Daytona opener will be even more critical than usual

The testing for this year's Daytona opener will be even more critical than usual, as the famed high banks got repaved for the first time since 1978. Notable addition to the testing roster is Eric Bostrom aboard the recently announced Team Cycle World Attack Performance squad, which will campaign the redesigned ZX-10R in American SuperBike and the ZX-6R in the Daytona 200. Of the 53 riders listed, many names are aligned with new teams and manufacturers, including the addition of the BMW S1000RR in the mix. There is also a smattering of Buells still on the roster, with Geoff May keeping the Erik Buell racing effort alive in the American SuperBike class. A grand total of zero riders will be sourcing Honda machinery at the Daytona test. - MCUSA ED

A total of 53 riders have been confirmed for the upcoming AMA Pro Racing Daytona Tire test at the newly paved Daytona International Speedway.AMA Pro Racing and Dunlop Tire will be conducting a two-day test session at the newly resurfaced Daytona International Speedway on January 17 and 18. All four AMA Pro Road Racing classes will be participating in the first open test for the AMA Pro Road Racing competitors. A limited test was conducted this past December by Dunlop Tire and successfully paved the way for the first big open test of 2011.

An impressive 53 rider entry list has been set for the two-day test with 17 AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike riders, 15 AMA Pro Daytona SportBike riders, 10 AMA Pro SuperSport riders and 11 AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series riders.

The test will begin at 12:00 noon on Monday, January 17th and run until 5:00 p.m. and then the riders will have a full day on the track on Tuesday, January 18th, running from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

Highlighting the entry will be 2010 National Guard SuperBike Champion Josh Hayes with his Yamaha now sporting the coveted Number One plate. He will be joined by 2010 Daytona SportBike Champion Martin Cardenas, making his National Guard SuperBike debut on a Team M4 Suzuki. Also testing for the first time at Daytona in 2011 will be Tommy Hayden, Blake Young, Chris Ulrich, Geoff May, Chris Clark and others.

A number of riders will be making their debuts on new team or equipment combinations including Ben Bostrom, Larry Pegram, Eric Bostrom and the aforementioned Cardenas. Rejoining the AMA Pro series in 2011 is Roger Hayden.

The series will also be welcoming back Kawasaki to AMA Pro Road Racing for this year's Daytona round, the exciting new project that was announced earlier today will see Eric Bostrom riding the iconic green Kawasaki Ninjas at Daytona in both the SuperBike and Daytona SportBike classes with the Team Cycle World Attack Performance program.

Larry Pegram has made an equipment change, riding a BMW in this year's series.
Ben Bostrom will join Roger Hayden at the Jordan Motorsports team in a complete rider change for the team. Hayden will be riding the National Guard Suzuki and Bostrom will be aboard the famous number 23 Jordan Suzuki.

In the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike category, 15 riders will be testing the new racing surface. 2009 Daytona SportBike Champion Danny Eslick will be getting his first look at the new track surface and he will be joined by a number of new rider team/equipment combinations as well, including Dane Westby riding with Team M4 Suzuki, Taylor Knapp moving to Vesrah Suzuki alongside Cory West, and P.J. Jacobsen riding a Ducati for Celtic Racing with technical support from Fast by Ferracci. The series will also see the return of Jason DiSalvo, riding with Team Latus Motors.

AMA Pro 2010 SuperSport Young Gun East Division champion J.D. Beach will be making his debut in the Daytona SportBike class aboard the exciting new Kawasaki entry alongside Eric Bostrom as part of the Team Cycle World Attack Performance program with Kawasaki.

2010 AMA Pro SuperSport race winners Elena Myers and James Rispoli headline the 10 SuperSport bikes that will be testing at Daytona, getting their first look at the new asphalt, the second resurfacing in track history and the first since 1978.

Also running in SuperSport will be Eric Stump, Stefano Mesa, Miles Thornton and Michael Corbino among others.

The AMA Pro Vance & Hines XR1200 Series, which debuted last year in June at Road America, will be taking to the Daytona highbanks for the first time. Bolstered by another healthy addition to the prize money fund by Harley-Davidson, the test will see a strong 11 Harley-Davidson XR1200's take to the track next week. A number of familiar names will be riding the big twins including Michael Barnes, Kyle Wyman, Paul Schwemmer, Chris Fillmore and Clinton Seller. Making a welcome debut in road racing will be AMA Pro Flat Track star Joe Kopp with Team Latus Motors and he will joined by Chase McFarland on a second Latus XR1200. AMA Pro 2009 SuperSport Young Gun West Division Champion Ricky Parker will also be testing a XR1200.

Following the earlier limited testing this past December, Dunlop Tire engineers will be on hand to closely monitor the performance of the various new combinations. The previous test was quite successful with the new surface receiving many complements from not only the AMA Pro riders that participated but also from the other categories of motorsports that have tested on the amazingly smooth new surface.

The AMA Pro teams will return in March for the opening rounds of the 2011 season with the Daytona 200 Week activities beginning March 5th with the Daytona Supercross event. The AMA Pro Flat Track events at the DAYTONA Flat Track are scheduled for Thursday, March 10th and Friday, March 11th. The AMA Pro Road Racing activities begin Thursday, March 10th and the closing race of Bike Week this year will be the famous Daytona 200, which will be run during the day on Saturday, March 12th.

Live Timing & Scoring from the Dunlop Tire Test will be available for the duration of the two-day test at http://live.amaproracing.com.

Please visit www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com for more schedule and ticket information and also www.amaproracing.com for testing results and information. Once again the 2011 AMA Pro Road racing season will be seen on SPEED TV, please visit www.speedtv.com for more information.

Full Test Participant List

National Guard SuperBike
David Anthony (Suzuki)
Ben Bostrom (Suzuki)
Eric Bostrom (Kawasaki)
Jordan Burgess (Suzuki)
Martin Cardenas (Suzuki)
Chris Clark (Yamaha)
Roger Hayden (Suzuki)
Tommy Hayden (Suzuki)
Eric Haugo (Suzuki)
Josh Hayes (Yamaha)
Geoff May (Buell)
Gary Orr (BMW)
Larry Pegram (BMW)
Jeremy Toye (BMW)
Chris Trounson (Suzuki)
Chris Ulrich (Suzuki)
Blake Young (Suzuki)

Daytona SportBike
Paul Allison (Yamaha)
Tommy Aquino (Yamaha)
J.D. Beach (Kawasaki)
Jason Disalvo (Ducati)
Danny Eslick (Suzuki)
P.J. Jacobson (Ducati)
Taylor Knapp (Suzuki)
Barrett Long (Ducati)
Pat Mooney (Buell)
Reese Wacker (Suzuki)
Cory West (Suzuki)
Dane Westby (Suzuki)
Russ Wikle (Suzuki)
Santiago Villa (Suzuki)
TBA (Yamaha)


SuperSport
Emerson Connor (Ducati)
Michael Corbino (Yamaha)
Mark McCormick (Yamaha)
David McPherson (Yamaha)
Stefano Mesa (Yamaha)
Jake Mormon (Yamaha)
Elena Myers (Suzuki)
James Rispoli (Suzuki)
Eric Stump (Yamaha)
Miles Thornton (Yamaha)
Vance & Hines XR1200
Michael Barnes
Michael Corbino
Chris Fillmore
Matt Heidel
Joe Kopp
Chase McFarland
Ricky Parker
Paul Schwemmer
Clinton Sellers
Gerry Signorelli
Kyle Wyman


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