First Brit to Pole at Daytona Since Paul Smart in 1974...
Isle of Man resident Neil Hodgson has taken pole position for tomorrow's “Daytona 200 by Honda” race with a lap time of 1:39.347 on his factory Honda Formula Xtreme CBR600RR.
Hodgson: “It’s an honour, it’s a privilege. It’s funny, last year, I was here as a spectator; I was depressed and walking around jealous looking at all the riders. It’s weird. 12 months later here I am on pole position. It doesn’t seem real.
“If I can get the win on Saturday, that would be absolutely awesome. I don’t know if that’s possible, racing with these guys. I’m looking forward to the race. I’ve watched it the last five years and always thought I wanted to be involved, it looks like a lot of fun.”
Fellow Brit Chaz Davies (Kawasaki - 1:39.436) was second, with 2007 Daytona 200 winner Steve Rapp (Kawasaki - 1:39.779) third and five times Daytona 200 winner Miguel Duhamel (Honda - 1:39.836) fourth. Richard Cooper on the BMW HP2 Sport was 26th with a time of 1:44.154.
Formerly a round of the AMA Superbike championship, the Daytona 200 is now a Formula Xtreme race open to 600cc four cylinder machines as well as Ducati 848s, BMW 1200s, Triumph 675s and a lone Buell XB12R. Not very “Xtreme”, but that's Daytona for you.
Paul Smart was the last British rider to take pole at the Daytona 200, in 1974 on a Suzuki.
Daytona 200 - Hodgson on Pole, Davies Second
Daytona 200 - Hodgson on Pole, Davies Second
#152 Straights are for fast bikes. Corners are for fast riders
Re: Daytona 200 - Hodgson on Pole, Davies Second
Hayes Disqualified , Hodgson breaksdown, Chaz Davies Declared Winner...
Hayes' Erion Honda Had Polished Crank - Team Will Appeal Against Decision..
Daytona 200 winner Josh Hayes has been disqualified by AMA officials after the crankshaft on his Erion Honda CBR600RR was found to have been “polished, surface treated and metal was removed from it,” according to an AMA Pro Racing press release, which continues, “This is in violation of the 2008 AMA rulebook, section 5.4.”
The rule book apparently says that for multi-cylinder liquid cooled bikes the homologated crankshaft "may not be altered from the originally homologated model except that the bearing surfaces may be polished or surface treated."
Rick Hobbs, crew chief for Erion Honda: "We've appealed their decision and basically that's our side of it. We've appealed the technical inspection and also the penalty, disqualification. At this point we're not going to make any statement on what our version is until we file the appropriate paperwork with them."
The crank polishing was discovered after the podium finishers' bikes were stripped down for a mandatory but perfectly normal technical inspection.
This leaves Chaz Davies as the race winner.
Hayes' Erion Honda Had Polished Crank - Team Will Appeal Against Decision..
Daytona 200 winner Josh Hayes has been disqualified by AMA officials after the crankshaft on his Erion Honda CBR600RR was found to have been “polished, surface treated and metal was removed from it,” according to an AMA Pro Racing press release, which continues, “This is in violation of the 2008 AMA rulebook, section 5.4.”
The rule book apparently says that for multi-cylinder liquid cooled bikes the homologated crankshaft "may not be altered from the originally homologated model except that the bearing surfaces may be polished or surface treated."
Rick Hobbs, crew chief for Erion Honda: "We've appealed their decision and basically that's our side of it. We've appealed the technical inspection and also the penalty, disqualification. At this point we're not going to make any statement on what our version is until we file the appropriate paperwork with them."
The crank polishing was discovered after the podium finishers' bikes were stripped down for a mandatory but perfectly normal technical inspection.
This leaves Chaz Davies as the race winner.
#152 Straights are for fast bikes. Corners are for fast riders