VOL. 51 ISSUE 27 JULY 8, 2014 P87
BY CHRIS MARTIN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J. NELSON
Y
ou'll be forgiven if you no-
ticed the sharply-liveried
gold #00 R6 regularly
fighting for the lead in this year's
AMA Pro Daytona SportBike
races - you know, the one with
'YAMALUBE' written in ultra-large
font across its flanks - and mis-
takenly assumed it represented
an all-new full works addition to
Yamaha's powerhouse effort.
While 'all new' certainly rings
true, and 'powerhouse' is prov-
ing to be an apt description as
well, a walk through the paddock
will quickly reveal a very different
reality for the Yamalube Westby
Racing Team - one that stands in
stark contrast to its rivals.
Make your way past the gi-
ant semis of the official factory
teams, the similarly outfitted
satellite squads, and even the
impressive rigs supporting the
larger privateer entries, and you'll
eventually come across the mod-
est Westby Racing trailer that
was towed to the track behind a
rented pickup.
Back to basics, explains Dane
Westby, the team's sole rider:
"It's just us in the back of our lit-
tle… we don't even have a truck.
We rent a truck. We just have a
trailer with everything piled in on
top of each other. Well, not quite
like that - it's all organized, but
we're just a few guys that want to
go racing.
"The last three years we were
in a semi and they were good
years - I got my first two wins -
but I just decided I needed to go
back to my roots with my dad and
ride what I wanted to ride and do
what I wanted to do."
Dane's father, Tryg Westby,
was an AMA Superbike racer
himself back in the '80s and now
serves as team owner. He's easy
to pick out at the races - both by
his hat and his collection of the
trickest streetbikes to be found
anywhere in the paddock.
Twenty-seven-year-old Dane
first climbed on the SportBike
podium in 2010 while racing a
P1A Yamaha. He then earned
memorable race wins in 2011
and 2012 while piloting Team
Hammer Suzukis. However, the
'12 DSB championship runner-
up suffered through a frustrating
campaign last season when the
team swapped out their GSX-
R600s for Honda CBR600RRs,
Dane Westby
heads to Laguna
Seca this week
fresh of a
doubleheader
sweep of
the Daytona
SportBike
class at Barber
Motorsports Park.
