SUPERBIKE
AMA PRO SUPERBIKE SERIES
ROUND 4/JULY 13, 2014
MAZDA RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA/MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA
P90
WELCOME BACK, JAKE
After a one-year hiatus from the
AMA Pro Racing paddock, Washingto-
nian Jake Holden returned to the AMA
Superbike class and he brought with
him the first Ducati Panigale 1198 to
race in the series.
Holden was working at a mo-
torcycle dealership in Scottsdale,
Arizona, when he got the call from
TPL Squadra Corse to see if he was
interested in racing the Panigale.
Holden and the team tested the
bike once at Auto Club Speedway in
Fontana, California, then raced it at
Laguna Seca. Holden was impres-
sive right away, qualifying the bike in
sixth – just 1.7 seconds off Cameron
Beaubier's pole time.
Holden didn't get to show the capa-
bilities of the bike in the race when it
fried its clutch on the seventh lap while
he was running seventh.
"The springs in the stock clutch
are not enough to hold it," Holden
said. "We went through one on Friday
and put a new one in for Saturday
and Sunday and for some reason it
just went on us. Each time we go out
on the bike it's a learning curve for
us since we've only tested the bike
once. Laguna is fast and flowing so it
was good for the Ducati. We quali-
fied sixth with only one test under our
bely. The TPL crew is all behind it.
They flew out the engine guy, suspen-
sion guy. This bike is undeveloped in
AMA Superbike."
Holden says the team is keen on
doing the entire series next year.
"We want to race as much as pos-
sible," Holden said. "The TPL crew
just wants to go racing and have fun
and that's what I want to do."
Holden, who now lives in Arizona,
was happy to be back at the track.
KTM's Chris Fillmore had a
lonely ride to fifth place.
