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DOUBLE PODIUM WEEKEND FOR DANE WESTBY AT ROAD ATLANTA

April 22, 2012

M4 Broaster Chicken Suzuki's Dane Westby rounded out a spectacular weekend at Road Atlanta by claiming a second AMA Pro Daytona SportBike podium result in as many days.

The Wolverine' followed a similar script on Sunday as he did on Saturday, carving his way up from sixth to arrive in a podium position. With GEICO Suzuki's Martin Cardenas again too far out front by the time Westby made his way to third, the Oklahoman turned his attention to defending the spot to the checkered flag.

Westby again proved to be a demon on the brakes aboard his Suzuki GSX-R600, allowing him to narrowly secure third at the checkered flag, winning the final dash to the stripe by 0.040 seconds.

"I saw the guys racing for the lead getting away again -- it was going to be a repeat of yesterday's race," Westby explained. "I tried to get around everybody as quickly as possible but the pace was a lot faster today and it wasn't quite so easy pickings. At that point, I knew it was going to be a battle the rest of the way for third. It was on.

"It's great to get on the podium again. The goal now is to race with Martin. I think I just need a little more experience and seat time to do so. I need to get better starts to I can hang onto him and see what the deal is."

SuzukiScoopFans SportbikeTrackGear.com M4 Suzuki's Elena Myers was credited with ninth position in Sunday's AMA Pro SuperSport race.

Myers won a close on-track fight for eighth but was penalized one second for "repeatedly cutting the course," which dropped her one position in the final standings.

In reality, all she was doing was dropping her wheels off the track a few inches inside a corner in the esses, because doing so put less pressure on her wrist. So many riders were doing the same thing -- including race winners in two other classes and the rider immediately behind Elena in her race -- that there was no grass left in that area by the end of the weekend. Yet Elena was the only rider penalized.

Still dealing with a mending wrist that was surgically repaired less than a month ago, Myers put in a gritty effort at Road Atlanta and will soon turn her attention to the West Region championship rounds.

Team Venezuela's Robertino Pietri and M4 Broaster Chicken Suzuki's Chris Ulrich completed the Road Atlanta weekend in Sunday's 20-lap AMA Pro Superbike final. The two finished one after the other on track with Pietri claiming 11th and Ulrich coming home 12th despite shoulder soreness from an old injury that flared up this weekend.

The 2012 AMA Pro Road Racing season will pick back up in two weeks time as the series heads to Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA on May 4-6.

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