Josh Herrin says he owes Warhorse HSBK Ducati an apology after admitting he ‘didn’t have much faith’ in his team before sweeping to a dominant third career Daytona 200 victory.

The MotoAmerica Superbike race winner eased to a clear victory in the iconic event, now in its 82nd iteration, aboard his Ducati Panigale V2 to ensure back-to-back wins for the Italian manufacturer and his own third Daytona 200 success after also triumphing back in 2010.

Considered one of the favourites for victory, Herrin’s victory was all-but-assured during the first round of pit-stops when a slick tyre change and refuel earned him a plus-ten second advantage over Richie Escalante.

Though Escalante tried to close the margin down, he couldn’t get close enough to pop into Herrin’s slipstream, allowing the Ducati rider to hold on to the finish.

However, Herrin - who also credited MotoAmerica Superbike team-mate Loris Baz for the role he played - admits it was during the pit-stops that he expected to lose ground after being unimpressed with the team’s practice runs in the days before the race.

“That was two dream pit stops. I’m not going to lie. I didn’t have much faith in my team going into the race after the pit stop challenge yesterday and some of the practice we did yesterday. 

“I was nervous. But they impressed me. I owe them an apology for doubting them, for sure. They’ve been working super hard this week to make everything as perfect as they can. That was as close to perfect as we could have gotten. 

“I owe the entire race to those guys for doing those two amazing pit stops. To have my teammate, Loris Baz, doing the fuel… I don’t know when the last time that happened. When your teammate and a MotoGP podium finisher was the fuel guy in the 200. So, that was cool to see. "

"I cannot see the green numbers!"

Not that Herrin had a seamless run to victory after admitting he almost ran out of fuel at the end of his second stint after a ‘new pit board guy’ erroneously used green numbers that he couldn’t see altering him to pit.

“It was the second pit stop when I was by myself. I ran out of fuel entering the pits. The bike was just sputtering all the way. I had to have lost two, three seconds for the sputtering, because it happened before I got to pit lane. I was scared. 

“At some point during the second stint, my pit board guy, who it was his first ever time I think doing my pit board, decided to switch the number from white numbers to green numbers. And I cannot see the green numbers. 

“That’s been a thing the last two years on this team is don’t use green numbers for me. For some reason, the green numbers came out and I thought the whole time it was a different guy in front of my guy, so I literally had no idea when to come in, other than the last lap. I told the guys this week before the race. 

“Let’s add something to the pit board. So, we added another piece of plastic cardboard, and we put my smiley face on top of it, so it was a little bit different when they threw the in board than all the others. That was the only reason I saw my in-board. So, for whatever reason that I thought of that, I’m super happy that we were able to get it done. 

“They didn’t do it until today after the first practice, so it was last second. Without that, we would have been screwed. A lot of drama for me, even though it seemed like there wasn’t. But that was a dream finish. I don’t remember what the finish was like in 2010 when I won, but it was a little bit of a gap.

“Right before the race, my crew chief said, ‘Don’t lead the race. I’m too nervous about the fuel. Do not lead the race.’ And then I ended up in a position where I’m leading for the last two stints. We got lucky; I think. I owe it all to my team. Ducati USA, Ducati Corse for putting me on an amazing motorcycle for the last three years.”