Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing's Martin Cardenas turned in a consistently-impressive performance at the weekend's 2013 AMA Pro Superbike Championships at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
The Colombian rider raced his Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 to two podium finishes on the scenic, rolling course and in Sunday's race, Cardenas was one of four Suzuki racers celebrating a top-10 finish in the premier class.
This weekend's double-header saw Yoshimura Suzuki's Cardenas turn in 100% effort throughout the event. Despite qualifying fifth, Cardenas got good starts in both 21-lap races. On Saturday, he slotted into a podium position almost immediately and ran in second place for most of the race before encountering lapped traffic on the last lap and finishing third. On Sunday, Cardenas maneuvered through the competition to take over a podium spot halfway through the race and again brought home third.
"Overall this was a good weekend," said Cardenas. "I've struggled at Mid-Ohio in the past, so I was expecting a tough weekend. So to get two podiums for the Yoshimura Suzuki team was really good and it was the best that we could do. The next few races are at tracks that I really like and where I've done well, so we'll keep trying and see what happens."
Yoshimura Suzuki team-mate Chris Clark struggled this weekend but saw improvements as the racing progressed. Although he was unfamiliar with the challenging Mid-Ohio track, Clark gave it his all on Saturday before suffering some bad luck and finishing 14th. On Sunday, he got a good start and ran in the top 10 before retiring from the race early.
"The first race we had a bit of a struggle," said Clark. "I got a bad start, I had some tyre problems, and I ran off track. But you almost can't get mad at days like that; you just have to write them off and move on to the next one. Sunday, I got a pretty decent start on the Yoshimura Suzuki GSX-R1000 and was running in 10th when I had some issues and had to pull out of the race. But now I'm looking forward to having some success as we go to the tracks that I really like. Our next race is at Laguna and that's one of my favorite tracks so I'm excited about that race."
The Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing team's next event of the 2013 AMA Pro Superbike Championship series is at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California on July 19-21st.
Mid-Ohio Superbike Results - Race 1:
1. Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 2. Josh Herrin (Yamaha) 3. Martin Cardenas (Yoshimura Suzuki) 4. Danny Eslick (Jordan Suzuki) 5. Geoff May (EBR) 6. Aaron Yates (EBR) 7. Chris Fillmore (KTM) 8. Roger Hayden (Jordan Suzuki) 9. Larry Pegram (Yamaha) 10. Cory West (EBR)
Mid-Ohio Superbike Results - Race 2:
1. Josh Herrin (Yamaha) 2. Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 3. Martin Cardenas (Yoshimura Suzuki) 4. Danny Eslick (Jordan Suzuki) 5. Geoff May (EBR) 6. Aaron Yates (EBR) 7. Chris Fillmore (KTM) 8. Roger Hayden (Jordan Suzuki) 9. David Anthony (Suzuki) 10. Taylor Knapp (KTM)
