in North America who want to partner with a successful team and take advantage of the enormous market reach found in MotoGP / Moto2 / Moto3 for their products and services.” Continue Reading »

Motorcycle racers recognize they compete in a dangerous sport, risking serious harm in a crash. Of course, all riders know about the risks, whether they’re on a race track or on the street. Still it seems odd to hear Daytona Sportbike racer Cameron Beaubier broke his knee cap and injured his wrist crashing a 50cc scooter on the street.

Beaubier may ride a Yamaha YZF-R6 on the track but the accident occurred when the Graves Yamaha racer clipped an unseen hazard on the road while riding his Yamaha Zuma 50 scooter.Doctors inserted screws and wires into Beaubier’s knee to hold the broken patella in place. Beaubier’s wrist was injured but did not require surgery. Continue Reading »

The 2012 Daytona 200 delivered another fairy-tale finish with underdog privateer Joey Pascarella and the Project 1 Atlanta team fending off a pack of three other racers to win by a slim 0.048 second margin.

Competing in just his first Daytona 200, 19-year-old Pascarella from Victorville, Calif., held the lead for 41 out of 57 laps to finish first ahead of a last year’s winner Jason DiSalvo while Cameron Beaubier squeezed by 2010 Daytona Sportbike Champion Martin Cardenas in a photo-finish to take third.

For the Project 1 Atlanta team, the win marked a dramatic turnaround from a let down in 2011. Despite finishing third in the 2011 Daytona 200 with rider Jake Zemke taking the pole, the team was unable to secure funding to continue the rest of the season. The team came back this year with little funding – Pascarella’s YZF-R6 doesn’t even have a Yamaha logo on it – with its main goal to raise awareness for the March of Dimes children’s charity.

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Tommy Hayden has signed on to race in the 2012 Daytona 200 for the Graves Yamaha team as an replacement for injured rider Garrett Gerloff.

Gerloff broke his right femur in the first Daytona Sportbike class practice session for the Daytona 200, leaving Yamaha little time to find a replacement. Hayden had raced for Yamaha before, and those old ties reconnected quickly in time for the season opening race.

“The last thing a rider wants to do is replace an injured rider,” says Hayden. “But, I rode for Yamaha a few years back, and they have always treated me like a special member of their family. I couldn’t be happier to be back!” Continue Reading »

In an effort to control costs, AMA Pro Racing has issued a price cap of $7500 for electronics in the Daytona Sportbike class.

The $7500 cap is for all electronics not installed on the homologated motorcycle. The cap includes (but is not limited to) spending on upgrading the ECU, data acquisition tools, sensors and wiring harnesses.

Race teams are to submit documentation totaling the cost of electronics installed on race bikes in the Daytona Sportbike class. The documents must be submitted at least seven days ahead of a race event, and only one submission is required unless changes to a bike’s electronics are made.

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Danny Eslick won his second career AMA Daytona Sportbike Championship, adding another #1 plate to the one he won in 2009.

The Geico Powersports RMR Suzuki GSX-R600 rider won three races this season and added another five podium finishes to win the title by a 275-256 margin over Monster Energy Graves Yamaha’s Josh Herrin. Eslick clinched the title after finishing sixth in the first race of the 2011 season finale at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

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