Team Graves Yamaha lead rider Ben Bostrom won his first Daytona 200, and at the same time became the first ever rider to win a race of the new AMA Daytona SportBike era during the 68th edition of the Daytona 200 at the Daytona International Speedway.

Starting from pole, Bostrom had to fend off attacks from teammates Josh Herrin and Josh Hayes during a chaotic race marred by two full-course yellows, one red flag and even a lighting outage.

Bostrom crossed the finish line 0.554 seconds ahead of Herrin's similar No. 8 Team Graves Yamaha YZF-R6, while Team M4 Suzuki rider Jason DiSalvo finished third on his GSX-R600.

Over 75 rider started this year's Daytona 200, a great start for the new American SportBike class as well as the new NASCAR led organisers. The rest of the season in this class will be hot - very hot!

With three laps to go, Bostrom pushed hard and created a gap over a pack of chasers, including Josh Hayes, who won the 200 last year before his machine was found illegal and the win taken away, and who fell without injury in the closing laps of this race. Hayes will now have to wait another year for his next shot at what is becoming an elusive Daytona 200 victory.

Canadian hero and 5-time 200 winner Miguel Duhamel ran into mechanical problems which pushed him back in the final results. Look for a more detailed report on the Team Suzuki / Blackfoot / Picotte Performance activities on this site on March 18.

Next up for AMA Pro Road Racing is the AMA Pro Suzuki Superbike Challenge, Round 2 of 2009's schedule at Auto Club Speedway, March 20 - 22.


Daytona 200 - Daytona SportBike

1-Ben Bostrom - Yamaha
2- Josh Herrin - Yamaha
3- Jason DiSalvo - Suzuki
4- Jamie Hacking - Kawasaki
5- Shawn Higbee - Suzuki
6- Barrett Long - Paradigm Racing
7- Chaz Davies - Aprilia
8- Dane Westby - Yamaha
9- Martin Cardenas - Suzuki
10-Leandro Mercado - Kawasaki
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16-Miguel Duhamel - Suzuki


Photo Credit : Philippe Champoux