Wrapping up the AMA Pro Roadracing season finale in the Big Easy, Dainese & AGV riders strive to end on a winning note by securing their hard-earned places in the standings and capturing the last available championship for 2012.
Avondale, LA- In a SuperSport Race 1 bookended by red flags, the man of the hour was Dainese & AGV Celtic Racing Orient Express racer James “The Rocket” Rispoli. Sporting a freshly custom-painted GP-Tech helmet on his way to making the record-books, Rispoli’s 4th place finish was enough to officially capture him both the AMA Supersport West and overall championships- a first in AMA history. Fellow Dainese racer Roadrace Factory’s Thomas Puerta made yet another trip to the podium finishing 3rd. The final SuperSport race of the season rolled off without a hitch. James Rispoli took his final podium of the season coming home in 3rd place, with Thomas Puerta trailing home behind him by 3.7 seconds in 4th place.
Suffering unpredictable front tire performance, SuperBike Race 1 was a crapshoot for most of the grid. From a great start, Dainese and Jordan
Suzuki’s Ben Bostrom battled hard with Dainese and Yoshimura Suzuki’s Blake Young for 2nd position. When Bostrom was forced to retire with mechanical trouble, Young never let up, bringing home a solid 2nd place. Weekend latecomer Dainese and AGV Attack Performance’s Steve Rapp, who rode as high as 4th, crossed the finish line 8th after missing Friday practices. The AMA SuperBike season ended much the way it began for Blake Young- with a Dainese D-Air deployment. Battling Jordan Suzuki’s Roger Hayden on lap 9, Young was taken out in a high-speed crash when Hayden lost control of his bike entering Turn 1. Despite the speed and severity of the accident, Young walked away uninjured. Steve Rapp ran an almost identical race to Saturday, running as high as 5th before settling into a 9th place finish. Reeling off consistent fast laps all race with determined focus, Ben Bostrom took Dainese’s final podium of the year earning a great end-of-season 2nd place.