The story leading up to the opening round of the 2013 AMA Pro National Guard Superbike season was whether anyone would be able to keep up with defending champion Josh Hayes. After all, the Monster Energy Graves Yamaha rider dominated the competition last season winning 16 of 20 races including a string of 10 in a row.

The season-opening round at Daytona International Speedway appeared to start on script with Hayes qualifying in pole position. But when the real racing began, the plot began to veer off course for Hayes due to mechanical problems.

Hayes was off to a good start in Race 1, but he may have pushed too hard for the lead, damaging his clutch. Hayes slowed down considerably on Lap 5, ceding the lead to his teammate Josh Herrin with Yoshimura Suzuki‘s Martin Cardenas close behind. Cardenas was a close second just 0.135 seconds behind. Formost Insurance Pegram Racing‘s Larry Pegram finished 7.539 seconds back on his Yamaha R1 to complete the podium. Continue Reading »

Reigning AMA Daytona Sportbike Champion Martin Cardenas has signed on to race in the AMA Superbike class for Yoshimura Suzuki. The move was rumored to be in the works for quite some time now, especially following Cardenas’ release from the final year of his contract with his former employer Team Hammer.

Cardenas will return to the Superbike class this season, riding a Suzuki GSX-R1000 alongside teammate Chris Clark. Cardenas last raced in the class during the 2011 season, finishing fourth overall with a single race victory. That lone Superbike season was sandwiched by championship-winning campaigns in the 2010 and 2012 Daytona Sportbike class where Cardenas rode a Suzuki GSX-R600.

“I am extremely happy to have the opportunity to race for one of the best, if not the best, Superbike teams in the U.S.,” says Cardenas. “It’s really a dream come true to become part of the Yoshimura Suzuki team. I will give everything I have to try to obtain the best results for the team and for me. And hopefully I will be in the mix for the top spot in the championship.” Continue Reading »

Days after the release of the reigning AMA Daytona Sportbike champion from his contract, the Geico Motorcycle race team announced it will field Dane Westby with the backing of Team Hammer on a Honda CBR600RR season.

Westby rode last season for Team Hammer on the M4 Suzuki GSX-R600 to finish second overall behind fellow Team Hammer rider Martin Cardenas who raced on a Geico-sponsored Suzuki GSX-R600. Last week, Team Hammer released Cardenas from his contract option for the 2013 season so he could pursue opportunities in the Superbike class. That opened up the Geico-backed ride for Westby for the coming season.

Along with that change comes the switch from the Suzuki to the Honda CBR600RR, marking the Japanese manufacturer’s return to AMA Pro Road Racing. American Honda pulled its support of AMA road racing in 2009 after first two turmultuous years of Daytona Motorsports Group running the series. It is unclear at this point how much support, if any, American Honda is providing Team Hammer. Continue Reading »

AMA Pro Racing’s Team Hammer has released Martin Cardenas from his contract to allow the reigning AMA Daytona Sportbike Champion “to better pursue his goal of returning to World Championship competition as soon as possible.” Though the eventual goal appears to be for Cardenas to move up to the World Superbike Championship, rumors have Cardenas landing with the Yoshimura Suzuki factory team to race in the AMA Superbike Championship in 2013 as an eventual stepping stone towards international racing.

Cardenas won the 2010 and 2012 AMA Daytona Sportbike championships with Team Hammer riding a Suzuki GSX-R600. Team Hammer held a contract option for Cardenas for the 2013 season but decided to release the Colombian racer, allowing him to take a different route towards a WSBK career. The next step in that route is a ride in the AMA Superbike Championship. Cardenas last competed in the Superbike class in 2011, finishing fourth overall with one race victory. 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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The final entry list for the Moto2 race at the 2011 Indianapolis Grand Prix includes some familiar names for American racing fans. American racers JD Beach and Jake Gagne along with 2010 AMA Daytona Sportbike Champion Martin Cardenas are on the entry list for the Aug. 28 Moto2 race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

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