16 year-old PJ Jacobsen on the Celtic Racing/Orient Express K-Tech suspended GSXR 600 had a strong weekend at Road America, with double 6th place finishes! Despite slippery track conditions on Saturday, the Daytona Sportbike competition was fierce. The entire race saw numerous lead changes and position battles. During Sunday's race, PJ's lap times kept pace with the leaders, just 10 seconds off the win. Another strong finish for the talented Jacobsen.
Orient Express is proud to support Celtic Racing and PJ Jacobsen - keep up the good work! All this took place just one week after PJ battled for the lead at the Springfield Mile, where PJ won his heat race, and ran in 2nd place during the main, finishing 6th in a field packed with champions. No other rookie has won his heat race and finished so strong in their mile debut!
Below is the official press release:
Celtic Racing/Orient Express' PJ Jacobsen Turn Heads
PJ Jacobsen and his team Celtic Racing/Orient Express turned heads this past weekend during the Suzuki AMA Superbike doubleheader at Road America with two very impressive sixth place finishes.
Jacobsen qualified ninth which put him on the third row; missing the second row by .003 of a second. This would still give him a good start for the 13 lap race around the 4.05 mile course.
Mother Nature was threatening to rear her ugly head all day long on Saturday and she did just that before the Daytona Superbike race. Sprinkles began causing poor racing conditions. This brought on another learning curve for Jacobsen and his team. As the crew nervously counted down the laps, they just wanted their rider and bike back in one piece. Jacobsen rode the first race of the weekend smart and safe, finishing in sixth place.
Sunday brought on race two of the weekend with Jacobsen's warm up putting him in seventh right in the lead pace of Herring, Cardenas, Eslick, Westby, and Rapp.
Barry Gilsenan, Celtic Racing team owner, comments, "He is with them now. He will run their pace in the race."
Starting from row three Jacobsen did just that. By lap three he pushed into third and would be there for several laps. Jacobsen was keeping with their draft, until a minor drafting error caused Jacobsen to fall behind just over two seconds. Jacobsen's fast lap times helped him to work on his position and would start to regain on the lead pack. Three laps to go Jacobsen was able to get passed Eslick, securing sixth place. Running a great pace, with times as good as the leaders, fifth was feasible but the laps just weren't there.
Jacobsen's comments after the race, "Man, we were right there. It's all coming together. Bigman, Tim, Eric,and William did such a great job. I want to thank Barry, and the Celtic boys for sure, and Skip Dowling at Orient for helping put this together with our team."
Barry Gilsenan adds, "The kid is showing his talent. After his race at the Springfield mile, showing those boys he can run with them at that level, he comes here to Road America and gets results. We are turning heads."