Tommy Hayden's #22 Kawasaki Motors Corp.-sponsored ZX-10RR AMA Superstock machine sits in the team's garage at Mid Ohio in front of his #1 Kawasaki ZX-6RR AMA Supersport Championship machines during a break in the action of the Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire in July 2005. The '04-'05 AMA Supersport Champion was also the '97 AMA Superbike Championship Rookie of the Year, and currently sits 3rd in the AMA Pro National Guard Superbike Championship after winning race two yesterday afternoon over team mate Blake Young and little brother Roger Hayden.
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Good Day to be a Hayden in Sunday AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike Action
LEXINGTON, OH (July 10, 2011) - Sunday was a very good day to be a Hayden at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, as Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Tommy and National Guard Jordan Suzuki's Roger matched or scored their best finishes of the 2011 season in arguably the most exciting battle the AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike class has seen yet. Tommy earned his second victory of the year, while Roger bested Monster Energy Graves Yamaha's Josh Hayes to take third.
Between them in the winner's circle was a reasonably happy Blake Young, who -- if he couldn't himself earn the win -- was at least glad the points had gone to his teammate instead of championship rival Hayes.
Hayes and Young swapped the lead furiously as the halfway mark came and went, while Roger maintained an almost defiant chokehold on third. With big brother Tommy just off Roger's rear wheel, the lead four tore through the second half of the race covered by six-tenths of a second, a changing of the guard coming as first Roger then Tommy slipped past Hayes, relegating the Yamaha rider to fourth. Tommy was far from done advancing, however, sliding unstoppably past first Roger then Young, claiming the lead from his Rockstar Makita Suzuki teammate.
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Race two winner Tommy Hayden #79 leads 2nd place finisher Blake Young #79, with 3rd place finisher Roger Hayden #54 to the flag at Mid Ohio on July 10 during the AMA Superbike Championship final event. AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Tommy and Young traded positions several times as the quartet blazed through the end laps, but it was Tommy whom the final corners forced to defend the position with every ounce of skill and courage in him.
"Once I settled in," said Tommy post-race, "I could tell it was going to come down to the last lap, and Blake pushed me all the way to the end. There was a point there, coming on to the front straight for the last time, where I was totally committed -- I couldn't do anything else. And Rog, I followed him for ten or twelve laps, and he was in that back straightaway deep. It was just tough - that big of a battle, and this place is tight; it's hard to make passes. I'm just happy I was able to get through those guys and make it happen today, which I haven't been able to do the last few races."
"I was glad to see my teammate come by," Young agreed, "and it definitely helps as far as points are concerned. There are no team orders, and what happened to Tommy at Barber [engine failure] could happen to anyone. He knows that, and then again, he could be right back here again at any weekend. First and foremost, though, I'd like to thank my team -- those guys keep impressing me; every time I go out, the bike is great. I think we'll take this momentum into the next race and just continue to try to lead the points."
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Blake Young, Tommy Hayden and brother Roger Hayden celebrate on the podium after the AMA Superbike Championship race two at Mid Ohio on July 10. AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Roger, who used a harder tire in today's race and expressed regret at not having done so in yesterday's contest, said, "The race was pretty good for me; I felt like I had a pretty good rhythm going, and in the beginning Josh was kind of making it easy because he and Blake going back-and-forth definitely slowed the pace up. I couldn't get out of the Keyhole good enough to make a pass on anybody, but I did twenty-one good laps and this is something we can build on and hopefully be here every weekend. A couple races this year, I felt like I left a lot out on the track after the weekend was over, so I'm trying to push it a little harder, come out of the gate faster, and be competitive."
M4 Suzuki's Martin Cardenas followed Hayes across the line in fifth, heading Jordan Suzuki's Ben Bostrom, who came out on top of a race-long battle with Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing BMW rider Larry Pegram. Cycle World/Attack Performance Kawasaki's JD Beach was eighth, followed by Factory KTM/HMC Racing's Chris Fillmore and EBR Racing's Geoff May, the latter piloting the new 1190RS in its debut AMA Pro SuperBike weekend.
Young now leads the AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike Championship chase by 11 points over Hayes, with Tommy Hayden, Cardenas, and Pegram rounding out the overall top-five.
To learn more and be a part of AMA Pro Racing, please visit amaproracing.com and join us on facebook.com/AMAProRoadRacing and twitter.com/AMAProSBK.
| AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com. For additional information contact: AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com |
Eslick Reclaims Top Spot on Podium and Daytona SportBike Points Lead
LEXINGTON, OH (July 10, 2011) - As AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Race 2 winner Danny Eslick spun up side-by-side burnouts with runner-up Tommy Aquino, the GEICO Powersports/RMR Suzuki rider was celebrating more than just his second win of the season. Today's hard-earned victory at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course broke Eslick's points-tie with Monster Energy Graves Yamaha rival Josh Herrin, allowing the Oklahoma pilot and 2009 class champion to reclaim the clear lead in the overall Daytona SportBike Championship.
Second-place finisher Y.E.S./Pat Clark/Graves Yamaha's Aquino, ecstatic with his first podium result of the 2011 season, was followed across the line by JHR/RidersDiscount.com's Cameron Beaubier, who -- as in yesterday's Race 1 -- again turned the quickest lap of the contest. Beaubier combined those fast laps with a last-corner error by Herrin to take his second career class podium, having fought through Team Latus Motors Racing's Jason DiSalvo and fended off Vesrah Suzuki's Cory West and M4 Suzuki's Race 1 winner, Dane Westby.
The race was red flagged almost immediately off the start, Santiago Villa (M4 Suzuki) and Michael Morgan (Autolite RIM Racing) both went down, triggering a ten-minute hold. Off the restart, Eslick put his head down and was quickly past DiSalvo into the lead.
"Yesterday I tried to conserve on first few laps," Eslick said after the race, "but after looking at what Dane did [yesterday] coming from that far back, he definitely didn't take it easy on the tire. So I just threw the hammer down from the get-go and figured, 'If we get away, we get away. If not, protect where I can and be strong in other places.' Josh got up there next to me a few times and even lead a lap, but I knew where he was going to make his move at the end, and I wasn't going to make that mistake again. It was an awesome race: hot, greasy, sliding around ... it was a lot of fun."
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Cameron Beaubier, Danny Eslick and Tommy Aquino celebrate on the podium at Mid Ohio after the AMA Daytona SportBike Championship Series race two action on July 10. AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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"Everybody was riding such a face-paced race," said Aquino, 19. "If I could have passed somebody earlier, I would have done it, but Danny was setting an incredible pace and Josh was following, so I just had to do what I had to do. I wasn't going to get a fourth or third, so I put it in there on the second-last turn and Josh countered a little bit, but then I think he might have tucked the front a bit, and man, I was so happy when I crossed the finish line. I've had a number of thirds and like a thousand fourths coming into this race, so I'm really happy about it. I really had to work for it in some of the more technical passing spots, and I really have to thank all my guys. They've done so much for me and believed in me -- it's incredible."
Eighteen-year-old Beaubier, beaming throughout the post-race press conference, said, "Danny and Josh, I didn't have anything from them, but it was an awesome race that went down to the wire. Josh made a mistake and I got by the outside of him, which was pretty cool. My mechanics did an awesome job again and gave me an awesome bike, and it's a really good feeling. I was pushing pretty hard at the end and didn't really know what lap we were on, but when I put my head down and went around the outside of him, it was pretty cool. Or it felt cool, at least."
Westby led the rest of the field across the line in fourth, followed by Herrin, West, DiSalvo, Paul Allison (Triple Crown Industries), Taylor Knapp (Vesrah Suzuki), and Tyler O'Hara (GP Bike Parts Racing).
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Danny Eslick #69 leads Josh Herrin #8 during AMA Daytona SportBike Championship Series race two action at Mid Ohio on July 10. AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Eslick now leads Herrin in the championship standings by a 15-point margin; DiSalvo, Aquino, and West round out the top-five overall.
The AMA Pro Road Race Championship next heads to Monterey, California's Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for Round 7 on the season calendar, run as part of the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix MotoGP weekend. For tickets and information, visit mazdaraceway.com or call (800) 327-7322.
To learn more and be a part of AMA Pro Racing, please visit amaproracing.com and join us on facebook.com/AMAProRoadRacing and twitter.com/AMAProSBK.
| AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com. For additional information contact: AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com |
Young Takes Emotional SuperBike Victory at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
LEXINGTON, OH (July 9, 2011) - While a Lap 8 red flag changed the fortunes of many, Saturday's AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike winner Blake Young (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) and runner-up Josh Hayes (Monster Energy Graves Yamaha) ran down to the wire in a contest that was clearly inevitable. The lead pair were hunted throughout the race by the field's strongest would-be challengers, including third-place finisher Tommy Hayden (Rockstar Makita Suzuki) and National Guard Jordan Suzuki's Roger Hayden, but Young had extra motivation pushing him toward today's victory.
"Today is the fifth anniversary of my dad's passing," said Young, "and that put a little bit extra on me today. This place is pretty special to me -- I won my 2005 Horizon Award here with him, and I really wanted to get the win today and dedicate it to him. Hats off to Josh, he rode really, really good. When I was back in fourth place, I thought, 'Is this one of those days when we ride aggressive to the front, or do we let him go?' But I came into this race just really wanting to win it for my dad's fifth anniversary, and that's what we did."
The win didn't come easily for Young -- he crossed the finish just .177 seconds ahead of Hayes -- and the closing laps saw frequent lead changes as Hayes attacked for P1 again and again. "I rode a little rough in the beginning," said Hayes, "and made a lot of mistakes. The restart was probably the best start I've gotten all year, but ... I don't know if I've ever had a front end move around that much in a race, and I just didn't have the confidence to stick it in there. So that's what we had today, and I think tomorrow we'll try to sort out a solution for the front end to be a little big stronger. [Blake and my] strengths are different, and right now he seems to have the trump card. So we'll keep working to come up with something we can beat him with."
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AMA Superbike Championship race one winner Blake Young #79 waves to the crowd on the cool down lap at Mid Ohio on July 9. AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Tommy Hayden -- who'd earned a fifth-place grid position after struggling in qualifying -- crossed the line third, having stuck close behind the lead pair on the restart. A terrible first start had forced him to fight his way up from eighth to fourth, "but once we got going," said Hayden, "even on the first start, I thought I had the speed to run with these guys, and I felt pretty smooth. With five to go I really thought I was going to win that race; I felt hooked up pretty good and it seemed like I could make it happen. But the last couple laps Blake seemed to step it up a little bit, and Josh was sticking his wheels in, and with the tires getting greasy I couldn't really send the front in there. Overall we've been struggling a little bit this weekend, so I felt the race went pretty well given all that."
While Roger Hayden was able to stay solidly in the lead pack both before and after the red flag, ultimately finishing fourth, his Jordan Suzuki teammate Ben Bostrom -- who'd run as high as third prior to the flag -- went wide shortly after the restart and was relegated to a disappointing fourteenth.
On the emotional flip side, Chris Fillmore piloted the KTM/HMC Racing RC8R to an impressive seventh-place finish in the OEM's factory AMA Pro SuperBike debut, besting San Diego BMW's Steve Rapp after a race-long battle. Ahead, M4 Suzuki's Martin Cardenas led the chase group across the line in fifth, followed by Foremost Insurance/Pegram Racing's Larry Pegram. David Anthony (ADR Fly Racing) and JD Beach (Cycle World/Attack Performance Kawasaki) rounded out the top ten, respectively.
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Tommy Hayden, Blake Young and Josh Hayes hoist their wares after race one action in the AMA Superbike Championship Series round at Mid Ohio on July 9. AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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Iron Horse BMW/ESP rider Chris Peris, whose crash in the Keyhole brought out the red flag, was transported to a local hospital for evaluation. His team has reported the Canadian is basically okay.
Young's Race 1 victory moves him into the overall AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike Championship lead for the first time, just three points ahead of Hayes. Tommy Hayden, Cardenas, and Pegram round out the top five in current standings.
To learn more and be a part of AMA Pro Racing, please visit amaproracing.com and join us on facebook.com/AMAProRoadRacing and twitter.com/AMAProSBK.
| AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com. For additional information contact: AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com |
Westby Earns First Win in AMA Pro Daytona SportBike
LEXINGTON, OH (July 9, 2011) - The AMA Pro Daytona SportBike class saw a brand-new winner today at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, as M4 Suzuki's Dane Westby staged a brilliant, aggressive ride that took him from ninth to first through some of the toughest riders in the series. For Westby, it marked his career first AMA Pro sprint race victory and a whole new chapter in premier-class-level competitiveness.
"I've never really led at the end before," said Westby after the race, "so it was kind of gnarly the last couple laps. These are the big dogs, so I knew Danny would be right there on the last lap, coming on the braking zones, and he's not playing around. I just tried to be conservative on the inside, and it just barely worked out; I was able to cut him off there at the end on a right-hander and pull it off. This is great," Westby continued, shaking his head and smiling. "At the beginning of year we had some bugs to shake out, but we got some stuff worked out and the bike will pretty much go wherever I want. I could just carve right up the inside."
Carve he did -- after finally getting by Vesrah Suzuki's Cory West, Westby set off after Latus Motors Racing's Jason DiSalvo (then the last rider of the lead pack), faced with the task of making up several seconds. Through a series of deep-braking maneuvers and what Westby himself labeled "a couple of hairball moves, but with no contact," he spun a mediocre start into an unforgettable race.
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Dane Westby #5 leads Danny Eslick #69 to the line to win his first AMA Pro Daytona SportBike race at Mid Ohio during race one action on July 9. AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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The rest of their pack, too, did more than their fair share of adding to the gasp-worthy excitement of the overall contest, DiSalvo getting things started off the line by blasting past Josh Herrin (Monster Energy Graves Yamaha) to take the holeshot and early lead. While Herrin systematically tested the inside and outside of DiSalvo's lines, he was himself hunted by a hard-charging Danny Eslick (GEICO Powersports/RMR Suzuki), Tommy Aquino (Y.E.S./Pat Clark/Graves Yamaha), and JHR/RidersDiscount.com's Cameron Beaubier.
Within a handful of laps it was Eslick who'd moved taken over the lead, kicking off some of the most intense passing, re-passing, position shuffling, and door slamming the class has seen yet, Eslick, Herrin, DiSalvo, and Westby each desperately determined to claw their way to the top of the Race 1 podium. Herrin and DiSalvo were both resurgent in the final laps after seeming to slip back somewhat in intensity, but the last corners of the last lap were all about Oklahoma boys Westby and Eslick.
"I just kind of got settled in at the start," said Eslick; "Jason had a good pace and I knew it was going to be hot and that tire wear would be an issue, so I stepped back a bit and tried to just get in the groove of things. I got into the lead and put my head down, hoping to get away there, but everybody's so close when they're dialed in -- there's always four or five guys right there.
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Josh Herrin, Dane Westby and Danny Eslick celebrate on the podium after race one at Mid Ohio in the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Championship Series on July 9. AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
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"We went back and forth a couple times," Eslick continued, "and for four or five laps no one stuck a wheel on me, but then Josh would come by or Jason would stick a wheel in. And then, with three of four to go, here comes Dane. I thought, 'Whoa -- where'd he come from?' I never saw Dane until that moment, and it kind of threw me a curveball; I wasn't ready for him. I made a countermove after a while and passed him, and then you saw a bunch of stuff that doesn't usually happen [at this track]. It was good, fun racing."
Herrin, who appeared to be sticking to the watch-and-wait strategy that's served him well in recent races, may have stuck to it a little too well in today's contest. "I was just trying to sit back there and see how the pace was going to be," he said, "and what everybody else was doing, and the bike was working good. I just waited too long to make a move, I think. I made an error there on the last two laps, and I need to pay a little more attention to what we're doing and make sure those things don't happen again. Tomorrow should be a little bit better. Dane rode a really good race, and congratulations to him on his first win."
The overall AMA Pro Daytona SportBike points chase continues to tighten, with Herrin and Eslick now tied in points. DiSalvo, West, and Aquino round out the top five.
To learn more and be a part of AMA Pro Racing, please visit amaproracing.com and join us on facebook.com/AMAProRoadRacing and twitter.com/AMAProSBK.
| AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines. Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com. For additional information contact: AMA Pro Racing Communications, (386) 492-1014, communications@amaproracing.com |
Results from AMA Pro Road Racing for round 6 at Mid Ohio
Round 6 results from Mid Ohio (standard version, with drop-down to view all classes):
http://amaproracing.com/rr/events/results.cfm?year=2011&eid=2011011130&discipline=RR&class=DS&type=F&rnum=1&class_sort=all
Complete event results for Mid Ohio (PDF version, includes all entries, class breakdowns, etc.):
http://results.amaproracing.com/live/results/pdfresults/rr/2011/R1130/default.aspx
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Stories of the races over the weekend at Mid Ohio, thanks to Henny Ray Abrams and Cycle News.com.
Mid Ohio AMA Superbike Championship race two rundown:
http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2011/07/10/hayden-young-hayden-hayes-at-mid-ohio/
Mid Ohio AMA Superbike Championship race one rundown:
http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2011/07/09/young-takes-points-lead-with-mid-ohio-win/
Mid Ohio AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Championship race two rundown:
http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2011/07/10/eslick-gets-the-win-and-the-points-lead/
Mid Ohio AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Championship race one rundown:
http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2011/07/09/westby-gets-his-first/
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Video highlights from round 6 at Mid Ohio, courtesy of SpeedTV.com
Mid Ohio AMA Superbike race two:
http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/video-ama-sbk-mid-ohio-race-2/
Mid Ohio AMA Superbike race one:
http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/video-ama-sbk-mid-ohio-race-1/
Mid Ohio AMA Pro Daytona SportBike race two:
http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/video-ama-dsb-mid-ohio-race-2/
Mid Ohio AMA Pro Daytona SportBike race one:
http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/video-ama-dsb-mid-ohio-race-1/
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