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AMA SBK: 2013 Championship Prediction Countdown - #3
Who will finish third in this year's AMA Pro Superbike title fight?
Chris Martin  |  Posted March 12, 2013   Iowa City, IA
(Photo: Brian J Nelson/AMA Pro Racing)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: The AMA Pro Superbike season opener will air on SPEED on Friday, March 15 at 6:00pm ET with Race 2 airing Sunday evening at 9:00pm. The Daytona 200 will air on SPEED at 1:30pm ET on Sunday, March 17. The Vance & Hines HD race and the twin SuperSport races will air LIVE on SPEED2.

Continuing SPEED.com's picks for the 2013 AMA Pro Superbike crown with #3:

Evan Williams: Josh Herrin - Monster Energy Graves Yamaha

Josh Herrin had a good rookie year in 2012 and returns for a second season on the factory Yamaha as teammate to Josh Hayes.

Herrin was (and is) a very good 600cc rider and he spent his formative years honing his craft on those bikes. He got it all down, the high corner speeds, the relentless aggressiveness, and the constant scrapping that goes on in the DSB packs. But Superbike racing isn't the same. There's more power, you can shag the tire faster, and it's imperative that the setup is dialed on the bigger bike. You gotta fight the bigger bike more, especially late when the tires are worn. There were questions if Herrin's style -- hanging off the bike as he does and being a physically smaller rider -- would work on the bigger bike.

Josh did a good job of getting up to speed and he finished second a bunch. He showed he could take it to that level.

Chris Martin: Roger Hayden - National Guard Jordan Suzuki

Roger Hayden won a Superbike race last year. Granted, Josh Hayes won 16, but Hayden's tally is still more than every other contender in this year's field combined.

After a terrific finish to his '11 campaign, the Kentuckian entered the '12 season with high hopes. When the dust had cleared, Hayden took another step forward, pushing Hayes to the brink at Mid-Ohio, and then claiming a first-career Superbike pole and victory in Miami.

However, the year wasn't all that Hayden had hoped. He stumbled out of the blocks somewhat -- again -- and found himself playing catch-up over the season's first half, just as he did in 2011.

Back on the #54 National Guard Jordan Suzuki GSX-R1000 for a third go of it, if Hayden is able to come out swinging right from the start in 2013, he will be well positioned to elevate his game to the next level.

SPEED.com Motorcycle Racing Editor Chris Martin saw Eddie Lawson win aboard a Kawasaki the first time he attended an AMA Superbike race and witnessed Ben Bostrom win a World Superbike race aboard a V&H Ducati the first time he worked one. He has written about AMA SBK, WSBK, and MotoGP for SPEED.com since 2003. Chris is now on Twitter.
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