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AMA Pro Superbike
AMA SBK: Old Dog’s New Tricks
After appearing vulnerable in 2011, AMA Superbike champ Josh Hayes is an unstoppable force once again thanks to the continued development of his Yamaha R1.
Monster Energy Graves Yamaha's Josh Hayes leads Yoshimura Suzuki's Blake Young and Yamaha teammate Josh Herrin (Photo: Evan Williams)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: The AMA Pro Road Racing action from Barber Motorsports Park will air on SPEED Sunday night at Midnight ET.
Mat Mladin once described his 2004 AMA Superbike title as the most satisfying of his career. Visibly outgunned by the all-new HRC Honda CBR1000RR, Mladin was beaten in terms of race wins by the Honda trio of Miguel DuHamel, Jake Zemke, and Ben Bostrom 9-8 but the Australian still managed to claw his way to a close championship victory.
Mladin drew parallels to Valentino Rossi's similar effort to defeat a technological superior foe -- his seemingly unbeatable former employers Honda -- that same year, Rossi's first with Yamaha, via sheer skill and determination.
It's safe to say that Josh Hayes didn't relish his 2011 campaign in quite the same way, despite the obvious comparisons. The defending AMA Superbike champ was humbled after being outscored 11-3 in the wins department by the combined efforts of his Suzuki-mounted rivals, particularly after famously setting a goal of double digit victories in the preseason.
While Hayes would commonly point the finger at himself following a(nother) close defeat, the rest of us were looking directly at his #1-plated Yamaha YZF-R1 for the real answer, a bike that was suddenly appearing quite long in the tooth.
The Yamaha couldn't accelerate or draft with the Suzukis, and while Hayes almost always boasted superior open-track pace, the characteristics of the GSX-Rs in comparison to the R1 allowed Suzuki pilots Blake Young and Tommy Hayden (and occasionally Martin Cardenas and Roger Hayden) to trip up Hayes, ruin his race plan, and ultimately beat him to the flag more often than not.
As a result, Hayes had to be perfect in nearly every session and maximize every point possible -- be it for race results, pole positions, or laps led. Ultimately, he won his second class crown in a remarkably dogged albeit unsexy manner -- of which Hayes is borderline apologetic.
Constrained by Superstock-like regulations, Hayes' aging bike was expected to look that much older in 2012. There was serious doubt concerning whether the Monster Energy Graves Yamaha crew could squeeze any more blood from this mechanical turnip.
That doubt, as it turns out, was misplaced. Hayes and his crew both did their homework in the offseason, happy to have eked out the '11 title but determined not to repeat it.
And now it's Yoshimura Suzuki ace Blake Young who is throwing his hands up in the air, confounded by unexpectedly finding himself on the wrong end of equipment inequity.
Less than halfway into the season, Hayes has already doubled his '11 wins tally with six (plus two very close runner-ups and a crash that prevented what was a virtual lock for victory) and shows no signs of letting up now.
But before we delve into the '12 offseason transformation of the bike, it's important to look at the bigger picture and the even more dramatic transformation of the current generation R1 from its 2009 AMA Superbike debut. After all, the '11 to '12 upgrade has turned a championship-winning package into a championship-dominating one. But in '09, the bike looked more like a career-ender than a legacy builder.
Mat Mladin once described his 2004 AMA Superbike title as the most satisfying of his career. Visibly outgunned by the all-new HRC Honda CBR1000RR, Mladin was beaten in terms of race wins by the Honda trio of Miguel DuHamel, Jake Zemke, and Ben Bostrom 9-8 but the Australian still managed to claw his way to a close championship victory.
Mladin drew parallels to Valentino Rossi's similar effort to defeat a technological superior foe -- his seemingly unbeatable former employers Honda -- that same year, Rossi's first with Yamaha, via sheer skill and determination.
It's safe to say that Josh Hayes didn't relish his 2011 campaign in quite the same way, despite the obvious comparisons. The defending AMA Superbike champ was humbled after being outscored 11-3 in the wins department by the combined efforts of his Suzuki-mounted rivals, particularly after famously setting a goal of double digit victories in the preseason.
While Hayes would commonly point the finger at himself following a(nother) close defeat, the rest of us were looking directly at his #1-plated Yamaha YZF-R1 for the real answer, a bike that was suddenly appearing quite long in the tooth.
The Yamaha couldn't accelerate or draft with the Suzukis, and while Hayes almost always boasted superior open-track pace, the characteristics of the GSX-Rs in comparison to the R1 allowed Suzuki pilots Blake Young and Tommy Hayden (and occasionally Martin Cardenas and Roger Hayden) to trip up Hayes, ruin his race plan, and ultimately beat him to the flag more often than not.
As a result, Hayes had to be perfect in nearly every session and maximize every point possible -- be it for race results, pole positions, or laps led. Ultimately, he won his second class crown in a remarkably dogged albeit unsexy manner -- of which Hayes is borderline apologetic.
Constrained by Superstock-like regulations, Hayes' aging bike was expected to look that much older in 2012. There was serious doubt concerning whether the Monster Energy Graves Yamaha crew could squeeze any more blood from this mechanical turnip.
That doubt, as it turns out, was misplaced. Hayes and his crew both did their homework in the offseason, happy to have eked out the '11 title but determined not to repeat it.
And now it's Yoshimura Suzuki ace Blake Young who is throwing his hands up in the air, confounded by unexpectedly finding himself on the wrong end of equipment inequity.
Less than halfway into the season, Hayes has already doubled his '11 wins tally with six (plus two very close runner-ups and a crash that prevented what was a virtual lock for victory) and shows no signs of letting up now.
But before we delve into the '12 offseason transformation of the bike, it's important to look at the bigger picture and the even more dramatic transformation of the current generation R1 from its 2009 AMA Superbike debut. After all, the '11 to '12 upgrade has turned a championship-winning package into a championship-dominating one. But in '09, the bike looked more like a career-ender than a legacy builder.
AMA SBK Homestead-Miami
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