There’s a fast Canadian presence in U.S. AMA Daytona Sportbike racing this year, with two Ontario-based teams carding top 10 finishes.
Ben Young from Thornbury, Ontario has three top 10 finishes out of three races, taking a a magnificent eighth at Daytona, followed up this weekend with a 10th and 11th finish at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on his privately-run Yamaha R6.
The other Canadian rider, Kenny Riedmann, had mechanical problems at Daytona and didn’t finish, but collected a 14th and an 11th in the Elkhart double-header. His Triumph-mounted team, sponsored by Sturgess Cycle of Hamilton and Triumph North America and run by his father, former GP star Rolly Riedmann, also includes riders Jason DiSalvo and Elena Myers.
DiSalvo (running under the Latus Motors banner but with a Riedmann bike under him) collected a ninth and an eighth at Elkhart, while Myers was 10th and ninth.
Pretty impressive stuff, Young for his private team success and the Sturgess Cycle/Riedmann group for doing so well with a relatively odd-ball machine – much easier to find go-fast stuff for Yamahas or Hondas than Triumphs. We’ll keep watching them this season.
Forgot to mention Vancouver’s Darren James, who finished sixth out of 23 riders in the XR1200 race.
Good on both of them for sure !
Too bad there were only 17 entries, the AMA seems to be suffering the same problems as elsewhere in North American roadracing.