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AMA Pro Superbike
AMA SBK: Hayes Vs. All Comers At Daytona Opener
Josh Hayes will look to become the first man to win four straight AMA Pro Superbike titles in 2013 as the season kicks off this weekend at Daytona.
(Photo: AMA Pro Racing/Brian J Nelson)
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.
With the 2013 GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing season set to commence this week at the legendary Daytona International Speedway, there is one pressing question in the premier AMA Pro National Guard Superbike class: Can anyone stop reigning champ Josh Hayes?
That question is unlikely to be fully answered at the season opener, but a number of potential challengers to the throne will have a prime opportunity to demonstrate that they are up to that difficult task this season on the famed high banks.
Despite Hayes' overwhelming dominance during the '12 season, the unique characteristics of the Speedway could provide for some less predictable racing. Even small off-season gains can become large ones on track when the draft is introduced and speeds approach and even exceed 200mph. As a result, an advantage measured by tenths of a second per lap in qualifying can vanish with the difference at the checkered flag measured by a photo. Defending king Hayes knows this as well as anyone, having been beaten to the stripe by margins of .052, .072, and .002 seconds in three of his last four starts at Daytona despite having earned the pole position for all of those contests.
The field has been reshuffled during the off-season; a number of contending teams and riders have shaken things up in hopes of unlocking the secret to beating #1. Meanwhile, others have made smaller tweaks, bolstering their programs in an effort to present an even more formidable challenge in 2013.
Defeating Hayes won't prove easy, however. The Monster Energy Graves Yamaha star is not only coming off his third consecutive AMA Pro National Guard Superbike title-winning season, he's fresh off the most statistically impressive season in the series' 37-year history. In 2012, Hayes notched up seven perfect weekends (pole, led the most laps in both races, and won both races), while establishing new single-season records for most wins in a season (16), most wins in a row (10), and equaled the mark for most poles (10).
That historic campaign also catapulted him into the ranks of the all-time record books, where he now stands second all-time to seven-time champ Mat Mladin in race wins (33) and titles (three -- tied with the likes of Red Pridmore, Fred Merkel, Doug Chandler, and Ben Spies).
Hayes, who is entering just his fifth season as a factory Superbike hero, is now a heavy favorite to do what no rider, including Mladin, has ever done before: win a fourth consecutive AMA Pro Superbike championship.
Arguably three of the biggest thorns in Hayes' side during his three-year title run -- Blake Young, Tommy Hayden, and Ben Bostrom -- are no longer in the field. But perhaps their absence will present additional opportunities for others to step forward and provide Hayes with a renewed test in 2013.
National Guard Jordan Suzuki's Roger Hayden showed flashes that he can do just that last season. The Kentuckian took another step forward following his breakthrough '11 effort and showed the talent, speed, and mettle to harry Hayes at Mid-Ohio and then emerged victorious from pole in Miami to claim his first premier-class win. The logical next step in Hayden's continued development in 2013 would be to perform at that level on a more consistent basis.
With the 2013 GEICO Motorcycle AMA Pro Road Racing season set to commence this week at the legendary Daytona International Speedway, there is one pressing question in the premier AMA Pro National Guard Superbike class: Can anyone stop reigning champ Josh Hayes?
That question is unlikely to be fully answered at the season opener, but a number of potential challengers to the throne will have a prime opportunity to demonstrate that they are up to that difficult task this season on the famed high banks.
Despite Hayes' overwhelming dominance during the '12 season, the unique characteristics of the Speedway could provide for some less predictable racing. Even small off-season gains can become large ones on track when the draft is introduced and speeds approach and even exceed 200mph. As a result, an advantage measured by tenths of a second per lap in qualifying can vanish with the difference at the checkered flag measured by a photo. Defending king Hayes knows this as well as anyone, having been beaten to the stripe by margins of .052, .072, and .002 seconds in three of his last four starts at Daytona despite having earned the pole position for all of those contests.
The field has been reshuffled during the off-season; a number of contending teams and riders have shaken things up in hopes of unlocking the secret to beating #1. Meanwhile, others have made smaller tweaks, bolstering their programs in an effort to present an even more formidable challenge in 2013.
Defeating Hayes won't prove easy, however. The Monster Energy Graves Yamaha star is not only coming off his third consecutive AMA Pro National Guard Superbike title-winning season, he's fresh off the most statistically impressive season in the series' 37-year history. In 2012, Hayes notched up seven perfect weekends (pole, led the most laps in both races, and won both races), while establishing new single-season records for most wins in a season (16), most wins in a row (10), and equaled the mark for most poles (10).
That historic campaign also catapulted him into the ranks of the all-time record books, where he now stands second all-time to seven-time champ Mat Mladin in race wins (33) and titles (three -- tied with the likes of Red Pridmore, Fred Merkel, Doug Chandler, and Ben Spies).
Hayes, who is entering just his fifth season as a factory Superbike hero, is now a heavy favorite to do what no rider, including Mladin, has ever done before: win a fourth consecutive AMA Pro Superbike championship.
Arguably three of the biggest thorns in Hayes' side during his three-year title run -- Blake Young, Tommy Hayden, and Ben Bostrom -- are no longer in the field. But perhaps their absence will present additional opportunities for others to step forward and provide Hayes with a renewed test in 2013.
National Guard Jordan Suzuki's Roger Hayden showed flashes that he can do just that last season. The Kentuckian took another step forward following his breakthrough '11 effort and showed the talent, speed, and mettle to harry Hayes at Mid-Ohio and then emerged victorious from pole in Miami to claim his first premier-class win. The logical next step in Hayden's continued development in 2013 would be to perform at that level on a more consistent basis.
AMA SBK Miller Motorsports Park
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