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CORONA EXTRA HONDA RACING ELLISON
AND CBR1000RR SUPERBIKE TAKE NINTH AT DAYTONA
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, FL March 12, 2007
 Corona Extra Honda Racing’s James Ellison brought his CBR1000RR SuperBike home to a fine ninth place finish in his first ever AMA Superbike Championship presented by Parts Unlimited race here at Daytona International Speedway. Teammate Gary Mason suffered a fall in the SuperSport race putting his Corona Light CBR600RR out of the race.
Ellison, just arrived from Europe after competing in MotoGP, continued to learn the famous banks of Daytona getting faster every test session and picking up tips of the trade from other riders. He qualified 14th on the grid so had to work his way through traffic after his first SuperBike start. “The whole race was about chasing those in front of me!” said Ellison. “I had to be patient out there but it was fun, especially the last lap.” During the closing laps Ellison was able to size up his competition to set up a last lap pass of multi-time SuperBike champion Mat Mladin, cementing the 9th place finish. “I wanted to pass Mat in the infield area but I figured that I should wait for the banking,” said Ellison. “Once we got onto the banking I drafted past him to take the position right at the line.” Ellison is currently ninth in the SuperBike Championship points order.
Gary Mason, in his first appearance on the Corona Light Honda CBR600RR spent much of the weekend getting to know the bike and finding the right set-up for the suspension. With Daytona being the first time ever the entirely-new-for-2007 bike had been run on track it was also a learning experience for the crew. Mason qualified 19th still working on the set-up. In the race he got caught up in a first lap incident and had to take to the grass losing a whole load of places. He got back on track and was making good progress back through the field when he lost the front end in turn five. Gary held on to the bike, which was undamaged, but unfortunately a helping turn worker getting the bike off the track dropped it and broke a lever which meant he could not get back in the fray. Even with the end result Mason is looking forward to getting back on his Honda CBR600RR. “It’s a brand new bike and it’s my first time on a 600cc bike in a while,” said Mason. “The chassis on this Honda is really good and with our guys working on it we will get better and better as the season progresses. I’m already ready for the next round!”
In other Daytona news, James and Gary along with the crew put in a terrific effort meeting the public during Bike Week, appearing at eight Corona bar promotions, four retail locations and the opening of the 82nd Cycle Gear Store. Additionally, they joined the Honda factory riders to sign autographs at the manufacturer display area. Daytona bike week public also got to see six Corona Extra Honda Racing CBR1000RR bikes in retail displays around the area giving tens of thousands the opportunity to see the bikes in the flesh!
Corona Extra Honda Racing is proud to be partnering with industry-leaders; Parts Unlimited, Cycle Gear, Ti Force, Joe Rocket, Castrol, Dunlop, Sidi, Hotbodies, GPR, Motion Pro, K&L, HRC, Ohlin?s, VP Racing, Vortex, CR&A, Adran, DynoJet, RK, Brembo, Marchesini, JETT Tuning, EFI Technology, Performance Solutions, EBSCO Media, MTS.
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