West Coast Moto Jam Recap: AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.
(May 9, 2012) - The Great Clips West Coast Moto Jam delivered and then
some. The AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike class action at Infineon Raceway in
particular was heavy on the drama and potentially pivotal championship shifts.
However, in the end it came around pretty close to full circle, as the title
fight left Sonoma, Calif. every bit as evenly matched and numerically tighter
than when the weekend began.
Yoshimura Racing Suzuki's
Blake Young and Monster Energy Graves Yamaha's Josh
Hayes were once again the men in the headlines. They split the wins for
a third consecutive weekend in 2012 to up their season record to three apiece
and with just four points separating new leader Young from reigning double champ
Hayes in the championship tally.
However, on more than one occasion the points race looked as if it might get blown wide open -- and in both directions. Hayes continued to demonstrate his mastery around the undulating 2.32-mile circuit and was untouchable from a sheer speed standpoint all weekend long. The Mississippian's Yamaha YZF-R1 has long been recognized as the tool of choice around Infineon Raceway and Hayes put it to good use, repeatedly lapping in the neighborhood of a second stronger than his nearest competitors could manage. 
Blake Young #79 leads Roger Lee Hayden #54 and Josh Herrin #2 during Sunday's AMA Superbike Championship race 2 at Infineon Raceway. AMA Pro Road Racing photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Young struggled to equal his
rival's form and found himself on the second row after crashing in qualifying in
an attempt to make up ground. Infineon Raceway can be a difficult place to pass,
and Hayes' hope was that the Wisconsin native would get mired down the order
while he ran away at the front to put some distance between the two in the
points race. It didn't work out that way as
Young immediately guided his #79 Suzuki GSX-R1000 from the second row to second
position off the stripe. However, even with his stunning start, he still didn't
have the pace to present a genuine threat to the champ.
Hayes cruised around to a
double-digit victory while Young had to work hard to secure the runner-up
position. "Honestly, the race went to
plan," Hayes said. "I was excited to get a good start -- I've been getting
beaten up pretty bad on the starts it seems for the first couple of races. I got
a pretty good run off the line and had some clear track and hoped I could string
together a pretty good first lap and try to get myself a bit of cushion and see
where I could go from there. I settled into a rhythm and kept plugging away...
All-in-all, just a good day."
A Sunday repeat and resultant
perfect points haul weekend seemed inevitable -- until it wasn't. Hayes again
ripped free at the front and assembled an advantage of more than a second on
just the opening lap of Sunday's race, however, the race and championship
picture was thrown on its side along with Hayes' R1 when the champ crashed on
the race's second lap. "I was pushing hard, and
sometimes things like this happen," said Hayes, who was upbeat after the race.
"I hate it for the team more than anything."
Young was moving into second at
the time (which became the lead with Hayes' mistake) and proceeded to show a new
aspect to his game; the Yoshimura star controlled the race from the front, first
fending off some hungry riders in search of their maiden AMA Pro National Guard
SuperBike win, before slowly breaking free and claiming a dominating victory of
his own.
Hayes was able to pick his fallen
R1 back up and diligently worked his way forward from 17th position and some 18
seconds back. In the end he crossed the line in seventh position, less than a
half-second removed from fifth. But thanks to the Yamaha man's
prior bonus point bounty of seven points, he remains very much within striking
distance, just four points back of Young (166-162).
Their rivalry continues to push
each man to make history. Hayes' Saturday win was the 20th of his career, moving
him into a tie for fourth place all-time with Flyin' Fred Merkel. Meanwhile,
Young's 13th moves him even with another former AMA Pro and World Superbike
champ Doug Polen for 12th all-time.
"Obviously, I was battling with
Roger at the beginning and I saw Josh go down," Young explained. "My first
thought was maybe there was something on the track, and I kind of saw out the
corner of my eye that he was okay. I knew there was a long race ahead of me so I
knew I needed to concentrate and focus. It's pretty easy around this racetrack
-- as I found out all weekend long -- to get excited, start grabbing the brakes
hard, get on the gas a little bit aggressively, and find yourself going
backwards pretty quick. I knew I needed to mellow out,
ride my own race, and watch the board. With that said I knew there were a bunch
of hungry guys behind me itching for their first win, and with Josh out of the
way, everybody behind me was ready to take a shot at me.
"It's good to get a win out of
here -- it's my first win here. I was just talking to (Yoshimura Racing Suzuki
Team Manager) Peter Doyle and he told me the first time I came here I got sixth,
the next race I got fifth, the next race I got fourth, the next race I got
third, yesterday I got second, and today I won. It's kind of funny how things
work out."
Hayes' massive speed advantage
throughout the weekend left some hope that he might be able to pick his way even
further up the order than he did. He later explained, "I was able to do some
decent laps after the crash but it wasn't quite the same."
Roger Hayden's
fortunes were in flux throughout the weekend. The preseason title contender
alternated between up and down as the round took shape. Friday's qualifying
performance was a disappointing eighth for the National Guard Jordan Suzuki
pilot, who expects to be banging fairings with the likes of Young and Hayes on a
weekly basis. He responded with a second-place
showing in final qualifying but quickly admitted the time was something of an
illusion -- the result of an extraordinary single-lap effort, not a major
breakthrough in bike set-up. The warning rang true later in
the day when Hayden faded back to a disappointing 10th aboard the #54 GSX-R1000
in the day's 22-lap contest. But the Kentuckian responded a
day later, scrapping for the lead before ultimately winning a last-lap battle
with May to secure a runner-up result, the best of his SuperBike career to
date.
"I got a good start for once and
then when Josh crashed I tried to stay with Blake," Hayden explained. "I stayed
pretty close, but I really struggled in the chicane over there. Every time I
would make up some ground he would pull it back out. I was just on the edge
trying to keep up and I started sliding all over the place. I fell back a little
bit and when Geoff May came by me I hung onto him and just
waited until the last few laps and we had a good battle. We missed the podium at Atlanta
and struggled early this weekend so it's nice to close out the weekend on a good
note."
While Team Amsoil/Hero EBR's
Geoff May was praised as the best of the non-podium finishers at Road Atlanta,
the showing at May's home circuit was just the warm-up act for what was to
transpire at Infineon Raceway. After a couple years of steady
development, the EBR 1190RSs of May and his teammate, Team Hero EBR's
Danny Eslick, enjoyed what can only be described as a
breakthrough weekend in Sonoma. The sleek v-twin racked up a
number of firsts throughout the weekend. May secured the machine's debut
front-row grid position on Saturday morning. Eslick one-upped that in the day's
race, pushing Young hard for second (and actually controlling the position for a
handful of laps) before accepting a close third to score his, the bike's, and
the team's first-ever National Guard SuperBike podium result.
"That was pretty awesome," Eslick
said of his maiden SuperBike podium. "As soon as we showed up on Friday we had a
bike that was working pretty good. Overnight we made a few changes and it really
got the Team Hero EBR 1190RS hooked up. It didn't even really concern me when I
got bumped off the front row. The race definitely showed that we could do it
pretty consistently. It's just awesome -- hats off to
the team. To get a SuperBike podium is a dream come true, and I'm sitting up
here with guys I've beat so I know I can win one of these."
May, who had the speed but not
the start to challenge for the box on Saturday, was not content to allow his new
teammate to take all of the glory after his years of hard work on the machine.
He came back even stronger on Sunday and threw down for second on the last lap
before ultimately matching Eslick's third-place result. "I definitely had to fight really
hard to get that one," May said. "I didn't get the greatest of starts but got up
there with the pack and just tried to conserve my tire and be patient and not
expend too much energy because I knew with the heat today it was going to be
tough. I just tried to ride as smart and clean as I could and just put my head
down. I noticed the guys starting to
fall off the pace and when I did I put all the energy into it. I got (into
second) and we had a nice, clean little battle there at the end. It was fun. It
feels good being back up here -- it's been a long two years coming."
Team owner Erik Buell said, "It
was quite a weekend for EBR, and a real tribute to all who have helped us fight
back to better than ever. What an honor to be racing with the famous import
brands for podium spots in AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike."
The weekend also served as a
marked improvement for Hayden's teammate Ben Bostrom on the #23
Jordan Suzuki. After suffering through a nightmarish opening two rounds, Bostrom
made good at his home circuit by scoring his two best results of the season. After picking up a seventh on
Saturday, Bostrom pushed at the front on Sunday and finished in fourth, just
fractionally behind second-placed Hayden and third-ranked May. "I've been on the ground in three
of four races this year, so it's not been the greatest start to the season,"
said Bostrom. "But thankfully, my MJM crew found the problem and fixed it. Also,
I grew up around here and Infineon has always been one of my favorite tracks.
It's a rider's track, and there aren't a lot of straightaways. It's one of the
better tracks to go to for me."
The weekend's other fourth went
to Hayes' works Yamaha teammate, National Guard SuperBike freshman Josh Herrin. The physical layout of Infineon
Raceway is not especially welcoming to a class newcomer, and Herrin was off the
pace in the early part of the weekend. He qualified on the provisional third row
on Friday and only just made it onto the combined second row. However, the Monster Energy
Graves Yamaha upstart increased in strength as the weekend progressed and
ultimately worked his way up to a fourth-place run in Saturday's contest. He looked to be in line for an
even better performance on Sunday, stalking at the front and controlling second
position before a mechanical issue ruled him out deep into Sunday's race.
KTM/HMC Racing's Chris
Fillmore headlined the augmented two-man RC8R effort. Flanked by German
IDM Superbike ace Stefan Nebel, Fillmore was in impressive form
in Sonoma. He crashed out while defending fifth from May late in Saturday's race
but came back to finish in that same position a day later, this time
successfully keeping May's teammate, Eslick, and the charging Hayes, behind
him. The result is the best yet for
the KTM in AMA Pro National Guard SuperBike action.
Attack Performance's
Steve Rapp guided the team's 'Black Ops' Kawasaki ZX-10R to
sixth on Saturday but was a Sunday scratch when the veteran pilot was injured in
an electric bike crash. Kneedraggers.com/Motul/Fly
Racing's David Anthony turned heads in the opening free
session, running second quick, trailing only fast man Hayes. He ended up putting
together a solid weekend with a pair of eighths. Team Venezuela's
Robertino Pietri improved upon his Saturday 11th to claim ninth
on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Foremost Insurance
Pegram Racing BMW's Larry Pegram, M4 Suzuki's Chris
Ulrich and Young's Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Chris
Clark will all be counting the days until the next round at Miller
Motorsports Park to make up for difficult weekends in Northern California. "I admit it was a pretty
disappointing weekend," said Clark. "I had a pinched nerve in my shoulder, so I
could only put a few laps in before losing most of the strength in my right arm.
Add that to the fact that Infineon is not my best track and the results
suffered. But we made it out with some points and now we just need to put this
behind us and focus on the rest of the season. My favorite track is next, so I'm
really expecting a good result for myself and hopefully that will set the tone
for the rest of the season."
More drama is expected later this
month at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, where Young defeated Hayes and
then-Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Tommy Hayden with some last-lap
magic one year ago.
Top 10 Finishers from
Infineon Raceway:
AMA Pro National Guard
SuperBike Point Standings After Round 3
Year-End Award Updates
The $2,000 Cortech
"Performance Edge" Award will go to the AMA Pro National Guard
SuperBike rider who posts the highest number of "fastest lap of the race" in
event finals during the 2012 season. Following the Infineon Raceway round, Hayes
and Young are still tied with three fastest laps apiece. In Race 2, Hayes turned the fastest lap of the race on
Lap 2 with a time of 1:36.529 and in Race 2, Young turned the fastest lap of the
race on Lap 2 with a time of 1:36.840. With
a total of 834.18 miles and 322 laps completed so far in the 2012 AMA Pro
National Guard SuperBike season, Hayes also leads the Sunoco "Go The Distance" Award.
Current Cortech "Performance Edge" Award Standings After Round 3
Current Sunoco "Go The Distance" Award Standings After Round 3
Next
Event
AMA Pro Road Racing will next head west for Round 4 with a stop at Tooele, Utah. The BigM Weekend will take place at Miller Motorsports Park in three weeks time, May 26-28. For tickets and event information, please visit http://www.millermotorsportspark.com |
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AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional
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about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.
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