(NEWS RELEASE)

Daytona, FL (March 10, 2011) — LTD Racing kicked off the 2011 AMA Pro Road Race season at Daytona on Thursday with an abbreviated afternoon of practice and qualifying after rain washed away the morning sessions. Tomas Puerta and David Gaviria fought for the AMA Pro SuperSport front row in the first of two qualifying sessions this weekend, while Sam Nash impressed on his vacation from law school. Huntley Nash was frustrated during Daytona SportBike practice but remained positive after a minor crash.

Puerta qualified fourth, one slot ahead of his teammate Gaviria on their Y.E.S-backed Yamahas. Puerta jumped to the top late in the session and came up just short of pole position with a lap of 1:55.623. “Today was the first time I got to ride the 2011 version of the bike and I was pleased with it and how the team has worked to get the bike ready for me. I have different forks this year and I thought they worked great. I had no issues with the front of the bike,” said Puerta. “At the rear, I wasn’t fully satisfied and we will make some changes but I’m very positive on how the first session went. The times were slow and everyone struggled as the track was slick after the rain.”

Gaviria, racing with LTD Racing for the first time, charged hard in the waning minutes. His best lap was 1:55.757. “I feel good and I thought I had a pretty good result but I expect more for tomorrow,” said the Colombian. “At the end of the session, I felt very comfortable on the bike. We have some changes to make but I thought it was a very positive first session for us.”

Sam Nash, nicknamed the World’s Fastest Law School Student, qualified in the top half of all 40 SuperSport competitors on Thursday. “With all the entries this weekend, I was happy to get 16th on what is pretty much a vacation for me. I’m on spring break from law school and I want to keep this up in tomorrow’s qualifying and races,” said Nash.

Huntley Nash, a promising newcomer to Daytona SportBike, was in the top ten at certain points in the DSB practice session but a crash robbed the three-time 2010 winner of laps in his only track time of the day. The Georgian finished 22nd in the lone practice with a time of 1:57.070. “I’ve had better days at the track and this session was a little humbling, you could say. I leaned over a little too far on my A bike and you can’t do that with so little grip out there,” said 18 year-old Nash. “After that, I rode around on the B bike. I need to get out there tomorrow and run with some of the faster guys and improve my position as I get ready for the Daytona 200. The A-bike felt really good before my mistake.”

“The boys pushed hard and our crew did too,” said LTD Racing’s Gary Medley. “We needed some more track time and conditions were not ideal, but we have a better idea of where we stand.”

Friday’s action includes final qualifying and race one for SuperSport and the fight for the pole position in Daytona SportBike.