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AMA Pro Superbike
AMA SBK: Hayes Applies The Pressure
As expected, Josh Hayes came out swinging at Infineon Raceway, but admitted pressure and expectations can be a two-way street.
Monster Energy Graves Yamaha's Josh Hayes (Photo: Evan Williams)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: The AMA Pro Superbike and SportBike races from Infineon Raceway will air Saturday, May 5, starting at 8:00pm ET and Sunday, May 6, starting at 11:00pm ET on SPEED.
To the surprise of precisely no one, reigning double AMA Pro Superbike champ Josh Hayes led the way on Friday at Infineon Raceway and led big.
Hayes headed the opening AMA Pro Superbike qualifying session by almost a full second, immediately serving notice to his rivals that they need to up their games if they want any hope of keeping pace this weekend.
And the Monster Energy Graves Yamaha man even said he wasn't all that impressed with his effort on the day, fully expecting to significantly lower his times come Saturday.
However, for Hayes, the pressure goes both ways. While he has erased some former demons for Yamaha at Daytona and Road Atlanta, he understands that he absolutely needs to showcase his strength at a circuit where he's won four of the last six Superbike finals or risk providing chief rival Blake Young with a major moral (and actual) victory.
Talking about carrying his strong early-season form into Infineon Raceway, Hayes said, "It gives me confidence -- if we're taking our bad tracks and bringing the level up there, hopefully you take the level of the bike at a track you're already pretty good at and bring it up another whole step.
"But there's two ways to look at it. One, I'm confident I'm going to show up here and I'm going to be competitive. That's really, really easy to feel good about.
"The other side of it is, it puts a lot of pressure on me to perform. If Blake ups his pace and makes himself part of the show, it's like 'man, I've been dominant here in the past.' You can come out of here feeling quite a letdown.
"I have a good combination. I just try to go through the motions and let 17 or 18 years of experience do its part. I go out there, ride around, and try to earn my paycheck just like I always do, doing my work, and it seems to be working for me.
"Like I said in Atlanta, I fully expect Blake is going to come here and pull some magic out of his hat like he does every weekend and be there come race time. In New Jersey he wasn't that close until Sunday. Who knows?
"But doing what I'm doing is nice because it puts the pressure on him to have to do that. He's the one that's going to have to step up. I'm just going to keep working away and try to keep moving forward and make that goal further and further away and harder for him to reach."
However, as much as Superbike has been a two-man show in 2012, that just might change this weekend. In fact, Young only ranked fourth on the day, trailing the twin EBRs of Danny Eslick and Geoff May as the developing machine is looking increasingly like a serious player in paddock.
Hayes will look to extend his perfect pole streak tomorrow morning in advance of Saturday's 50-mile Superbike showdown.
To the surprise of precisely no one, reigning double AMA Pro Superbike champ Josh Hayes led the way on Friday at Infineon Raceway and led big.
Hayes headed the opening AMA Pro Superbike qualifying session by almost a full second, immediately serving notice to his rivals that they need to up their games if they want any hope of keeping pace this weekend.
And the Monster Energy Graves Yamaha man even said he wasn't all that impressed with his effort on the day, fully expecting to significantly lower his times come Saturday.
However, for Hayes, the pressure goes both ways. While he has erased some former demons for Yamaha at Daytona and Road Atlanta, he understands that he absolutely needs to showcase his strength at a circuit where he's won four of the last six Superbike finals or risk providing chief rival Blake Young with a major moral (and actual) victory.
Talking about carrying his strong early-season form into Infineon Raceway, Hayes said, "It gives me confidence -- if we're taking our bad tracks and bringing the level up there, hopefully you take the level of the bike at a track you're already pretty good at and bring it up another whole step.
"But there's two ways to look at it. One, I'm confident I'm going to show up here and I'm going to be competitive. That's really, really easy to feel good about.
"The other side of it is, it puts a lot of pressure on me to perform. If Blake ups his pace and makes himself part of the show, it's like 'man, I've been dominant here in the past.' You can come out of here feeling quite a letdown.
"I have a good combination. I just try to go through the motions and let 17 or 18 years of experience do its part. I go out there, ride around, and try to earn my paycheck just like I always do, doing my work, and it seems to be working for me.
"Like I said in Atlanta, I fully expect Blake is going to come here and pull some magic out of his hat like he does every weekend and be there come race time. In New Jersey he wasn't that close until Sunday. Who knows?
"But doing what I'm doing is nice because it puts the pressure on him to have to do that. He's the one that's going to have to step up. I'm just going to keep working away and try to keep moving forward and make that goal further and further away and harder for him to reach."
However, as much as Superbike has been a two-man show in 2012, that just might change this weekend. In fact, Young only ranked fourth on the day, trailing the twin EBRs of Danny Eslick and Geoff May as the developing machine is looking increasingly like a serious player in paddock.
Hayes will look to extend his perfect pole streak tomorrow morning in advance of Saturday's 50-mile Superbike showdown.
AMA SBK Miller Motorsports Park
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