March 20, 2006
Daytona, FL - Team Honda’s Jake Zemke scored his first-ever win in the Daytona 200 on a sun-drenched afternoon at Daytona International Speedway, with Erion Honda’s Josh Hayes finishing a close second to give the Honda CBR600RR a one-two finish in what’s considered one of the showcase events in American road racing.
The win, in what was the 65th annual Daytona 200, was especially sweet for Zemke, who’s finished second and third at Daytona in years past, but never first. This completes his set of trophies, he quipped from the top step of the podium.
“Everybody knows about the Daytona 200,” said the Paso Robles, CA, native after beating Erion’s Hayes by a scant 1.562 seconds. “It’s something as a kid that you always look at the names on the list of the winners of the Daytona 200, and it’s a who’s who list. I’m proud to put my name up there.”
But with Zemke’s fortune, as the racing gods would have it, came the misfortune of his five-time Daytona 200-winning teammate Miguel Duhamel. Starting on pole after setting a new lap record two days before, the reigning FX class champion built a 12-second lead before high-siding violently in turn one on the 44th of 68 laps.
But Duhamel was far from done, and in what could only be described as a typically indomitable Miguel moment (his illustrious career has had way too many to list here), the most prolific racer in Daytona history remounted his slightly damaged Honda CBR600RR and rejoined the fray, now second to Zemke.
“I was still in the hunt. I still had a shot at it,” Duhamel said. “The bike was good enough and I was still able to pound out some pretty good lap times.”
When an accident brought out the pace car on the 54th lap, Duhamel was in the perfect position to fight for a historic sixth win. But a mistake by race officials put Duhamel, and not race leader Zemke, directly behind the pace car, meaning the French-Canadian had to make up almost an entire lap when the field was released.
Fighting through the pain, Duhamel finished fifth in his only Formula Xtreme appearance of the year. He and teammate Zemke will now focus on bringing the AMA Superbike Championship back to the Honda tent.
Meantime, Hayes and Erion Racing teammate Aaron Gobert, who crossed the stripe behind Duhamel in sixth, will pick up the cudgels for Honda’s 2006 Formula Xtreme campaign, picking up next month at Barber Motorsports Park on April 21-23.
AMA Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series, Rd. 1
1. Jake Zemke – Honda
2. Josh Hayes – Honda
3. Jason DiSalvo – Yamaha
4. Eric Bostrom – Yamaha
5. Miguel Duhamel – Honda
6. Aaron Gobert – Honda
7. Geoff May – Suzuki
8. Eric Wood – Suzuki
9. Blake Wood – Suzuki
10. Will Gruy – Yamaha
AMA Lockhart Phillips USA Formula Xtreme Series Points Standings
1. Jake Zemke – 37 – Honda
2. Josh Hayes – 32 – Honda
3. Jason DiSalvo – 29 – Yamaha
4. Eric Bostrom – 27 – Yamaha
5. Miguel Duhamel – 27 – Honda
6. Aaron Gobert – 25 – Honda
7. Geoff May – 24 – Suzuki
8. Eric Wood – 23 – Suzuki
9. Blake Wood – 22 – Suzuki
10. Will Gruy – 21 – Yamaha
