ZEMKE SCORES DOUBLE PODIUM AT FONTANA
Michael Jordan Motorsports scored a double podium and maintains the AMA Superbike Championship lead after the third and fourth races at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California at the weekend.
National Guard Jordan Suzuki’s Jake Zemke scored a second place podium on Saturday and finished fourth in Sunday’s race. And after a strong third place finish in Saturday’s race, team-mate Aaron Yates crashed in the Sunday practice, sustaining a fracture to his lower right leg.
During Saturday’s race, Zemke came up just short of the win at the line with a second-place finish after leading 12 of the 21 laps. Zemke had started the wind-delayed race from the second row but was in the lead by turn three. On Sunday, he struggled from a poor start, ending up with a fourth-place finish, but left Fontana with an 11-point lead in the championship.
Said Zemke: “I got a great jump at the start of Saturday’s race and was able to get to the front after a few turns. Aaron and I mixed it up for about the first 10 laps or so. My bike was working great and I was feeling pretty good. Larry Pegram was able to get by me near the end and I tried to catch him at the line but just came up short. It was great to be up on the podium with my team mate. The whole team did a great job.
“Sunday’s race was a different story for me: I didn’t get the jump at the start like I did on Saturday and that made it tough starting from the second row. I just wasn’t able to hook up with the front group, so I had to settle in for fourth. My crew did an awesome job once again and we learned a lot from this weekend so we’ll come back even stronger for Road Atlanta. It’s a bummer Aaron broke his leg - it was a bizarre, unfortunate incident. I hope to see him back out here as soon as possible.”
Yates started out the weekend on a positive note by setting the fastest time in Friday’s first qualifying session, earning the pole since Saturday’s second session was cancelled due to the high winds. Yates was strong in Saturday’s race one, leading several laps and ending up on the box with a third place finish. Yates had already thrown down the fastest time in Sunday morning’s practice session when he crashed coming out of turn 10 and was run over by M4 Monster Suzuki's Chris Ulrich. Ulrich was right behind Yates when he crashed and was unable to avoid the contact. Yates sustained a fracture to his right tibia and fibula and will require surgery later this week.
The 2010 Michael Jordan Motorsports team’s next event will be at the Superbike Showdown at Road Atlanta in Braselton, GA on April 16-18.
