Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1517309
second and set off in pursuit. As they approached mid-distance, Daniels clearly had the pace, but Halbert's ability to defend his line and get into the corners low without sacrificing much drive made any potential overtake a significant task. That clash never fully materi - alized, however, as Halbert's bike started smoking heavily before the dogfight ever really got un- derway. As a result, Halbert was shown the black flag around the same time Daniels blasted by. In a twist, Halbert continued to push despite repeated at - tempts to get him to acknowl- edge the black flag, refusing to make way for Price, Bauman, Robinson, and Rackley Racing's Davis Fisher. Ultimately, Price, Robinson, and Fisher all found their way around Halbert and finished in that order behind race-winner Daniels, while Bauman faded to eighth. Daniels said, "I didn't get a great start, but I was in the mix, and the track kind of came to me. I just kept working and kept plugging away. Three in a row at Daytona feels good. Winning the season opener again feels good. And it feels even better because I didn't feel like the guy [to beat] all day, whereas last year I felt I was the guy to beat. It felt good to reach back and grab that one. What a night." Despite continuing to compete, Halbert was not disqualified, let alone penalized or suspended. Instead, he was vindicated after it was determined that the black flag was not applied to the letter of the rulebook, lacking a number designation. Therefore, he was multiple practice and qualify - ing sessions, won his heat race each night, swept both Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge dashes, and led deep into the Main Event on Thursday and Friday. Ultimately, Halbert fell short of securing the iconic machine its 503rd win nearly 54 years af- ter it took its first. Still, he made clear that Jeffrey Carver's claim as the XR's final winner (2017 Lone Star Half-Mile) is not yet written in stone. Despite many similarities in their respective lead-ups, Hal- bert's near-misses ended in very different manners. In Thursday's opener, Halbert broke free until title hopeful Dan- iels finally cleared his way into VOLUME ISSUE MARCH , P109 go wrong on Wednesday's test day. I rode the backup bike all day. I had just one session on the 'A' bike, and everything instantly clicked. I made some rookie mistakes today. I'm not a rookie, but I haven't really been racing. I started to follow Dallas and used his line, and it worked pretty well." 62 DAN BROMLEY 10TH/12TH SUPERTWINS Dan Bromley enjoyed a respectable opening round for the new Honda- powered Mission SuperTwins program spearheaded by Al Lamb. Despite the bike only coming together shortly before the opener, Bromley put it in the top 10 on Thursday and was in the points again the following night. He said, "We worked together as a team, and we're moving forward. Going into Senoia with a 10th and a 12th here, we'll look to get another top 10. We're really striving for a top five. That's reachable, but it might take a little bit more time, testing, and data. Overall, it was a good opening weekend for the whole Big Red SuperTwins team." MYOWNRACE 69 SAMMY HALBERT 5TH/2ND SUPERTWINS Even if he just missed out on mak- ing history, Sammy Halbert and the Dodge Bros/Castrol Harley-Davidson