-
Home
- TV Shows
- TV Schedule
- NASCAR
-
Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Games
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
- Home
- TV Shows
-
TV Schedule
-
SPEED Showcase
-
- NASCAR
- Formula 1
- Auto Racing
- Moto Racing
- Cars
- Bikes
- Store
- Social
- Mobile
- Deals
- Videos
- Photos
AMA Pro Superbike
AMA SBK: Barber Bugaboo
Will this be the year Josh Hayes finally conquers Barber Motorsports Park or will BMP master Blake Young inject some life back into this year's title fight?
Yoshimura Racing Suzuki's Blake Young and Monster Energy Graves Yamaha's Josh Hayes (Photo: AMA Pro Racing/Brian J Nelson)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: The AMA Pro Road Racing action from Barber Motorsports Park will air on SPEED Sunday night at Midnight ET.
There's been some talk regarding the fact that two-time AMA Superbike Champ Josh Hayes has never won a premier class race at Barber Motorsports Park.
And it is an interesting factoid from a certain perspective. The series is making its tenth stop at the pristine Alabama facility, and during its decade on the slate we've seen quite a variety of race winners stand atop the Superbike podium at BMP -- and not just champions Mat Mladin, Ben Spies, and Miguel DuHamel, but also the likes of Aaron Yates, Kurtis Roberts, and more recently, Tommy Hayden, Blake Young, and Martin Cardenas.
However, it's probably unwise to make too much of Hayes' BMP 'drought.' There are extenuating circumstances, including mixed weather last year and a casual cruise to clinch his first title in the '10 season finale.
And it's not as if the Yamaha star hasn't been fast or close; he opened last year's races from pole, and Hayden edged Hayes by just 0.053 seconds in Race 1 in '10 while Young beat him on the final lap in Race 2 here a year ago by 0.765 seconds.
Somewhat surprisingly, despite ranking fourth and rapidly closing on #3 Spies on the all-time AMA SBK wins list, Hayes entered 2012 looking at a calendar loaded with tracks he had yet to conquer on a Superbike. And we're not just talking about additions NOLA and Homestead, but also Daytona, Atlanta, Miller, BMP, and Laguna Seca.
You'll notice the three we've already visited have all been scratched off the list.
But that's not to argue too strongly in the other direction either. As improved as the '12 R1 may be, there is still some question concerning its ability to jump off the corners with the Suzukis, a fact that's been masked by the layout of the circuits we've visited thus far this season.
And Young has serious Barber chops. Despite the fact that the circuit has bit him hard on a couple of occasions, the Yoshimura Suzuki star won here in 2010 and 2011, scored a relatively rare pole position at the venue in '10, and topped Basic (pre-Superpole) Qualifying as a Superbike rookie in 2009.
Young is also in desperate need of a big weekend with the 2012 season fast taking shape as a Hayes benefit. The Suzuki man needs to stop the bleeding and dole out some damage of his own before this title race gets away from him.
Or maybe Barber will serve up an all-new winner as it did last year with Cardenas: Josh Herrin and Roger Hayden are both hungry and just looking for any opportunity to strike.
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.
There's been some talk regarding the fact that two-time AMA Superbike Champ Josh Hayes has never won a premier class race at Barber Motorsports Park.
And it is an interesting factoid from a certain perspective. The series is making its tenth stop at the pristine Alabama facility, and during its decade on the slate we've seen quite a variety of race winners stand atop the Superbike podium at BMP -- and not just champions Mat Mladin, Ben Spies, and Miguel DuHamel, but also the likes of Aaron Yates, Kurtis Roberts, and more recently, Tommy Hayden, Blake Young, and Martin Cardenas.
However, it's probably unwise to make too much of Hayes' BMP 'drought.' There are extenuating circumstances, including mixed weather last year and a casual cruise to clinch his first title in the '10 season finale.
And it's not as if the Yamaha star hasn't been fast or close; he opened last year's races from pole, and Hayden edged Hayes by just 0.053 seconds in Race 1 in '10 while Young beat him on the final lap in Race 2 here a year ago by 0.765 seconds.
Somewhat surprisingly, despite ranking fourth and rapidly closing on #3 Spies on the all-time AMA SBK wins list, Hayes entered 2012 looking at a calendar loaded with tracks he had yet to conquer on a Superbike. And we're not just talking about additions NOLA and Homestead, but also Daytona, Atlanta, Miller, BMP, and Laguna Seca.
You'll notice the three we've already visited have all been scratched off the list.
But that's not to argue too strongly in the other direction either. As improved as the '12 R1 may be, there is still some question concerning its ability to jump off the corners with the Suzukis, a fact that's been masked by the layout of the circuits we've visited thus far this season.
And Young has serious Barber chops. Despite the fact that the circuit has bit him hard on a couple of occasions, the Yoshimura Suzuki star won here in 2010 and 2011, scored a relatively rare pole position at the venue in '10, and topped Basic (pre-Superpole) Qualifying as a Superbike rookie in 2009.
Young is also in desperate need of a big weekend with the 2012 season fast taking shape as a Hayes benefit. The Suzuki man needs to stop the bleeding and dole out some damage of his own before this title race gets away from him.
Or maybe Barber will serve up an all-new winner as it did last year with Cardenas: Josh Herrin and Roger Hayden are both hungry and just looking for any opportunity to strike.
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.
AMA SBK Homestead-Miami
LATEST HEADLINES: MOTO-RACING
-
MOTOGP: Crutchlow Takes Career-Best Result
Cal Crutchlow worked his forward to claim a runner-up result in the… -
PHOTOS: MotoGP - French Grand Prix
Dani Pedrosa leads the MotoGP World Championship after securing his… -
MOTOGP: Dovi Leads, Ducati Scores Double Top Five
Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden took full advantage of the wet… -
MOTOGP: Le Mans Race Day Ticker (UPDATED)
Notes and quotes following Sunday's dramatic French Grand Prix. -
MOTOGP: Pedrosa Third To Eclipse 3000 Points
Honda teammates Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez stand 1-2 in the '13… -
MOTOGP: Lorenzo 'Couldn't Do More Without Crashing'
The works Yamaha team suffered through a disappointing outing at… -
MOTOGP: Pedrosa Wins Pivotal French GP
MotoGP title hopeful Dani Pedrosa registered his second consecutive… - More News
