have to stay focused and make
the lap times as consistent as
possible. I knew I could do 1:49s
pretty consistently and a few
1:48s, so I just wanted to be kind
to the bike and stay in the groove.
"This is the third year for me on
the Ducati Panigale V2. The bike
is amazing, and I think a lot of
people have been sleeping on it
for the past few years. This year,
there were a lot more on the grid,
which is awesome to see. It's a
great motorcycle, and I'm just so
happy to be here riding it."
For Escalante, try as he might,
he simply couldn't pull Herrin and
the charging Ducati back, but
more heartbreak was to follow.
On the final lap, the Suzuki GSX-
R750 started sputtering at the
International Horseshoe corner,
signaling his hard-fought podium
was all but gone. Escalante
swayed and pushed the bike and
eventually made it to the flag on
fumes, but teammate and pole
sitter Tyler Scott came by, as did
Hayden Gillim and Bobby Fong,
and a fourth place was scant
consolation for all the work bat
-
tling with Herrin.
"I really wanted to win today,"
Escalante said. "I felt really good
in the beginning, just riding with
the group, but we had a bit of a
slow first pit stop, so I had to put
my head down and try my best.
VOLUME ISSUE MARCH , P81
bike than we had. We were lacking a
bit on power on the banking, but I'm
super happy to finish and finish P9
knowing the caliber of riders that were
ahead of me and has done the 200 in
the past. It was a great experience."
Mesa was bumped up a position after
Bobby Fong's disqualification.
MYOWNRACE
Tyler Scott (70) gets
the jump, but Herrin,
out of sight, takes the
lead by the International
Horseshoe corner.
