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M4 Suzuki>> Two Wins for Cardenas in AMA SportBike

May 19 2009

CARDENAS AND TEAM M4 SUZUKI TRIUMPH IN SONOMA

Team M4 Suzuki continued their winning ways on Saturday at Infineon Raceway and moved to the top of the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike championship standings following another brilliant ride from Martin Cardenas.

The Colombian again charged up through the field on his Suzuki GSX-R600 before ultimately taking control of the race on lap 13 of 22. Once through, Cardenas showed no signs of fading despite the extreme heat and held strong to the checkered flag to claim his third victory in a row.

His incredible run of form, which has seen him win four of the last five races, has pushed him into the Daytona SportBike championship lead with 173 points following eight races.

"The race went really good and the bike worked from the start," Cardenas said. "There was a lot of sliding out there but that was because of the heat. The race was very tough physically because of the conditions.

"I started in seventh position and had to work my way up. Once I got into second place, I tried to stay behind Steve (Rapp) for a little while. When I passed him I tried to open a gap because he's really strong here. I tried my best and got a gap of around a second, which I tried to maintain for the rest of the race."

Cardenas' confidence is deservedly sky high at the moment, although he is making sure not to get ahead of himself.

"Every race is different but right now everything is working really great. My confidence level is good but I want to make sure I don't get overconfident. It's nice to take the championship lead too but right now I'm just focused on winning races. I'm just taking it race by race."

The contest started even more promisingly for teammate Jason DiSalvo, who led from pole for the race's opening nine laps. Unfortunately, the New Yorker's hopes for his first win of the season were dashed when he crashed while enjoying a two-second advantage in Turn 11.

DiSalvo showed his grit and determination by remounting and charging up from 29th position to finish a hard-earned 16th position, claiming some valuable championship points for his efforts.

TEAM M4 SUZUKI AND MARTIN CARDENAS DO THE DOUBLE AT INFINEON RACEWAY

Team M4 Suzuki backed up Saturday's AMA Pro Daytona SportBike victory at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California in perfect fashion on Sunday, claiming a dominant second 1-2 finish of the season.

Martin Cardenas claimed his fourth straight victory, narrowly holding off an intense challenge from teammate Jason DiSalvo as the two powered away from the rest of the field during the race's second half aboard their Suzuki GSX-R600 machines.

Cardenas and DiSalvo broke free of a tight pack for lead on lap 14 of 22 and battled it out among themselves in the blisteringly hot conditions. Both men took their turns at the front but the Colombian led down the stretch, doing everything in his power to keep the New Yorker corralled behind him.

The two charged out of the race's final corner side-by-side, crisscrossing as they lunged for the stripe. Cardenas took the checkered flag an instant earlier, getting his fifth win in the last six races by a meager 0.104 seconds.

Cardenas' victory opens up a bit of breathing space in the championship race, extending his title lead to 24 points (203 vs. Jamie Hacking's 179).

"Today's race was again very tough," Cardenas said. "It was a little bit different because I got to the front a little bit early and it was very tough because of the pressure; Jason was there the entire time. I knew on the last lap Jason was going to try to pass me but I tried to ride as hard as I could. I shut the door in the last corner because I knew he was fast and that was a good place to pass, but it worked out this time.

"I want to congratulate the whole team. They did a great job."

DiSalvo, who is fourth in the points with 148, was highly motivated after suffering a fall while leading on Saturday, but admitted there just wasn't anything he could do with Cardenas on this day.

"We wanted that number 1 spot," he said. "After yesterday I was really gunning for it but Martin ran just an incredible race. The last lap was faultless by both of us but we were just so evenly matched there was no place to make the move.

"Big congratulations to the whole M4 Suzuki team. These guys have really been working hard and they really deserve this second M4 Suzuki 1-2 of the season. Hopefully at Road America we can get a couple more of them."

Team M4 Suzuki will carry their four-race win streak into Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on June 5-7.

M4 Suzuki is sponsored by Hotbodies Racing and uses our windscreens and bodywork on all of their bikes. Hotbodies Racing specializes in manufacturing high-performance parts for high-performance sportbikes, and is the North American distribution of KR Tuned performance parts. Hotbodies Racing is the market leader in Undertails, Huggers, Windscreens, Flush-Mount Signals, Megaphone Exhausts and full-race Bodywork. Hotbodies Racing supports the sport with sponsorship around the world and encourages dealer and distributor inquiries. For more information visit: www.HOTBODIESRACING.com.