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/801507
IN THE WIND P46 ESLICK WINS 2017 DAYTONA 200 D anny Eslick won his third Daytona 200 in a thrilling last-lap battle with long-time rival and close friend, Cory West. Eslick used the TOBC Rac- ing Yamaha YZF-R6 to draft past West on the run to the line in classic Daytona style, using the draft to slingshot to victory lane and the $25,000 winner's purse as hapless West had to be content with seeing victory snatched away in the final yards of the race. "It was an incredible race, just good, clean fun out there … good, clean racing," said Eslick. "I didn't know Cory was just go- ing to go for it on the last lap." West finished second on the road, but a later technical inspection of his Trackside Sus- pension & Engineering Yamaha YZF-R6 showed the Arkansas rider had run what was deter- mined to be an illegal BMC air filter. Organizers disqualified him from the results. Trackside Sus- pension & Engineering has ap- pealed; however, the outcome will not be known until the next round of the CCS Championship Cup Series at Carolina Motors- ports Park on April 8-9. For West, the result was bit- tersweet. He used a machine that was clearly down on horse- power together with crafty pit stop work to lead going into the final lap, with Eslick right on his tail. "I just tried to go as hard as I could on the last lap," said West. "Going into the banking I tried to keep the bike high to keep Danny behind, but when I went low, the bike lost a few rpm and Danny just edged past. To have the result stripped from us like this is a kick in the nuts, but we have lodged the appeal so we'll wait until April to see the result." West's DQ meant 2016 Day- tona 200 Champion Michael Barnes was promoted to second place on the Prieto Performance Yamaha YZF-R6, with M4 The 22 Project Suzuki GSX-R600 rider Kyle Wyman taking third. In a race that saw three red flags, it was a notable perfor- mance from current MotoAmer- ica Supersport number three, Valentin Debise. The Frenchman suffered an issue with his rear brake that caused him to miss the second restart, however, the third red flag allowed him to restart from the rear of the field, two laps down. He then scythed through the pack, post- ing the fastest lap of the race at 1:48.903 to gain back one lap. By the finish he would place an exceptional fifth place. Shane Narbonne took his self-built Six-Four Motorsports Yamaha YZF-R6 to fourth over- all, with Debise, 19-year-old Ka- leb De Keyrel (Anderson Racing Yamaha YZF-R6), Jason Farrell (Farrell Performance Kawasaki ZX-6R), Geoff May (Project MayDay/Bock's Concrete Yamaha YZF-R6), Canadian Darren James (Ruthless Racing Yamaha YZF-R6) and Slovenian racer Bostjan Skubic (Inotherm Racing Yamaha YZF-R6) com- pleting the top 10. CN Eslick (69) and West (13) battled all the way to the line for a typically nail-biting Daytona finish. Barnes (34) and Wyman (33) keep a watching brief. PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J NELSON